Tag Archives: presidents

Scary Places: The White House

Right now, most people are focused on the White House for one reason – who’s going to be the next president. But, you know me – I am focused on it to talk about the ghosts of the White House. That’s right, one of the most famous houses is America is reportedly haunted. Over the years, visitors as well as staff and residents have reported seeing ghosts and experiencing strange phenomena in the White House. The White House became livable for presidents in 1800, with John Adams being the first to move in. Since then, every president has lived in … Continue reading →

Children’s Literature – American History for Kids

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Introducing children to history and politics may be a tricky thing to manage. How old does a child need to be before it is fair game to discuss the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers? At what point do you venture into a conversation about the presidents and the role of politics in our daily lives? These are tough questions and while I do not have the exact answers for what is best for you and your family, I can suggest two books that do a fine job of teeing up the discussion of these very topics. John, Paul, George … Continue reading →

All the President’s Pets (Washington and Lincoln’s, At Least)

Monday was President’s Day. A virtual trip to the Presidential Pet Museum made it easy to hail the resident pets-in-chief throughout history. But to celebrate the two men whom President’s Day initially honored, George Washington (whose birthday is really today) and Abraham Lincoln (whose birthday was February 12th), I thought I’d profile the pets that were specific to their administrations: George Washington: Born February 22, 1732; Served as President 1789-1797 Technically his pets never lived at the White House, because it wasn’t built yet. (John Adams was the first president with the distinction and honor of residing there, and he … Continue reading →

Gerald Ford Dies

They always say death comes in threes, which really doesn’t make much sense because if you wait long enough, someone else is going to die eventually. This week I had written about the passing of Senator Robert Stafford. Then on Christmas day, soul legend James Brown passed away. Yesterday, I wrote my “In Memorium – 2006” blog for all those we had lost this year. As I pressed the button to save the blog, I thought to myself “Well, we do still have a few more days in the year – what if someone else dies?” But I convinced myself … Continue reading →

Fun with History – The White House

My daughter came home from school today and told me that the President lived in the White House. She wanted to know why it was called that. So we trotted off into my office to pull up the web page on the White House and to read about it. Let me preface this whole story with the caveat that when all was said and done, she wanted to know why the President got to live there and I told her it was pretty simple – the house was built to be a home for the President – whomever he or … Continue reading →

More on Presidential Marriages

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Did you know? First Lady Laura Bush and President George Bush met at a backyard barbecue at the home of mutual friends and got married three months later? For a first date, they played miniature golf and they married in the same church that Mrs. Bush was baptized in as a baby. Their wedding was a small affair with only 75 guests, no attendants and their wedding invitations were printed by hand. Did you know? Harry S. “Give ’em Hell” Truman became president upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. President Truman saw a turbulent eight … Continue reading →