THE DEAD PRESIDENTS - 178 YEARS AGO

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #52 - "Deathdays Second Best"

The month of June is the SECOND most important month in terms of deathdays of a POTUS, while August is the SECOND least presidential deathday month.

On the first of the month in June of 1868 James Buchanan, the only bachelor to be elected until Grover Cleveland in 1884, died and, interesting, was the last Democratic candidate elected until Cleveland's '84 win. The fifth of June belongs to Ronald Reagan in 2004. June eighth from 1845 is when Andrew Jackson succumbed to old age. Four years after Old Hickory went, Young Hickory, James K. Polk had the shortest retirement from office at such a young age dying June fifteenth, 1849, just three months after leaving a self-imposed single term. Next deathday in the month of June is the twenty-fourth in 1908 and the presidency...also number twenty-two, but only in the presidency, Cleveland the popular vote winner in '84, '88 and '92, but only in the Electoral College in '84 and '92. The twenty-eighth of the month in 1836 sees the death of James Madison.

That's SIX days and SIX presidential deaths.

June is just the second most interesting, if not morbid, and pointless, presidential deathday related pfact!

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #46 - "Sherman's Death 101"

The first time a vice president died in office was in the year 1812 and the last time a vice president died in office was in 1912.

James S. Sherman of New York, 27th VPOTUS.

In the 1912 presidential election, the Republicans renominated President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman that summer. It was the first time in 84 years that a vice president was being considered for reelection.

That moment 84 years ago was Vice President John C. Calhoun's reelection in 1828 with Andrew Jackson. Four years prior to the 1828 election Calhoun was the running mate for both Jackson and John Quincy Adams. While neither of those candidates secured a majority in the Electoral College, Calhoun did. JQA won the election in the House of Representatives and was defeated in '28. So, Calhoun's reelection was with a different president.

Daniel Tompkins of New York, 6th VPOTUS.

The last time a vice president was reelected with the same president was in 1820 when James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins cruised to victory in the Electoral College without much competition.

Death and the vice presidency seems more rampant than in the presidency. Not including assassinations, there have been 4 presidents that have died of natural cause: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding and Franklin Roosevelt. In the vice presidency there have been 7 deaths. The first death in the vice presidency was when the 4th VPOTUS, George Clinton died on April 20, 1812. Vice President Clinton, no relation to the presidential Clinton, was the first to be elected and serve with 2 different presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Clinton's successor won election with President Madison in the fall of 1812, but like Clinton Vice President Elbridge Gerry, the 5th VPOTUS, would not live out the term becoming the second vice president to die in office. Madison and his dying vice presidents.

William R. King of Alabama, 13th VPOTUS.
The next VPOTUS to die in office would be in 1853 with the lucky 13th vice president, William R. King. Vice President King was the first and only VPOTUS to be sworn in on foreign soil, Cuba. King won election in 1852 with Franklin Pierce. Pierce's presidency started with the death of his son on the train ride from New Hampshire to Washington, while just a little over a month in to the new administration and Vice President King died.

President Ulysses S. Grant's second vice president, Henry Wilson, the 18th VPOTUS, would join the list in 1875. Ten years later in 1885, Thomas A. Hendricks, the 21st VPOTUS, died less than a year into the first term of the new administration headed by Grover Cleveland. Before the 19th Century ended in 1899, one more VPOTUS passed away. President William McKinley's first vice president, Garret Hobart, the 24th VPOTUS, died leaving the office vacant until Theodore Roosevelt was nominated in 1900 to shut him up.

TR would of course get the nomination and be sworn in as the 25th VPOTUS in March of 1901, however he would become the 26th POTUS six months later. It's during the 1912 election that a former President Roosevelt is seeking a third, non-consecutive, term. With the Republican Party split between Progressives and Conservatives, the Democratic ticket with Woodrow Wilson at the top of it won the election. Roosevelt 26's Progressive Party, or Bull Moose Party, did what no 3rd Party has done before or since, placing 2nd in the popular and electoral votes. So the ticket of Taft/Sherman placed 3rd, but had they won the Republican Party designated Nicholas M. Butler to receive the electoral votes that would've gone to Sherman. In the end the office remained vacant until Thomas Marshall was sworn-in on March 4, 1913. Vice President Marshall would become the first VPOTUS to win reelection with the same POTUS, Wilson, since Monroe/Tompkins.

Thomas Marshall of Indiana, 28th VPOTUS.

