A Treasury of Great American Scandals (36 page)

Died: July 23, 1885, aged 63, Mount McGregor, New York

Distinctions: First president to run (unsuccessfully) for a third term. First to have both parents alive at inauguration. Pages: 32, 122, 262-63

 

Born: October 4, 1822, Delaware, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: William A. Wheeler

First Lady: Lucy Webb Ware Hayes

Term of Office: 1877-1881 (one term)

Died: January 17, 1893, aged 70, Freemont, Ohio

Distinctions: First president to visit West Coast while in office.

 

Born: November 19, 1831, Orange, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: Chester A. Arthur

First Lady: Lucretia “Crete” Rudolph Garfield

Term of Office: 1881 (199 days)

Died: September 19, 1881, aged 49, Elberon, New Jersey (assassinated)

Distinctions: First left-handed president. First to review inaugural parade in front of White House.

Pages: 262-66

 

Born: October 5, 1829, Fairfield, Vermont

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: New York

Vice President: None

First Lady: None (Arthur was a widower.)

Term of Office: 1881-1885 (one partial term)

Died: November 18, 1886, aged 57, New York, New York

Distinctions: Amazing whiskers.

Page: 265

 

Born: March 18, 1837, Caldwell, New Jersey

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: New York

Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks (first term); Adlai E. Stevenson (second term)

First Lady: Frances Folsom Cleveland

Term of Office: 1885-1889; 1893-1897 (two nonconsecutive terms)

Died: June 24, 1908, aged 71, Princeton, New Jersey

Distinctions: Only president married in the White House. Only one to

serve two nonconsecutive terms.

Pages: 123-24, 165-67

 

Born: August 20, 1833, North Bend, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Indiana

Vice President: Levi P. Morton

First Lady: Caroline Scott Harrison

Term of Office: 1889-1893 (one term)

Died: March 13, 1901, aged 67 years, Indianapolis, Indiana

Distinctions: More states admitted to the Union during his administration (six) than any other president.

Pages: 281-82

 

Born: January 29, 1843, Niles, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: Garret A. Hobart (first term); Theodore Roosevelt

(second term)

First Lady: Ida Saxton McKinley

Term of Office: 1897-1901 (one full term and one partial term)

Died: September 14, 1901, aged 58, Buffalo, New York (assassinated)

Distinctions: First president to use the telephone for campaign purposes.

Pages: 125-26, 266-69

 

Born: October 27, 1858, New York, New York

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: New York

Vice President: Charles W. Fairbanks

First Lady: Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt

Term of Office: 1901-1909 (one partial term and one full term)

Died: January 6, 1919, aged 60, Oyster Bay, New York

Distinctions: First president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Youngest man to become president. First to ride in a car and airplane.

Pages: 79-85, 285

 

Born: September 15, 1857, Cincinnati, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: James S. Sherman

First Lady: Helen Herron Taft

Term of Office: 1909-1913 (one term)

Died: March 8, 1930, aged 72, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: Fattest president (300-332 lbs.). Only president to become chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. First to open the baseball

season by pitching the first ball.

Pages: 79-85, 127-28

 

Born: December 29, 1856, Staunton, Virginia

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: New Jersey

Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall

First Lady: (1) Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, (2) Edith Bolling Galt Wilson

Term of Office: 1913-1921 (two terms)

Died: February 3, 1924, aged 67, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: Only president to have been president of a major university (Princeton). First to earn a doctorate degree. First to hold a press

conference. First to visit Europe while in office.

Pages: 129-30, 196, 198

 

Born: November 2, 1865, Corsica, Ohio

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Ohio

Vice President: Calvin Coolidge

First Lady: Florence Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding

Term of Office: 1921-1923 (one partial term)

Died: August 2, 1923, aged 57, San Francisco, California

Distinctions: First president to be broadcast on radio. Only newspaper editor to become president.

Pages: 21-23, 203-6

 

Born: July 14, 1872, Plymouth, Vermont

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Massachusetts

Vice President: Charles C. Dawes

First Lady: Grace Goodhue Coolidge

Term of Office: 1923-1929 (one partial term and one full term)

Died: January 5, 1933, aged 60, Northampton, Massachusetts

Distinctions: Only president sworn in by his father.

Page: 116

 

Born: August 10, 1874, West Branch, Iowa

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: California

Vice President: Charles Curtis

First Lady: Lou Henry Hoover

Term of Office: 1929-1933 (one term)

Died: October 20, 1964, aged 90, New York, New York

Distinctions: First president to appear on television (as secretary of commerce). First to have a telephone at his desk. First born west of the

Mississippi. Longest lived after presidency (31 years).

