A Treasury of Great American Scandals (36 page)

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Authors: Michael Farquhar

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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
 
19) RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
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.
 
20) JAMES A. GARFIELD
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
 
21) CHESTER A. ARTHUR
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
 
22 AND 24) GROVER CLEVELAND
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
 
23) BENJAMIN HARRISON
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
 
25) WILLIAM MCKINLEY
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
 
26) THEODORE ROOSEVELT
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
 
27) WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
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
 
28) WOODROW WILSON
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
 
29) WARREN G. HARDING
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
 
30) CALVIN COOLIDGE
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
 
31) HERBERT C. HOOVER
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).
 
32) FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
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
 
33) HARRY S TRUMAN
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
 
34) DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
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
 
35) JOHN F. KENNEDY
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
 
36) LYNDON B. JOHNSON
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
 
37) RICHARD M. NIXON
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
 
38) GERALD R. FORD
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.
39) JAMES EARL CARTER
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.
 
40) RONALD W. REAGAN
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.
 
41) GEORGE H. W. BUSH
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.
 
42) WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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).
 
43) GEORGE W. BUSH
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).
Appendix II
A Brief History of the United States (through 1980)
(Events covered in this book are italicized.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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.”

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