The best anecdotes, jokes and curiosities of US Presidents
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The presidents of the United States
In the next election on November 8, 2016, Americans will elect the 45th President of the United States.
These are 45 curiosities and legends about the position, its occupants and the myths created around them.
- The first President of the United States was George Washington, who ruled from 1789 to 1797.
- The United States has had 44 presidential administrations, but only 43 Presidents. Grover Cleveland is the only President in history who has been twice non-consecutive, as the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. The first from 1885 to 1889 and the second from 1893 to 1897.
- Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican to be elected President, from 1861 to 1865.
Andrew Jackson was the first President of the newly created Democratic-Republican Party, which would be the embryo of the current Democratic Party. He was in power from 1829 to 1837. - For two years, the United States was governed by a non-elected President and Vice President. When Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned the position in 1793, Richard Nixon appointed Gerald Ford. Nixon resigned the following year, reason why Ford happened to be President and appointed to Nelson Rockefeller like its Vice-president. Both ruled until 1975.
United States
- Fourteen Vice Presidents of the United States have become presidents. Nine due to the death of the President-elect, either for murder or illness. Five were elected President after finishing his term as Vice President.
- The President who received the most popular and electoral votes was Ronald Reagan in the 1984 elections. Reagan received 54,455,075 popular votes and 525 electoral votes. Richard Nixon (in 1972) and Reagan (in 1984) got the support of 49 states, the highest reached in US history.
- Four presidents occupied the Oval Office without having obtained the majority of popular votes: George W. Bush, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford Hayes, and John Q. Adams.
- Until we see what happens with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party and with Carly Fiorina in the Republican Party, so far only two women have achieved the nomination of a majority party for a presidential election. They were Geraldine Ferraro, Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1984, and Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.
- John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, and George W. Bush, son of George H. Bush, are the two sons of the president who have also become president.
- If Jeb Bush had won the election on November 8, it would be the first time in history that a President has two children who also occupied the White House.
Ten presidential candidates
Ten presidential candidates defeated the President at the time of re-election:
- Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in 1800.
- Andrew Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams in 1828.
- William Harrison defeated Martin V. Buren in 1840.
- Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland in 1888.
- Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison in 1892.
- Woodrow Wilson beat Howard Taft in 1912.
- Franklin Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover in 1932.
- Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford in 1976.
- Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter in 1980.
- Bill Clinton defeated George Bush in 1992.
The 22 Amendment to the Constitution
Amendment 22 to the Constitution of the United States ratified in 1951 prohibits the presidents of the United States from being re-elected for more than two terms.
Even before 1951 most presidents followed the example set by the first president of the United States, George Washington, and moved away from power after completing the second of his four-year term.
- Since the 22 Amendment to the Constitution in 1951, no one can be President more than twice.
- The shortest presidency was that of William Henry Harrison, and lasted only 32 days.
- The longest before the 22 Amendment was approved was that of Roosevelt, who presided over the country for more than 12 years.
- Participation in presidential elections has fallen in four decades from 62% in 1960 to 54% in 2000.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama are the only two Presidents who have won re-election with an unemployment rate of over 7%.
- The states that have contributed the most presidents are: Virginia (7), Ohio (6), Massachusetts (4) and New York (4).
- John McCain and Barack Obama were the only two presidential candidates born outside the continental United States. Obama was born in Hawaii and McCain at the naval base of the Panama Canal.
- Four presidents were killed in office: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy.
- Four others died in the charge of natural death: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- The only president who has resigned and resigned from office has been Richard Nixon (1969-1974) after the Watergate case.
William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia in 1840, one month after taking office. Six presidents elected in a year ending in zero died in exercise after Harrison:
- Abraham Lincoln (1860).
- James Garfield (1880).
- William McKinley (1900).
- Warren Harding (1920).
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1940) and John F. Kennedy (1960).
- Ronald Reagan (1980) suffered an attack during his term, but he was saved.
Other Presidents
- Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president to hold office: he inherited it after the death of McKinley at age 42
- John F. Kennedy was the youngest president-elect: he took office at 43.
- Ronald Reagan was the oldest president: he was named with 69 years.
- Barack Obama was in 2008 the first African-American to be elected as president.
- If nominated for the 2016 election, Ben Carson would be the first African-American to be elected candidate of the Republican Party.
- George Washington delivered the inaugural speech to his shortest term in history with 133 words spoken in less than two minutes.
Additional Information.
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