Fun facts about every US President

I’m going to try something completely new and different this week on the blog because I’ve been avidly studying up on Presidential and American history as a whole a lot lately and now I’m just itching to talk about it so instead of consistently flooding my girlfriend with all the information I’m gathering every day I figure why not use the blog as a way to let some of this steam off right? So, in honor of President’s Day being just around the corner I’m going to look back at some of our greatest (and some of our worst), okay well really all of the US presidents in history and share a fun fact about every one of them. If this kind of stuff is something that interests you and you’d like to hear me do more presidential type stuff on the blog on occasion then shoot me a message and let me know you enjoyed it and give me any suggestions of what you’d like to hear about if you have ideas or curiosities!

#1: George Washington- Our first and arguably greatest President in American history and in many ways the father of the country. A common misconception attributed with good ole George was that he had wooden dentures. He in fact did not have wooden teeth, but he did have false ones. George only had one real tooth left in his mouth by the time he took the office of President. The dentures he wore were crudely constructed of filed down horse and cow teeth and pulled teeth from enslaved people that he would pay for a tooth, and fashioned together by lead-tin alloy, copper alloy, and silver alloy. Sheesh, at least dentistry has come quite a long way since then.

#2: John Adams- John Adams was a very intelligent man and founding father who seemed to anger just about every fellow politician around him during his time with his unwillingness to budge on certain topics and principles, primarily butting heads with his own Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. While John may have been the 2nd president of the nation, he was the first to actually live in The White House, known simply as ‘The President’s House’ at the time. When him and the first lady, Abigail Adams, moved in in 1800 the place was still largely unfinished and unfurnished. It’s said that the roof still leaked and the construction on the grand stairway and upper levels hadn’t even begun yet.

#3: Thomas Jefferson- The Louisiana Purchase! Thomas Jefferson assumed the office from a very stubborn and angry Adams in 1801. The 2 did eventually make up with one another despite many political differences and became very avid pen pals apparently in their later age. Jefferson spent a lot of time abroad in Europe in his earlier years as an ambassador and was known for liking a bit of the high class and sophistication in his life, especially in his clothing and his food. He’s said to have learned about mac-n-cheese while staying in France and he had a pasta maker shipped back home with him when he came back to the US. He was the first to serve mac-n-cheese to guests while staying in ‘The President’s House’ and it was seen as a major delicacy in America at the time. He may not have invented mac-n-cheese, but he may have very well helped popularize it the way it is today in the United States.

#4: James Madison- James Madison is a very pivotal and often underrated founding father of America. He’s known as the ‘Father of the Constitution’ for a reason. Despite his lack of military experience like much of the other Founding Fathers, he was the one who proposed the convention that gathered everyone back together to write The Constitution. He proposed and sponsored the Bill of Rights as well so a huge kudos there, and his detailed notes of the convention itself are the only way that people today have any idea about how the events of those days transpired and that’s really neat. Despite his massive impact, he was a very small guy. The smallest President in fact, standing at 5’4″ and weighing just over 100 pounds. Short King status earned, not given.

#5: James Monroe- Monroe established ‘The Monroe Doctrine’ early in his presidency and warned Europe and the rest of the world to stay out of the Americas for purpose of acquisition or else we would militarily intervene, making him one of the first presidents to seriously focus on foreign policy. His presidency was also known as the era of “good feelings” following the War of 1812. He was re-elected in 1820 with no opposition running against him, making him the only other president to be unanimously selected for election aside from George Washington. He was also the first president to be provided with transportation so he could travel to more of the country easier, The Presidential Steamboat!

#6: John Quincy Adams- Quincy Adams was the son of the 2nd president, John Adams, making the Adams one of only two father/son presidential duos in American history. Quincy Adams was seen as a bit quirkier and more aloof than his father though perhaps. He preferred to dress a bit on the simple side and some guests to The Presidential Mansion would comment on his lack of manners. He also received an alligator as a gift from a French Ambassador and kept it in a bathtub inside the Mansion and he enjoyed skinny dipping in the Potomac River in the early morning hours during his presidency. He was the first president to be interviewed by a female reporter as she sat on the side of the river while he was nude and made him answer questions for her paper because he was too embarrassed to come out of the water and leave.

