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Just a little something to celebrate a special American holiday!

1.  George Washington made one trip outside the North American seaboard in his life . . . to Barbados.  He caught smallpox there.
2.  John Adams acted as a defense attorney for the British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre.  Got'em off, too.
3.  Thomas Jefferson once sent Merriweather Lewis to Kentucky to retrieve a complete Mammoth skeleton from Big Bone Lick. (no jokes, please)
4.  James Madison was 5'4" and weighed under 100 pounds.  His wife called him "the Great Little Madison."
5.  James Monroe once broke up a swordfight between the British and French ambassadors at a White House State Dinner.
6.  John Quincy Adams enjoyed skinny dipping in the Potomac, and installed the first billiards table in the White House.
7.  Andrew Jackson was the only President to have killed a man in a duel.  He also carried a pistol ball in his shoulder from a duel he DIDN'T win.
8.  Martin van Buren was a widower who enjoyed playing the harp.
9.  William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address on record . . . and had the shortest Presidency (28 days).
10. John Tyler fathered more children than any other President . . . and married his second wife while in office!
11. James K. Polk refused to delegate any of his duties to secretaries and worked 14 hour days . . . he died about two months after leaving office, of exhaustion.
12.  Zachary Taylor had never voted in a Presidential election prior to running for office.
13.  Millard Fillmore was the only actual Whig politician to serve as President - but the Whigs refused to nominate him for a term of his own because they had only won before with war hero candidates!
14.  Franklin Pierce and his wife saw their only son decapitated in a train wreck on the way to Washington for Pierce to be inaugurated.  She blamed him; he became a drunk.
15.  James Buchanan was the only bachelor President; persistent rumors say he may have been gay, but according to his family, he took a vow of celibacy when his fiance committed suicide.
16.  Abraham Lincoln was the only President to have a Patent on file with the U.S. Patent office.
17.  Andrew Johnson never attended school; his wife taught him to read when he was in his 20's.
18.  Ulysses Grant, who commanded the largest army in the bloodiest war America ever fought, hated the sight of blood.  His meat was to be cooked till "black on the outside and grey on the inside."
19.  Rutherford Hayes was a teetotaler who banned serving alcohol at White House functions; his wife was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" for this.
20.  James Garfield was shot in the back by an assassin, but that wasn't what killed him.  He died of gangrene from his doctors probing the wound with unwashed hands.
21.  Chester A. Arthur was a corrupt spoilsman who gained the Vice Presidency due to political compromise; as President he championed civil service reforms and got high marks for his honesty.
22.  Grover Cleveland personally hung two men while Sheriff of Erie County, NY.  He also had the youngest First Lady of any President; his wife Frances was  22 when he married her (at age 47) while in office.
23.  Benjamin Harrison wanted to be a doctor, not a politician.  He changed his mind when the medical cadaver he was supposed to dissect turned out to be his grandfather's corpse!
24.  Grover Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms, forever screwing up the way we count our Presidents.
25.  William McKinley wore a carnation on his lapel every day; he would give the flower to any man who visited his office who had a daughter at home, "to take to your little girl."
26.  Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to ride in a submarine, go up in an airplane, leave the U.S. while in office, run for a third term, win the Nobel Prize, win the Medal of Honor, go 3 rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world, explore an uncharted branch of the Amazon, and have a pet mountain lion while in the White House.  I LOVE THIS GUY!
27.  William Howard Taft got stuck in the White House bathtub.  Way to show that overachiever, Roosevelt, a thing or two!
28.  Woodrow Wilson was the only PhD to be elected President.  He was still a racist and a jerk.
29.  Warren G. Harding was nominated at the 1920 GOP Convention because he "looked Presidential."  There were second thoughts.
30.  Calvin Coolidge slept more and did less than any U.S. President.  He was a man of few words, whose life's motto was "Nothing I never said ever hurt me."
31.  Herbert Hoover is still remembered as a hero in Belgium, for organizing food relief there after World War I.  He outlived his Presidency by 31 years, dying in 1964.
32.  Franklin D. Roosevelt was third cousins to Theodore Roosevelt and third cousin, once removed, to his wife Eleanor (whose maiden name was also Roosevelt).
33.  Harry S Truman once famously threatened to break the nose of a critic who gave his daughter, Margaret, a nasty review after her music recital.
34.  Dwight Eisenhower was the last President born in the 19th century.
35.  John F. Kennedy swam several miles with a badly injured back, towing a wounded shipmate by holding the man's life vest in his teeth, after the PT-109 sunk.
36.  Lyndon Johnson quit his post in Congress to join the Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor, nearly getting shot down by a Japanese flying ace before FDR ordered all 50 Congressmen and Senators who had left Washingto to fight in the war to return to their jobs.
37.  Richard Nixon was an honorary member of the NAACP and a close friend to Martin Luther King while serving in the Congress.
38.  Gerald Ford once got locked out of the White House while walking the dog, and had to sit on the steps in his bathrobe until the White  House butler arrived and let hm back in.
39.  Jimmy Carter was chased by a "killer rabbit" while out jogging one day.  At least, that's what he told the Secret Service.
40.  Ronald Reagan was forbidden to serve in combat during WW2 because of his bad eyesight.  He actually failed to recognize his own children on occasion.
41. George H.W. Bush was the youngest Navy pilot to win the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II - at age 19.
42.  Bill Clinton was actually born William Jefferson Blythe.
43.  George W. Bush was close friends with Lt. Governor Bob Bullock while he was Governor of Texas - even though Bullock was a lifelong Democrat who campaigned for Bush's opponent, Anne Richards.
44.  Brack Obama was the first President to name a former member of the Communist Party as a policy advisor.

