Just For Fun Presidential Trivia
Retrieved September 30, 2007 – For folks who enjoy Unites States presidential history and trivia, I came across a fun section on the National Park Service web site the other night doing some research for an upcoming column.
Just For Fun: Presidential Trivia can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/pres/trivia.htm
Enjoy.
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The president in HDThursday, Sept. 13, 2007
Thanks to David Wissing over at the Hedgehog Report – “President Bush Speech Notes/Open Thread” we learn that “tonight's Presidential address from the White House (was) broadcast for the first time in high definition television.”
Mr. Wissing credits TVNewser, “The President In HD” for the information, which notes, “Previous events, including this year's State of the Union address, were in HD but now that the White House is wired, the networks can carry the speech in HiDef.”
But quick, when was the first presidential speech on TV?
The History News Network, “How the White House Discovered Television” cites Christine Gibson in American Heritage : “…the first televised Presidential speech ever…” was “President Harry Truman's speech on October 5, 1947, urging Americans to save wheat…”
The speech and the circumstances are to be the subject of a future column that I am writing to coincide with the anniversary. I had come across the information before and then when I was at the Truman Key West “Little White House” this past February, I gained some more insight into the event. See: 20070214 President Harry Truman and Gauging a presidential legacy.
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Florida Key West, President George W. Bush, President Harry S Truman, The Tentacle, History American Presidents
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com and Winchester Report.
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Why Bush Will Be A Winner by William Kristol
July 17th, 2007
William Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard has written a great synopsis of the George W. Bush presidency. It is a piece that I wish that I had written.
Writing such a piece has been on my mind since I wrote Gauging A Presidential Legacy last February 14, 2007 in The Tentacle:
Recently political pundits have spent a great deal of effort pondering the legacy of President George W. Bush. Of course, those of us who consider ourselves to be students of history understand that history needs much more time and distance in order to accurately gauge the legacy and historical impact of any particular president.
Yet, uncannily, there are many parallels shared in the legacy of our 33rd president, Harry S Truman and President Bush, our 43rd president; and it is only understandable that the comparisons persist.
I took the opportunity Monday to tour President Truman's
After the tour I interviewed the executive director of the Little
Mr. Wolz says, with a certain "I told you so" confidence, that it is "remarkable that President Truman has gone from the least popular president of all time to the fifth most successful."
President Truman first arrived in
More: 20070214 Gauging A Presidential Legacy
Meanwhile Mr. Kristol wrote:
By William Kristol, Sunday, July 15, 2007; B01in the
I suppose I'll merely expose myself to harmless ridicule if I make the following assertion: George W. Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one.
Let's step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration. Let's look at the broad forest rather than the often unlovely trees. What do we see? First, no second terrorist attack on
And third, and most important, a war in Iraq that has been very difficult, but where -- despite some confusion engendered by an almost meaningless "benchmark" report last week -- we now seem to be on course to a successful outcome.
Read the rest here: Why Bush Will Be A Winner
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July 1, 2007
Photo credit: Robert Knudsen /Lyndon B. Johnson Library
Lady Bird Johnson, wife of latePresident Lyndon B. Johnson,is pictured at the White Housein an Oct. 20, 1967 file photograph.
MSNBC is carrying an Associated Press story that Lady Bird Johnson has passed away.
Former first lady, 94, succumbs to natural causes, spokeswoman says
BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:02 p.m. ET July 11, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas - Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady who championed conservation and worked tenaciously for the political career of her husband, former President Lyndon B. Johnson, died Wednesday, a family spokeswoman said. She was 94.
Lady Bird Johnson returned home late last month after a week at Seton Medical Center, where she'd been admitted for a low-grade fever. Her husband died in 1973.
