Category Archives: A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog

A blog about US Presidents, First Ladies and assorted other nifty folks!

Mrs. Madison: The Widow Dolley

The widowed Dolley Madison spent the last decade of her life in poor finances, but rich in friendships. The Legacy of James Madison James Madison was eighty-five years old when he died, frail, nearly blind from cataracts, but mentally alert. … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, James Madison | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mrs. Adams, Dr. Physick, and Her Unmentionable Problem

Louisa Catherine Adams: A Brief Medical History Louisa Catherine Adams (1775-1852), London born and Paris educated, was raised to be exactly what she would become: a perfect consort for a man of distinction. John Quincy Adams was the US minister … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Quincy Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

President John Tyler Elopes!

John Tyler was a man of Firsts.  The First Vice President-to-President, the First President to remarry, and the President with the most children – fourteen. The President John Tyler became President in April, 1841, only one month after William Henry … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Tyler | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Washington and Lincoln: The Weems Connection

George Washington died in 1799, ten years before Abraham Lincoln was born. GW: A Symbol for his Age When George Washington died a few weeks before his sixty-eighth birthday, he was a towering figure, arguably the most important and respected … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Dying General: Grant’s Final Campaign

   Ulysses S. Grant was unquestionably a great and able general, but he was no businessman. The General’s Last Hurrah When Ulysses S. Grant retired from two terms as President of the United States in early 1877, he was the … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, American Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Grover Cleveland’s Scandal: “Where’s My Pa?”

Presidential candidate Grover Cleveland was accused of fathering an illegitimate child.   It was true.  Maybe. Grover Cleveland: The Bachelor Candidate Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was a forty-seven year old bachelor when the Democrats chose him as their presidential candidate in 1884. … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Grover Cleveland, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Louisa Adams and the Jackson Ball

In 1824, James Monroe, our last Founding Father(ish) was retiring. His Cabinet was a virtual nursery for a new generation poised to take over. The Players and the Playing Field: 1824 Leading the field for the election of 1824, was … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Quincy Adams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Robert T. Lincoln: Witness to Assassinations

When Robert Lincoln was nearly sixty, he vowed never again to meet a President of the United States. He was a prominent man with an iconic name. Meeting and greeting Presidents was a given. But he let it be known … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, Nifty History People, William McKinley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Washington Dancing Classes

Dancing was a vital social skill in colonial times.   Children were taught at an early age. Martha and George Washington: Dancers George Washington was considered an excellent dancer by all who knew him, and he enjoyed it even into his … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Presidential Stepping Stone

More than half our Presidents have been lawyers, at least by discipline. Whether they liked it or not, and even whether they actively “practiced law” is something else. POTUSes Reading Law In the “olden days,” one did not need a … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment