Presidential Tour

John Fitzgerald Kennedy - 35th President of the United States of America

2011-07-13T20:33:00.001-04:00

Our conference hosted an evening reception at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. We loaded up on busses at the hotel and were raced across the city of Boston by police escort through rush hour traffic. If you live in Boston I am sure you were not happy to see us. From our vantage, it was pretty cool.

The library and museum is stunningly beautiful in design and situated right on the water for a great view. Our evening was a walk through the exhibits, drinks in the large windowed area, then on to an upper lounge for the private party.

I was very disappointed in the exhibits. Most Presidential Libraries provide a history of the President’s life, a sense of how he developed as a man, the challenges he faced. Perhaps it was due to the nature of the evening, but we were dropped right into the election. More than half of what we toured was about winning the office, the advent of televised debate, and the electoral process. The remainder of the tour included select gifts the Kennedy’s received, a closet sized room about the space program, and the fashions of the first lady.

At the end of this walk is a stark black room designed to give you a sense of sadness. It includes television screens recounting the assassination of the JFK. Following this is a turn in the corridor with 20 yards of exhibit encouraging you to donate to the JFK foundation with a slice of the Berlin wall at the end.

The food at this event was amazing! The place is beautiful. But for having grown up hearing so many wonderful things about JFK, I did not learn anything new. It was disappointing.

I genuinely want to like JFK. I would have enjoyed learning about how he grew up, the family, PT-109, his time in the House of Representatives, and details about his roughly 34 months in office.

One of the largest challenges I see in our observation of those who serve in this office is the constant re-interpretation of history. Depending on what is happening in the news that week people will justify a current presidents actions/inactions by one of his predecessor’s decisions. Some weeks I will hear that Lincoln did not support slavery, other weeks some will say that certain inactions meant he was for slavery.

This is what I knew going in as well as going out of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum: this man inspired many, and he is remembered more for his death than accomplishments.

Jimmy Carter - 39th President of the United Sates of America

2010-06-28T21:18:00.006-04:00

Atlanta is a beautiful city. I was reminded of this on my recent trip there for business. While there I took and extra day to visit the Carter Presidential Center.

June was the perfect time to visit these grounds. It is in a part of the city that is residential with the lush greens and boulevards lined with bright orange colored blossoms. The center has a groomed landscape that frames the building highlighting features of the area.

The Carter Center is my first visit to a Presidential Museum of a living President but not the first to one that served in office during my life.

A moment in time that I have always found amazingly interesting (and I think would make for a great play) includes Carter. Following the assassination of Anwar Sadat, third President of Egypt, Air Force One carried US diplomates to the funeral. As I recall, current President Reagan, Vice President Bush and Former Presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon all flew together. Ford and Carter, who had become friends once out of office, discussed building Presidential Centers. Mostly the conversation was about strategies to raise money and use them for causes.

Here I was. Visiting the results of that conversation.

Jimmy Cater was born to a family of peanut farmers. Point of interest - the first President to be born in a hospital. I had always heard his story portrayed as one of rising from the poverty of the Great Depression. However I do not believe that to be accurate. He was born during that time period, and I have no doubt things were tight, but his father owned the farm and a store along with a few other businesses. During that time to operate and own a business put you well above large segments of the population.

Later Carter went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He married Roslyn. He serviced on a diesel hunter killer submarine. There are some nice pictures of him in Hawaii at the center along with the uniform he wore.

After the navy he returned to Georgia to run the family business. He ran for small local governing positions over municipal bodies. This lead to a run in the State Senate where he served from 1961 to 1966.

He ran for governor in 1966 and lost. He went back to the agricultural business he been growing from the simple family farm and store. In 1970 he ran for governor again and won.

In 1976 he entered the Democratic National Party primary with a 2% name recognition. Over that year he built a base and won the important Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

The race between Carter and Ford that year showed that Carter was considerably ahead early on. But the race tightened dramatically putting the two in a tight election. Something not mentioned at the Carter Center was an interview with Playboy magazine where Carter admitted to “lust in his heart.” He also suggested questionable measures if put into office. The press also circulated that he had registered a UFO sighting a few years earlier.

In the first presidential debate since 1960 Carter did not do well. In the second debate, focused on international affairs, President Ford claimed that there was no Soviet dominance in eastern Europe. This one slip by Ford spoiled the debate for Ford and set his campaign into recovery mode. The Carter Center will tell you that Jimmy won the close election - nearly everyone else will tell you that Ford lost that election.

The main area of the Carter Center focuses on three things. The first is “a day in the life of the President.” This is a really interesting multimedia presentation on multiple screens that show one busy day and all the players involved. The second is the Camp David Accord where Carter used “Cabin Diplomacy” between the cottages at Camp David to bring together Egypt and Israel. This event is covered in great detail. Finally there is the Iranian Hostage negotiations. A phrase that remains with me about this section “There were two White Houses, one focused on the hostages and the other running daily affairs.”

