Who barked like a Seal? (Kennedy),
who hosted neighbourhood Halloween parties? (Nixon), who dissected small animals? (Madison), bribed dogs with candy-coated vitamins? (Lyndon Johnson), joked about dating mummies? (Clinton), let mockingbirds eat from his own mouth? (Jefferson)…but here are the two we celebrate today.
I love reading about the Presidents, Old Glory and hearing National Anthems. Rather than the historical achievements to remind the most avid history buffs, here are a few facts beyond politics - more about the real lives of the presidents; the Presidents and their wives were anything but dull.
George Washington, the first elected President of the USA. Washington had a size 13 shoe, had big muscles & his big frame towered at 6feet 2inches. False teeth made from ivory, not wood as some believed, pushed his mouth out a little awkward and he wore smallpox scars on his face. Like many at the time, regular bathing was regarded unhealthy, but he liked to look sharp and wore his uniform often.
“Be courteous to all but intimate with few” was a motto of Washington’s. He was incredibly polite and believed in decent behavior in company. Despite not being fiercely ambitious & shy, he did desire to make himself useful to others. He was a wonderful host.
At the first reception in his honor he was appalled to hear himself being announced as “The President of the United States“. Later at events, he made sure he was already in the room to avoid any grandiose entrances.
Washington went along with the custom of slavery, though he found it repugnant, he rarely bought a slave and found ways to free some; and upon his wife’s death he freed all slaves on their property.
People loved Washington best for his integrity, he had a deep sense of right and wrong. He demonstrated sheer bravery during the Revolutionary War. He became very wealthy after marrying Martha, so he declined the presidential salary being the country’s first millionaire. He loved horses and was devoted to his faithful dogs.
George Washington was the only president who did not live in the White house because it had not been built yet.
Breakfast for Washington consisted of 3 cups of tea and 3 cornmeal pancakes with honey. Favorite soup was Martha’s crabmeat soup, sweet potatoes with coconut, ham, beans and mushrooms.
At 67 years old he was diagnosed with acute tonsillitis or pneumonia. He apologized for causing trouble and he comforted others around him of what was coming… “It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go” were his last words.
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, 1809. At 6 feet four inches, he was our tallest President. He was skinny, had a wart on his cheek, and due to a fight with a gang of thieves, had a scar over the eye.
Lincoln was genuinely interested in people and their problems. He suffered with insomnia and many nightmares.
His idea of a good friend was someone who gave you a good book you had not read yet - he had a great passion for learning. He broke up bouts of depression with telling jokes and he had an art for storytelling. It is said his jokes also got him out of answering difficult questions. He liked how they made people feel and he loved to laugh; it deflected criticism too.
The President loved to be stretched out on the floor with cornbread stuck in his mouth while reading. He walked around with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders.
Lincoln’s strength was not in organization and he often stashed papers of importance in his stovepipe hat for lack of a better place. “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally”, he decided the system of slavery was evil.
Abraham Lincoln was a kind and devoted father; he helped his wife Mary Todd, with the care of their three sons. The neighbors called him ‘hen-pecked’ because it was unusual at the time for men to be so involved in the rearing of the children.
He drank coffee and one egg for breakfast and often would forget to eat lunch, was partial to oysters and chicken at night.
The Lincoln’s son Willie died from typhoid. Mary met with spiritualists, trying to reach her son’s spirit and her husband attended several séances with her.
Five days after the Civil War ended, Lincoln went to Ford’s Theatre in Washington to see Our American Cousin, a popular comedy of the day. He sat in his rocking chair holding hands with Mary.
He & the audience laughed so hard at one of the show’s lines. The laughter covered the sound of a shot fired into Lincoln’s heady by John Wilkes Booth.
Lincoln died 9 hours later, at age 56 - the first president to die by assassination.
With the passing of time, impressive men become legend and portions of reality are lost. But, if only ½ of what we know is true of Washington and Lincoln; how is it, in this election year, that we can ever get back to men [or women] of old that served only to help and hoped to very soon get back home and settle down out of the spotlight?
So much of our current culture looks to the future for hope. And in some arenas, this is so. I prefer today’s health care vs. 1850’s. But in ancient or early times, folks believed that the men and women of old were the super heroes. Maybe, as far as civilization has seemingly advanced, perhaps the human condition remains the same and we have much to learn from our country’s forefathers, foremothers and people of old… of what it means to be free and American.