#7: Andrew Jackson- One of the more controversial presidents for a number of reasons and a sworn enemy of (in his mind) the silver spooned Quincy Adams, Jackson claimed the victory he thought he had over him to begin with in his 2nd run for office in 1829. Aside from being known for his heroic Battle of New Orleans victory before his presidency which saw him team up with immigrants and renegades to defeat the British and officially claim our stake in southeast America, and his much harsher and more infamous ‘Trail of Tears’ proposal which forced groups of Native American people off their lands simply because we wanted it and didn’t really want to be disturbed, Jackson was known for being a crazy and tough SOB. He is said to have been in up to 100 pistol duels in his life and he even survived a shot to the chest during one of them, cannot say the same for the other guy though.

#8: Martin Van Buren- Van Buren wasn’t really one of the better or even well-remembered presidents. Van Buren was a big supporter and crony of Jackson and followed through on a lot of his policies when he took office, including of course the ‘Trail of Tears’. Perhaps a bit more on the fun fact side though, he is the only president in the nation’s history that English wasn’t his first language. Dutch was. He was also the first president to have indoor plumbing in the White House so that’s nice. No more outhouses!

#9: William Henry Harrison- Henry Harrison was the oldest man to be elected to the office of president at the time at the age of 68. He was the first and one of the only politicians from the Whig Party to be elected president and is most famously known for delivering the longest inauguration speech (nearly 2 hours) and having the shortest run in office (31 days). Harrison almost immediately fell ill upon taking the office of president and never recovered. A common misconception is that the long, snoozing speech in the rain and cold is what got him sick and killed him and while I’m sure that didn’t help, it’s more likely that he got sick from bad drinking water.

#10: John Tyler- John Tyler was the first “accidental president” meaning he was never officially elected into office but assumed the position as Harrison’s Vice President following his death. John Tyler was um, getting busy let’s say before, during, and after his presidency. The man fathered 15 kids across 2 marriages, and some allege more with slaves as well, and had his final kid at 70 years old! He had grandchildren still alive into the 2020s and he was president in the 1840s and that’s absolutely baffling for me to even comprehend. He is also the only president not to be buried with the American flag upon death. The Civil War had begun, and he sided with the Confederacy, so he was buried with a Confederate Flag instead. Sheesh, that’s a bit embarrassing.

#11: James K. Polk- Unlike Tyler before him, Polk was one of very few to never have kids or adopt any kids of his own, though he had a wife. I’m assuming they just enjoyed the peace. He is the only president to announce upon running for election that he was only seeking 1 term in office and had no plans to attempt to run for re-election, but he also made many campaign promises. This made his time in office very hectic as he’s said to have worked nearly around the clock to accomplish on his goals and kept a desk in his room in the White House so he could work into the middle of the night. He delivered on a lot of the promises and nearly doubled the size of the US during his time in office and stepped away after 1 term like he said.

#12: Zachary Taylor- Taylor was known for being a bit schlubby in appearance and enjoyed to dress for comfort over style any time he could, but that was purposeful. He was big on the term “don’t judge a book by its cover” and would disguise himself in local bars and taverns around fellow young soldiers during his time in the military to see how they would treat him, then later reveal himself to them as a military officer on camp. He was the first president to be elected that had no prior political experience; he was a war general that grew popular for his accomplishments during the Spanish-American War and became popularly known as “Old Rough & Ready” by his fans. He was the 2nd Whig to be elected to office but died just 16 months into his presidency as well following stomach complications. You Whigs are bad luck!

