Pointless Presidential Pfacts #53 - "Deathdays of July"

While June boasts six presidential deaths it is not the month with the most presidential deaths. On June 1st in 1868 the only president named Buchanan, thankfully says the past 25-plus years, died starting off the month with you know what kind of death...presidential. James Madison ends the month, so far, on June 28th. 6 days and 6 presidents...not listed Ronald Reagan, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Grover Cleveland. Since Cleveland is in the mix there must be an asterisk.

June's second, currently, because in July 3 presidents died on the same day and there's only 2 death years for those 3 presidential deaths. July 4th is not just celebrated as independence from Great Britain in 1776 but fifty year's after the passing of 2 famous founders. The historical coincident which did not go unnoticed by contemporaries of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams only enhanced the young Union of States. Adams 2 worried with his last words that Jefferson lived that 50th anniversary of independence when in the non-telegraph (most recent form of instant communication) era and information moved slower Jefferson passed away 5 hours before.

Sharing that historical day but in 1831 is the last president to be considered a founding father, James Monroe. Then there's Zachary Taylor's death on July 9, 1850, leaving Millard Fillmore to decide upon the Compromise of 1850. July 23, 1885 is when Ulysses S. Grant passed away after finishing an epic memoir like no other. The next day, the 24th, but in 1862, is when Martin Van Buren passed. He, like Former President Grant, tried for a non-consecutive term. Where Grant never got the nomination, Democratic Party founder Van Buren was nominated by the Free Soil Party, a single-issue party whose members would later find a home in the Republican Party founded in 1854. Andrew Johnson died on the 31st months after being sworn-in as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Johnson-17, so far, is the only former president to be elected to the Senate and for Johnson-17, a body that 7 years prior had almost removed him from the not-yet-built-Oval-Office.

That's 7 presidential deaths and just 5 days.

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.

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #24 - "SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!"

Only 6 Inauguration Days have fallen on a Sunday since 1789, Barack Obama's next and last as a president-elect will be the 7th. Only 2 were first terms, Zachary Taylor and Rutherford B. Hayes, while the other 5 were being sworn in for a second term. The first Inauguration Day to land on a Sunday was March 4, 1821, the start of James Monroe's 2nd term. After consulting the Supreme Court, Monroe waited until Monday, March 5, to be sworn in. Taylor continued the practice in 1849.

James Monroe was the first president to have Inauguration Day land on a Sunday in 1821.

James K. Polk left office at noon on March THIRD 1849 and since Taylor followed the precedent established by Monroe, the country did not have a chief executive or vice president since the Polk-George M. Dallas administration came to an official end Sunday the 4th at noon. Taylor wouldn't be administered the oath until Monday the 5th. It is believed that David Atchison, a senator and president pro tempore and thus next in line of succession after the vice president as it was back in the day, was acting president. It of course can't be true since technically his term as president pro tempore of the Senate would've expired the same as Polk's and Dallas and the rest of the government and wouldn't be sworn-in again as president pro tempore until minutes before Taylor and his vice president Millard Fillmore. Whereas Monroe was simply succeeding himself, in 1849 one president was leaving office while the other was entering all on a Sunday. That has only happened one other time, so far.

Zachary Taylor's one and only swearing-in ceremony was on Monday, March 5, 1849.

After the election of 1876 produced an unclear victor in various States, the Compromise of 1877 decided which candidate would receive the contested electoral votes needed to win, and just by one vote and just days before the Inauguration. While the popular vote winner, Democrat Samuel Tilden, governor of New York, didn't become president, Reconstruction of the South ended. Federal troops were removed. Just 12 years after the end of the Civil War, fear of a disrupted inaugural in light of the popular vote winner not becoming president. So Republican Governor of Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes, the president-elect, had a private swearing-in ceremony in the Red Room at the Executive Mansion with outgoing president, Ulysses S. Grant by his side. Since March 4th was on a Sunday, a private ceremony was held on the 3rd and the public one on Monday the 5th. Hayes promised to serve one term.

Rutherford B. Hayes' second swearing-in for his first and only term as POTUS.

It would be 40 years until the next Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday, which was the start of Woodrow Wilson's second term in 1917. It would be the last March 4th Sunday and the first time a president had a private swearing-in ceremony on the Sunday, instead of simply waiting until Monday the 5th. Wilson was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol in the President's Room by Chief Justice Edward White and then again in a public ceremony on the 5th on the East Portico of the Capitol.

Woodrow Wilson's second second inaugural.

Another 40 years would pass for a Sunday inaugural, it's usually 28 to 40 years between Sunday inaugurals, until 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower's second inaugural. He was the first to have a January 20th Sunday, but continued the precedent established by Wilson and had a private ceremony. But instead of having it at the Capitol, Eisenhower had the Sunday swearing-in in the White House and the public ceremony on January 21st, a Monday.

Dwight D. Eisenhower being sworn-in for a 2nd term in the White House East Room on Sunday, January 20, 1957. The first January 20th Sunday inaugural.

Ike's public swearing-in ceremony the next day in 1957.

28 years after Ike, Ronald Reagan and the 50th Inauguration of a President would land on a Sunday. So Reagan the same as Ike, private Sunday ceremony at the White House and the usual public event on Monday. January 21, 1985 would be the coldest Inauguration Day on record, so cold that public ceremony was held in the Capitol Rotunda instead of outdoors.

Ronald Reagan being sworn-in on Sunday, January 20th, in a private White House ceremony.

The indoor public ceremony on the coldest recorded inaugural day, January 21, 1985. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administers the oath both times.

Unless January 21, 2013 is less than 7 degrees. Barack Obama will follow in the footsteps of the other Sunday inaugural presidents, but will probably follow the precedent established by Wilson and Ike. There will be a private swearing-in at the White House on Sunday and a public event the following day. Obama will have taken the oath of office four times by January 21, 2013. In 2009, Chief Justice John Roberts, due to nerves, his first swearing-in, stumbled the oath of office which then made Obama stumble through it. Later that night, back at the White House, the two redid the oath of office. But it will be Obama's last time to say the oath.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts readministers the oath of office to President Barack Obama at the White House in the Map Room on January 20, 2009.

Three more times this century, an inauguration day will fall on a Sunday, each 28 years apart...and then after that last one in the 21st Century it will be another 40 years until the next Sunday inaugural. USA! USA! USA!

POTUS QUOTUS - JM5 SECOND INAUGURAL 1821 - "The Inauguration of Good Feelings"

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.

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #3 - "The One, the Only, George Washington"

George Washington. 1st POTUS. 1789-1797. Virginian. No Party Affiliation.

George Washington was unanimously elected by the ELECTORAL COLLEGE twice in 1789 and 1792. Never again has this been repeated, but it has come near unanimous first with James Monroe in 1820 (the closest), Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 (not far behind), and Ronald Reagan in 1984 (ditto and the most recent).

President James Monroe was reelected to a second term in 1820, unopposed in the "Era of Good Feelings." Monroe would receive 98.3% of the Electoral College votes, 3 members would not end up voting and one unfaithful elector cast a vote for Secretary of State John Quincy Adams because he felt he'd be a better president than Monroe.

In President Franklin Roosevelt's first try at reelection he received 60% of the popular vote and 98.5% of the Electoral College vote, losing just Vermont and Maine to Alf Landon in 1936.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan won 59% of the popular vote and 97.6% of the Electoral College, that's everything except his opponent former Vice President Walter F. Mondale's home State of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

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.