10 presidents of american

8/6/2019 10 Presidents of American

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12010 George J. Irwin / All Rights Reserved

The First Ten Presidents

Facts and trivia about... well, you know...

Presentation to the Rochester Numismatic AssociationGeorge Irwin

February 18, 2010


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Convergence...

...or, leverage what youve already looked up!


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George Washington (1789-1797)

Surveyed the Shenandoah Valley

Military service in the French and Indian

War, reached rank of Lieutenant Colonel

Wanted a planters life after theRevolution

Only president elected unanimously

Namesake for Washington DC,

Washington State, seventeen counties and

thirty-one cities Home at Mount Vernon

Has been in trust since 1853 to the

Mount Vernon Ladies Association

Is most visited estate in America

Uses zero tax dollars Second term inaugural address was

shortest in history: 135 words


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John Adams (1797-1801)

Pointed toward the church as a child,

became a lawyer

Defended the soldiers in the Boston

Massacre case

Initial thought on independence: loyalty

to the King, not the taxing Parliament

Was ambassador to Great Britain in

1785 meeting George III (!)

Second place in first Presidential race

made him VP the most insignificant

office that ever the invention of man

contrived

Won bitter election of 1796 over Thomas

Jefferson by three electoral votes

Rift with Jefferson healed in 1812

Before Billary, there was Johnigail

Me: Think John Adams, see William

Daniels (in 1776)


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Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

What didnt Jefferson do?

But tombstone lists only:

Author of the Declaration of

American Independence

Statute of Virginia for religious

freedom

Father of the University of Virginia

Did Jefferson borrow from himself for

Declaration (A Summary View of the

Rights of British America)?

Recommended decimal-based coin and

currency system

Other recommendations (religious

freedom, free education, public libraries)

annoyed the upper class

Election of 1800: tie with Burr broken

by the House of Representatives


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James Monroe (1817-1825)

Served in Revolution at age of 16

Met his wife in New York City (me too!)

Voted against the Constitution wanted

Bill of Rights and directly elected Senators

and President

But appointed a Senator anyway in 1790

Helped negotiate Louisiana Purchase as

part of extensive foreign service

Nominated to run against Madison, but

became his Secretary of State instead

Two key events as President: Monroe

Doctrine and Missouri Compromise

Called the last of the Virginia Dynasty

But left the Presidency a nearly bankrupt

man (no book deals then!)

Died exactly five years after Adams and

Jefferson, on July 4, 1831


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John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

Second of five children of John and

Abigail Adams

Many foreign assignments; met wife

overseas, who became only foreign-born

First Lady

Helped fracture Federalist party by

switching to Democratic-Republicans

Became Secretary of State under James

Monroe

Five-way Presidential race of 1824

Andrew Jackson, J.Q. Adams and

William Crawford

4th Place: Henry Clay

Clay supported Adams, Adams

made Clay Secretary of State

Jackson: A corrupt bargain

One term president, but then elected to

House and served until his death in 1848

Met the Founding Fathers andLincoln!


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Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Born in 1767 in one of the Carolinas

Last President to have served in the

Revolution

Very little formal schooling, but became

a lawyer in Nashville

Smashing victory in Battle of New

Orleans (War of 1812, sort of) made him

second in popularity to Washington

Following The Corrupt Bargain he

campaigned for four years for the

Presidency

Elected as populist but also called King

Andrew I

Killed Second Bank of the U.S.

Led to split of Democratic-Republican

Party into Democrats (for Jackson) and

Whigs (against him), cementing two-

party system


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Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

Tricky trivia: First President born in

the United States...

...in the State of New York

Old Kinderhook or O.K. referred

to Van Buren, thus the term OK

A relatively wealthy lawyer who

could play in the Bucktail system

But got stuck with the Panic of 1837,

somewhat brought on by Jacksons

ending of the Second Bank of the U.S.

Martin Van Ruin: the Golden

Spoon Oration of Whig Charles Ogle

Attempted to regain the Presidency

in 1844 and 1848

Said that his two happiest days were

entrance into the office of President

and surrender of the office


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William Henry Harrison (1841)

Yes, gave a two hour inaugural address

and died of pneumonia 32 days later...

...but was already 68 at the time (which

wouldnt happen again until Ronald

Reagan)

Started in medicine, moved to the

military

Tippecanoe (and Tyler too) from his

battle against Tecumseh there...

...but didnt defeat Tecumseh until the

Battle of the Thames during the War of

1812

Finished second to Van Buren in 1836

Finished first in 1840 thanks to modern

campaigning songs, slogans and

advertising


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John Tyler (1841-1845)

First President to assume office after

death of predecessor

Thereby dubbed His Accidency

Believed in strict interpretation ofthe Constitution unlike Andrew

Jackson

Upon becoming President, acted

like one (not a caretaker)

Strongly believed in States Rightswhich got him thrown out of his own

party

First to have a veto overridden by

Congress

Became a member of the Congress...of the Confederacy!


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And then came...


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Online resources for the next 34* presidents...

Grover Cleveland(officially, the 22nd and 24th President)

*

Miller Center at the University of Virginia: millercenter.org

Scholarly long-form unbiased essays that take the long view

White House Site: www.whitehouse.gov

Thumbnail sketches, quick facts

Individual presidential libraries and historical sites: often have significant

quantities of information

Wikipedia (yes, really... as a starting point)

10 presidents of american

Documents