#13: Millard Fillmore- Fillmore is one of the more forgotten presidents in our history it feels like, but not without reason honestly. 13-15 was a bit of a rough period in American History for presidents in my opinion, and then again with 17. Sheesh. Fillmore was the 2nd “accidental president” assuming the role after Taylor died in office. Fillmore presided over the passing of the Compromise of 1850 which was meant to ease tensions over slavery but was seen as an apologist for it by the North. On the fun fact side though, he was born into poverty in a small log cabin and never attended college but still learned to read and studied on his own to pass the bar and become a lawyer. He was also the president to install the White House Library during his presidency.

#14: Franklin Pierce- Known by many to be one of the more handsome presidents, Pierce ultimately had a pretty unsuccessful run in office as well. Him, his wife, and his son were involved in a terrible train crash that killed his son right before he was inaugurated into office. His wife spent much of the time in office grieving, falling ill, and hating Washington DC as she preferred the quiet life, and Pierce found his comfort in a bottle (or many) during his presidency. He signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which stoked the flames simmering into the Civil War and signed the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico that gave us the New Mexico and Arizona territories.

#15: James Buchanan- Buchanan was the president that ushered in the beginning of the Civil War as many of the southern states started to secede from the Union by the end of his term in office. He’s the only bachelor president to never marry or even show much of an interest in dating or women, which has led some historians to believe he was the first and only (to our knowledge of course) gay president because he also had a close male friend throughout his life, but again that’s just knowledgeable speculation. His niece acted as the first lady for him while he was in office, which was the first and only time that’s happened, and he received elephant tusks and live elephants from a foreign leader. He let the elephants roam the White House lawn apparently for a while as well which must have been a sight to behold.

#16: Abraham Lincoln- Obviously one of the most well-known and to many historians the best president in American history. Lincoln led the country through the Civil War and successfully saved the Union which in turn saved the country we know today and gave the ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ that ended slavery in America and freed the enslaved people within the country at the time, at least in theory. Maybe less well known about him though is that he was a great amateur wrestler and only lost 1 match in around a dozen years. Known on the frontier as “catch as catch can” wrestling he wrestled local thugs and strong men and put most all of them down in the dirt. His tall lankiness seemed to work in his favor and he’s a member of the ‘National Wrestling Hall of Fame’.

#17: Andrew Johnson- From one of the best to one of the worst, at least in my mind, but most historians and people that know their American history’s minds as well. Johnson is maybe most well-known for not following through on Lincoln’s promises to the enslaved black people in America and being an abrasive drunk that pissed off most of the other politicians in his own party and the government as a whole at the time of his presidency. He even pardoned a lot of Confederate soldiers and leaders after the war had ended. Perhaps less known about him though is that he never went to school or received a formal education but taught himself to read and write and the skills he needed in life, and he owned a tailor shop before getting involved in politics.

#18: Ulysses S. Grant- Grant was the commanding general for the Union Army during the Civil War and ultimately led the Union to victory so he was pretty popular amongst a large portion of America at the time of his presidency. His cabinet members were perhaps a bit shadier and got his administration involved in unnecessary scandal throughout his time in office. Less well known though is that he had an intense love for horses and horseback riding and was known for being able to soothe and ride even the wildest of horses. He often rode horses bareback and even kept a pony as a pet during his time in the White House for his kids to ride and play with. He was also pulled over for speeding around DC in his carriage 3 times during his presidency and ticketed for it once.

#19: Rutherford B. Hayes- Hayes seemed to be a sweet and soothing man but you wouldn’t know it by his appearance. Just picture the neighbor in ‘Home Alone’ and you’re not far off. He won one of the most tightly contested elections in the nation’s history and many called foul play after his election. Less known is that he was a Union soldier during the Civil War and suffered an injury on the battlefield during his time in combat. He was also the president when the telephone was invented, and Alexander Graham Bell gave him one of the first prototype models of the phone with the illustrious phone number of 1. You need to reach the White House, just dial 1. He apparently didn’t really understand the telephone though and didn’t use it very much.

