46 POTUS facts
A few years ago, my friend/work wife gave me a sketchbook to be added to the largest collection of artist sketchbooks (over 50,000!), through The Sketchbook Project. Super-fun gift. (Show of hands though — which of you has ever bought your boss a Christmas gift with a due date?)
My sketchbook traveled around a bit and lived at the Brooklyn Art Library for several years. Unfortunately, the project recently ended. I had the opportunity to reclaim my sketchbook.
In honor of Presidents’ Day, I’m sharing a few spreads that contain one fact about each POTUS. I even typed the facts out for you so you don’t have to strain to read them.
PS Notice that little bar on the bottom of the pages? My intention was to have that span the first presidency through present day. Instead, I didn’t pay close enough attention and ended up starting it when our first president was born. An infuriatingly absentminded mistake that messed up my whole plan.
Presidents 1 - 10
1 // George Washington
Washington was an attractive option for the presidency because he didn’t have any kids (though he did raise two stepkids). No risk of him becoming power-hungry and attempting to start a monarchy.
2 // John Adams
John Adams died at age 90 on July 4, hours after Jefferson.
UPDATE: This sketchbook claims that he was the fourth longest-living president. While true when I doodled it, he’s now ranked #5 for longevity.
3 // Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson was a red head! (But he usually wore a wig and/or powdered his hair.)
4 // James Madison
Tried to conquer Canada. Instead, Canada conquered the Michigan territory. Oopsie.
NOTE: Both times I tried to type “Canada” I typed “Candace.” She’s the one who assigned gave me this sketchbook. As far as I know, Candace has never attempted to conquer Canada, nor has she conquered Michigan or any other territories.
5 // James Monroe
Revolutionary War hero… claimed that the bullet that wounded him at Trenton helped him rise to the presidency.
6 // John Quincy Adams
Left two oldest sons behind when traveling, thinking it best for them (and the country). The oldest one fell (or jumped) to his death at a young age. The middle son died an alcoholic at just 38. And the youngest ended up Ambassador to Great Britain under Abraham Lincoln.
Maybe it wasn’t best for them afterall.
7 // Andrew Jackson
Paid his freed black soldiers (“brave fellow citizens”) the same as his white soldiers. But also… Trail of Tears.
8 // Martin Van Buren
The Red Fox of Kinderhook was the first president born an American citizen.
9 // William Henry Harrison
First president to die in office.
10 // John Tyler
Fathered 14 kids — more than any other president!
UPDATE: When I created this doodle, he had two living grandkids. One has since passed away.
Presidents 11-18
11 // James K. Polk
Sarah Polk asked that “Hail to the Chief” be played every time Polk entered an event, because he tended to go unnoticed otherwise.
12 // Zachary Taylor
First presidential election with the entire country voting on the same day.
13 // Millard Fillmore
Didn’t have a VP for his entire presidency (neither did Tyler, Andrew Johnson, or Arthur).
14 // Franklin Pierce
Alcoholic with a chronically depressed first lady. He and Jane struggled with the death of their beloved son. Benny was the only fatality in a horrible train crash two months before Pierce’s inauguration.
15 // James Buchanan
Only bachelor president. Harriet Lane, his orphaned niece, performed first lady duties.
16 // Abraham Lincoln
Some believe he was dying of heart disease when he was assassinated. Marfan Syndrome would have explained his height, super-long limbs and middle fingers, fatigue, severe headaches, etc.
17 // Andrew Johnson
Never went to school. Ever! Grew up extremely poor. Escaped indentured servitude. His bosses (at another job) read to him and gave him a book. He taught himself to read. At 18, he married 16-year-old Eliza. She tutored him.
18 // Ulysses S. Grant
His pallbearers included both Union and Confederate generals.
Presidents 19-27
19 // Rutherford B. Hayes
The only president to take the oath in secret — Dems called him “His Fraudulency” because of it.
20 // James Garfield
His mom was the first to attend her son’s presidential inauguration. She outlived him by almost seven years.
21 // Chester Arthur
Getting rich was a huge focus in his life — and he didn’t shy away from corruption. After Garfield was shot, a series of letters from Julia Sand (a wealthy 31-year-old) encouraged him to change his ways.
22 & 24 // Grover Cleveland
The only president to get married in the White House. After his death, Frances became the first former first lady to remarry.
23 // Benjamin Harrison
When scheduled to give the keynote at the state convention, he learned that his newly deceased father’s grave had been robbed. His body was found hanging naked at a medical school.
25 // William McKinley
Covered his wife Ida’s face with a napkin whenever she was about to have a seizure.
26 // Theodore Roosevelt
Shot before giving a speech. Gave the speech anyhow.
27 // William Howard Taft
Disagreed with his wife Nellie about Prohibition. She was a “wet”.
Presidents 28-36
28 // Woodrow Wilson
First president to leave the U.S. while in office (and the only to be gone so long — six months!).
29 // Warren G. Harding
Quoted as saying “It’s a good thing I’m not a woman. I would always be pregnant. I can’t say no.”
Also, he named his … bellend Jerry. So there’s that.
30 // Calvin Coolidge
Received two lion cubs as a gift from the mayor of Johannesburg. Named them Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau.
31 // Herbert Hoover
“Hooverize” means ration your stuff. Like “Meatless Mondays.”
32 // Franklin D. Roosevelt
Studied in Germany as a child… including some early versions of the Master Race Theory.
Wrote “I must be good” three hundred times as punishment for an unflattering doodle of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
33 // Harry S Truman
His full middle name is S.
First inauguration shown on TV. More people saw him sworn in than all other presidents before him, combined!
34 // Dwight D. Eisenhower
Camp David, previously called Shagri-La, was renamed after his grandson. But also… Eisenhower’s real first name is David. So, kinda also naming it after himself…? Secretly?
35 // John F. Kennedy
Youngest man elected president. (Teddy was the youngest to be president).
36 // Lyndon Baines Johnson
“Encouraged” staff to take skinny dipping breaks. Forced people to continue their conversations with him while he shat.
Presidents 37-45
37 // Richard Nixon
Tricky Dick’s daughter married Eisenhower’s grandson. (Yeah, the one Camp David was named after.)
38 // Gerald Ford
The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions tried to recruit him. He turned them both down for law school.
39 // Jimmy Carter
Ran five to seven miles a day, and usually ten on weekends. Sometimes Willie Nelson would run five miles with him.
40 // Ronald Reagan
Saved 78 lives — 77 as a lifeguard and one at a July 4 garden party he and Nancy hosted.
41 // George H. W. Bush
Enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday and became the youngest pilot in the Navy at the time. Spent hours floating in the Pacific after his plane was shot down and the rest of his crew was killed.
42 // Bill Clinton
His father died in a freak accident before he was born.
43 // George W. Bush
His security detail rode bikes to keep up with him during his runs — his pace was 7’ 31” per mile.
44 // Barack Obama
Only president born outside of the contiguous states.
45 // Donald Trump
Only president married three times.
___________
Not pictured:
46 // Joe Biden
Oldest president in history.