The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia

106 Pages·2013·0.36 MB·English

by  Smithsonian Institution

© 2013 Smithsonian Institution.
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Published by Smithsonian Books
Director: Carolyn Gleason
Production Editor: Christina Wiginton
Smithsonian Advisory Committee, National Museum of American History, Political History: Harry R. Rubenstein, Lisa Kathleen Graddy, William L. Bird, Debra Hashim
Compiled and written by Amy Pastan
Foreword by Marc Pachter
Edited and designed by Kensington Media Group
Editorial Director: Morin Bishop
Design: Barbara Chilenskas
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pastan, Amy.
The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia / Amy Pastan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-1-58834332-1
1. Presidents—United States—Miscellanea. I. Title.
E176.1.P3929 2012
973.009′9—dc23
2012022435
For permission to reproduce illustrations appearing in this book, please correspond directly with the owners of the works, as seen on this page. Smithsonian Books does not retain reproduction rights for these images
individually, or maintain a file of addresses for sources.
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
one: Citizens, Officers, Heroes, and Saviors
The colorful lives of our leaders
two: Stumping: From Front Porch To Facebook
Political campaigns
three: The Pledge and the Parties
Inaugurations and inaugural balls
four: Inside the Oval Office
The president at work —as chief executive, diplomat, party leader
five: The Perpetual Podium
The harsh glare of the media
six: Home, Hotel, Parlor, and Playground
Life in the White House
seven: First Families
Wives, children, and pets of the president
eight: Impeachment, Controversy, Shame
Low moments in the nation’s highest office
nine: Assassination, Death, and National Mourning
From martyrs to memorials
ten: Presidents and the Popular Imagination
Items that celebrate and mythologize our country’s leaders
eleven: The Quotable President
Quips, sound bites, and statements by those who have held the office
Presidential Timeline
Photography Credits
Not So Trivial Trivia
NO ONE REALLY KNEW WHAT A PRESIDENT WAS BEFORE George Washington reluctantly agreed to accept the office after the passage
of the Constitution. The document itself was of little help because it gave paltry guidance as to the proper role of a chief executive in the
government of the new nation. Monarchs were mostly the way of the Europeans and it was the European models that our nation’s founders wanted
to avoid.
So what was a young nation to do? Essentially they said, “Let George do it,” then watched as he defined just what a president should be. It was
the regal yet not power hungry Washington who demonstrated how one might be both head of state and head of government; who demonstrated
that one might and indeed should relinquish power after two terms; and who balanced authority with a sense of connection to the aspirations of
individual Americans.
And was he a tough act to follow! His successor, John Adams, was the first president to be mocked because he didn’t get that balance right.
Indeed, all the successors that followed Washington into this great office have experienced, in differing degrees, a combination of reverence for
the president they have become (having previously been mere politicians) and suspicion that they are mortal after all, and need to be reminded of
that.
Because we adore the presidency but not always individual presidents, we as a nation are continuously fascinated with who each of these men (so
far, only men) were before the office, are while in the office, and become after the office. It is hard to imagine a more interesting fate for an
American citizen. And so we want to know everything about our presidents and continue to talk about them, with reverence and irreverence, even
after they are long gone.
And now we have a book that encapsulates that curiosity and passion we all share, and not surprisingly it is the Smithsonian that has taken on the
challenge. We ask many things of the Smithsonian as we explore the extraordinary questions and seek the incredible objects and icons that define
our shared American experience. So much of that concerns and illuminates the American presidency, in its grandeur and in its humanity.
In this one volume, The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia, you will find questions you have asked and those that others have wondered
about. Who was the first president born in a log cabin? Which president was a tailor in his early life? Who is the only president to hold a patent?
Which president waited until he was in his sixties to cast his first vote?
The Smithsonian Book of Presidential Trivia also provides an opportunity to peer inside the vault of Smithsonian presidential treasures. You
won’t be surprised at how many of the objects collected since the Smithsonian’s origins in the nineteenth century have to do with the president’s
official role, but you may be surprised to learn how many have to do with what might be called the private and personal side of the presidency. We
have called this a book of presidential trivia because we want to suggest the breadth of our interest in the presidency. But we also know that in fact
nothing concerning the presidents is truly trivial. It is all important, all interesting to us as Americans. And in that sense, we are all historians, all
curators. I was just one of the ones lucky to get to do it full time at the Smithsonian.
Marc Pachter
Director Emeritus,
National Portrait Gallery
Interim Director,
National Museum of American History
1
Chapter
Citizens, Officers,
Heroes, and Saviors
THE COLORFUL LIVES OF OUR LEADERS
“The qualities of a great man are ‘vision, integrity, courage,
understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.’
”
—D E
WIGHT ISENHOWER
How many generals became president and who are
Q:
they?
Twelve: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry
A:
Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson,
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester
Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and Dwight Eisenhower. Even
before becoming United States commanders in chief, these
men served their country in the military. The president with the
highest rank is George Washington, who was general and
commander in chief during the Revolutionary War. In 1976
President Gerald Ford posthumously promoted Washington to
“General of the Armies of the United States” and specified that
he would forever rank above all officers of the United States
Army, past and present.
Officer’s coat and waistcoat worn by
General Washington, 1770s-1780s.
Which president was the first to throw out the
Q:
ceremonial first pitch of the baseball season?
William Howard Taft. As a child Taft loved the game of
A:
baseball. His large girth made it difficult for him to be a
competitive base runner, but he was a good hitter. Taft threw
out the first ball of the season on opening day 1910, and in
doing so started a long tradition of presidential participation in
the national pastime. He was, however, unable to attend the
Washington Senators opener in 1912 because he was
mourning the loss of his dear friend and military aide, Major
Archibald Butt, who had died in the Titanic disaster.
Taft’s opening day toss to Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson, April 14, 1910. Butt is standing beside the president,
at right.