Something I recall very well - the solar cells put on top of the White House.

There is considerable attention at the Carter Center placed on post presidential activities. All of the work and time spent on fair elections in third world countries and Habitat for Humanity.

I was surprised on how empty the Carter Canter was. How chatty the staff was with one another having open conversations speaking loudly across the floor.

Nothing was more surprising to me about my visit than the asian family who walked through the center with me. One of the members of the family was a woman in her late teens early 20’s who had a cough that sounded like tuberculosis. As I watched a video about the debates and commercials I kept an eye on her watching another video 10 feet away.

When she coughed there was not polite hand cover or the more PC cough into the bend of your arm. It was free and open carpet bombing coughing that covered everything in her way.

At one point during the video her cough resulted in her gum shooting out of her mouth, bouncing off the flat screen monitor and hitting the carpeted floor at her feet. After a good minuted passed before she stooped down, picked up the gum, and put it back in her mouth for continued chewing.

That was the highlight. That is what I remember most. Like the Carter Administration it was short, some things happened, and those things that stood out were kind of sad.

Benjamin Harrison - 23rd President of the United States of America

2010-02-16T22:35:00.005-05:00

It was a typical Presidents’ Day in Michigan, cold with slight flurries. During my 5 Hour drive to Indianapolis the flurries became a deep winter storm. Arriving at the Harrison home in time for the 12 O'clock tour I was one of the few brave souls who had walked through the large wooden doors that day. Presidents’ Day is one of six occasions when re-enactors representing the Harrison family and staff warm the hearts and hearths of guests to bring life back to the historic home.

I had planned to stay for only two hours at best, but with the slow pace of the day and my interest in presidential homes and museums each of the actors “broke character” with me to talk about their passion for history.

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States of America. He was son to John Scott Harrison a congressman from Ohio, grandson to William Henry Harrison the ninth president president of the United States of America, and great-grandson to Benjamin Harrison the fifth person to sign the declaration of independence in his role representing Virginia.

Benjamin Harrison was a one term president bookended by Grover Cleveland, the only president to win two non-consecutive terms. The Harrison story always begins with Cleveland’s wife telling White House staff that they will be returning, then ends as Cleveland, his wife and the famous baby Ruth triumphantly return. Harrison is lightly sprinkled in between.

The story that I learned about Harrison was his great love for his first wife Caroline. They met as teenagers, introduced by his professor which happened to be her father. From this time on they were great companions who loved each other very much. Like most couples they filled each others gaps. He was shy and “glacial” in making decisions, she was bright and engaging in many social circles.

The First Lady graduated from college studying art and music. He went to Miami of Ohio and passed the bar without formally going to law school, instead studying under great legal minds of his time.

Their home is filled with lovely art she created. Watercolors primarily and carefully crafted plates. Caroline created China Room for the White House to display all of the patterns from past Presidents. She was the first leader of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

He took great pride as a general during the Civil War raising troops and training them to become one of the most disciplined divisions that fought. Harrison was a supporter of President Lincoln and continuously spoke of giving former slaves the right to vote. He also served as a senator from Indiana.

In October of 1892 Caroline Harrison died of tuberculosis. During the months building up to this Benjamin Harrison was by her side filled with grief and despair as she wasted away. He had accepted the Republican Party nomination to run for a second term but did not have the heart to run the campaign, it was broken at Caroline’s bedside.

During the years of mourning President Harrison returned to Indianapolis. He kept in touch with Caroline’s personal assistance and nice Mary Scott Lord. Mary lived in New York and would have dinner with the President when he was in town. She was a few month younger than the Presidents daughter.

Mary and Benjamin had a great much in common and eventually married. This caused a divid in the family between. Benjamin and Caroline’s children were not happy with the speed in which the two married. They were not pleased with the great gap in age.

Harrison and his second wife had a daughter. His remaining years were in Indianapolis home. The family never reconciled before his death.

One of the most interesting artifacts on display at the Harrison home is a handwritten note to the president in regards to his ill wife from Helen Keller. It has been authenticated that Helen wrote it herself.

My drive home was delayed due to all the time spent at the Harrison home. I made it to my second destination, The Dan Quayle Vice Presidential Museum just in time for the 4:30 pm closing.
It was either there at the corner or the rough Indiana back roads where my rear tire picked up a bit of metal. My tire pressure dropped. At a garage in the middle of nothing I attempted to change my flat only to find that the key to the tire lock is no longer in my car. The trip was much longer as I had to stop every 30 minutes to fill the tire at a gas station only to race on for the next 30 minutes before the sensor light came back on.

