By Mu’taz Al-Shabrawi, KUNA,
Washington : The history of US presidents is filled with great and interesting events that contributed in shaping the country’s status as the most powerful in modern day.
Yet, delving into trivial information of each and every president revealed that those leaders, just like ordinary people, had their ups and downs, achievements and shortcomings, and even peculiarities.
The National Geographic on its internet web site shed light on some of this world of fun facts and trivia.
The smallest President was James Madison (presidential term 1809-17). The fourth President, Madison stood 5 feet, 4 inches (163 centimeters) tall and weighed less than 100 pounds (45 kilograms), it said.
The website also reports that tallest President was Abraham Lincoln (1861-65). He stood 6 feet, 4 inches (193 centimeters) tall.
Meanwhile, the heaviest President was William Howard Taft (1909-13), who sometimes tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds (136 kilograms) during his tenure. After being stuck in a White House bathtub, Taft ordered a new one installed. The replacement was big enough to hold four grown men of average size.
The oldest President ever elected was Ronald Reagan (1981-89). The 40th President took office at the age of 69. The youngest elected President was John F. Kennedy (1961-63), who reached the White House at 43. But the youngest President to ever serve was Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09), who was elected Vice President on a ticket with President William McKinley.
In September 1901, a deranged anarchist shot McKinley twice in Buffalo, New York, and Roosevelt assumed the top office at 42.
Benjamin Harrison (1889-93), the 23rd President, was the first President to attend a baseball game. He saw the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Senators 7 to 4 on June 6, 1892.
William Taft started the tradition of the Presidential “first pitch” of baseball season. The event took place on April 4, 1910, during an opening day game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics.
Since Taft’s first pitch, every President but one has opened at least one baseball season during their tenure. The exception was Jimmy Carter (1977-1981).
John Quincy Adams (1825-29), the sixth President, customarily took a nude early morning swim in the Potomac River.
George Washington (1789-1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801-09), and John Adams (1797-1801) were all avid collectors and players of marbles.
Four sitting Presidents have been assassinated while in office; Abraham Lincoln, James Abram Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1897-1901), and John F. Kennedy (1961-63).
Six other Presidents were lucky enough to survive their assassination attempts; Andrew Jackson (1829-37), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09), Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45), Harry Truman (1945-53), Gerald Ford (1974-77), and Ronald Reagan (1981-89).
Other Presidents have died while in office; the first was William Henry Harrison (1841), the ninth President, died of pneumonia one month to the day after making – in the snow – the longest US presidential inauguration speech on record.
The second was Zachary Taylor (1849-50), the 12th President, died in 1850 of an inflamed stomach and intestines just 16 months after he took office.
Warren Harding (1921-23), who presided over a scandal-plagued administration, died suddenly on August 2, 1923. Medical records suggest Harding battled high blood pressure and died of a heart attack. But rumors at the time claimed Harding either took his own life or was poisoned by his wife, who sought to end Harding’s notorious philandering.
John Adams (1797-1801), the second President, and Thomas Jefferson (1801-09), the third President, both died on July 4, 1826. Calvin Coolidge (1923-29), the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872.
The term “First Lady” was first used in 1877 in reference to Lucy Ware Webb Hayes. Most First Ladies, including Jackie Kennedy, are said to have hated the title.
James Buchanan was the only president never to marry. Five presidents remarried after the death of their first wives, two of whom, Tyler and Wilson, remarried while in the White House. Reagan was the only divorced president. Six presidents had no children. Tyler, father of fifteen, had the most.
As for occupations held by presidents before assuming office, the list gets weirder and weirder.
Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) began working as a garbage collector among others jobs, including shoe shiner, dish washer, elevator boy, a construction worker, and a farm boy.
Johnson shared such low-wage jobs with James Garfield (1881) who worked as a carpenter and a boat operator.
A male model, yes, that was what President Gerald Ford worked after being a janitor, a chef, a dish washer, a gardener, a football coach, a boxing coach, and a lawyer.
Yet, the most famous was Ronald Regan, who before becoming the most powerful US President of all time, worked as a circus announcer, a construction worker, a swimming coach, and a broadcaster before becoming a second-class actor, and the list goes on and on of not so utterly-wired yet somehow difficult to comprehend jobs that were occupied by leaders of the most powerful country in the world.
Other mind-blowing trivia concerning US presidents include that seven presidents had relations outside wedlock, most famous is Bill Clinton, while three presidents had drinking problems, last of whom was George W. Bush before becoming president, the site said.
Coolidge (1923-1929) deserved the title of the “sleepiest” US president, as he could not have less than 10 hours of sleep. It is a known fact that a US president’s sleeping hours’ average is five a day.
Finally, two US presidents had allegedly killed a person, first is George Washington for killing the French ambassador in time of peace. He was acquitted. Andrew Jackson, the second, had “legally” gunned down a rival during a wild-west-style gun fight.