#20: James Garfield- Another Civil War vet, Garfield is one of the biggest what ifs in American History. He seemed very ahead of his time and progressive with his thoughts and proposals and probably would have pushed America forward in big ways earlier, kicking and screaming or not. He was shot just 6 months into his presidency though and suffered a long and grueling death as medical advancements weren’t where they are today and the incompetency of his doctor is ultimately what ended up killing him. His assassination led to the Secret Service being established for the president’s safety. Less known though is that he was a well-educated near genius. He had an IQ of 148 and spoke 5 languages (English, Greek, Latin, French, and Hebrew) and was ambidextrous and could write in 2 languages with each of his hands at the same time! Impressive stuff!

#21: Chester A. Arthur- Arthur was a bit of a leech in his younger years in politics. He aligned himself with ‘The Stalwarts’ a big political faction at the time and became ‘Collector for the Port of New York’ through his contacts, but much preferred a stiff drink and a good time to hard work. He was chosen by ‘The Stalwarts’ in the Republican Party to be Garfield’s running mate (because they didn’t trust Garfield and wanted a guy on the inside), but Garfield seemed to change him, and he adopted and carried through on a lot of his philosophies and legislation after his death. Arthur really didn’t want the job of president at all and dreaded the day he had to take office. He developed a bad kidney disease while he was in office that was slowly killing him, but he kept it hidden from the public throughout his presidency.

#22: Grover Cleveland- Only one of two presidents to serve nonconsecutive terms in office (looking at you Donald Trump), Grover served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. He also served as sheriff of Buffalo County, NY in his younger years and even worked as the executioner, pulling the lever on convicted criminals at the hangman’s noose. He’s the only president to get married in the White House as well, marrying his deceased best friend & business partner’s daughter who was 20 years younger. Bit weird but not illegal I suppose. Him and first lady Frances had 5 children, one of them named ‘Ruth’ that the candy company said to have named their candy bar ‘Baby Ruth’ after, but many argue that that was just a coverup, so they didn’t get sued by Babe Ruth at the time.

#23: Benjamin Harrison- Benjamin was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, making the Harrisons the only grandfather/grandson presidential duo in the nation’s history. Benjamin lost the popular vote but won the electoral college over Cleveland in 1888 in a tightly contested election. Ben was all about trying to improve the living situations of the working class while compromising and not trying to screw over big businesses if he could help it, so he leaned heavy on…wait for it…tariffs! Sounds familiar huh? On the fun side though, he was the president when electricity was invented and presented to the population and he was the first president to have it in The White House. He was apparently scared of it though and would ask staff to flip light switches off and on for him because he thought he’d get electrocuted.

#24: William McKinley- McKinley was also a Civil War vet who used a lot of his time in office focusing on fiscal concerns like increasing the value of the dollar and attempting to squash the national debt. He also presided over the US annexing Hawaii and making it a United States territory. On the fun side of things though, he kept a pet rooster in the White House lawn named ‘Washington’ and it apparently was a bit unruly and strutted around like it owned the place. He also popularized the red carnation flower and used it in his campaign logo and kept one in the lapel of his suit, calling it his “lucky flower.” He’s said to have taken the flower off at a fair in 1901 to give it to a little girl and at that same fair he was shot and killed, making him the 3rd president to be assassinated and the 5th to die in office.

#25: Theodore Roosevelt- Probably my personal favorite president, Teddy’s entire life felt like a list of fun and interesting facts. He was born a small and sickly child to a well-off aristocratic family, but as he grew and learned and saw the world around him, he used his money and power and influence to constantly fight and go to battle for the little man and the less fortunate. He was seen as “too progressive” by the Republican party at the time, so they gave him the position of Vice President under McKinley so they could shackle him for a while and not have to deal with the headache. Well, McKinley ended up getting shot in his 2nd term so that plan completely fell apart and Teddy took over and quickly grew popularity with the lower- and middle-class folk, while the upper crust loathed him. Teddy loved boxing and even boxed in the White House until a match left him partially blind in one eye. He then switched to judo and trained in the White House, earning a brown belt. He explored uncharted territories in the Amazon Rainforest after his presidency and went on big game hunts throughout Africa. The timeless plush ‘teddy bear’ is named after him as well!