The extended evening allowed my mind to drift through the lives of the First Family of the 23rd President. You don’t plan to be married multiple times or push your children away with your choices - but you are grateful to find someone to share life with. You may have the best intentions to adopt the McKinley Act - raising tariffs and switching to a gold/silver standard for the US economy. It seems like a good idea at the time, but you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Herbert Clark Hoover 31st President of the United States of America 1929-1933

2009-07-05T20:28:00.008-04:00

Our history is filled with conspiracy theories. The media propagate and support them. Perhaps it is in our nature to be suspicious. I am one who does not believe in a second gunman, the Main was destroyed by her own government to start a war, or that there is an alien cover up in the desert of New Mexico. I don’t want to believe. Our government has a hard enough time keeping it moving to be distracted.

This Fourth of July weekend I drove to Iowa to learn about President Hebert Hoover, our 31st President of the United States of America. His boyhood home is in a small town off of Eisenhower’s great Highway 80.

Iowa is lush and green this time of year. The vast emerald farmland rolls for miles in each direction. You would never know that just over the ridge off the freeway are these fun little towns. “The Midwest Farmers Daughters” really are something to be admired. These towns are where they reside.

My hotel is called the “Presidential Inn” and is reviewed on Yahoo as having “friendly owners” and “a great place to stay for the price.” While these descriptions are accurate I may have also included that it is not really a hotel, but a motel. I would have also recommended watching the 1980’s horror movie classic “Motel Hell” which I believe was based on this location. While no one came at me with an axe or wanted me to meet their mother in the main house, it was in a state of “new ownership repair.” On a plus, they have free wireless Internet that worked some of the time. Rather than replace the old television that did not work with the new digital format, they left that big old thing in the room and mounted a new smaller television on the wall. It only got four channels, three of which were HBO - Family, West Coast, and Latin.

In town is a restaurant called “Come Backs”. There is a double meaning with the sports teams that they root for and that they would like you to return as a patron. The owner, his wife, daughter, and another “Midwest Farmers Daughter” really made me feel all right. I also had what may have been the best steak and beans in the last three years. Local beef with just a little something extra “Come Back” is a must stop when driving through Iowa on 80.

Saturday I awoke early still on Eastern Time. I am told that there is a free breakfast in the lobby - which turns out to be bad coffee and do it yourself toast. Across the street is the truck stop and McDonalds. The walls of the McDonald’s are covered in Hoover. I get excited for the day even though it has been raining hard since midnight.

Two minutes later I am over the bridge and in the parking lot of the Museum and Library. The rain is hard. There is a reason that Iowa is so green and lush.

While the puddles grow and I listen to “Car Talk” federal park rangers for the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site turn lights on, unlock doors, and prepare for the holiday rush.

There is a short film in the federal center. It is an overview of his life. In twelve minutes I learn that he was orphaned at a young age, was a Quaker, lived in Oregon with his Aunt and Uncle, was in the first class at Stanford, became an engineer, and traveled the globe before becoming President.

I cross the grounds, umbrella in hand, to a small white wooden house. There are two rooms - a bedroom and a general room. “Bert”, as they called him, was the middle of three children. The three plus mom and dad lived there for much of Bert’s childhood. On the grounds you will also find the shop where his father was the blacksmith, the Quaker meeting house where they would pray, the school house his mother taught in, and other houses from the time.

In the midst of the deluge I head back to my car and drive a block or so to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Once again I am met by another wonderfully nice Iowan. She talks me through the exhibit. She also reminds me that for the holiday they have special band and “Lincoln” presenter that afternoon.

After Stanford Hoover was broke. He took a job as a miner in an awful place in Australia. After a year he went from one bad mine to another. But this time, with experience, he became the chief of operations. The British owners were very happy with his ability to turn a huge profit and asked him to fix one of their mines in China. He married the love of his life and college sweetheart Lou Henry. On arrival they found themselves in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion. Lou and Bert fought off advances and survived several near misses until the U.S. navy could escort them out of the country.

I imagine that this would be equal to me getting married and moving to the green zone in Iraq in early 2002.

Hoover went on a world tour of mines that needed to be turned around. It made him very rich. It also put him in proximity to some key historical moments in the early 20th Century.

At a moment played down in the exhibit, his with Lou and their two boys were scheduled to be on the Lusitanian on her final voyage.

The start of “The Great War” stranded the family and many Americans in the United Kingdom. Hoover was able to coordinate safe passage for thousands of them with connections and management skills.

In Belgium and much of Europe famine was killing large segments of the population. Hoover again stepped up and organized a relief effort to feed those in need. They call a bowl of hot soup and a side of white bread a “Hoover Lunch.” His efforts even reached as far a Russia despite his dislike of the politics of the time.

