I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need to Know (4 page)

PRESIDENTIAL FIRST

When the British marched on Washington, President Madison left the White House to review the American troops getting ready to defend the city. While he was reviewing the troops, fighting started. He became the first and only president to command on the field while he was president.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” is a poem about the British bombarding Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812, which the U.S. eventually won.

Personal Notes

At five-foot-four and 100 pounds, Madison was the smallest of all the presidents. He was the first president to stop wearing knickers and start wearing long pants. He graduated from the College of New Jersey, which eventually became Princeton. He had a scar on his nose and used to joke that he got it defending his country—actually, it was from frostbite he got riding his horse home from a debate on a cold, cold night. After two terms, he retired to his home in Virginia and helped Thomas Jefferson build the University of Virginia and work on ending slavery.

FUN FACT

James Madison was called the “Father of the Constitution” because he worked very hard to create it, but he wanted to give credit to other people who worked on it, too. He said that the Constitution was “the work of many heads and many hands.”

FAMOUS FIRST LADIES

DOLLEY MADISON

May 20, 1768–July 12, 1849

Saving a Symbol

A gracious hostess, Dolley Madison is remembered for saving a famous portrait of George Washington—an important American symbol—when the British set fire to the White House during the War of 1812.

Two Marriages

Dolley Payne was born into a family in North Carolina that freed their slaves and moved to Philadelphia. At the age of 21, she married John Todd, who died—along with their infant son—from yellow fever only three years later. Not long after his death, she met James Madison, the congressman from Virginia, who would later become president. They married when she was 26 and he was 43, and they eventually moved to Washington when President Jefferson made Madison his secretary of state.

A Beloved Hostess

Jefferson, a widower, asked Dolley Madison to serve as his hostess at the White House, a job she loved and did gracefully and extremely well. She was able to use her hostess experience when her husband became president, making all visitors feel welcome and important. One of the best-loved presidential wives, she used her warm personality to make the White House the center of Washington’s lively social life.

FIRST LADY FIRST

Dolley Madison hosted the first official inaugural ball at Long’s Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 1809. Four hundred guests paid $4 each to attend.

The War of 1812

When the British army marched toward the White House in 1814, about to set it on fire, Dolley Madison refused to leave until a portrait of George Washington was taken down from the wall and sent away to protect it from being destroyed. She packed up important papers, silverware, and other valuable items before fleeing the White House herself.

Retirement

The Madisons left the White House in 1817 and retired to their home in Virginia. When the her husband died in 1836, Dolley Madison moved back to Washington, D.C., where Congress gave her a seat in the House of Representatives (which had never been done for any other American woman). She died at the age of 81 in the nation’s capital.

FUN FACT

President Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison “our first lady for a half-century” at her funeral in 1849. The term “First Lady” stuck and has been popular since Abraham Lincoln was president.

5th President ~ 1817–1825

JAMES MONROE

Era of Good Feelings President

“Our country may be likened to a new house. We lack many things but we possess the most precious of all—liberty!”

Born

April 28, 1758 Westmoreland County, Virginia

Political Party

Democratic-Republican

Vice President

Daniel D. Tompkins

First Lady

Elizabeth

Children

Eliza, James, and Maria

Pet

A spaniel belonging to Maria

A Young Patriot

James Monroe’s parents died when he was a teenager, and he was in college at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, when the Revolutionary War started. He was just 17 when he and a bunch of his classmates raided the British armory at the Governor’s Mansion down the street and got away with 200 muskets and 300 swords, which they sneaked to the Virginia militia.

Monroe became an officer in Washington’s army when he was only 18 and rose to the rank of major. He was with General Washington when he crossed the Delaware and was with him during that dreadful winter at Valley Forge. He was terribly wounded and nearly killed capturing the British cannons at Trenton, New Jersey.

New States: Slave or Free?

After the war, Monroe joined Thomas Jefferson’s law practice and studied to become a lawyer. By the time Monroe ran for president, America was enjoying an economic boom. He got every electoral vote except one—and that delegate said he voted against Monroe only so that George Washington would be the only president ever elected unanimously. The good feelings did not last, however. In 1819, the U.S. fell into an economic depression. Then people started arguing about whether Missouri should join the United States as a slave state or as a non-slave state. President Monroe signed a compromise, which said that Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be a free state. The Missouri Compromise led to even more debates about whether slavery would be allowed in new states and territories.

Monroe pressured Spain into selling Florida to the U.S. In fact, during his two terms, the number of states in the United States increased from 15 to 24.

PRESIDENTIAL FIRST

James Monroe was the first president to tour the country. He spent 15 weeks traveling from Washington, D.C., to Maine, then Detroit, and then back to the capital. His trip helped him to learn a lot about the country he was leading.

FUN FACT

Among the first five U.S. presidents, Monroe was the third to die on Independence Day. He died on July 4, 1831.

The Monroe Doctrine

James Monroe is probably best known for the Monroe Doctrine, which told European kings and queens they couldn’t start new colonies in the Americas. The Monroe Doctrine was drafted by the secretary of state—and future president—John Quincy Adams.

6th President ~ 1825–1829

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Old Man Eloquent

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

Born

July 11, 1767 Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts

Political Parties

Federalist, Democratic-Republican, Whig

Vice President

John C. Calhoun

First Lady

Louisa

Children

George Washington, John, Charles, and Louisa

Pet

An alligator

World Traveler

When he was eight years old, John Quincy Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from his farm near Boston. At 10 he traveled with his father, John Adams, to Europe and learned to speak French and Dutch. While he was still a teenager, he got a job with the U.S. embassy in Russia. By the time he came home and graduated from Harvard, he figured his career would be in international diplomacy.

Political Career

Adams was an ambassador under President Washington and under his father, John Adams, the second president; a U.S. senator under President Jefferson; an ambassador under President Madison; and secretary of state under President Monroe.

Being president of the United States was his least favorite job. He wanted the government to start building lots of bridges and roads so the United States could grow and prosper, but he couldn’t convince Congress to spend the money. Why? He refused to play party politics, making deals and promises and trades for this and that. He stuck instead to his principles and ended up making lots of enemies.

FUN FACTS

John Quincy Adams loved science. He wanted the government to build an astronomical observatory and pay for scientific expeditions, but the public didn’t share his passion, so no observatory was built during his presidency.

Adams refused to take his presidential oath of office with his hand on the Bible—he thought the Bible should be used for religious purposes only. Instead, he placed his hand on a book of laws (that included the Constitution) as he took his oath.