She died at her
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June 24th, 2007
I received this in an e-mail from a colleague and it certainly gives ya something to thing about…
Sinking polls, vicious verbal attacks, a struggling war effort:
An editorial in the
An imminent former supporter, speaking in
A respected
A widely read magazine spoke of him deserving nothing but “hatred and scorn” for leading the nation into war. It wrote, “There are 500,000 new made graves, there are 500,000 orphans; there are 200,000 widows; there is a bottomless sea of blood.” [4]
And one imminent humanitarian described of him, “Not a spark of genius has he; not an element of leadership....” [5]
Of course, a knotty band of defenders, in large part deeply religious people [6], remained stubbornly loyal. They admitted mistakes had been made in the execution of the war and in other areas, too. But they argued that mistakes would be unavoidable in any great undertaking. These loyalists claimed that history would stand as the ultimate judge, not the winds of public opinion or the criticism of political enemies.
But that could not lift the cloud from over the Oval Office.
Poor President Lincoln, apparently one of the worst Presidents we would ever have:
1. [Trueblood, Abraham Lincoln, p. 13]
2. [Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 199]
3. [Trueblood, p. 167]
4. [Trueblood, p. 167]
5. [Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, I, p. 555]
6. [Trueblood, p. 169 To
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A glimpse at today in history with Answers.com
May 10th, 2007
Today's an auspicious day for the dark side: John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), James Earl Ray (1929-1998) and Mark David Chapman (52) were all born on May 10.
In 1865, Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln, who was attending a performance at Ford's Theatre. Ray took the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, as King stood on a hotel room balcony in Memphis, TN.
And in 1981, Chapman murdered John Lennon as Lennon arrived at his home in NYC.
Wielding the presidential veto by Laura Smith-Spark BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6597545.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 13:22 GMT 14:22
Highest number exercised:
F D
G
H S Truman (1945-53) - 180
DD Eisenhower (1953-61) - 73
Most recent presidents:
Ronald Reagan (1981-89) - 39
George Bush (1989-93) - 29
Bill Clinton (1993-2001) - 36
George W Bush (2001-) - 2
Figures for regular vetoes only; pocket vetoes are not included
Wielding the presidential veto
By Laura Smith-Spark BBC News,
George W Bush used his veto for the first time on a stem cell bill
The move was prompted by the approval by Congress of a bill linking war funding to a timetable for withdrawal of combat troops from
The Democrat-controlled Congress passed the bill narrowly despite Mr Bush's repeated threats to veto it.
Once the bill was presented to Mr Bush, he had 10 days in which to return it to Congress with his objections - but opted instead to wield his veto within hours.
Both the House and Senate would have to muster a two-thirds majority in favour of the bill if they were to override the veto.
Given the Democrats' slim majorities they are highly unlikely to succeed, meaning the legislation will have to be revised and approved in both Houses again before returning to the president.
Read the rest of the article here: Wielding the presidential veto by Laura Smith-Spark BBC News
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Presidential Vetoes from 1789 to present (1789 to Present) Since 1789, the President has had the authority to veto legislation passed by Congress. This authority is one of the significant tools in the President's legislative dealings with Congress. It is effective in directly preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, and the threat of a veto can bring about changes in the content of legislation long before the bill is ever presented to the President. There are two types of vetoes available to the President. The "regular veto" is a qualified negative veto, which is limited by the ability of Congress to muster the necessary two-thirds vote of each House for constitutional override. The other type of veto is a "pocket veto." This veto is actually an absolute veto that cannot be overridden; it becomes effective when the President fails to sign a bill after Congress has adjourned and is unable to override the veto. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* President Bush attempted to pocket veto two bills during intrasession recess periods. Congress considered the two bills enacted into law because of the President's failure to return the legislation. The bills are not counted as pocket vetoes in this table. Source: Congressional Research Service |
20070214 President Harry Truman and Gauging a presidential legacy
My Tentacle column for this week is up: Gauging A Presidential Legacy
Pictured to the left is the executive director of the Little White House Museum, in
February 14, 2007
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Recently political pundits have spent a great deal of effort pondering the legacy of President George W. Bush. Of course, those of us who consider ourselves to be students of history understand that history needs much more time and distance in order to accurately gauge the legacy and historical impact of any particular president.