His good will efforts got him appointed as Secretary of Commerce by Warren G. Harding. In this position he often assumed powers not previously controlled by the government. These included standardizing and stabilizing manufacturing practices, radio signals, and flight regulations.

In 1927 the Mississippi River broke its banks and caused a devastating flood. The museum claims that it was the largest natural disaster in American history… If you agree with that or not, it was a really bad situation. Hoover was able to organize volunteers with food, boats, and medical expertise.

This series of successful actions in federal organization, feeding Europe, and domestically saving large populations built his reputation to be one of the most popular people in America. He won election overwhelmingly.

Seven months later the bottom fell out of the market. A few months’ later farmers were struggling with the dust bowl. While he put several programs in place his successor would take credit for, he became a scapegoat for the problems of Americans.

Much of the exhibit after the Market crash deals with presidents after FDR who called on him for advice, guidance and leadership. After World War II he returned to Europe to organize rebuilding efforts and programs to feed people. In fact each US President after Truman until his death called on Hoover in one way or another.

The reputation Hoover held in my mind was the start of the Great Depression. I don’t recall hearing much in history class about the other great things he had accomplished before that. The other part of Hoover I always think of is the title song to “All in the Family” a show about a protagonist who is backwards and misguided about how things are in modern times… Not a positive placement for Hoover.

I hope that history is better to Hoover. He deserves a higher rank in our minds for what he was able to do in and out of office for the United States of America.

The Hoover Center takes about two to three hours to cover in depth. It is a very good place to go with the family and learn about our history. I strongly recommend you stop by if you are driving down I-80.

Since the visit took much less time than I had planned for, and because it was raining and I did not want to wait for the band and President Lincoln presentation that afternoon, I jumped in the car and drove to Dixon Illinois.

Dixon is two hours East of the Hoover Center in West Branch and 111 miles east of Chicago. It is the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States of America.

Right now there are 13 Presidential Libraries run by the National Archives and Records Administration or NARA. Hoover is one of these places. However there are many locations and sites that are run by local organizations not associated or funded by the federal government at all. The Ronald Reagan boy hood home is such a place. Reagan requested at the opening ceremony that it would always be privately funded.

Reagan and his older brother Neil - known by their nicknames Dutch and Moon lived in this two story, two-bedroom home for only a few formable years. The family paid $15 a month rent when they were here. But that rent was too expensive and they had to move to a less expensive location.

This is what struck me most about President Ronal Reagan. He came from a very meager background (they were poor.)

The Presidential Centers I have been to up until now were often a heartwarming and humanizing way to learn history. With Reagan I found myself getting a little something in my eye every now and then. This may be because I was aware of him in my life more than these other figures in history, or maybe it was because I forgot to bring my medication with me on this trip.

They have retuned this house to a state of what it may have been like while he lived there. This is a common practice as the federal centers usually get all of the real artifacts. A huge difference with this site is that President Reagan had spent a day here in 1984 with Moon. The people who run the house were present to hear stories and memories from Dutch and Moon as they walked the halls and ate lunch in the old dining room.

If you are fascinated by the actual trinkets and artifacts that people used… visiting these homes are not for you. It is mostly looking a stuff that they didn’t own. But if you enjoy the stories that people tell, the insights you will not often get from the first three books you read on a person, hometowns are a must.

Dixon Illinois is also a really nice community. The carnival and art fair over the 4th with fireworks were delayed due to the rain, but the people in town are super nice.

Saturday night I stepped up to the Comfort Inn and watched the National Fireworks and Concert on PBS with a good night sleep that followed.

Sunday was all the great weather one could ask for. Sadly I had to drive home.

Little Known Facts About Hoover:
- Secretary of Commerce under Harding, Secretary of Commerce under Coolidge

- The School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University in 1964, Herbert Hoover and Thomas Edison were named the two greatest engineers in U. S. History

- He was the youngest member of Stanford University's first graduating class.

- During their first three years in the White House, the Hoovers dined alone only three times, each time on their wedding anniversary

Hoover was the first president to donate his salary to charity

- One of the most honored presidents, Hoover received 84 honourary degrees, 78 medals and awards, and the keys to dozens of cities

- 1874 - 1st US President born west of the Mississippi

- President Hoover had the longest retirement of any U.S. President ever, having lived for 31 years and seven months after leaving office

William McKinley 25th President of the United Sates of America 1897-1901

2009-07-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Originally Posted April 23, 2009

William McKinley may be our most over looked US President.

At the age of 18 he served under Rutherford B Hayes in the Civil War. His actions there merited the Medal of Honor, but when his name was in the consideration process he asked that his name be removed from consideration. McKinley claimed that his actions were no different than those of any other good Christian, and pointed out that the actions were also in disregard to a direct order fro his superior (providing food and aid to solders in the heat of battle during a fight at Antietam)

McKinley was also the last Civil War veteran to serve as President of the United States. His time in office is considered as the unification and revitalization the country had been struggling to find during “Reconstruction” many of his predecessors were unable to provide.

