15 little-known facts about US presidents
One did some modeling, one liked to skinny dip and one wasn’t allowed to dance in the White House.
There’s a lot to learn about our nation’s presidents, including some intriguing facts that you often don’t find in textbooks. As we mark Presidents Day, let’s take a look at several of the more interesting and obscure bits of trivia about our former leaders.
George Washington owned a profitable whiskey distillery
Whiskey was one of the first president’s most important business ventures at Mount Vernon. At peak production, in 1799, the distillery produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey. With sales of $7,500 that year, it was perhaps the country’s largest distillery, Smithsonian magazine reports.
Gerald Ford was a model in his youth
One of Gerald Ford's early girlfriends was Phyllis Brown, a fashion model. Brown persuaded Ford to invest in a modeling agency and to do some modeling himself. They appeared in a ski resort spread of Look magazine (1940) and on the cover of Cosmopolitan (1942).
Theodore Roosevelt wore a lock of Lincoln’s hair at his inauguration
Theodore Roosevelt wore a ring containing a lock of President Abraham Lincoln’s hair on March 14, 1905, at his second inauguration. Roosevelt had been a longtime admirer of Lincoln's, and as a child, he had watched Lincoln’s funeral procession pass by his house in New York. John Hay, who had worked for Lincoln in the White House, gave Roosevelt the ring, knowing that Roosevelt would treasure it, Smithsonian magazine tells us.
John Quincy Adams liked to skinny dip in the Potomac River
The sixth president was known for awakening before dawn and taking a dip sans clothes. That must have been quite the sight for anyone out for a morning stroll.
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were arrested in Vermont
Thomas Jefferson (shown) and James Madison had the gall to take a carriage ride on a Sunday, which was against state law at the time, according to Newsweek.
Lincoln’s son was present for three very grim moments
Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Lincoln, witnessed the death of his father and also had the misfortune of being in the vicinity when two other presidents were shot: James Garfield and William McKinley. He was summoned to Peterson House, where his father lay dying in 1865; moments before Garfield was shot at a railroad station in 1881, Robert Lincoln had spoken with him (Garfield died weeks later); and Lincoln was in the same building when McKinley was shot in 1901 and died about a week later.
Herbert Hoover made ridiculous demands of his staff
Herbert Hoover, who must have been a real diva, insisted that his staff never lay eyes on him around the White House, and he didn’t want to see them either, Reader’s Digest reports. This led to the staff playing an elaborate game of hide and no seek. According to White House journalist Kenneth Walsh, staffers would “pile into closets” and “hide behind bushes so the president couldn’t see them.”
Warren Harding gambled away the White House china
Warren Harding, the 29th president, loved a game of poker, and apparently, he was a high roller. During one of his bi-weekly poker games, Harding gambled away a set of china that had been in the White House since President Benjamin Harrison’s tenure six terms prior. He bet it all on one ill-advised hand, according to Reader’s Digest.
Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender
He co-owned the bar Berry and Lincoln in Illinois.
James Polk’s wife was very strict
The wife of our 11th president, James Polk, was a serious Presbyterian and frowned upon dancing, so it was banned in the White House and at the inaugural ball. She also disapproved of horse racing and the theater.
Benjamin Harrison and his wife were terrified of electricity
When the Edison Company installed electrical wires in the White House in 1891, the 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison, and his wife refused to touch the light switches for fear of being electrocuted.
There was a day without a president, sort of
Ever hear of David Rice Atchison? In 1849, the inauguration of Zachary Taylor (shown) landed on a Sunday, and the religious man refused to be sworn in on a holy day. Some historians have argued that Sen. David Rice Atchison, a Democrat from Missouri, was U.S. president during those intervening hours because he was president pro tempore of the Senate. A plaque on his statue in Missouri even declares him president for one day. Today, most historians and constitutional scholars dispute that claim, the Library of Congress notes.
Jimmy Carter was the first president to have been born in a hospital
Until then, presidents had been born at home, and several entered this world in log cabins.
James Monroe had a violent streak
After deciding not to run against James Monroe in the presidential election, William H. Crawford took a position as secretary of the treasury. During a clash between the two men, the fifth president chased the politician out of the room while brandishing a set of tongs from his fireplace.
Martin Van Buren was the first president to be a U.S. citizen
Before him, presidents were British subjects, Newsweek notes.
One did some modeling, one liked to skinny dip and one wasn’t allowed to dance in the White House.
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