A Treasury of Great American Scandals (35 page)

A little more than three weeks after John Paul Jones was buried, a Paris mob stormed the royal palace of the Tuileries, and the bodies of the Swiss Guards killed while trying to protect the king and queen were tossed into a common grave adjoining that of Jones. With France in the midst of revolution and a crushing foreign war with Austria and Prussia, any hope of recovering Jones's body and bringing it back home would have to be postponed indefinitely—not that there was any great clamor in the United States to do so. John Paul Jones was quietly fading into obscurity as the years passed, and, except for his heirs pestering Congress for his unpaid salary and other monies, no one gave the great man much thought. The cemetery where he was buried closed in 1804 and was soon covered over by the expanding city.

There were several attempts to find the burial site as the nineteenth century progressed, but all were futile. It seemed that Jones would be lost forever. But then, in 1899, General Horace Porter, the American ambassador to France, initiated his own search and eventually found the site of the old graveyard. As word of the discovery leaked out, though, the owners of the buildings on the site saw an opportunity for profit and demanded exorbitant sums for the right to excavate beneath their property. Ambassador Porter had no choice but to postpone his project until 1905, when the initial excitement had died down and he was able to secure permission to dig on more favorable terms.

An army of workers immediately set about sinking shafts and digging tunnels. Around the clock they toiled, at one point encountering the badly deteriorated remains of those unfortunate Swiss Guards who had been, according to one report, “stacked like cord-wood” in their graves. Eventually, a series of lead coffins were found. One of them surely contained the remains of John Paul Jones. But which one? A group of anthropologists and pathologists were called in to help sort through the corpses. When the coffin thought to be Jones's was opened, it proved to be a bonanza. “To our intense surprise,” wrote Ambassador Porter, “the body was marvelously preserved, all the flesh remaining intact, very slightly shrunken, and of grayish brown or tan color.” Simmoneau's decision to cure the corpse in alcohol had paid off. The gathered experts were able to match the well-preserved face with a bust of Jones known to be an accurate likeness, and an autopsy confirmed the cause of death. The search for John Paul Jones was over. Now it was time to finally give him his propers.

President Theodore Roosevelt, sensing the propaganda value for the U.S. Navy, which he was looking to strengthen, sent a fleet of ships over to France to escort Jones back home. First, though, an elaborate service was held over the body, which now reposed in a sleek new mahogany coffin. This was followed by a big parade and a special trip to Cherbourg, where, after another ceremony, the casket was transferred to the U.S.S.
Brooklyn
for the trip back to the United States.

Still more obsequies awaited the arrival home, yet despite all the tributes and long-delayed expressions of gratitude, John Paul Jones was still getting dissed in some quarters. Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, Jones's final resting place, sang a parody of a popular song called “Everybody Works but Father”:

 

And though Congress had settled on the academy over many other places vying for the remains, it was too cheap to fund a proper shrine. As a result, Jones's body was stashed behind a set of stairs until Congress finally came through with the cash. That only took seven years.

Presidents of the United States

 

 

 

 

 

Born: February 22, 1732, Westmoreland County, Virginia

Political Party: Federalist

State Represented: Virginia

Vice President: John Adams

First Lady: Martha Dandridge Custis Washington

Term of Office: 1789-1797 (two terms)

Died: December 14, 1799, aged 67, Mount Vernon, Virginia

Distinctions: Only president inaugurated in two cities (New York, 1789, and Philadelphia, 1793). Only president to not live in Washington, D.C. Only president unanimously elected, receiving 69 of the 69 electoral votes cast in 1788.

Pages: 4, 7-8, 37-39, 172-73

 

Born: October 30, 1735, Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts

Political Party: Federalist

State Represented: Massachusetts

Vice President: Thomas Jefferson

First Lady: Abigail Smith Adams

Term of Office: 1797-1801 (one term)

Died: July 4, 1826, aged 90, Quincy, Massachusetts

Distinctions: First president to live in the White House. First to have his son elected president.

Pages: 37-46, 155-57

 

Born: April 13, 1743, Albermarle County, Virginia

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

State Represented: Virginia

Vice President: Aaron Burr (first term); George Clinton (second term)

First Lady: None (Jefferson was a widower.)

Term of Office: 1801-1809 (two terms)

Died: July 4, 1826, aged 83, Charlottesville, Virginia

Distinctions: First president inaugurated in Washington, D.C. First elected by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pages: 32, 41-46, 155-58, 178, 180-83, 250-52

 

Born: March 16, 1751, Port Conway, Virginia

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

State Represented: Virginia

Vice President: George Clinton (first term); Elbridge Gerry (second term)

First Lady: Dolley Dandridge Payne Todd Madison

Term of Office: 1809-1817 (two terms)

Died: June 28, 1836, aged 85, Montpelier, Virginia

Distinctions: Shortest president (5 feet 4 inches). First to have been a congressman. Last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Pages: 42, 157, 180, 252

 

Born: April 29, 1758, Westmoreland County, Virginia

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

State Represented: Virginia

Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins

First Lady: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe

Term of Office: 1817-1825 (two terms)

Died: July 4, 1831, aged 73, New York, New York

Distinctions: First president to have been a U.S. Senator. First to ride on a steamboat.