He won the office of President overwhelmingly on both runs. The trivia question that comes up here is “what is the name of his Vice President?” You would be correct that the second one was Teddy Roosevelt, one of the famous four stoned guys on Mount Rushmore. But his first Vice President was a poor soul named Garret Hobart who died of “kidney problems.”

You can read and interpret his domestic and international policies on your own. Like many Presidents I find he did some good, some messed up things, and had to bend to pressures of the world he could not resist.

It would be easy to gloss over a few more points with McKinley as just another politician - McKinley was a lawyer, nearly all politicians are; he was a congressman, there are many congressmen; he was a governor, many Presidents are governors; but where he starts to separate himself is when you see that he got to the White House in that order. On top of that both his daughters died at very young ages, the oldest only lived to four. His wife Ida was “distraught” afterwards to the point that she was nearly incapacitated.

A few more points on the man who I find is unjustly over looked. First, many of the successes that we think of TR for were actually set into place under McKinley. When you hear the phrase “speak softly and carry a big stick” the “big stick” TR refers to is the “great white fleet” which was in place because of the programs under McKinley. The plans for the Panama Canal were already under way when TR took office. Second, front porch campaigns and campaign buttons, both tactics that McKinley (and his advocate Hanna) made hugely successful to put him over the top in votes.

My trip was one I had planned to have a few weeks ago, before things changed with work. But I decided to go when I found a good hotel rate.

Wednesday was a four-hour drive to Canton Ohio and a stay at the McKinley Grand. It was fine for an independent hotel, and it was fine if you are going to find your self in Canton (for McKinley or the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

In the morning I was up early, had breakfast, and there for the opening of the McKinley Museum and Memorial. The memorial is a local attraction for runners and those getting in shape on a beautiful morning. There are lots of steps and four laps around the circle drive equals one mile.

Like many memorials it is majestic and is a lasting impression of a legacy.

The McKinley Museum = Epic Fail. I didn’t think I could be so disappointed in a place. There were just as many photos and artifacts at the official “William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum” as there were at the “McKinley Grand Hotel.” But the hotel photos were larger. In this two-story building there are three glass cases of McKinley and one video in a closet sized room. The rest of the building is a promotion for local furniture production, a re-imagined turn of the century city street (all post 1900, McKinley died in 1901), a telescope, a tribute to “Hoover” the vacuum, and a basement full of bad science projects and plastic dinosaurs.

An hour and a half north east of Canton is Niles Ohio. Birthplace of McKinley and site of the “The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial.” This is a very nice building with many artifacts and interesting information on the man. Unfortunately I arrived during a three-year renovation.

The nice thing about the site is it is all about McKinley. It is a self-guided tour. This means that you call ahead and set up an appointment, or ask the very nice people there to unlock the door for you. This is what I did. They unlocked the door, turned on the lights and I spent an hour or more wandering the hall. I did not pocket anything, although I know I could have.

Afterwards one of the curators took me to the recreation of his birthplace and gave me a personal tour.

He was one of nine kids, and there were eleven people in that small house. What did he do most of the time? Well, when he wasn’t reading, he was gathering wood for the wood stove, which sounds like another son of Ohio I know.

My time with McKinley leaves me with the feeling that he is under appreciated. I did not expect the rock start status of Lincoln or the homespun midwestern values of Ford. My expectation was something along the lines of his former C.O. Hayes. But it turns out that aside from a great workout at his gravesite, he has faded in the minds of the nation replaced by telescopes, vacuums, and T-Rex. His memorial is a stone shroud surrounded by the busts of Ayn Rand characters that run empires not knowing how or why they operate.

There are a hundred plus busts tucked into every corner on these grounds. Most are powerful men of industry from the 1900's and other are political figures who served under McKinley. The busts were a fund raiser.

He died as a result of an assassin shot, before he could plan his legacy. Both children passed long before that day. His wife was in no state of mind arrange how we would remember him. So I guess it is just by practical means that we have few artifacts and articles outside his policy and work to remember him by.

This poster are the remains of a campaign banner that is over 20 feet tall

This sign has an error... but points out the banner in the window or the picture below

This is the same building today.

Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United Sates of America 1861-1865

2009-07-04T19:57:00.000-04:00

Originally Posted February 28, 2009

I looked up from my smoked salmon and toasted bagel this morning at the hotel when I heard several voices singing along softly to the piped in music -

And do you feel scared - I do
But I won’t stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better
Wow wow wow oh, wow wow wow oh oh oh oh

There were a couple of dads and moms who knew every word to this Howard Jones hit. The geeky student council tables here for a session at the state capitol began to sway and sing along looking at one another with happiness.