#26: William H. Taft- Taft was a supporter of Teddy and his Vice President so his policies were somewhat like Teddy’s as well, but he wasn’t near as tough or aggressive in his approach as Teddy was. A common fib associated with Taft was that he got stuck in the White House bathtub and had to be pulled out because he was too big for it and I hate to inform that that’s not a real story. He was a big dude though, the heaviest president ever in fact, weighing in at 332 pounds at his heaviest. That didn’t stop him from being a sports fan and hobbyist though, Taft loved golf and popularized it amongst presidents for decades to come as he’d often go play a round to ease his mind. He also loved baseball and was the first president in America’s history to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game in 1910.

#27: Woodrow Wilson- Wilson is a very complicated president who had a lot of very forward-thinking ideas and was ahead of his time in ways, especially when it came to foreign policy ideas, but he was still pretty backwards thinking when it came to his own personal life and views as well. He was a very educated man, the only president to earn a PhD which he received in political science & history at John Hopkins and later became the president of Princeton University before getting into politics. He was known for being a pretty quiet and shy guy, but that didn’t stop him from still coming off as a strong leader because he was well spoken in his speeches. He had a flock of sheep to cut the White House lawn during WW1 to help save on money for the war efforts. He also suffered a major stroke in the final year of his presidency, and his wife Edith helped him preside over day-to-day duties which was kept as a secret from the nation at the time.

#28: Warren G. Harding- Harding was a very popular man upon taking office, but his time in office was embroiled in scandal and even more came out after he died by heart attack, just 2 and a half years into his presidency. First, the teapot dome scandal happened during his time in office, which involved his interior secretary selling off oil reserves designated for the Navy to private oil companies on the hush hush. Then after his death it came out that he had a love child with his mistress during his time in office as well and that of course, was also on the hush hush. On the more fun and still sneaky side of Harding though, he loved playing poker with his buddies and would regularly host poker night parties in the White House where they would sneak in kegs of beer and bottles of liquor during the height of Prohibition. It was nearing its end at this point, but it was still the Gilded Age.

#29: Calvin Coolidge- Coolidge’s last name just fits him and he’s one of the most underrated presidents in my mind in a lot of ways. He was certainly fiscally conservative and believed in decreasing the size of the government’s power on everyday people, but he was a strong supporter of minorities and civil rights as well. He backed and supported women’s suffrage and officially gave Native Americans naturalized citizenship in America, finally. He was known for being a man of few words and only really spoke when he needed to, gaining him the nickname ‘Silent Cal’. He chose not to run for another term after his 1st full one following Harding’s death, simply saying “I will not be seeking re-election.” Him and his wife Grace received a live racoon as a gift from a state governor to cook for Thanksgiving, but they kept her as a White House pet instead and named her Rebecca.

#30: Herbert Hoover- Hoover had the unfortunate luck of presiding under the end of the booming economy of the roaring 20’s and the Gilded Age and ushering in the Great Depression of the 1930s. It wasn’t for his lack of effort to try and bail out the country and the economy; it was just simply the fact that nothing that he tried really worked and people really started to put the blame on him because mass amounts of folks were suffering. He was a better man than he was a president I’d say (he wasn’t the only one to fall into that category), he fed hungry children throughout Europe following WW1 before his presidency and really seemed to care about people. He also is the 1st president to install a telephone in the Oval Office so there was always a direct line to him, and the Hoovers also kept a weird pet while in office, an opossum named Benjamin.

#31: Franklin D. Roosevelt- FDR is the first and the only president to ever be elected to 4 terms in office, after him an Amendment was added to the Constitution to limit presidents to 2 terms. He also presided over some of the most important times in the nation’s history. He restored hope to a broken nation upon entering office with his New Deal that bailed out agriculture industries and struggling businesses and provided immediate relief to those suffering. Through this and his legislation, the welfare program and social security was born. He was also president when Pearl Harbor was attacked and our hands were forced into WW2 and he worked hard with European countries to form the UN. He developed Polio at a pretty young age and eventually lost use of his legs; through his disease the ‘March of Dimes’ was born. He died shortly into his 4th term in office from a stroke.

