THE MYSTERY OF THE ‘ILLEGAL’ PRESIDENT
Though Chester Arthur, the twenty-first president, always claimed he was born in Fairfield, Vermont, some suspect that he was actually born in Canada. This might not seem like a big deal, except there’s a little rule in the Constitution that no person born outside the United States may become president.
So, why the mystery?
The questions about Arthur’s birthplace arise because his father was an itinerant Baptist preacher who, like many rural ministers then, kept moving from one place to another. The family is known to have lived in many villages in Vermont, upstate New York, and Canada.
What historians just don’t know is exactly where Arthur was born. After he became president, there were rumors that his parents were in Canada at the time of his birth. Arthur always denied it and stuck by his Vermont story. No definite proof, one way or the other, has ever been established. We’ll probably never know for sure if Arthur was an "illegal" president or not.
Dr. Knowledge - Charles Reichblum
I saw a button over at the LB blog that said, " I am over forty, go sell that worst president ever crap somewhere else." It lead me to an American Thinker article, "America’s Three Worst Presidents."
They are Jimmy Carter, James Buchanan & Lyndon B. Johnson, NOT George W. Bush libtards. Go over to find out why…
BRIGHT, BUT BROKE
Is there anything Thomas Jefferson couldn’t do? He was good at so many things - he was a brilliant political thinker, author of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, architect, inventor, scientific farmer, musician, founder of the prestigious Univ. of Virginia, creator of the decimal system of coinage for the U.S., effective president, and one of the great figures in American history - but sadly, he was not good at managing money. Jefferson enjoyed fine living and often outspent his income to support his lavish lifestyle.
DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS…
Nothing proved that old cliche more than the race between Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey in 1948. Virtually every poll predicted an overwhelming victory for Dewey. Life magazine went so far as to publish a picture of Dewey before the election with the title "The Next President," and the Chicago Tribune, so sure of Dewey’s victory on election night, printed and distributed an early edition with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman."
To the nation’s surprise, however, Truman got over two million more votes than Dewey and won the
Electoral College vote by 303 to 189. It wasn’t even close - and Truman had won the biggest upset in U.S. presidential history.
How did it happen? Truman ran a down-to-earth, aggressive campaign, "giving ‘em hell." He appealed to America’s love of the underdog: One woman was quoted as saying she voted for Truman because she felt sorry for him. As for Dewey, he was perhaps lulled into overconfidence in the last weeks before the election. Whatever the cause, Truman delighted for years in holding up a copy of that infamous Chicago Tribune headline.
THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG…NOT!
During his presidency Gerald Ford honored Queen Elizabeth of England with a gala state dinner at the White House. As any good host would, President Ford asked the queen for a dance. He led Her Majesty to the dance floor just as the U.S. Marine band began playing the next song on their music stands. Sounds lovely, right?
IF ONLY HE’D PAID CLOSER ATTENTION
When Al Gore was a student at Harvard in the late 60’s, he titled his senior thesis "The Impact of Television on the Presidency." That thesis helped him graduate with honors - but no one knew then that some thirty years later, when he would run for president himself in 2000, the impact of TV might cost him the presidency.
I have been drawing a blank lately trying to recall a "war story" or posting information about the scumbags operating under 501c3 charity status, so I would like to start another regular posting to fill in the gaps. We’ll call it "Strange Facts of Past Presidents".
The following is the first installment.
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