 

Born: January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, New York

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: New York

Vice President: John Nance Garner (first and second terms); Henry A. Wallace (third term); Harry S Truman (fourth term)

First Lady: (Anna) Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt

Term of Office: 1933-1945 (three full terms and one partial term)

Died: April 12, 1945, aged 63, Warm Springs, Georgia

Distinctions: Only president to be elected to a third and fourth term.

First to appoint a woman to cabinet. First to appear on television (as president).

Pages: 24-27, 86-92

 

Born: May 10, 1884, Lamar, Missouri

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Missouri

Vice President: Alben W. Barkley

First Lady: Bess (Elizabeth Virginia) Wallace Truman

Term of Office: 1945-1953 (one partial term and one full term)

Died: December 26, 1972, aged 88, Independence, Missouri

Distinctions: First president to travel in a submarine. First to be telecast from White House.

Pages: 93-99, 209-11

 

Born: October 4, 1890, Denison, Texas

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: New York

Vice President: Richard M. Nixon

First Lady: Mamie (Marie) Geneva Doud Eisenhower

Term of Office: 1953-1961 (two terms)

Died: March 28, 1969, aged 78, Washington, D.C.

Distinctions: First president to serve a constitutionally limited term (per

Twenty-second Amendment). First televised press conference. First telecast in color.

Pages: 211-12

 

Born: May 29, 1917, Brookline, Massachusetts

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Massachusetts

Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson

First Lady: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy

Term of Office: 1961-1963 (one partial term)

Died: November 22, 1963, aged 46, Dallas, Texas (assassinated)

Distinctions: First president born in the twentieth century. Only Roman Catholic president. Only one survived by both parents.

Pages: 28, 30-31, 100-111

 

Born: August 27, 1908, near Stonewall, Texas

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Texas

Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey

First Lady: Lady Bird (Claudia Alta) Taylor Johnson

Term of Office: 1963-1969 (one partial term and one full term)

Died: January 22, 1973, aged 64, San Antonio, Texas

Distinctions: First president to take oath of office in an airplane. First to be sworn in by a woman.

Pages: 33, 100-111

 

Born: January 9, 1913, Yorba Linda, California

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: New York

Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (first and second terms); Gerald R.

Ford (second term)

First Lady: Thelma Catherine (Patricia) Ryan Nixon

Term of Office: 1969-1974 (one full term and one partial term)

Died: April 22, 1994, aged 81, New York, New York

Distinctions: Only president to resign. Only one to be pardoned by his successor. First to visit China.

Pages: 222-27

 

Born: July 14, 1913, Omaha, Nebraska

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Michigan

Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller

First Lady: Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren Ford

Term of Office: 1974-1977 (one partial term)

Distinctions: Only president to hold nation's top two offices without being elected to either. First president whose parents were divorced.

Born: October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Georgia

Vice President: Walter F. Mondale

First Lady: Rosalynn Smith Carter

Term of Office: 1977-1981 (one term)

Distinctions: Only president to be sworn in using his nickname. First born in a hospital.

 

Born: February 6, 1911, Tampico, Illinois

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: California

Vice President: George H.W. Bush

First Lady: Nancy Davis Reagan

Term of Office: 1981-1989 (two terms)

Distinctions: Only divorced president. Oldest at first election (69). Longest-lived. Only president to have been an actor.

 

Born: June 12, 1924, Milton, Massachusetts

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Texas

Vice President: J. Danforth Quayle

First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush

Term of Office: 1989-1993 (one term)

Distinctions: Only president to have been chairman of his political party, ambassador to U.N., and director of CIA.

 

Born: August 19, 1946, Hope, Arkansas

Political Party: Democratic

State Represented: Arkansas

Vice President: Albert Gore Jr.

First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton

Term of Office: 1993-2001 (two terms)

Distinctions: Only president to both be sued for sexual misconduct and forced to give a deposition while in office. Only president to have been a Rhodes Scholar. Only president to be elected twice without receiving at least 50% of the popular vote (43% in 1992 and 49% in 1996).

 

Born: July 6, 1946, New Haven, Connecticut

Political Party: Republican

State Represented: Texas

Vice President: Richard B. Cheney

First Lady: Laura Welch Bush

Term of Office: 2001-present

Distinctions: Only president to have been a general managing partner of a professional baseball team (Texas Rangers).

A Brief History of the United States (through 1980)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

c. 1000—
Viking explorer Leif Ericson leads what is probably the first European expedition to North America.

1492—
Christopher Columbus stumbles upon America while searching for an alternative sea passage to Asia. Of the natives he first encounters in San Salvador, Columbus reports to the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella: “With fifty men all can be kept in subjugation and made to do whatever you desire.”