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Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves have taken time to celebrate the American presidency. Originating as a public celebration of our first president, George Washington, this holiday’s commemoration has taken various forms over the years. As time passed, additional presidents, most notably Abraham Lincoln, have also
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Presidents as Horsemen
The nineteenth century might be called the golden age of the horse. Horsepower pulled plow, canal boat, and wagon to market; horse-drawn stages linked towns; and omnibuses and carriages conveyed people to work within cities, to shop, or to the train station, which, a decade after the Civil War, emerged as the hub of a transcontinental transportation system. Before automobiles,
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The Presidents Timeline
GEORGE WASHINGTON | 1789-1797 JOHN ADAMS | 1797-1801 THOMAS JEFFERSON | 1801-1809 JAMES MADISON | 1809-1817 JAMES MONROE | 1817-1825 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS | 1825-1829 ANDREW JACKSON | 1829-1837 MARTIN VAN BUREN | 1837-1841 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON | 1841 JOHN TYLER | 1841-1845 JAMES K. POLK | 1845-1849 ZACHARY TAYLOR | 1849-1850 MILLARD FILLMORE | 1850-1853 FRANKLIN PIERCE | 1853-1857 JAMES BUCHANAN | 1857-1861 ABRAHAM LINCOLN | 1861-1865 ANDREW JOHNSON | 1865-1869 ULYSSES S. GRANT | 1869-1877 RUTHERFORD B.
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Presidents and College Football
Nearly 150 years after its beginnings college football season is in full swing. The sport has attracted countless players and even more fans, and presidents have belonged to the ranks of both. Although Theodore Roosevelt never played collegiate football because of his nearsightedness, he had more impact on the sport than any other president. In the early 1900s he joined a
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Presidents on Horseback
Military heroes who risked their lives in devotion to the nation have long been attractive presidential candidates. The image of a uniformed officer on a warhorse was a powerful symbol of leadership and executive ability. Presidents depicted in equestrian art include military heroes such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford
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Presidents and the Hey Day of Horse Racing in the Federal City
President Richard M. Nixon was the first sitting president to attend the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 1969. In his party that day were Mrs. Nixon and then Governor and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, all rooting for the winner, California-based Majestic Prince. Presidential parties attending horse races was once a common occurrence in the colonial period and early republic. Even before the seat
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The Presidents and the National Parks
The national parks preceded the National Park Service, but the first great natural park was a state park. California’s Yosemite State Park was established in 1864, by a federal cession approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and on October 21, 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes toured California’s Yosemite in an open carriage. On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant had approved the establishment of Y
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The American Presidents and Shakespeare
On April 23, 1932, Shakespeare-lovers from around the country flocked to Washington, D.C., to attend the dedication of the handsome new Folger Shakespeare Library, with President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover sitting on a platform to watch the ceremony. The main speaker was Joseph Quincy Adams Jr., a descendant of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams who taught
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Presidents and the Potomac
For the politicians, civil servants, and accompanying citizenry of the new federal government—freshly arrived in 1800 from comfortable, sophisticated Philadelphia—the young capital that sprawled along the banks of the Potomac was a disheartening scene. Dispersed among the woodlots and along the sparsely inhabited river shore, the city of Washington’s four-mile expanse was a scattering of fewer than four hundre
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Presidents' Passion for Music
Abraham Lincoln could neither sing nor read music, but he loved music with a passion. He attended the opera at least thirty times while he was president, and when once criticized for these diversions during the turbulent Civil War years, he said frankly, "I must have a change or I will die." Inside the White House, music reflected America’s ec
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Bio
Martha Jefferson Randolph
Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha, died many years before his presidency. As a result, their eldest daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph stepped into the role of first lady and hostess when he became president. Martha “Patsy” Jefferson was born on September 27, 1772. After receiving a private education and traveling with her father abroad, she married her distant relative Thomas Mann Randolph on Februa
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Bio
Sarah Yorke Jackson
Sarah Yorke was born ca. 1803/05 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Peter and Mary.1 Relatives raised Sarah after she was orphaned as a child.2 She married Andrew Jackson Jr., the adopted son of President Andrew Jackson, in 1831.3 Sarah lived at Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage, and oversaw the operation of the household and the enslaved laborers there, during his presidency. She an