Substitute First Lady – Harriet Lane
James Buchanan (1857-1861) was the only bachelor President. But he wasn’t the first President to enter the White House without a wife to act...
Presidential Children – The Hayes Kids
Elected in the closest election in our history, Rutherford and Lucy Hayes moved into the White House in 1877 with three of their five...
For the Record – Presidents in Uniform – Part 3
Andrew Johnson’s military career was, like the rest of his career, political. He had attracted national attention as the only southern member of Congress...
Is there a President in the House? – Part 10
George Herbert Walker Bush, the son of a Senator and the father of our President, succeeded Ronald Reagan in 1989. During World War II,...
Henry Clay – The Great Compromiser, Part 1
Only two men in our entire history hold the distinction of losing three presidential elections (losing being defined here as losing in the Electoral...
Reluctant Witness to History – Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln, eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln, had the unique distinction of being present at three Presidential assassinations. It is a fact...
Almost President – Levi P. Morton
Like Charles Fairbanks (see the earlier article “Almost President: Charles Fairbanks”), Levi Morton made a fateful decision that cost him the White House. As...
Forgotten First Lady – The Other Mrs. Wilson
Woodrow Wilson’s wife was called The First Woman President, The Other 28th President, and The Petticoat President. All these nicknames were the result of...
Edith Wilson – Our First Woman President?
The question of a woman president is not so much whether we will have one as it is when we will have one. The...
Barry Goldwater – A Choice, Not An Echo
Barry Goldwater is best remembered as the unfortunate individual who was buried by Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential landslide. Many know him only...