Tag Archives: Presidential history

Lincoln Cousin: Dennis Hanks

It was a complicated and sometimes confusing kinship. Dennis Hanks: A Flotsam-Jetsam Childhood Dennis Friend Hanks (1799-1892) was the illegitimate son of Nancy Hanks – an aunt of another Nancy Hanks, Lincoln’s mother. Born in Hardin County, KY, a decade … Continue reading

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The Long Retirement of The Widow Wilson

  Edith Wilson (the Second Mrs. WW) was one of our longest lived FLOTUSES. The Second Mrs. Woodrow Edith Bolling Galt was a comfortably fixed 42-year-old widow when she met sitting President Woodrow Wilson, a recent widower fifteen years her … Continue reading

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FDR and the Lend-Lease Metaphor

  It’s an old story told thousands of times, but still rings true. FDR: The President on Two Fronts In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the Democratic nomination for an unprecedented third term in office. Despite being crippled by … Continue reading

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James Monroe: The Hats Story

James Monroe came to office with more executive, legislative and diplomatic experience than any previous POTUS. JM: The Fellow In A Tricorn James Monroe (1758-1831) was the last of the Virginia Triumvirate: three-in-a-row two-term Presidents serving between 1800-1824. Born in … Continue reading

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The Death of FLOTUS Caroline Harrison

The election of 1892 was another Presidential rematch. The Rematch Election Sitting Republican President Benjamin Harrison was poised to seek a second term – against Democratic ex-President Grover Cleveland, who held the position from 1885-9. Grover Cleveland was generally well … Continue reading

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Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball

The mood of the country was vastly different in 1865 than in 1861. The Difference Being… …(at least in general essence), that in 1861, the country was nervous and frightened. Several Southern states already seceded, and the tensions at South … Continue reading

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Frances Cleveland: The Wedding Gown

Grover Cleveland came to the White House with a secret. Grover Cleveland’s Secret    At 49 years old, Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was a lifelong bachelor. Nearly 300-pounds on his 5’9” frame, he was the heaviest President up to that time … Continue reading

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Theodore Roosevelt: Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Theodore Roosevelt knew the power of conceptual spot-on images and phrases. TR: The Social Conscience Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was born into a socially conscious family. They were prominent and wealthy, with a strong sense of noblesse oblige. Roosevelt Senior served … Continue reading

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Grace Coolidge at the Confluence

No one could have been more surprised by the 1920 Republican convention than Grace Goodhue Coolidge. The Beginning of Fame The nomination of Warren G. Harding was a surprise to the country. Choosing a Vice Presidential candidate was an afterthought. … Continue reading

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James Knox Polk’s Delicate Operation

In the early 19th century, any surgery was always dangerous. Young Polk Born in 1795 in North Carolina, James Knox Polk was the oldest of ten children born to a middle-class North Carolina family. They moved to Tennessee when Polk … Continue reading

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