My siblings get a text capturing the moment.

Lincoln’s museum and library are just steps away on this cold March morning. I follow a volunteer in the handicap door and wait in the lobby. There are dozens of people waiting outside in the cold - but for some reason the guard did not ask me to leave.

It is a beautiful new building. You can feel a majestic design in the entrance with the white stone and marble. Staff scurry about with ten minutes to open finalizing odds and ends.

When the doors open, I buy my ticket and enter. There are four major areas - two theaters with amazing presentations and two walking tours, young Lincoln and President Lincoln.

I have read and heard from a few sources that the Lincoln exhibits are some of the best. In my distant memory I recall many museums and science centers included pressing a red button, hearing a choppy recording, and a series of lights would highlight a variety of diorama’s or stuffed sculptures.

It wasn’t until my first trip to Disney World and the Hall of Presidents that I realized how interesting and engaging history could be. Many of those same techniques and story telling styles have been enhanced for President Lincoln. Both theaters provide a rich and captivating story of the President.

On the young Lincoln walking tour I found the most interesting part to be a modernized comparison of the election process recorded and dedicated to Tim Russert formerly of Meet the Press. A small version of Russert’s TV set plays a twelve-minute video of what Meet the Press would be like had it covered that first Presidential election Mr. Lincoln ran and won.

During the Presidential walking tour I was able to follow a private tour being conducted by one of the on-site experts. The family he slowly told the history to seemed less appreciative - at times I think he was really talking past them to me in the background.

Many wonderful and interesting things reside in this part of the walking tour. The most striking is a section I believe they called “The Soldiers Story.” It is a projected map of the US with a timeline across the bottom from 1860 - 1865.

It starts with the words “1 Week = 1 Second” Those few minutes a blob of red takes shape after Lincoln is elected and secession start in South Carolina and others quickly follow. By the time Lincoln takes office the blob is the only focus on the map and Fort Sumter falls.

As the edges of the blob move in and out of Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio and up and down the Mississippi the tally of North and South in the lower right corner grown.

BANG! The Battle of Antietam jumps the numbers on both sides.

With the Mississippi under Northern control and the fall of Georgia Lincoln is re-elected. The red blobs quickly start to shrink.

Then POP Lincoln is shot and the red is quickly gone from the map.

Powerful stuff to see.

You are not allowed to take pictures here, so you will have to go and see it. The one snap I did get with the help of the very friendly staff I have labeled - as President Lincoln and I look so much alike.

A few blocks south I had walked to see the home of Lincoln. It is a Federal historical site staffed by those famously nerdy green and brown rangers. His house is not open for viewing, or was not for me. The movies are just a poor mans version of what the museum captures.

On my way to President Lincoln Tomb I get a call from Phil the sibling. He asks what I am doing, and when I explain my trip to Springfield and plans to see McKinley later this month he says, “So you are touring Republican Presidents who were shot at?”

The Tomb is impressive. One of the several scout troops I have come across this day are there rubbing and picking Lincolns nose for luck. Inside it is solemn and respectful. We hear the story of the journey from Washington (pronounced Were-shing-tin) to Springfield. They tell of the tomb being built, rebuilt, reconditioned, and how a group of thugs tried to steal the body.

The last time they opened Lincoln's casket he looked just like the day he had passed apparently - much like Lennon. He is there with many of the family members. His oldest son is at Arlington. The last direct descendent died in 1985.

Points of Interest:
- Actor Tom Hanks is very distant cousins with Lincoln
- Lincoln was the first president to die by assassination.
- Abraham Lincoln was shot while watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The same play was also running at the McVerick Theatre in Chicago on May 18, 1860, the day Lincoln was nominated for president in that city.
- The contents of his pockets on the night of his assassination weren't revealed until February 12, 1976. They contained two pairs of spectacles, a chamois lens cleaner, an ivory and silver pocketknife, a large white Irish linen handkerchief, slightly used, with "A. Lincoln" embroidered in red, a gold quartz watch fob without a watch, a new silk-lined, leather wallet containing a pencil, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and news clippings of unrest in the Confederate army, emancipation in Missouri, the Union party platform of 1864, and an article on the presidency by John Bright.
- At 6 foot, 4 inches, Lincoln was the tallest president.
- Abe Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died when the family dairy cow ate White Snakeroot and she drank the milk.
- Lincoln had a wart on his right cheek, a scar on his thumb from an ax accident, and a scar over his right eye from a fight with a gang of thieves.
- Mrs. Lincoln's brother, half-brothers, and brothers-in-law fought in the Confederate Army.
- Lincoln was the only president to receive a patent, for a device for lifting boats over shoals.
- He was the first president to wear a beard.
- During the Civil War, telegraph wires were strung to follow the action on the battlefield. But there was no telegraph office in the White House, so Lincoln went across the street to the War Department to get the news.
- He was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. John Wilkes Booth (his assassin) can be seen standing close to Lincoln in the picture.
- His son, Robert, who was in Washington when his father was killed, was also on the scene when Garfield was shot in 1881 and McKinley was assassinated in 1901.
- Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be born outside of the original thirteen colonies.
- Lincoln loved the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

President Ford Trip

President Hayes Trip

Why go to Springfield?

