ASPPA Connect on Hiatus Monday

ASPPA Connect will not appear on Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of Presidents Day. A comprehensive federal holiday born of the close proximity of the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, it’s more than just a day to sleep in — it was set aside in honor of our nation’s chief executives.

It’s a small group — a mere 44 out of the hundreds of millions who have been U.S. citizens for the last almost 239 years. And politics aside, they are a unique and interesting bunch. Following are some little-known facts about some of our presidents.

• John Adams (1797-1801) was the first president to live in the White House; they moved in in 1800. His wife, Abigail, strung laundry to dry in one of the rooms.
• Thomas Jefferson (1801-09) and John Adams died on the same day — July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years to the day after the U.S. declared independence.
• The first president born as a U.S. citizen was Martin Van Buren (1837-41), the 8th president, who was born in 1782 in New York State.
• Only four presidents took office because they won in the electoral college despite losing the popular vote: John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush (2000).
• William Henry Harrison (1841) had the shortest administration — one month. He also was the first to die in office, and at age 70 was the oldest man to win a presidential election (Reagan was 69 when he won in 1980).
• John Tyler (1841-45) was the first vice president to take office after the death of a president — when William Henry Harrison died.
• John Tyler had never voted before he became president.
• After leaving office, John Tyler went home to Virginia and married a second time; he fathered 15 children in all. And in 1861 he was elected to serve as a representative in the Confederate Congress.
• James Buchanan (1857-61) is the only president who was never married.
• Andrew Johnson (1865-69) never went to school. He taught himself to read and write with help from his wife and friends.
• Six presidents never fathered children: George Washington (1789-97), James Madison (1809-17), Andrew Jackson (1829-37), James K. Polk (1845-49), James Buchanan (1857-61) and Warren G. Harding (1921-23).
• U.S. Grant (1869-77), who not only had been president but also had been the commander of U.S. forces by the end of the Civil War, was virtually penniless toward the end of his life. But his memoirs, which he wrote just before he died, were critically acclaimed and sold well.
• Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-81) banned alcohol in the White House. His wife was known as “Lemonade Lucy.”
• Grover Cleveland (1885-89 and 1893-97) was the first president to marry in the White House, in 1886.
• Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) was the first president to have a Christmas tree in the White House, in 1889.
• Teddy Roosevelt (1901-09) at age 42 was the youngest man to become president when he assumed office when President McKinley died in office. The youngest man elected president was John F. Kennedy, who was 43 when he was elected.
• William Howard Taft (1909-13) really wanted more than anything to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He realized that dream when Warren Harding appointed him to that seat in 1921.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-45) was wheelchair-bound during his entire administration due to polio he contracted at age 38 in 1920 — but the media helped the administration keep that under wraps.
• The last major speech of Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61), who had been the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in World War II, warned of the hazards of the military-industrial complex.
• Only three presidents lost in a general election and came back to win in another one: Andrew Jackson (1824 and 1828), Grover Cleveland (1888 and 1892) and Richard Nixon (1960 and 1968).
• From August 8, 1974 to January 20, 1977, the United States was served by a president and vice president the people had not elected. Gerald Ford had been elected by the House of Representatives to be vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned that post in 1973, and became president when Richard Nixon resigned; the House elected Nelson Rockefeller to serve as vice president in 1974 when Gerald Ford became president.