Posted on 10/31/2004 6:11:48 PM PST by LurkedLongEnough
One was a heavy drinker. Another wasn't too bright. Several enjoyed dalliances with women.
As the nation gets ready to elect the man who'll lead this country for the next four years, it's fun to look back on those who came before him.
Their tenures have often been plagued by controversy. They have taken their lumps in political campaigns. Their personalities have often had quirks that made them stand out on the popular scene.
Retired history professor Wendell Cultice of Ridgefield has spent his life studying the presidents. Last week, he gave a talk at Founders Hall on several of them.
The title of his program was "Hail to the Chaff."
He started with Zachary Taylor, who served as president for just 16 months from 1849 to 1850.
In the 1840s, there was no Republican party. There were, instead, The Whigs. And The Whigs had their eye on Taylor, hero of the Mexican War.
"The Whigs sent Taylor a letter to inform him that he'd been nominated to run for president," Cultice said. "Well, he didn't open it for three days.
"That letter went unopened, and you know why? It had 10 cents postage due and Taylor wasn't going to pay it."
Taylor would go on to be our 12th president, elected in part thanks to the votes of Prussian immigrants living in Wisconsin. That state allowed immigrants to vote as long as they signed a letter of declaration that they were going to become citizens.
By 1857, Franklin Pierce was serving as the 14th president. Pierce's personal life was marked by tragedy. His first two children died at birth and his third son died in a train accident at an early age. Pierce's wife suffered a nervous breakdown and began writing letters to their dead son. Pierce became a heavy drinker.
When The Whigs heard that the Democrats planned to run Pierce for a second term, they put out a campaign slogan that was a play on Pierce's service in the Mexican War: "Franklin Pierce: Hero of Many A Well Fought Bottle."
Political campaigns are not known for their fair play when it comes to attacking a candidate's personal life.
When Grover Cleveland, our 22nd president, was in office, he was accused of fathering an illegitimate child. Cleveland had gone into office a bachelor, marrying while serving his term and fathering the first child born in the White House.
When the press confronted Cleveland with the rumors of his illegitimate child, he was reported to have said, "Tell the truth. This was a lady of easy virtue. There were seven fellows involved, including me, and I was the only bachelor. Paternity fell on me."
By that time, The Whigs had become the Republican Party. When they heard that Cleveland was going to run for a second term, they came out with the campaign slogan "Ma, ma, where's my pa? Well he's gone to the White House. Ha, Ha, Ha."
Bill Clinton was not the first president to have dalliances while he held the office.
"There was probably no one ever less qualified to be president than Warren G. Harding," Cultice said. "He didn't know which end of the horse the hay went into."
But Harding was a handsome man, and when he was approached by the Democrats to run for president, he said he couldn't think of anything that would cause a scandal or cast a poor light on his presidency.
The 19th Amendment had just passed, and women were allowed to vote for the first time. The smooth talking, good looking Harding won the hearts of the electorate, Cultice said, and became our 29th president in 1921.
Harding was no intellectual giant, Cultice noted. Far from it.
"Tariffs, taxes, economy, immigration: I don't know anything about these things," Harding is quoted as saying. "Somewhere there must be a book about them, but I don't know where it is. And if I did, I probably couldn't read it."
But he did have an eye for the ladies.
After his death, it was discovered that he had had an affair with Carrie Phillips, the wife of his closest friend. And during his presidency, he was often visited by a young woman, Nan Britton.
Britton would be admitted to the Oval Office and a guard would be posted at the door. When Britton gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Harding denied paternity. But Britton's book, "The President's Daughter," was a best seller, and her daughter was named Anne Harding.
To the half or so (one hopes less) who will vote for Kerry this election, moral character obviously matters not one tiny bit. It's sad to think the country has sunk that low, but it will be still sadder if Kerry is actually elected.
Are they trying to soften us up for the return of the Kerry
bimbo in Kenya?
Wrongo. Do your homework, reporterette wannabe.
Notice that the presidents they point to are all Democrats.
Looks quite superficial. In good times, I suppose the country can tolerate any sort of President. When there's a crisis, though, you want someone you know can do the job and someone you can trust.
"That letter went unopened, and you know why? It had 10 cents postage due and Taylor wasn't going to pay it."
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( sigh) First of all a dime back in the mid-1800s while hardly a fortune had not sunk to the level of an emergency screwdriver as it has today. Using a ball-park type guesstiment, a dime back then would be worth, oh, say $3.00-$4.00 in today's money.
Second, back then it wasn't the sender who paid the postage on/for the letter. It was the one who got it. Taylor by this time had gotten a LOT of letters, and it was not Croesus - not by a long shot. It had gotten to the point that he simply could not afford to pay for any more letters. $3 + $3 + $3 x ???? = some serious money.
Taylor had no idea what was in this particular letter, or the other letters that came with it that he also refuse to pay postage one. Why would he assume this one letter was any different from all the others?
Of course, it's amazing to some people to flip this whole thing off with a titter and say, "That letter went unopened, and you know why? It had 10 cents postage due and Taylor wasn't going to pay it."
Democrat? LOL. This reporter-wanna-be obviously understands what a moral sewer the Dim Party has become and instinctively put Harding in their camp. Republicans could only wish.
This is blatant propaganda for the immoral left.
John Kerry, however, would be the first President ever to commit treason against his own country while still a member of its armed forces. That sets a new record, which makes all previous malefaction seem tame.
Moral character should matter, but even if it doesn't, something like the 7 point plan should matter.
It should matter if one committed treason, it should matter if one ACTIVELY OBEYED the enemy's directions. Especially if that someone is trying to run for The Office.
This would be tantamount to.... "President Benedict Arnold"...
the infowarrior
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