#32: Harry S. Truman- The only president from my state, Truman presided over a very stressful time in American history. He oversaw and called for the dropping of the atomic bombs that officially ended WW2 (that whole situation was not so cut and dry either. I don’t blame Truman), and he dealt with the beginning of the tensions with the USSR following the end of the war and the beginning of the Cold War. Foreign tensions were high following a World War. Truman just felt like a regular guy, he never attended college. He had very bad eyesight that kept him from getting accepted, so he worked on his family’s farm before entering politics. On the fun side of things though, he was a talented piano player and had a bowling alley installed in the White House.

#33: Dwight D. Eisenhower- I like Ike! Eisenhower is one of the presidents with no prior political experience but plenty of military experience. He was a 5-star Army General and helped to lead the Allied Forces to victory in particularly important battles throughout WW2 and that’s how he gained immense popularity. He also dealt with a lot of foreign affairs stress with nuclear weapons but oversaw a booming post-war economy. He was a supporter of Civil Rights, overseeing the Brown v Board of Education ruling and sending the National Guard to public schools for safety of the students. His administration also started NASA and began construction on the modern Interstate Highway system. He was also a sports fan. He played football throughout high school and college and was a big golfer throughout his presidency, even having a putting green installed on the White House lawn.

#34: John F. Kennedy- The youngest elected president at 43, the widespread boom of the television probably helped JFK win the nomination because he came off as more put together, handsome, and charismatic than his opponent Nixon in the 1st televised Presidential Debate. JFK was also a supporter of Civil Rights and started the Peace Corps to help the less fortunate abroad. He dealt with a lot of nuclear stress from the USSR during his time in office and Vietnam was simmering as well. His handling of the ‘Bay of Pigs’ was a major blunder, but his handling of the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ was potentially lifesaving. JFK was a complicated figure but a good leader. He was a bit of a womanizer and had some decently well-known to the public *affairs* while in office. He was also a military hero. He saved his entire crew after they were shipwrecked during WW2 and earned a medal of bravery for it. His assassination in Dallas shook the nation and is still widely talked about today.

#35: Lyndon B. Johnson- LBJ also had a bit of a controversial and complicated presidency. On one hand he was a goofy ‘Southern white guy who loved a good BBQ’ that incidentally ended up signing the ‘Civil Rights Act’, the most important piece of civil rights legislation in our history that ended segregation and officially allowed black people the same use of facilities and public services as white people. A major win on his part. On the other hand, the Vietnam War. He buried his head in the sand with his handling of the Vietnam War and the implementation of the draft, but he had a lot of the wrong people and wrong information in his ear as well. On the fun side, LBJ apparently had no shame and a bit of a lack of manners. People in his cabinet and White House staff said he would have meetings from the bathtub, continue conversations with the door open on the toilet, and take pees right on the White House lawn in front of whoever.

#36: Richard Nixon- Ole Tricky Dick. I’ll give him credit for ‘Detente’, the best efforts since the end of WW2 to officially declare peace with the Soviet Union and it actually worked and simmered tensions for a while. On the other hand, he also really fumbled and mishandled the Vietnam War and foolishly thought it was still winnable long past when it was, and his presidency was embroiled in scandal with his secret spy operation, the infamous ‘Watergate Scandal’. He regularly taped conversations with people anyways, but a hired crew of his were caught wire-tapping the DNC around election time and this ultimately led to him resigning before he could be impeached. On the fun side, he loved to bowl and would often go to the alley late at night to play and ease his mind. He was also a big TV fan and apparently a huge football fan and an avid supporter of the Redskins while in office.

