Hall of the Presidents: a sketch experiment

Thirty-eighth President: Gerald R. Ford

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:58:00 +0000

Gerald Ford not only wasn't elected President - he wasn't elected to any national office at all! After Spiro Agnew abdicated the Veep position - and then pleaded guilty to tax evasion - Ford was chosen as his replacement. Then Nixon resigned in the wake of Watergate, and Ford began his unlikely administration.

Thirty-seventh President: Richard M. Nixon

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:35:00 +0000

I've definitely crossed the threshold now - rather than me giving you readers facts about Presidents, I should be asking you! You're certainly not going to learn much from me, a kid born during the Carter administration, right? Right.

So, then: what can you tell me about Richard Nixon?

Thirty-sixth President: Lyndon B. Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:05:00 +0000

LBJ was Kennedy's VP, of course, and was sworn in just hours after the assassination. They couldn't find a Bible at the time, and instead Johnson was sworn in using JFK's missal.

Thirty-fifth President: John F. Kennedy

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Sorry for the drought, loyal readers. All the Presidents in this series have come from the National Portrait Gallery, in which Mr. Kennedy is sadly underrepresented. His most prominent portrait is by Elaine de Kooning, whos abstract expressionist style doesn't really fit with my drawing goals. Instead, I found a photograph that's included in the gallery as well.

Thirty-fourth President: Dwight D. Eisenhower

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:26:00 +0000

I like Ike! Sure, we can thank Eisenhower for his pivotal role in WWII, for the space race, for a more powerful Social Security. But personally? I'm big, big fan of the Interstate Highway System. If you've ever driven 200 miles in less than three hours, then you should thank him too.

Thirty-third President: Harry S Truman

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:55:00 +0000

What you already know about Harry S Truman: thirty-third President, military officer, from Missouri and had to be shown stuff, FDR's final VP, narrowly defeated Dewey for reelection, saw the end of WWII and authorized nukes in Japan.

But did you know: his middle initial doesn't stand for anything? It's not an initial, really, it's his whole middle name: S.

Also: did not really have two mouths.

Thirty-second President: Franklin D. Roosevelt

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:56:00 +0000

FDR was one of our best-loved presidents: he saw the country through the Great Depression, another World War, and was elected four times! He was responsible for the New Deal, he supported Winston Churchill, and he brought the nation little-known senator Harry S Truman.

Thirty-first President: Herbert Hoover

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Hoover's presidency coincided with the Great Depression, and sadly that's just about all that we remember him for. It's too bad, really, as he was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian (organizing volunteer forces to help victims and refugees of World War I), and had a spotless career of government service.

Thirtieth President: Calvin Coolidge

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Coolidge was Harding's VP, and assumed the office after the President died. He was reelected for the next term. He was notoriously shy.

Twenty-ninth President: Warren G. Harding

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Warren G. Harding was widely considered good-looking, so you can assume I haven't done the man justice.

Twenty-eighth President: Woodrow Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:16:00 +0000

As a former professor, Woodrow Wilson was noted for his quiet fair-mindedness. He was nominated by his party because they expected him to be easy to dominate, but surprised them with a reforming streak that endeared him to the American public. He was reelected for a second term, and tried to keep the US out of World War I.

Twenty-seventh President: William Howard Taft

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:13:00 +0000

The march of mustaches continues!

Twenty-sixth President: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Teddy Roosevelt! Oh man, it's tough to draw the 'Rushmore Presidents.' Everybody knows exactly what they should look like.

Twenty-fifth President: WIlliam McKinley

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:16:00 +0000

Another assassination! Being President was a dangerous time between the Civil War and the turn of the century.

Twenty-third President: Benjamin Harrison

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:01:00 +0000

We just recently learned about Rutherford B. Haye's disputed election (Hayes lost the popular vote but won the needed electoral votes through a congressional committee and some backroom dealing), and now we come to another dynastic President, whose family connections got him into the running, and then helped him win a rigged election. Our modern-day election worries seem tame by comparison.

Benjamin Harrison was Old Tippecanoe's grandson (I think you can see the resemblance), and had a rather undistinguished political career before his candidacy for President. In the election of 1888, groups of electors literally sold their votes to the Republican party in New York and Indiana. The fraud was exposed at the time, known now as the Blocks of Five. Despite this blatant fraud and losing the popular vote by a wide margin, Harrison took the office anyway. He was promptly replaced at the end of his term by the rightful victor, Chester A. Arthur.

Twenty-second (and Twenty-fourth) President: Grover Cleveland

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:23:00 +0000

As every schoolchild knows, Grover Cleveland is our only President to have served two non-consecutive terms in office. He was defeated in 1888 by Benjamin Harrison, and then returned in 1892 to oust Harrison from office. Cleveland's early career included being the Sheriff of Erie County, the Mayor of Buffalo, and the Governor of New York.