2009-07-04T19:55:00.000-04:00

Originally Posted February 27, 2009

Image via Wikipedia

"In 1908, in a wild and remote area of the North Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy, the greatest writer of the age, was the guest of a tribal chief “living far away from civilized life in the mountains.”

Gathering his family and neighbors, the chief asked Tolstoy to tell stories about the famous men of history. Tolstoy told how he entertained the eager crowd for hours with tales of Alexander, Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon.

When he was winding to a close, the chief stood and said, “But you have not told us a syllable about the greatest general and greatest ruler of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero. He spoke with a voice of thunder; he laughed like the sunrise and his deeds were strong as the rock…His name was Lincoln and the country in which he lived is called America, which is so far away that if a youth should journey to reach it he would be an old man when he arrived. Tell us of that man.”

“I looked at them,” Tolstoy recalled, “and saw their faces all aglow, while their eyes were burning. I saw that those rude barbarians were really interested in a man whose name and deeds had already become a legend.” He told them everything he knew about Lincoln’s “home life and youth…his habits, his influence upon the people and his physical strength.” When he finished, they were so grateful for the story that they presented him with “a wonderful Arabian horse.”

The next morning, as Tolstoy prepared to leave, they asked if he could possibly acquire for them a picture of Lincoln. Thinking that he might find one at a friend’s house in the neighboring town, Tolstoy asked one of the riders to accompany him. “I was successful in getting a large photograph from my friend,” recalled Tolstoy. As he handed it to the rider, he noted that the man’s hand trembled as he took it. “He gazed for several minutes silently, like one in a reverent prayer, his eyes filled with tears.”

Tolstoy went on to observe, “This little incident proves how largely the name of Lincoln is worshipped throughout the world and how legendary his personality has become. Now why was Lincoln so great that he overshadows all other national heroes? He really was not a great general like Napoleon or Washington; he was not such a skilful statesman as Gladstone or Frederick the Great; but his supremacy expresses itself altogether in his peculiar moral power and in the greatness of his character.

“Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was a typical Frenchman, but Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world. He was bigger than his country — bigger than all the Presidents together.

“We are still too near to his greatness,” Tolstoy concluded, “but after a few centuries more our posterity will find him considerably bigger than we do.

“His genius is still too strong and too powerful for the common understanding, just as the sun is too hot when its light beams directly on us.”

Doris Goodwin’s Lincoln book, Team of Rivals

Gerald Rudolph Ford 38th President of the United Sates of America

2009-07-04T19:52:00.000-04:00

Originally Posted February 16, 2009

Located on the bank of the Grand River in the center of Grand Rapids Michigan the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is a striking building in a growing city.

While I find my parking space I am reminded of the death of Anwar al-Sadat. In 1981 Sadat is shot while reviewing troops from a viewing stand. President Ronald Reagan, Vice President Bush, along with former Presidents Nixon, Ford and Cater fly on Air-Force One to the funeral. While on this flight Ford becomes friends with Carter as they discuss two topics - the bible and Presidential Library’s.

The open vista of the city and the river are surrounded in a warmly lit glow of carved marble of the office seal. Atop the stone steps the exhibit starts.

At first I am worried that this will be a disappointing trip. The start of the exhibit is a clumsy collection from my parents basement of old records, disco balls, old newspaper clippings, with the worst choice in outfits from the 1970’s. Much like the montage in every Vietnam War movie that includes “All along the watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix - it is trite and shallow.

It starts with the resignation of President Richard Nixon, just like President Ford’s administration. But then it steps back and is a delightful look at his life.

In the 1930’s he went to the University of Michigan. He was an amazing athlete. Later he graduated from Yale University Law School. Before he could get his practice off the ground World War II started. Like so many of his generation he sought to serve. Ford nearly died as his ship turned in a typhoon. His agility and a six-inch lip along the deck were the only things keeping him from going overboard.

An Oval Office recreation is pretty interesting. Many of the items are from his time there. Small speakers and placed throughout the room with conversations of the daily operation.