#37: Gerald Ford- Ford was maybe the most “How did I get here?” president of all time. Spiro Agnew was Nixon’s Vice President for most of his time in office, but he had to step down and resign as well following the scandal. So, in steps Ford to take the role over, but Nixon resigned shortly after as well once he found out he was trapped and Ford was thrust into the position of president. Ford pardoned Nixon and let him step away with some of his respect still intact. This decision sparked a lot of controversy and that mixed with the economy really struggling as well made it a tough go for him. On the fun side, he was a star football player at the University of Michigan during college and even had some NFL offers. He was also a model as a young man and appeared in a number of fashion magazines before entering politics. Ford had a swimming pool installed in the White House and swam in it every morning for exercise.

#38: Jimmy Carter- Jimmy was maybe the best human being to ever be president, but that certainly didn’t make him the best president. His handling of both foreign and domestic affairs were not great and the economy continued to suffer through the end of the 70s. Carter was a very down to earth and loving personality though, an attribute that helped him get elected. He was a peanut farmer in his young days and worked down on his family’s farm in Georgia before politics. After politics though may have been when he did his best work. Him and his wife Rosalynn teamed up with ‘Habitat for Humanity’ and he helped to build hundreds of homes for families in less fortunate situations, an effort that ended up winning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He lived to be over 100 and died in 2024.

#39: Ronald Reagan- Reagan had a large refocus on the Soviet Union and their production of nuclear weapons in the early 1980s and kind of restoked the flames and tensions with the nation for a while because of it. This refocus ended up being the attention that the matter needed though because it restarted negotiations with the nation and a lot of progress was made towards peace between Reagan and Gorbachev throughout his time in office. He also reignited the economy for a while through his questionable ‘Reaganomics’ system and upped the War on Drugs with his blundering ‘D.A.R.E.’ program. On the fun side of things, Reagan was a Hollywood actor in his younger age and appeared in a number of films, making him the first president to be a known figure by other means before entering the office of President. He was also known to have a love for Jelly Belly jellybeans and always kept a jar on his desk.

#40: George H.W. Bush- HW Bush was a good foreign affairs leader. He oversaw the dissolving of the Soviet Union and handled it in a calm and respectful way. He also provided swift effectiveness in the Gulf War and made sure not to overstay his welcome or lose more troops lives than he had to. He very effectively handled things with other nations quietly and behind the scenes without having to create a big fuss over it. He maybe wasn’t as astute or at least focused when it came to his domestic policies though and that’s ultimately what lost him re-election. He was a heroic fighter pilot during WW2 that got his plane shot down near the coast of Japan in a battle and was the only 1 of 9 pilots to make it out of the situation alive. He got his thrills by living life on the edge. He loved racing speedboats and was a big fan of skydiving, doing it annually on his birthday into his 90s.

#41: Bill Clinton- The 2nd youngest president. Bill ran on the promise of focusing on domestic affairs and he carried through on that promise throughout the 90s. He oversaw one of the longest peacetimes in American history and that allowed him to help balance the federal budget and give back to the people at home. He oversaw one of the smallest unemployment numbers in decades, one of the highest homeownership numbers ever, gave access to further education to more people through federal aid and grants, provided better medical leave to new mothers and parents, and oversaw a rapid decrease in crime through bulking police forces back up in populated areas. Unfortunately, his time in office was also embroiled in scandal, first with the ‘Whitewater scandal’ that involved a shady real estate project before his presidency, which investigating it incidentally exposed his *affair* with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. On the fun side of things though, he’s a talented saxophone player and even performed on late-night show with Arsenio Hall while campaigning for office.

#42: George W. Bush- Bush had a bit of a rough go as president, but you can’t entirely blame him considering the circumstances. He was in office for less than 2 years when 9/11 happened and that was the biggest tragedy/disaster in our country’s history. We’d never faced a foreign terror attack to that level, so we didn’t necessarily have a basis on how to respond to it. The economy suffered as we went to war and continued to until we went into a recession and he probably led with fear a little more than he should’ve, with things like ‘The Patriot Act’ as a prime example. His War on Terror efforts were overall a never-ending blunder also that changed politics in a bad way forever, but after an attack to that level things were bound to change forever regardless. Stinks for him too because he really does seem like a pretty genuine guy. On the fun side of W though, he’s the son of HW, making the Bush’s 1 of only 2 father/son presidential pairs in history. He was also a cheerleader at Yale during college and part owner of the Texas Rangers before his presidency.