Little-known fact (at least to us po' folks): Grover Cleveland used to be on the One Thousand Dollar Bill.

Twenty-first President: Chester A. Arthur

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:52:00 +0000

Do we need to disuss anything beyond this President's admirable facial hair? Probably not.

Twentieth President: James A. Garfield

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:33:00 +0000

James A. Garfield was the second President to be assassinated, and served the second-shortest term in office (after Ben Harrison, who caught a cold at his inauguration). He was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, who then exclaimed, "I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is President now!"

Nineteenth President: Rutherford B. Hayes

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:05:00 +0000

Rutherford B. Hayes! Hayes gets presidential points for 1. his very-fun-to-say name, and 2. his excellent facial hair. Chosen to counter Grant's notoriously corrupt administration, he was famous mostly for being inoffensive.

Hayes' election might ring some bells. His opponent in the election, Samuel J. Tilden won the actual popular vote (by around a quarter million), and the counts were hotly contested. At the time, a candidate needed 185 electoral votes to win: Tilden had 184, Hayes had 165, and 20 electoral votes from four states (one of them Florida) swung in the balance, contested based on charges of fraud and intimidation. A congressional committee was formed to give out the disputed votes. The committee was formed of 7 Republicans, 7 Democrats, and a supposedly 'swing' voter, Supreme Court Justice Bradley. Bradley, who was known for Republican leanings, tipped the scales to Hayes, but not before back-room deals assured both sides that Hayes would end the military occupation of the South.

Eighteenth President: Ulysses S. Grant

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:09:00 +0000

Grant earned his fame as the leading Union general during the Civil War. As president he was known to be amiable and scrupulously honest - but those character traits didn't extend to his administration. His political allies built a byzantine structure of patronage and cronyism, as can happen after wars.

Seventeenth President: Andrew Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Andrew Johnson, our seventeenth President, took up the office when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Johnson never selected a Vice President to fill his old position, in part because of his shaky relationship with both parties. While elected on a National Union ticket for Abe's second term, Johnson himself never allied with any party, and earned the ire of all of them.

That party status issue was emblematic of of Johnson's presidency. As President, he managed the first phase of the Reconstruction, throwing the Radical Republicans into a serious distemper. They rallied the legislature and impeached Johnson - twice, actually - but failed to rally enough votes to eject him from office.

Johnson never attended any school, ever, and claimed that his wife taught him to read and write.

Sixteenth President: Abraham Lincoln

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:38:00 +0000

I think we're all pretty familiar with Honest Abe - in fact I feel a bit funny trying to dig up little known facts about him. For further reading, I recommend this upcoming children's book.

Fifteenth President - James Buchanan

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Buchanan, our only bachelor President, is now considered one of the worst Presidents ever. Why? Well, his earlier diplomatic career was a mess, including a part in the Ostend Manifesto debacle. As President he oversaw the Dred Scott Decision (many accused him of engineering Chief Justice Taney's decision), and fueled the Bleeding Kansas crisis by supporting the Lecompton Constitution, which would bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state. He sent the Army to fight Brigham Young in Utah. He was plagued by economic crises.

He supported slaveowners, and while he declared it illegal to secede, he also declared that it would be illegal to go to war to fight a secession. By the time his term was up, he saw several states actually secede and form the Confederacy.

Fourteenth President: Franklin Pierce

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Pretty-boy Pierce won the election after Fillmore left the office, but quickly proved unpopular. The 'Ostend Manifesto,' a secret plan to make Cuba part of the Union, proved a major diplomacy debacle. The slavery debate was growing in intensity, and his actions (repealing the Missouri Compromise, and supporting the Kansas-Nebraska Act) didn't help. Pierce is now regarded as one of the worst Presidents in American history.

After his Presidency, Pierce drank heavily, supported the South during the Civil War, and ran over an elderly woman with his carriage.

Thirteenth President: Millard Fillmore

noreply@blogger.com (matt kirkland) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:34:00 +0000

Unlucky Thirteen! Millard Fillmore, was our next President, and the last Whig to hold the office. He wasn't actually elected, but was VP when Zachary Taylor died (remember the bad milk?). After serving out the remainder of his term, Fillmore was not sent back to the polls by the Whig party, and four years after that he attempted again under the anti-Irish Catholic "Know Nothing" party. OK, actually they were called the American Party, but the secretive cabal-like nature earned it the nickname, as well as their slogan: "I know nothing but my Country, the whole Country, and nothing but my Country."