Presidential trivia

You might like this forgotten topic: http://able2know.org/topic/712-1

Thanks for posting this. I never saw that one. I have a book called Secret Lives of the First Ladies...

What about Richard Nixon escorting Pat on her dates...

Martin van Buren was known as "Old Kinderhook" for his hometown. It was later shortened to "O. K.", which is where the acronym "OK" was reportedly born

I have read that it stood for "Old Knickerbocker," referring to his political background. Whichever it was, if a petitioner showed up, and he approved their petition, he would write "OK" on the bottom, to signal to the appropriate department head that the petition had presidential approval.

well he was from Kinderhook NY which was known for following the KNicks.

About Van Buren-- he wrote his autobiography after his presidency and he never mentioned his wife once. She'd died before he became president, but still. Not a single sentence? Eesh.

Which president reportedly killed a mountain lion with his own hands wioth just a knife?

probably not Taft.

I think it might be Teddy Roosevelt?

Which president had a telephone installed in the toilet?

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was one of the greatest presidents we've ever had in terms of entertainment value. He once invited the new British military attache over to the house (which is exactly how he saw the White House) for a casual afternoon, and the clown showed up in his full, scarlet regimentals. Well, old TR liked to go out and do 50 mile hikes with the Marines from Anacostia, and he had told the attache that they would have a relaxing afternoon of exercise, so he took this clown, dressed up like the doorman at the Waldorf Astoria, for a hike up the canal which runs northwest of Georgetown, and then back to the White House. He kept it down to a gentle roar, though, he only took him for about 20 miles. When they returned, he lead him through the part of the grounds where the rose garden is now located. But in TR's time, it was a typical late 19th century "wild" garden, with a fish pond in the middle, and TR marched right through the pond. Natural, protocol being what it is, the Brit marched right through it after him. TR just cracks me up.

TR had a daughter by his first wife, Alice Lee, who died while Baby Lee (as TR called her, everyone else called her Alice) was still an infant. That was when TR went off to the Dakotas to be a cattleman, and Alice was left to be raised by his sister. Eventually, he married a childhood sweetheart, whom he had totally thrown over when he feel hard for Alice Lee. They had five (i believe) children, and TR, his wife and the six kids counting Alice, moved into the White House, and treated it as their natural home. Alice was in her teens in the beginning, and she was quite the party animal and socialite. She favored a particular shade of blue, and it is known as Alice Blue to this day--the song "Alice Blue Gown" is about Alice Roosevelt. She would stay out all night partying with the boys, and to the more straight-laced in Washington society, it became a scandal. The Chief Justice once cornered TR at a reception on the issue. That was a bad idea, you didn't criticize TR's family to him. The Chief Justice said: "Mr. President, you must do something about Alice!" TR rounded on him, saying: "Look, I can do one of two things--I can be President of the United States, or I can do something about Alice--but I can't do both!"

Alice was very much her father's daughter, though. They married poor Alice off to an up and coming young Republican Representative, a certain Mr. Longford (don't recall the rest of his monikers). Alice Roosevelt Longford became famous for her bon mots, of which my favorite is: "If you don't anything nice to say about anyone, come over here and sit by me."

Sounds like maybe that scoundrel Andy Jackson.

That sounds like LBJ to me.

Correct.

Alice had her priorities straight.
Teddy's not only entertaining, he's the first conservation president. Without him the Grand Canyon would have been gutted a long time ago.