As the 20th Century moved on there would be no more deaths in the vice presidency. There would be more renominations of vice presidents and the occasional moving on (FDR in 1940, 1944 and Gerald Ford in 1976). While the office remained vacant whenever there was a death, in either the presidency or the vice presidency, it wouldn't be until 1967 when the Constitution provided a way to fill the vacancy. The sign now outside the Vice President's office reads: "101 Years Without a Death".

Joe Biden of Delaware, 47th VPOTUS.

Today in POTUStory - JM4's Death in 1836

There's a VPOTUS Named...Elbridge

Elbridge Gerry.
5th VPOTUS.
March 4, 1813-November 23, 1814.
Massachusetts.
Democratic-Republican.

POTUS:Madison(4)

Gerry was President Madison's second vice president and like his first he died in office. So Gerry is also the second to be vice presidentially dead Gerry's 200th deathaversary is next year so politicians will be celebrating by making sure districts are redrawn so they stay in power. Gerry is less remembered for being the young nation's 5th vice president but more so for the political term from high school Government class textbook's "gerrymandering".

There's a VPOTUS Named...Clinton

George Clinton.
4th VPOTUS.
MARCH 4, 1805-APRIL 20, 1812.
New York.
Democratic-Republican.

POTUS:JEFFERSON(3), MADISON(4)

No relation to William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd POTUS and future leader of the world.

POTUS QUOTUS - JM4 SECOND INAUGURAL 1813 "200 Years...Well Almost"

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #14 - "Reelection to a 2nd Term"

This is what I messaged upon the reelection of Barack Obama: 3 presidents were reelected in a row...hasn't happened since Jefferson, Madison, Monroe. nerdalert!!!

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #6 - "Two Triple Two Termers"

If President Barack Obama wins reelection on Tuesday the 6th and survives politically and physically until January 20, 2017, this will be the second time that three presidents served two full terms back-to-back.

The last time was from 1801-1825, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. In 1800, Jefferson won the presidency as the incumbent vice president, after having challenged the sitting president in a tied election that was decided on by the House of Representatives. However in 1804, Jefferson easily defeated his Federalist opponent in a landslide Electoral College vote. Jefferson's secretary of state, Madison, was the heir apparent and defeated his Federalist opponent in 1808. In the midst of the War of 1812, the incumbent administration was reelected. Madison's secretary of state, Monroe, was to run in 1816. See a pattern. Monroe defeated the Federalist candidate in 1816 and in the Era of Good Feelings had no opposition in the 1820 election. The Federalist Party didn't have any power after their opposition to Mr. Madison's war which became very popular after a late surprise victory by General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans, which took place in a time long before twitter and other instant forms of communication. So the three presidential terms back to back all from the same party the Democratic-Republicans which eventually splintered in the 1824 election leading to the formation of the Democratic Party and Whig Party.

After that political realignment, only Andrew Jackson was reelected to a second term. Once the Republican Party came into power, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland would get reelected. Lincoln was assassinated early in his second term and Cleveland's reelection was separated by another president's term, so Grant was the only one to complete two full terms back-to-back. During the progressive era, William McKinley and Woodrow Wilson were elected to two terms. McKinley was also assassinated early in his second term, whereas Wilson served two full terms. Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge finished the term of their predecessors, but got reelected to the office in their own right. In the New Deal era, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon were elected to two terms, or for Roosevelt 32 he was elected to four terms. Roosevelt 32 died in office, early in his 4th term and Harry Truman finishing the near full term and then being reelected to the office in his own right in 1948. Eisenhower served full terms. Lyndon Johnson finished John F. Kennedy's term after being assassinated in 1963. Johnson 36 was easily reelected in 1964 to his own full term. Nixon resigned during his second term in 1974 facing impeachment for covering up the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building. Gerald Ford took over.

Ronald Reagan won reelection and completed his second term, the first Republican since Eisenhower to do so. President George Bush wasn't so lucky in 1992 when he was up for reelection, becoming the first Republican incumbent to lose since Ford in 1976. So when William Jefferson Clinton was elected in 1992 and reelected in 1996, he became the first Democrat since Roosevelt 32 won reelection. After George W. Bush won reelection in 2004, he became the first Republican since Reagan to win reelection and complete his term. Clinton and Bush 43 were the first full two term presidents, back-to-back since the 1801-1825 period of Democratic-Republican rule. Clinton and Bush 43 are of course from different parties.

Now with Obama's reelection a possibility this Tuesday and the completion of the term, a pointless president pfact will be achieved. If he loses to Mitt Romney, Obama will be the first incumbent Democrat to lose since Jimmy Carter and I'm sure the far Right will remind everyone of that fact. He'd also be that first incumbent president since Bush 41 to lose reelection. Here's waiting until January 20, 2017 to see the PPP fulfilled.