Like em or love em, America's Presidency has produced some truly remarkable men.  All of them are unique and worth studying, and the politics is one sport that never has an off season.  As one author put it, "the Founding Fathers invented a glorious game."

During his 1912 campaign as the Bull Moose candidate Teddy Roosevelt was shot in the chest by a would-be assassin. Roosevelt decided the wound wasn't serious since he wasn't coughing up blood and went on to deliver a 90 minute speech with blood seeping from his chest.

Indy is right - You gotta love this guy.

Indeed.

I'm currently reading a biography called "Colonel Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris (http://www.amazon.com/Colonel-Roosevelt-Edmund-Morris/dp/0375504877/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298344401&sr=8-1).  Fascinating dude.

Questions, though:

In that book, Morris claims the Eleanor that was the Roosevelt cousin was NOT the Eleanor that Franklin married.  Is there some confusion on this?

Also, I thought I read that Teddy and Franklin were fifth cousins, not third, but I could be remembering wrong.

Still...this guy is one EVERYONE should study in depth.  How I yearn for such a leader (of either party) today...

A former member of the Communist party!!   :teddyr: A former member of the Communist party!!! 
Poor li'l ol RON REAGAN. 

There were two Eleanor Roosevelts - one was the wife of one of TR's sons, the other his niece who married FDR.  Who was, incidentally, a FIFTH cousin. Thanks for the correction.  I did all those from memory, and yes, my own historical and political biases did show through in a few places (in case someone didn't notice).  Harry Truman, Grover Cleveland, and Andrew Jackson are my favorite Democrats.  Harding, Harrison, and Coolidge are my LEAST favorite Republicans.

Did you put this list together, indianasmith? If so, bravo!

I remember listening to the audiobook version of the first volume of Dumas Malone's exhaustive biography of Thomas Jefferson, and hearing at one point Jefferson's direct involvement towards a new law involving bestiality. That's the sort of historical tidbit which makes me ridiculously happy.

That book is the same reason I know Thomas Jefferson's horse was named Caractacus, which was correctly brought up on the show 30 Rock.

And on this note, I'd like to recommend Cracked's The 5 Most Badass Presidents of All-Time
http://www.cracked.com/article_15895_the-5-most-badass-presidents-all-time.html (http://www.cracked.com/article_15895_the-5-most-badass-presidents-all-time.html)

The list is purely out of my own memory; Presidential history is a hobby of mine from way back.

