To your President's Day Quiz:
- Calvin Coolidge adopted a raccoon, whom the Coolidges named Rebecca. It was a gift from a voter in Mississippi.
- Walter Mondale (Jimmy Carter's VP) was the first Vice President to have an office in the White House proper.
- Gerald Ford was nicknamed "Bozo" for his public clumsiness (although he was one of the most athletic Presidents we've ever had), and Robert Dole "Pineapple" because of his last name.
- Nine Presidents never attended college (Washington, Jackson, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Cleveland, and--most recently--Harry Truman).
- Frank Sinatra was the famous singer who supported Spiro Agnew. After a Sinatra pep talk, Agnew told reporters "I will no resign if indicted," but resigned a month later.
- Ronald Reagan received one electoral vote in 1976. Michael Padden, a Republican from Washington, became a "faithless elector" when he went against his pledge to vote for Gerald Ford.
- Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Bill Clinton are the only Democrats to have been elected twice. Harry Truman became President upon the death of FDR, shortly after taking office, and then was elected to his own term in 1948. The Republicans have had twice as many incumbent Presidents re-elected during the 20th (and now 21st) century.
- John Adams was the first President to be denied a re-election.
- The first political party to hold a nominating convention was The Anti-Masons. The meeting was in Baltimore in 1831, and representatives from 13 states nominated William Wirt to be their candidate.
- In 1804, the Democratic Republican congressman held a nominating caucus (as opposed to the more open convention that came later) and named Thomas Jefferson their candidate.
Happy Presidents Day!