Across from there is a small room covering foreign diplomacy. The multi-media AF1 excursions are just moderately interesting. I was surprised to read that he was the first American President to visit Japan. The worst part of this room and possibly the whole museum were the stairs from the US Embassy in South Vietnam. These steps were a lifeline for a few fortune families to ships waiting just off the coast. This iconic image of that time seems so sad that - 1) so few people were able to traverse these steps, 2) they seemed so small, and 3) they are a symbol of an American failure.

If you have never used a teleprompter, there is a nice setup here with President Ford’s acceptance speech to the Republican nomination. There is also a nice display on the Ford / Dole campaign. I can only say that had Ohio gone for Ford… But we known that there was no way a Buckeye would ever vote for a Wolverine.

There were two final areas on special display.

The first was “President George Washington” telling the highlights of his life in twenty minutes. Once again I find myself asking why HBO or another major studio has not made his life story into a mini series? His is one of the most interesting and least covered lives.

The second was a “miniature” traveling White House. It was an enormous scale dollhouse. There was a mass of people stepping about it the whole day so I did not get much time there - but super cool to see. Barney the dog was still a part of the exhibit, and was waiting to move to Texas when the new first dog is finally chosen.

Little known facts about President Ford:

He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.
Ford was the first president to be an Eagle Scout.
He was offered tryouts by both the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
Both Ford and his wife, Betty, had been models before their marriage.
When Ford proposed to to his wife, he was wearing one brown & one black shoe.
Running for Congress in 1948, Ford campaigned on his wedding day.
Ford was one of the members of the Warren Commission appointed to study the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
One night, Ford was locked out of the White House while walking his golden retriever, Liberty. The Secret Service finally let him in.
Ford's daughter Susan held her senior prom at the White House.
He was the first president to release to the public a full report of his medical checkup.
Ford was the first president to visit Japan.
Ford was the only president whose two assassination attempts against him were made by women - Squeeky’s hand gun is on display there.

Presidents Day 2007 Link

Rutherford B. Hayes 19th President of the United Sates of America

2009-07-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

This was first posted on February 19, 2007. It was my first trip to a Presidential Center and what started this project.

There are really only two choices when it comes to celebrating Presidents Day, buy a mattress or learn more about those select few who have held our highest office. So on this clear and beautiful day I drove an hour east of Toledo to the small farming town of Fremont Ohio. It is here that the first Presidential Center sits on a marvelous example of beautiful American real estate. If it were built today, we would call it a presidential library; instead it is a “center.”

Several of the boys from Ohio have told me that they had been to the center on field trips in school. I often compare it to going to Detroit’s own Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum - a home to the early 20th century innovators belongings and homes, which lead me to believe for most of my youth that the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford were all neighbors living on the same block.

The Presidential Center is the home of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United Sates of America. He took office after Ulysses S Grant in a cloud of scandal made worse by loosing the popular vote and having a committee decide he had won the electoral election. He was sworn into office during a private ceremony in the White House red room, only to have the public ceremony a few days later. President Hayes was:

the first president to take the oath of office in the White House.
the only president whose election was decided by a congressional commission.
the first president to travel to the West Coast during his term as president.
the first president to have a telephone in the White House.
the first president to have a typewriter in the White House.

Other interesting facts…

Though other presidents served in the Civil War, Hayes was the only one to have been wounded - four times!
Hayes began the "Easter Egg Roll" for children on the White House Lawn (1878) - a tradition which still continues on the Monday after Easter.
Lucy Webb Hayes was the first wife of a president to graduate from college,
Lucy Webb Hayes was the first wife of a president to be called "First Lady".
Hayes' best-known quotation - "he serves his party best who serves his country best." Inaugural Address, 1877.

The center is made up of the summer home of Hayes. It sits on lovely grounds in the shape of a triangle. There is also a museum on the grounds that look exquisite from the outside.

The house was still in use until 1968 by the family - that makes it the Hayes family home for just over 120 years. It is beautiful. The tour guide gave us (me and the ten school children I was walking with) a great background with a genuine sense of the family. The only down side is that they ask you don’t take pictures in the house.

The museum was disappointing. While it looks amazing on the outside, there was not a lot going on inside. At first I thought it might be because he was only a one-term president; but that was not the case as he was also a three-term governor, two-term congressman, and had some amazing adventures in the Civil War. It turns out that they are renovating the museum, and most of the interesting things are in transition. Nothing made this more apparent than having President George HW Bush as the last president in the Hall of Presidents. The worst part is that after not being able to take pictures in the house, there was nothing to take pictures of in the museum.

Still, the house and the grounds are well worth the trip on a beautiful winter day. So nice everyone wanted to get a ride in the horse drawn sleigh.

On my way out, I could not help but notice that the gate surrounding the center looks very much like the one surrounding the White House. I should be so fortunate to have gates like these.

The grounds are also home to very friendly squirrels.