#43: Barack Obama- Obama did very well domestically I feel like, considering he was taking over during an economic recession and a housing crisis following Bush’s term as well. The economic bailout was a slow process, but I feel like it did improve little by little every year he was in office. Obamacare was a great idea in theory, and it works better than the nothing that there was before, but I think we could all agree it can be improved upon. The legalization of same sex marriage was a big deal as well for his administration. Obama’s foreign affairs handling is where things get a little iffy. On one hand, we got Bin Laden finally so that was a major military win, but the War on Terror still drug on and on and he majorly upped the use of drone warfare and dicier technologically advanced warfare. On the fun side, Obama was the first African American president. He also played basketball in high school and enjoyed a round of hoops even into and throughout his presidency, having a basketball court installed at the White House. He also had his own Ale brewed during his time in office, made with the honey from the bee hives on the White House grounds.

#44: Donald Trump- This is the fiery one. I try to keep things fair because that’s what this post is all about. I’ve made it this far without disclosing TOO much of my personal politics into the situation, but anyone who knows me knows I’m not much of a fan of our current president. To be fair, I think he handled the economy decently well throughout his 1st term in office and his ‘Prison Reform Act’ was a good signing that helped limit excessive prison sentences for non-violent offenders. Domestically things were okay. I’ve never been happy or felt safe with his handling of foreign affairs, but that’s gotten even scarier and more intensified throughout his 2nd term in office. Where things really went wrong here was his initial handling of the Covid situation and not conceding in the 2020 election. His words ultimately lead to a riot and a storming of the Capitol building and that’s a situation he’s attempting to rewrite the history on now that he’s back in office. His 2nd term has been embroiled in government in-fighting, negative publicity, outlandish and purposely inciting rhetoric from him and his cabinet, and a country more divided than it has been in many, many years. Before I get too carried away though, let’s get to the fun. He was a notable businessman and a reality TV star from ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ before his presidency. He’s the only president ever to be a billionaire, and he’s also the only president ever to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame.

#45: Joe Biden- Biden was not the best of presidents in recent memory either to be fair here. I think he had a plan and idea of what he wanted to do in office, but he was just a bit too old and out of touch with the game by the time he got there. He did still pass some of his legislation though while in office by some razor thin margins, helping bolster things like same sex marriage, gun control, prices on medication, and expanding healthcare to veterans. His handling of exiting the Afghanistan War on Terror situation was done in quick and very sloppy fashion, but I guess at least he had the balls to finally pull the pin on a never-ending war. He didn’t respond properly or really at all to inflation or the diving economy though and put the Democratic Party in a nearly impossible, unwinnable situation coming into the 2024 election. On the fun side of things, Joe played wide receiver for the University of Delaware in college. He also has a love for sunflower seeds and ice cream that he’s made pretty well known.

Sheesh. I feel like that took me days, because it literally took me days. I realized about 10 presidents in that this was going to be a lot more work than I initially expected, but it was too late to back out then. If anyone’s still reading this (I hope they are because I put in a lot of work here!), I hope you had a good time and learned something new. If you’d like to hear or read more Presidential or American history/government type posts from me on this blog let me know and I’ll occasionally write about this stuff as well. This is another one of my hobbies and likes as well, just not one I’ve really shared with the blog yet. I have my personal ‘Top 10 Favorite Presidents’ and ‘Top 10 Least Favorite Presidents’ lists and an overall personal ranking of every one of them. I thought about sharing those on this blog at some point, but that feels like it would ruffle feathers, even if it’s just my personal opinion and thoughts. Be sure to like and follow the page to keep up with all my latest posts and Happy Presidents Day! Till next time, be good to one another!