I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need to Know (13 page)

Big Shoes to Fill

Taft followed Theodore Roosevelt as president, and was always being compared to the popular Roosevelt. He never quite measured up, but he did accomplish several important things during his presidency. He made big businesses get in line, established the post office system, and set up the income tax system. He was the first president to use an official automobile and had the White House horse stables converted into a four-car garage.

PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS

Taft is the only former president to give the oath of office to other presidents. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Taft swore in Calvin Coolidge in 1925 and Herbert Hoover in 1929.

William Taft is the only person in American history to be head of two branches of the federal government: the executive branch (president) and the judicial branch (chief justice of the Supreme Court).

A New Tradition

A great lover of baseball as a boy (a strong hitter but not a great base runner), Taft established a tradition of the president throwing out the first pitch of the baseball season. He was also the first president to play golf; a lot of his critics thought he should spend more time at his desk and less on the golf course.

The Supreme Court

Taft’s dream was to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. Eight years after leaving the White House, President Harding gave him the job. He did very well there. “It is very difficult for me to understand,” said one judge, “how a man who is so good as chief justice could have been so bad as president.”

28th President ~ 1913–1921

WOODROW WILSON

Professor

“I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.”

Born

December 28, 1856 Staunton, Virginia

Political Party

Democrat

Vice President

Thomas R. Marshall

First Ladies

Ellen (died 1914) and Edith (married 1915)

Children

Margaret, Jessie, and Eleanor

Pet

Old Ike, a ram that chewed cigars and kept the White House lawn trimmed

Early Days

The son of a minister, Woodrow had a reading disorder and didn’t read well until he was 11 years old. He began working as a lawyer but got bored and decided to become a history professor instead. After working as a professor for several years, he was elected president of Princeton University. Democrats asked him to run for governor of New Jersey, and then for president.

A President for All People

As president, Wilson took on many big issues that affected everyone—child labor, the eight-hour workday, the right to strike, and the right for women to vote. He also created government agencies to take control of the money supply and keep an eye on big business.

World War I

When World War I broke out in Europe, President Wilson tried his best to keep the U.S. out of the war. But when German submarines threatened U.S. ships, he decided that America had to participate. Once in the war, he threw the full power of the U.S. at the enemy—more than one million U.S. troops were sent to Europe. At the same time he worked around the clock to find a way to get lasting peace from the sacrifice (10 million soldiers died at a cost of $300 billion). As someone who helped negotiate the treaty that ended the war, he wanted World War I to be the war that ended war for good.

PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS

Woodrow Wilson was the first president to go to Europe while in office. He led the American peace delegation to Paris in 1919.

Wilson is the first—and so far only—president buried in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Edith are buried in the National Cathedral.

With that in mind, Wilson suggested the world create an organization—a League of Nations—where every nation, big and small, would work together to maintain world peace. But he couldn’t get Congress to approve it. Years later, the idea would be reborn as the United Nations.

A Great Leader

Many historians today put Woodrow Wilson in the top five of the all-time greatest presidents—along with Washington, Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts. Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his contributions to world peace.

FAMOUS FIRST LADIES

EDITH WILSON

October 15, 1872–December 28, 1961

The Secret President

Known as the “secret president” and the first woman to run the government, Edith Wilson took over many details of the presidency when her husband, Woodrow Wilson, had a stroke that left him unable to carry out the duties of president.

Two Marriages

The seventh of 11 children, Edith Bolling married Norman Galt when she was 24 and lived in Washington, D.C., as the wife of a well-to-do jewelry store owner.

Several years after her husband’s unexpected death, she met President Wilson, whose wife had died six months earlier. Wilson was immediately charmed by her. They became quickly engaged—although they kept the engagement a secret because it came so soon after his wife’s death—and married only nine months after they met.

FIRST LADY FIRST

Edith Wilson traveled to Europe while her husband was president, a first for a First Lady.

The President’s Companion

Edith Wilson became her husband’s constant companion and personal assistant. She traveled to Europe with him, golfed with him, and sat next to him at important White House dinners. He shared secret government information with her.

When the United States entered the war in 1917, the First Lady got involved with the war effort. She helped feed soldiers leaving for the war, rationed food, and even saved manpower and money by using sheep to keep the White House lawn trimmed.

The President’s Stroke

After Wilson’s stroke in 1919, the first lady hid the severity of his condition. She controlled who saw the president, so his cabinet, newspaper reporters, and the American people didn’t know how sick he really was. She screened his mail, decided what was important enough for him to see, and answered questions for him.

Always Mrs. Wilson

President Wilson never fully recovered from his stroke, and he retired from politics when his term was over. He died three years after he left the White House. Edith Wilson spent the rest of her life representing him at special occasions, even riding in President Kennedy’s inaugural parade. She died on her husband’s birthday in 1961.

FUN FACT

Edith Wilson owned and drove an electric car.

29th President ~ 1921–1923

WARREN G. HARDING

Wobbly Warren

“I’m not fit for this office and never should have been here.”

Born

November 2, 1865 Blooming Grove, Ohio

Political Party

Republican

Vice President

Calvin Coolidge

First Lady

Florence “Duchess”

Stepchild

Marshall Eugene DeWolfe

Pets

Laddie Boy, an Airedale terrier; Old Boy, an English bulldog; canaries

What Does a President Do?

Called by many the worst president the United States has ever had, Warren Harding worked hard to earn the title. His campaign slogan was “Back to Normalcy,” inviting Americans to turn back the clock to the simpler times before World War I—and before all the accomplishments of Woodrow Wilson.

Unfortunately, America took him up on it, and Harding won by a landslide. Once in office, Harding realized he really didn’t know what the job of president was. Never a deep thinker, Harding behaved as if all he had to do was look and act presidential, avoiding big issues whenever they came up. “I don’t know what to do or where to go,” he told a friend. “Somewhere there must be a book that talks all about it.”

A Few Good Men

Luckily, Harding had appointed three or four good, solid men to his cabinet, who kept the country from falling apart—men like Calvin Coolidge, Andrew Mellon, Charles Evans Hughes, and Herbert Hoover. But still, the good-natured and trusting “Wobbly Warren” let a gang of dishonest scoundrels into his administration, and they got busy taking bribes and breaking laws to make themselves rich. Harding would play poker with these men late into the night, drinking liquor (even though alcohol was illegal then). Harding even lost the White House dishes in a card game.