Yet, uncannily, there are many parallels shared in the legacy of our 33rd president, Harry S Truman and President Bush, our 43rd president; and it is only understandable that the comparisons persist.
I took the opportunity Monday to tour President Truman's
After the tour I interviewed the executive director of the Little
Mr. Wolz says, with a certain "I told you so" confidence, that it is "remarkable that President Truman has gone from the least popular president of all time to the fifth most successful."
President Truman first arrived in
Read the rest here: Gauging A Presidential Legacy
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Florida Key West, President George W. Bush, President Harry S Truman, The Tentacle, History American Presidents
According to Fox News Channel, former Pres. Gerald Rudolph Ford has passed away at age 93.
11:45 p.m., Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
UPDATED 1 a.m., December 27th, 2006 and 2 a.m., December 27th, 2006
Bottom image - updated at 1 a.m., Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 - from the Fox News Channel web site.
11:45 p.m., Tuesday, December 26th, 2006: It was just announced that former U.S. President Gerald Ford passed away at 93 years-old in
"Biography" Gerald Ford 4President 1976 TV Ad
He was born in
The announcement came on Fox News at approximately 11:45 p.m., December 26th, 2006.
He was the longest living president in US history; having passed former President Ronald Reagan on November 26th, 2006.
According to Fox News, a statement was released by his widow, First Lady Betty Ford, by way of the
"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."
The cause of death was not released, although he was not an admitted patient at the time of death. Perhaps more details will be released later. He had been treated earlier at the Rancho Mirage hospital for pneumonia, last January 2006.
As recently as last August, he had been treated at the Mayo Clinic in
He was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1948, representing the
As the 40th
He replaced former
He was the 38th and only un-elected president in our country’s history. He took office on August 9, 1974 and served until January 20, 1977.
His first act was to officially pardon former President Richard Nixon, which many historians say contributed to his election loss to President Jimmy Carter in 1976.
It was during his term in office that the Vietnam War ended with
He was well liked on both sides of the aisle. He was friendly, open and honest with the public and was known for liking media reporters. He was known to say that he had many adversaries but no enemies.
I’ll update this post after bit.
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Public Law 109 285 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act
Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act
Public Law 109–285
Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act. 31 USC 5112 note.
Sept. 27, 2006 [H.R. 2808]
109th Congress
An Act
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the
bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President, was one of the Nation’s greatest leaders, demonstrating true courage during the Civil War, one of the greatest crises in the Nation’s history.
(2) Born of humble roots in present-day
(3) With the belief that all men were created equal, Abraham Lincoln led the effort to free all slaves in the
(4) Abraham Lincoln had a generous heart, with malice toward none and with charity for all.
(5) Abraham Lincoln gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country, dying from an assassin’s bullet on April 15, 1865.
(6) The year 2009 will be the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
(7) The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has been charged by Congress with planning the celebration of
(8) The proceeds from a commemorative coin will help fund the celebration and the continued study of the life of
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
(a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins, which shall—
(1) weigh 26.73 grams;
(2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
(3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.
(b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.
(c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—All coins minted under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.
(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.
(2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin minted under this Act there shall be—
(A) a designation of the value of the coin;
(B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2009’’; and
(C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘
(b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted under this Act shall be—
(1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission; and
(2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
(a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.
(b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality of the coins minted under this Act.
(c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2009.
SEC. 6.
(a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of—
(1) the face value of the coins;
(2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to such coins; and
(3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).
(b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
(c) PREPAID ORDERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.
(2) DISCOUNT.—
SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin.
(b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1), title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to further the work of the Commission.
(c) AUDITS.—The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code.
(d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin programs issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.
Approved September 27, 2006.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2808 (S. 811):
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 152 (2006):
Sept. 6, considered and passed House.
Sept. 8, considered and passed Senate.
VerDate 14-DEC-2004 22:11 Oct 02, 2006 Jkt 059139
120 STAT. 1216 PUBLIC LAW 109–285—SEPT. 27, 2006
