12 Things You Didn't Know About U.S. Presidents (FREEPers Exempted)

Encarta, Microsoft's Encyclopedia Online ^ | 11/4/03

[Recovering_Democrat]

12 Things You Didn't Know About U.S. Presidents

Not only were these men leaders of our country--they were multitalented, unique, and even downright quirky. We've heard a lot about their contribution to United States history. But would you have guessed the following...?

1. First U.S. president George Washington rejected a movement among army officers to make him king of the United States.

2. Andrew Jackson, 7th U.S. president, dueled with Charles Dickinson after he insulted Jackson's marriage. Jackson let his opponent fire first, giving himself time to take aim. Jackson took a bullet in the chest and, without flinching, calmly killed his man.

3. James Buchanan, 15th U.S. president and the first unmarried man to be elected president, reportedly took great pride in his tiny feet, although he was a large robust man.

4. Often depicted wearing a tall black stovepipe hat, 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln carried letters, bills, and notes in his hat.

5. The 18th U.S. president, Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but he changed his name because he did not like his monogram, HUG.

6. Both ambidextrous and multilingual, 20th president of the United States James Garfield could write Greek with one hand while writing Latin with the other.

7. William Taft, 27th president of the United States, weighed more than 300 pounds and had a special oversized bathtub installed in the White House.

8. The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson allowed sheep to graze on the White House lawn during World War I; their wool helped raise money for the Red Cross.

9. The 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford turned down offers to play professional football for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.

10. As a young lifeguard at a riverside beach near Dixon, Illinois, future 40th U.S. president Ronald Reagan rescued 77 people from drowning.

11. An avid golfer, 42nd U.S. president Bill Clinton was infamous for taking a high number of "mulligans," or "do-overs" while playing. The only Rhodes-scholar president also developed a reputation for creative math skills in tallying his score; according to one report, Clinton once took some 200 swings to record a score of 82.

12. The 43rd U.S. president, George W. Bush was head cheerleader at Phillips Academy, a prep school in Andover, Massachusetts, where his father had been a legendary student leader and athlete. Nicknamed "Lip," George W. also organized an intramural stickball league at the school.

[Looking for Diogenes]

The result was that every single year that he was president George Washington has to take money (at times a considerable sum) out of his own pocket to make ends meet. Needless to say he did not like this for he was in no way a rich man, but felt the dignity of the office required it.

I had always thought Washington was one of the wealthier men in the colonies. Of course, as a planter that wealth may have been in land and slaves rather than cash.

There is a tension about how much to pay politicians. If they are paid large salaries then they are accused of enriching themselves at the public expense. If they are paid poorly only the wealthy can afford to serve.

Ambassadors to prestigious countries like the U.K. traditionally supplement the embassy entertainment budget out of their own pockets.

[MattAMiller]

Actually I've got to hand it to Bill. He's about as good at golf as I am and if I were President I'd probably go from just throwing clubs to nukeing the golf course.

[5veingrafts]

Garfield was shot in the lower back an lay in the hospital while doctors tried to locate the bullet so they could remove it.

Alexander G. Bell was called to bring his metal detector to help find the bullet. He made several tries each resulting in unsuccessful cutting by the doctors.

As a result of the doctors probing Garfield developed an infection and died.

It was later deduced that the detector was picking up false readings because of the metal bed springs.

--Smithsonian magazine a few months back.

[squidly]

I'm inclined to disagree with the characterization of Washington as being "in no way" a rich man. He was pretty well off.

[Veracious Poet]

You have a lot to learn about Executive Orders. ;-)

Executive Orders are a binding decree not authorized by the Constitution at all, I understand a thats AOK for most statist though...

BTW, EOs automatically become law (as applicable) in 90 days after draft, unless Congress petitions otherwise (as a result of the 1973 Senate action).

[Snickersnee]

Cite, please.

[Mad Dawgg]

"I'm inclined to disagree with the characterization of Washington as being "in no way" a rich man. He was pretty well off."

Actually he wasn't well off at all, until he married Martha.

[RandallFlagg]

Andrew Jackson received the scar on his face from a sword as a child. Apparently, he po'ed someone (I think he was a servant who spilled something).

[Ferret Fawcet]

bookmark

[Polybius]

George Wasingington's salary as POTUS was $25,000

Also in the "Did you know?" department:

It must be remembered, however, that a "Dollar" in George Washington's time was officially defined as a Spanish 8 Real coin which was a hefty sized chunk of high quality silver.

During British rule, the minting of coins was forbidden in the American colonies and over half of the circulating coinage in Britain's American colonies consisted of Spanish colonial coinage. If George Washington "threw a silver dollar" across any river, it would have been an 8 Real coin.

Since the Spanish coinage was familiar and trusted, Continental paper money was redeemable in Spanish "Dollars".

In 1792, Congress decided to do away with the British monetary units and defined the U.S. Dollar as a weight of 416 grains of silver (standard purity of 1485/1664). At the time the Spanish 8 Real "Dollar" was 417 grains. The U.S. Dollar was therefore equal to the Spanish Dollar with a tiny premium given to the Spanish Dollar itself. The Spanish 8 Real "Dollar" was officially made legal tender by an Act of Congress on February 9, 1793 and remained legal tender until it was demonetized on February 21, 1857, long after the Spanish colonial coinage ceased to be minted after the independence of Mexico and South America in 1827.

Since the U.S. Government produced a relatively low volume of U.S. coins in the early decades of the Republic, the Spanish Real coinage was still the most common coinage in circulation during those days. When U.S. banks began issuing paper money, some bank notes pictured Spanish Real coinage on the notes to stress to the wary public that the paper money was redeemable ( unless the bank failed) in hard currency.

The Spanish colonial coinage came in One Real, 2 Real, 4 Real and 8 Real coins. A One Real coin was nicknamed a "Bit" and was worth 1/8 of a U.S. Dollar or 12 1/2 U.S. Cents.

The old Spanish Dollars and "bits" are still with us in the old cheer:

"Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar"

[Veracious Poet]

http://www.rallye-pointe.com/em_powers.htm

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa121897.htm

There's a couple of links for ya...BTW I was wrong, EOs become law after 30 days.

After seeing your profile I can understand why you would find this info hard to believe...

Most people have no idea what has legally happened behind the scenes, a good place to start for ignorant Americans is the book "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin. ;-)