Life After the White House, Part 2
After attending the inauguration of his handpicked successor, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson retired to his plantation home, The Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee. Ill...
Home State Loosers
Presidential candidates can usually count on carrying their own state. There have been notable exceptions, such as George McGovern losing South Dakota in 1972...
Is There a President in the House? – Part 4
The period after the Civil War saw Presidents ranging from one of the most politically experienced to possibly the least politically experienced. The Reconstruction...
Presidential Party Hoppers
In addition to his other duties, the President of the United States is also the leader of his political party. A number of our...
Lou Henry Hoover – Unsung Heroine
Lou Henry Hoover served as First Lady from 1929 to 1933. There is much about her that never made it into the public view...
The President’s Lady – Dolley Madison, An American Original
For over a century, the greatest compliment you could pay a First Lady was to compare her favorably to Dolley Madison. She presided over...
Almost President – Charles Fairbanks
Charles Warren Fairbanks served as Vice President from 1905-1909 during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt. With better luck, he would have been President of...
Andrew Jackson and the Eaton Affair – A National Soap Opera
The scandals of President Clinton are nothing compared to some of our past presidents. One, the Eaton Affair, led to the fall of an...
Is There a President in the House? – Part 2
Martin Van Buren was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1821. The previous year, he had engineered a revolt against his party’s leader, Governor...
Is There a President in the House? – Part 5
James Abram Garfield was a successful general in the Civil War who was elected to Congress in 1863. Before the war, he had served...