Thank you for that. :)
Verrrry Interrrresting!
Posted on 06/28/2009 7:51:11 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
I don't know why (maybe it's on a lesson plan for schools around the country) but this little question with a quick answer (and one that is quickly found in any ready reference) has been asked of me so often that I finally decided to list the answer here.
The answer is John Adams (second President) and Thomas Jefferson (third President). These two men died on the same day. But that's not all; read on....
The question with an even more interesting answer is, "On which day did they die?"
Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. The fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As we all know, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration in committee with John Adams (and Benjamin Franklin).
After George Washington retired from the Presidency, John Adams became President and Thomas Jefferson became Vice-President. The two men had disagreed politically throughout the Washington Administration, and were only both elected because in those days, whomever came in second in the Presidential vote became Vice-President. During the Adams Administration, the two differed on almost every issue, and Jefferson defeated Adams and took the Presidency in 1800. To make a long story short, although they had worked together in the cause for independence, Adams and Jefferson became truly bitter enemies when political parties began to form around each of them.
Luckily, Adams and Jefferson reconciled in their retirement and they became the absolute best of friends as they lived out their final years. Both men were conscious of living to see the fiftieth Fourth of July, and both, despite knowing they were on their death beds, made genuine efforts to hang on to dear life until the day had come.
John Adams's final words were (supposedly), "Thomas Jefferson survives." But he was wrong. Jefferson had died just hours earlier at Monticello.
Five years to the day after Adams and Jefferson died -- on July 4, 1831 -- the fifth President, James Monroe, passed away. So three presidents have died on the same date: July 4th.
One more Presidential fact about the Fourth of July. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born in Vermont on July 4th, 1872!
I heard Mark Davis discuss this amazing and interesting coincidence and thought I'd post it for your Trivia Information and fun! :)
Sort of an early post in anticipation of the upcoming Independence Day celebration this coming Saturday.
Pingin’ my General Interest and TEXAS lists here!
Ping! Ping! Ping!
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And wishing y’all a(n early) VERY VERY Happy Independence Day!
When we visited the Madison Estate just 45 minutes north of Monticello (Jefferson’s home) on the tour they mentioned that Madison’s doctors told him he could be kept alive until the 4th of July if he wanted to die on that day. He died June 28, 1836...
We’ll never see great men like our founding fathers again-our country is too full of self-obsessed narcissists and our people have turned their backs on the One True God and Lord who gave us this great country and its principles. We are NO LONGER “One Nation Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”...
And the American idea that they so carefully constructed breathed its last on Nov 4, 2009.
What it meant to Adams and Jefferson to live to see another 4th of July had to be truly something.
Today, we just take the 4th of July for granted. With 0 in office, it could be eliminated to celebrate his Azzness day.
Thank you!
My sweetie is a schoolteacher (Southside Chicago) private Catholic school.
I’m always alert for really cool trivia so he can impress his students. Teachers these days have to be part-entertainers, you know?
I already sent this to his INBOX!
:)
That was in a time when they had terrible personal disagreements; but they loved their new nation and knew it was the best hope for liberty and freedom.
We still have people like that; we just need to get them into power.
Thanks for the ping!
James Monroe also died on the Fourth, five years later. And Coolidge was born on the Fourth.
That’s always been my favorite political coincidence — though, as you point out, maybe it wasn’t pure happenstance; one or both may well of delayed his death until that day by pure force of will.
Another great American died on Independence Day: Senator Jesse Helms (October 18, 1921 — July 4, 2008).
You said — I heard Mark Davis discuss this amazing and interesting coincidence and thought I’d post it for your Trivia Information and fun! :)
—
And they were both writing to one another...
Senator Helms was a patriot.
He was a product of his times, like so many others. We all are, in fact.
And he surely deserved better when he passed than he got, given the long lens of history, which I suspect will be kind to him.
The two actually were friends during the Revolution, started to drift apart in Washington’s terms, then became bitter enemies from about 1796-1810, then slowly began to reconcile and write each other.
great show. Set the DVR if your going to out watching fireworks, (unless they're to be banned due to globust warbling!P
This is a remarkable fact. One of the neat, if lesser known things about the founders. Of course NEA members are more concerned today with teaching the proper method of putting a condom on a cucumber than enlightening students about the great men who helped create this nation.
Yep! Which reminds of the phrase from Star Wars when obozo won: “So this is how liberty dies: to thunderous applause.”
I had not known that they reconciled. I always thought that Adams’ last words were “...and yet Jefferson survives.”
Live and learn.
I have mentioned this several times. Was providence at hand or what, when the voice and the pen of the declaration died on the day of the glorious celebration of the 50th year of that hallowed document. Thanks for posting and God rest their souls. Let us give thanks that men like these two lived.
There was a funny question used in the game Trivial Pursuit, some years ago, which asked “How many US Presidents are not buried in the United States?”
The most common wrong guesses were “George S. Patton”, followed by “George Kennedy”, the actor.
The correct response, now at least, would be five. Carter, H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush, and Obama.
Another great American died on Independence Day: Senator Jesse Helms (October 18, 1921 — July 4, 2008).””
Yes, there are still good men willing to stand for what is right in the face of political correctness/tyranny. God rest his soul too.
And Stephen C. Fpster the composer of MY OL KENTUCKY HOME and SWANEE RIVER (both state songs)was born on that day.
They had been enemies for years but I read somewhere they reconciled before they died, hope so.
Probably few people (except for FReepers) could name the U.S. President not born in the United States, either.
Coolidge was also almost the last President who truly embodied the values of the Declaration. Liberal historians have made him nothing but a joke because he didn't yack about govt. all the time, like Hussein.
I carry a small US Constitution booklet in my Day Planner and that fact is listed in the “Facts about the Founders” section.
The first US president who was not born a British subject was Martin Van Buren. The last president who had been born a British subject was William Henry Harrison.
This concidence resonated strongly in the nation at the time. For those who have not seen the miniseries, “John Adams,” I recommend it. The actors who played Adams and Jefferson bring vividly to life the two men. I commend especially the actor who played Jefferson, capturing his shyness. A great writer and conversationist, but a hesitant orator. It is said that and his inauguration he spoke so softly that he could only beheld by those in the front rows.
Coolidge was the last, or one of the last President who could read Greek. Not a hick at all, he was a snappidresser, Loquacious in private. He was popular with the White House staff. His wife was a dream. He would wonder into the kitchen to get a snack. When he heard that the roof leaking up in the servants’ quarters, he went up to inspect the damage, and made sure that it got patched up. The black staff members found the New Englanders a relief after the bigoted Wilson, and were totally frozen by the imperious Hoovers. As for policy, his concept of the Presidency was pre-progressive, conservative in the McKinley sense. That’s why the historian hate him.
During the Adams Administration, the two differed on almost every issue...
Including the payment of tribute to the Barbary pirates.
...and Jefferson defeated Adams and took the Presidency in 1800.
And then Jefferson beefed up the Navy and sent the Marines to trounce the Islamic pirate states in the first Barbary war.
In 1786 he had heard firsthand from Tripoli's ambassador that
"It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once."
Thankfully it stuck with him so that 15 yrs later he was prepared to act. I wonder what he'd say today about today's Islam (which still practices the above) and the West's passive reaction to it.
Even though I already knew this, Thank You so much for posting it!
It's all about the remembering, you know just like The Alamo, Pearl Harbor, The 4th of July...
It gets my emotions in an uproar, and this year I have to try and force myself into celebrating freedom on the heels of a disastrous 0bamonation.
While I celebrate the birth of the greatest nation on Earth, my heart weeps with anxiety for her future.
Come on America, let's show our spirit and resolve, and that we truly do still have our sense of right & wrong.
If I were truly religious (which I think I am, more-so than I know) I might pray something like this:
Almighty God, please guide us along the path of righteousness,
let us gather our strength from one another,
encourage each other,
unite with one another,
and be wise enough to travel the right course.
Let us also heed and take comfort in the signs you send us, because as our ultimate leader,
you show us the way.
Amen
Very interesting note re James Madison, thanks.
I think our Founding Fathers are spinning in their
graves seeing what the Socialists/Marxists/Fascists
are doing to wreck their great work! :(
Sorry for the late reply. I posted this article and
flew off to work for the day right after.
Thanks to you and to all for the very nice replies here. :)
Hey! That is very cool you sent him this.
I bet his students will find this as fascinating as I did.
Thanks!! :)
Aye! You’ve nailed it.
** Thanks for posting and God rest their souls.
Let us give thanks that men like these two lived. **
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Thank YOU!
And Amen !!
hehe!
Excellent. :)
Thank you for that. :)
Amen to ALL of that, my friend!!!!
Thank you.
Very profound! FRegards, and happy Fourth of July! Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness [and property]!
God speaks to us in subtle ways, doesn’t He?
I prefer to think that it is just taking a little nap for now. But it'll wake up.
I prefer to think that it is only taking a little nap for now, but when it wakes up, it's going to be grumpy and in a very nasty mood.
I love this sort of trivia. I live about an hour & half from Speigel Grove... Rutherford B Hayes museum, home etc. Last time there a few weeks ago I picked up a few books & several of them had tidbits like this. One was on the first ladies.. ending with Laura (whew).. that was really fascinating.
Have a great day Meek.. gotta run now..as usual running late
Amen on that one
Happy Birthday, America!
I’m running late, too! Gotta fly outta here now. :)
I bet at sometime in their lives, President Grant and Farce Lady Obama had a fifth on the fourth.
I’ll drink to that! :)
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