As for the Cracked list:  A few factual errors, but I can't argue with any of their picks, except possibly Adams.  Had they not put TR at the top I would have had to nuke them.

Just think of the retarded crap that would be added to the list if Sarah Palin became President.

First President to shoot a moose from a helicopter?

I'd vote for that!

President Truman's threatening to beat up a critic went something like "I have never met you but if I do, you'll need a new nose, plenty of beefsteak and a supporter below."  :buggedout: :buggedout:

Lol, except that WAAAAY illegal in AK. You can't use a heli for hunting in any way, as in you can't fly in or out in a heli.

Factual errors?  anything major?

Also, I'd like to say that this pic is totally awesome!

(http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/1/3/41913.jpg?v=1)

They've been having a good President series on PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIANCE the last couple of weeks. So far they've had Reagan and Carter.

I've never forgiven Ford-a Michigander! for pardoning Tricky Dick. And it pre-empted Jack Palance in DRACULA!!!!  :hatred:

Jimmy Carter saw a ufo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrJeBCi47ME
 Obama comments on aliens from space...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmJnFZy-PtU
as does Harry Truman....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVFILFYFxtg

Of course Regean's couple of speechs on aliens....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK-XATA-5gs

Clinton on alien life....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3F3CXspsuo

O! and this of course....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0BdMDhtYfg

 :twirl:

Looks like Nixon was having some acne issues in that last clip . . .

Honestly, while a lot of Americans wanted to see Nixon tried and sent to prison,
I think Ford did the right thing.  Nixon was out of office, disgraced, and his health
had totally collapsed.  The trial would have killed him.  And, let's be honest - as
seedy and sad as it was, Watergate killed no one, hurt no one, and robbed no one.
Nixon was going to win in '72 regardless of political dirty tricks - which is what
makes the whole tawdry mess so pitiful.  The man destroyed himself in a needless
scandal over an election he was going to win anyway.

Around the time of Watergate, schoolkids in the then Rhodesia were singing "Ladies and gentlemen, grubs and ants, President Nixon's lost his pants!" Being confused ~ more than usual, actually  :tongueout: ~ I took this home and my Dad told me what had happened to Nixon and why.

Nixon was NOT a bad president. In fact, he's one of the finest presidents we've had post WWII. He is so demonized that people fail to realize just how socially progressive he was, and how respectful of free speech he was. He welcomed criticism of the Vietnam War, a war that LBJ supported and escalated, and which Nixon ended.

Over time, people are starting to realize these things, but it would have been nice to have realized it in 1974. Personally, I would much rather have Nixon as our president now than ANY of the presidents since.

Actually-I agree somewhat.SOMEWHAT. BUT-you can't forgive him for what Watergate did to the already low moral of this country.It was a crime. He should pay.
As for him getting us outta Nam-he escalated the war by secretly bombing Cambodia. Of course he got us out eventually-he had to.
No-I dont think he was the worst President ever. He did many good thinks-his forgien policy was admirable-especially in regards with China. But the best since his term? I dunno....
Waittaminnite....hmmm-Ford,Carter,Reagen,Bush,Clinton,Bush Jr....hmmm....well...you may have a point there.
Lets see what Obama will (or wont-aint done much yet) do...

PS So people have political jab at me-I actually was gonna vote for Ross Perot!!!!

 :bouncegiggle:

I came very close to voting for Ross Perot myself. Nothing wrong with that. I've been a third-party guy for about 15 years now. I have voted for libertarian candidates almost exclusively all that time. Yes, I am a Ron Paul supporter. If he runs he has my full support, whether he runs Repub or third party. I really hope, however, he runs third-party, as he may actually be able to finally break the two-party barrier. Goodness I hate the two-party system. Sometimes I wonder if they are actually working together to destroy our way of life.

There's not much use trying to argue with me over it. I probably won't be swayed, and even if I WERE convinced that one is worse than the other, I don't buy into the "lesser of two evils" argument. That's why I'm a third party guy. But go for it if you must.

Im all for a third party systm.Or fourth,or fifth-(yeah a fifth!  :drink:)
Anyone remember Lydon LaRouche...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtwBp7zM1AU

He's still here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqMKQB_FQI

...and sometimes he (Bela help us!) makes sense!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qtgVPzOTcY

Of course this may just be a reflection on my political naivity and gulibility.
But of course its insane.
Yes-hes an alarmist. But he mixes the truth with his own agenda. But people less insane than this have come to power.
'Course Hitler made sense too.  :lookingup:

As to what obama hasn't done, copy this to your browser with http//. in front of it.

whattheheckhasobamadonesofar.com/?q=5

Also remember that President Obama has had the most obstructionist congress in history that has abused the filibuster constantly and has vowed to make him a one term president no matter what regardless of what happens to the country in the meantime.

BTW, the same people who are doing everything against obama expected democrats to drop to their knees before bush, and to bow to thr will of the people when it votes republican, but then defy the will of the people when it votes democrat.

Hypocritical scum.

Hmm. I agree. Obama has been stonewalled. I think he could do great things. IF given the chance.

I hope you didnt call me Hypocritical scum. Imnot hypocritical. Scum-maybe. But not hypocritical.

Actually I was unclear, RC. I was not calling you scum. Sorry if it looked that way and I'd edit it if I could.

I was calling and do call the republican party hypocritical scum and without apology.

They demanded the democrats bow to bush on every issue, accused those who dissented of treason and now do everything they can to obstruct and abuse president obama. They defied and spat on the will of the people and their vote wqhen it wernt for change and healthcare reform, now demand that the people's wishes be respected when it went republican.

 The republican party is a putrid mass of hypocritical scum.

No doubt where your political lines are drawn.

We're a fairly tight community here, and while we sometimes and even often disagree, we try to refrain from name-calling. It's a bad movie site, not a political one, but we do try to have thoughtful discussions in the off topic forum, and sometimes frequently. If you take the time to hang around you will probably find out how largely respectful and mature the discussions usually are despite the disagreements. Statements like "the republican party is a putrid mass of hypocritical scum," or "the democrats are nothing but a bunch of unpatriotic traitors" are neither respectful nor mature.

I agree-it should be...but Im guilty of doing it myself....

http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,122960.0.html

Of course by reading my posts on that old thread you will see-Im not big on politics. I know what I like-and dont. I basically go on gut. My gut says most Republicans are for the rich-and most Democrats go for the liberal rich. And us po white trash and minorites-(like the American Indians-who are really s**t on-yeh-whoppie-they got casinos-makes up for genocide? The sick concept of Manifest Destiny? Hitler was a fan,Im sure. ) are left holding holding an empty bag.

GODWIN'S LAW!  :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

Wow. I had no idea what Godwin's Law was. I looked it up.
Guilty as charged.  :bluesad:
Still-Manifest Destiny DID equal genocide. And you can call it Manifest Destiny or Ethnic Cleansing-its still genocide. Murder.
But that has nothing to do with ...ugh...what were we talking about...? Oh yeah-um-Presidents. My favorite is Abe Lincoln. Or Franklin Roosevelt.

As a lifelong Republican and proud Reagan supporter, I welcome the opinions and debate that are typical of this forum - as embodied by the fun and spirited discussions I've had with Flick, Ronnie, and others.

Mr. "Liberal and Proud" - frankly, your tone is beyond the level of rhetoric that we tolerate here in our BadMovies Family.  We may disagree, but we actually LIKE each other and respect our differences.

I will second Flick - hang around, see how things are here, get to know us, and then take part in our occasional political discussion.

Or leave.

Or simply keep it up as you have been and this thread will get locked, and several veteran members will have their lovely repartee terminated because one GUEST refused to play by the rules.

Sincerely,
A Mass of Hypocritical Putrid Scum
AKA "Indiana Smith"

Just pokin' a little fun at ya. I've been guilty of it myself. Godwin's Law cracks me up. It was intended as a humorous concept by the college professor whom it was named after, but at the same time shows the tendency in people to eventually resort to Hitler or the Nazis in online debates. It's the ultimate trump card, and once brought up, most debates dissolve and can go no further. It's an interesting phenomenon. I think Godwin's Law is legit despite it's humorous intent, but mostly I find it humorous.