Page: 75

 

Born: July 11, 1767, Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

State Represented: Massachusetts

Vice President: John C. Calhoun

First Lady: Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams

Term of Office: 1825-1829 (one term)

Died: February 23, 1848, aged 80, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: Only ex-president to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pages: 9-11, 159-61

 

Born: March 15, 1767, Waxhaw, South Carolina

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Tennessee

Vice President: John C. Calhoun (first term); Martin Van Buren (second term)

First Lady: None (Jackson was a widower)

Term of Office: 1829-1837 (two terms)

Died: June 8, 1845, aged 78, Nashville, Tennessee

Distinctions: First president to be born in a log cabin. First target of

assassination attempt.

Pages: 12, 56, 58-63, 64-71, 136-37, 159-61

 

Born: December 5, 1782, Kinderhook, New York

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: New York

Vice President: Richard M. Johnson

First Lady: None (Van Buren was a widower.)

Term of Office: 1837-1841 (one term)

Died: July 24, 1862, aged 79, Kinderhook, New York

Distinctions: First president not born a British subject.

Pages: 64, 67, 69, 120

Born: February 9, 1773, Charles City County, Virginia

Political Party: Whig

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: John Tyler

First Lady: Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison (never went to Washington)

Term of Office: 1841 (32 days)

Died: April 4, 1841, aged 68, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: Shortest term in office.

Pages: 131, 281-82

 

Born: March 29, 1790, Charles City County, Virginia

Political Party: Whig

State Represented: Virginia

Vice President: None

First Lady: (1) Letitia Christian Tyler, (2) Julia Gardiner Tyler

Term of Office: 1841-1845 (one partial term)

Died: January 18, 1862, aged 71, Richmond, Virginia

Distinctions: First accidental president. First to marry while in office.

Page: 131

 

Born: November 2, 1795, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Tennessee

Vice President: George M. Dallas

First Lady: Sarah Childress Polk

Term of Office: 1845-1849 (one term)

Died: June 5, 1849, aged 53, Nashville, Tennessee

Distinctions: First presidential inauguration reported by telegraph.

 

Born: November 24, 1784, Orange County, Virginia

Political Party: Whig

State Represented: Louisiana

Vice President: Millard Fillmore

First Lady: Margaret Smith Taylor

Term of Office: 1849-1850 (one partial term)

Died: July 9, 1850, aged 65, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: First president to represent a state west of the Mississippi River.

Pages: 115, 271

 

Born: January 7, 1800, Summerhill, New York

Political Party: Whig

State Represented: New York

Vice President: None

First Lady: Abigail Powers Fillmore

Term of Office: 1850-1853 (one partial term)

Died: March 8, 1874, aged 74, Buffalo, New York

Distinctions: Only president to run for a term on the American (“Know-Nothing”) Party ticket.

Page: 113

 

Born: November 23, 1804, Hillsborough (now Hillsboro), New Hampshire

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: New Hampshire

Vice President: William Rufus King (died before serving any functions of V.P.)

First Lady: Jane Appleton Pierce

Term of Office: 1853-1857 (one term)

Died: October 8, 1869, aged 64, Concord, New Hampshire

Distinctions: First president born in the nineteenth century. Only one to affirm rather than swear the oath of office.

Pages: 116-17

 

Born: April 23, 1791, Cove Gap, Pennsylvania

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Pennsylvania

Vice President: John C. Breckinridge

First Lady: None (Buchanan was a bachelor.)

Term of Office: 1857-1861 (one term)

Died: June 1, 1868, aged 77, Lancaster, Pennsylvania Distinctions: Only bachelor president. Pages: 118-19, 254, 255, 257-58

 

Born: February 12, 1809, Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Illinois

Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin (first term); Andrew Johnson (second term)

First Lady: Mary Todd Lincoln

Term of Office: 1861-1865 (one full term; one partial term)

Died: April 15, 1865, aged 56, Washington, D.C. (assassinated)

Distinctions: Tallest president (6 feet 4 inches). First to be assassinated.

First to wear a beard. First depicted on a noncommemorative coin.

Pages: 15-16, 72-78, 162-64, 278-80

 

Born: December 29, 1808, Raleigh, North Carolina

Political Party: Democratic (elected vice president on Republican

ticket)

State Represented: Tennessee

Vice President: None

First Lady: Eliza McCardle Johnson

Term of Office: 1865-1869 (one partial term)

Died: July 31, 1875, aged 66, Carter's Station, Tennessee

Distinctions: First president to be impeached. Only one to have been a tailor.

Pages: 120-21, 261

 

Born: April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Illinois

Vice President: Schuyler Colfax (first term); Henry Wilson (second term)

First Lady: Julia Dent Grant

Term of Office: 1869-1877 (two terms)