Presidential History Free Write: Part 1 - The Founding Fathers

In 1789 the electoral college voted twice, George Washington won unanimously their first vote, while John Adams placed second in a landslide. Adams was sworn in as the nation's first vice president in April 1789, and Washington was sworn in on April 30th in New York City. After taking the oath, the president started the first tradition following the oath by adding "so help me God."

Washington once again unanimously won reelection in 1792, as did Adams for the vice presidency. Washington then made another tradition by not seeking a third term as president. The election of 1796 would pit Vice President Adams, politically aligned with the Federalist Party's ideology, against the former secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, part of the anti-Federalist faction. Adams defeated Jefferson. For the first time the nation had a president of one party and a vice president of another.

The election of 1800 was worse than four years before. It was the first and only time a sitting president ran against a sitting vice president. Not wanting to have the same scenario of 1796 play out again but reversed caused a Constitutional crisis. Jefferson ran for president with Aaron Burr as the vice president for the Democratic-Republican party. While Adams and his vice presidential candidate ran for their respected offices for the Federalists. However the Electoral College did not specify a vote for president and a vote for vice president. The person with a majority of electoral votes becomes president-elect and the person with next highest amount becomes vice president-elect. If there is no majority the top three choices go to the House of Representatives and if there is no majority the top two for the second place position it go to the Senate. Each state has only one vote.

Jefferson and Burr tied in the Electoral College, throwing the election to the House of Representatives. Jefferson was always the intended choice for president and Burr for vice. I believe it took thirty-six ballots to come to the final result of Jefferson for president, placing Burr in second. Burr would go on to shoot former secretary of the treasury, the guy on the ten dollar bill, Alexander Hamilton in a duel made famous in a "got milk?" commercial in the 1990s. Burr after fleeing was rumored to be making deals with the Spanish to become ruler of country west of the United State's new borders thanks to the Louisiana Purchase.

After the election of 1800 the way the Electoral College vote for president and vice president were to change. This change came in the form of the the 12th Amendment passed in 1804 taking effect in that presidential election. The 12th Amendment lowered the status of the vice presidency. Our nation's first two vice presidents under the original system were men vital to the political process that gave birth to our nation, just as Washington's role militarily was a vital part to the birth of our nation. Burr, even though elected under the original system, is really a first in a line of lame vice presidents, the unknown vice presidents. The men placed on the bottom of ticket were usually put there to balance the ticket geographically. I.E. the top guy is from the North, and the bottom guy is from the South.

The 12th Amendment states that the electors must vote once for a presidential candidate and one other vote for a vice presidential candidate. If there is a tie among the presidential candidates, the top three go to the House. If there is a tie among the vice presidential candidates, the top two go to the Senate. Each State has one vote.

Jefferson won the election of 1804 after having made the Louisiana Purchase the previous year. He ran with New Yorker George Clinton, the man who always wanted the vice presidency.

Jefferson's secretary of state, James Madison won the election of 1808. Clinton was reelected to a second, and the first to be elected with another president. Madison faced the War of 1812, our Second Battle for Independence. The British invaded, after Madison asked for a declaration of war when the British weren't respecting American ships. Madison was the last commander-in-chief to truly be that in the battle field. He had the northeastern Federalists as the major opposition to his war with the British. The northeast even threatened succeeding from the Union.

Madison eventually had to abandon the capital city of Washington. Dolley Madison was preparing dinner when she was told to evacuate. She ordered the portrait of George Washington to be taken down and taken with them. She saved other important documents. She escaped before the British arrived. Before they set the presidential mansion on fire, they enjoyed the meal left by the first lady. The Capitol and the Executive Mansion were set on fire, as was the Library of Congress.

The weather turned horrible creating a rain storm that put out the fire at the mansion preserving the limestone shell wall. The mansion would be rebuilt and the Madisons moved back in by 1818. Nicely painted white, the painters left a section of the burn marks from the fire.

The War of 1812 ended with no clear victor, but two weeks after the signing of the treaty, unknown because the communication of the time, General Andrew Jackson successfully defends New Orleans against the British.

Madison won the election of 1812 and passed on the presidency to his secretary of state James Monroe. In 1816, Monroe defeated the last candidate for president by the Federalist Party. Monroe, with the help of his secretary of state John Quincy Adams, in his annual message to Congress, establish what would become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Making sure the Old World kept out of the New World.

Monroe was president during an era of good feelings politically, so in the election of 1820 Monroe ran opposed. Instead of giving him unanimous vote in the Electoral College like George Washington, one elector cast a vote for John Quincy Adams.