It was rumored Warren Harding was murdered by his wife.

Gaston Means wrote a book in the early thirties titled The Strange Death of President Harding in which he announced the first lady Florence Harding, know as 'The Duchess', more or less admitted to him she had poisoned Harding on his ill-fated cross country train ride.

The idea was Mrs. Harding killed her husband to stave off the upcoming scandals about to be revealed about his administration and because she caught him schtumping his mistress Nan Britton in the Oval Office closet. Means cast himself in the role of a determined investigator who was gonna blow the lid off the whole sorid mess.

Conveniently Florence Harding had been dead several years when the book was published. Mean's theories have since been proven to be so much hog wash... or have they?!?  :buggedout:

As late as the early 80s our local library still had a copy of Means' book and I actually read it! I just checked and Means' astonishing book is still in print and available to order.

(http://www.clevelandwomen.com/images/women-history/warren-florence-harding.jpg)
The Duchess tries to determine how much arsenic it would take to
knock off a big man like her hubby, President Warren G. Harding

I want to go back to talking about how badass Roosevelt was!

I'll vote for that. We could make it a "Teddy Roosevelt Facts" thing.

Fact: When Teddy Roosevelt goes swimming, he doesn't get wet, the water gets Teddy Roosevelt.

 :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

Bully!

Only 42 when McKinley died, Roosevelt was the youngest man ever to hold the office of president.

Roosevelt was permanently blinded in one eye during a White House boxing match.

While president Roosevelt invented a steam-powered jet pack and often was seen buzzing political opponents and dropping bags of moose crap on their heads.

Roosevelt was unfortunately an early supporter of the income tax which was eventiually established under Wilson. nothing baddass about that.

Oh hush, Lester, we're having fun here! :teddyr:

Actually true:  TR was so heartbroken when his first wife died that he erased every trace of her from his life - destroyed all her pictures and letters, and never publicly spoke her name again.  For him to acknowledge grief would have been a weakness.


He also shot a Spaniard in the face at point blank range on San Juan Hill.

TR Quote:  "Never hit someone if you can honorably avoid doing so.  But if you must hit, never hit soft!"

NAN BRITTON supposedly had her baby in the front bedroom, north, of a house in Asbury Park, NJ.  My friend had owned that house for many years and everybody used it to go to the beach in the summer.  Many times I slept in the "birthing room" as my friend called it.   :lookingup: :smile:  HARDING apparently stirred up a lot of dirt, BRITTON wrote a book too called "The President's Daughter" ...  :buggedout: :bouncegiggle:  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_President%27s_Daughter_%28book%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_President%27s_Daughter_%28book%29)

That's about the coolest thing I've ever read!  :thumbup:

I'm sure my friend still has the copy of "The President's Daughter" that he tracked down.  He also had a large framed article about his house from the Asbury Park Press.  He sold that house nearly 20 years ago; it's on Bond Street. 

the idea of republican praising the father of modern big government is a little shocking. Then again, not really  :cheers:

That's one thing we have in common lester: a shared realization of the twin evils of the two-party system. Just two sides of the same damn coin, my friend. Rock on.  :cheers:

That having been said, from a purely non-partisan stance, I have to agree that the persona of the man, at the very least, is indeed badass.

Which 20th century President did not live in The White House during much of his term?

Get yer facts straight!  Carter was canoeing when he was attacked by an amphibious "swamp rabbit."  http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/950/what-was-the-deal-with-jimmy-carter-and-the-killer-rabbit

Well, JFK reportedly slept quite a few nights outside the White House... he took a personal interest in "polling the constituency."  :wink:

HARRY TRUMAN.

You are CORRECT, sir!

When the Trumans moved in they discovered the White House was literally falling down around their ears. Truman ordered a massive restoration/renovation which involved gutting the whole structure. He and Bess moved across the street to Blair House during the renovation.

Thought I would bump this thread I posted five years ago in honor of the occasion!

Another fact: Trevor will not be declaring his candidacy for President.  :wink: