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Best U.S. presidents

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:46:51 +0000

In honor of Presidents Day 2009, C-SPAN released results of its second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership. A cross-section of 65 presidential historians ranked the 42 former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership.

Who were the Top 10?

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
9. Woodrow Wilson
10. Ronald Reagan

To see the rest of the rankings, and to read about the methodology behind them, visit C-SPAN.

Youngest U.S. Presidents

Michael Hurd — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:11:08 +0000

“Youth is wasted on the young,” or so said Irish playwright and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw.

However, when Barack Obama landed in the White House, the relatively youthful 47-year-old Democrat (born August 4, 1961) became the nation’s fifth youngest president, beating Grover Cleveland by 66 days.

Here are the Top Ten youngest presidents, by age upon taking office, courtesy of Infoplease.

1. Theodore Roosevelt (42 years, 322 days)
2. John F. Kennedy (43 years, 236 days)
3. Bill Clinton (46 years, 154 days)
4. Ulysses S. Grant (46 years, 236 days)
5. Barack Obama (47 years, 285 days)
6. Grover Cleveland (47 years, 351 days)
7. Franklin Pierce (48 years, 101 days)
8. James Garfield (48 years, 105 days)
9. James K. Polk (49 years, 122 days)
10. Millard Fillmore (50 years, 184 days)

Note: Roosevelt was sworn in after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901, making Kennedy the youngest president actually voted to the office. At 69, Ronald Reagan was the oldest president to take office.

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Secret Service code names

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:26:18 +0000

The Secret Service likes to have a little fun with the people it protects. When a new president comes into office, he and his family are given nicknames that make it easier for the guys in the black suits to know who they are talking about.

President-elect Barack Obama was offered a list of possible monikers beginning with “R.” He chose “Renegade.” In turn, wife Michelle became “Renaisssance,” while daughters Malia and Sasha are “Radiance” and “Rosebud,” respectively.

What are some of the other nicknames the Service has used for presidents and other people they are charged with keeping out of harm’s way?

Here’s a list, courtesy of Time magazine:

John F. Kennedy: “Lancer”

Richard M. Nixon: “Searchlight”

Jimmy Carter: “Deacon”

Edward M. Kennedy: “Sunburn”

Ronald Reagan: “Rawhide”

Pope John Paul II: “Halo”

Karenna Gore (daughter of VP Al Gore): “Smurfette”

Dick Cheney: “Angler”

Cindy McCain: “Parasol”

To read more about these choices, and to see a slideshow, visit Time.

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Presidential disapproval ratings

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:25:13 +0000

In the wake of the 2008 elections, President George W. Bush’s approval rating with the American public sank to just 24 percent, meaning that 76 percent of those who responded to a poll taken by CNN and Opinion Research Corporation did not believe the president was doing a good job.

How does that compare to other presidents? In August of 1974, the month he resigned in the face of the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon’s disapproval rating stood at just 66 percent.

CNN offered a chart covering Bush and previous presidents, the rate of disapproval, and the date of the poll representing the lowest point:

George W. Bush: 76% – Nov. 2008

Bill Clinton: 54% – Sept. 1994

G.H.W. Bush: 60% – July 1992

Ronald Reagan: 56% – Jan. 1983

Jimmy Carter: 59% – June 1979

Gerald Ford: 46% – April, Nov., Dec. 1975

Richard Nixon: 66% – Aug. 1974

Lyndon Johnson: 52% – March, Aug. 1968

John F. Kennedy: 30% – Nov. 1963

Harry Truman: 67% – Jan. 1952

Sources: CNN and Politico

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Presidential Libraries

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:37:22 +0000

What’s an ex-president without his own library?

Herbert Hoover has one. Richard Nixon has two. Even Gerald Ford (who, whatever his fine qualities, was never actually elected to the office) has seen his legacy spread over two different facilities.

Who else has one, and where are they all located?

Here’s the list:

Herbert Hoover: West Branch, Iowa

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Hyde Park, New York

Harry S. Truman: Independence, Missouri

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Abilene, Kansas

John F. Kennedy: Boston, Massachusetts

Lyndon B. Johnson: Austin, Texas

Richard M. Nixon: College Park, Maryland

Richard M. Nixon: Yorba Linda, California

Gerald R. Ford: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Gerald R. Ford: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jimmy Carter: Atlanta, Georgia

Ronald Reagan: Simi Valley, California

George H.W. Bush: College Station, Texas

William J. Clinton: Little Rock, Arkansas

Source: National Archives

Closest presidential elections

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:14:42 +0000

While the race between John McCain and Barack Obama didn’t turn out to be as close as many predicted, election night often has been a nail-biter of an affair. Just eight years ago, the George W. Bush-Al Gore contest wasn’t resolved until after months of recounts and endless debates about hanging chads and dirty tricks.

Which are the narrowest margins ever in a presidential race?

Here’s one list, with percentage of popular vote for each of the leading candidates, followed by votes received in the Electoral College:

1960

Richard Nixon — 49.6

John F. Kennedy — 49.7

(Kennedy won the electoral vote, 303-219)

2000

George W. Bush — 47.87

Albert Gore — 48.38

(Bush won the electoral vote, 271-266)

1968

Hubert Humphrey — 42.7

Richard Nixon — 43.4

(Nixon won the electoral vote, 301-191.)

1976

Gerald Ford — 48.0

Jimmy Carter — 50.1

(Carter won the electoral vote, 297-240.)

Source: Infoplease.com

Democratic Convention Trivia

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:34:51 +0000

Every 100 years or so, the Democratic Convention rolls into Denver. Visitors this time around no doubt are finding things a bit different from their previous gathering in 1908, which ended in the nomination of William Jennings Bryan, who went on to lose to William Howard Taft.

In honor the of occasion, CNN Politics compiled a list of Democratic Convention trivia.

Here’s a sampling:

– The longest Democratic Convention (New York, 1924) lasted 17 days.

– The shortest Democratic Convention (Baltimore, 1872) lasted just six hours.

– The oldest delegate at this year’s Democratic convention is 91-year-old Sophie Masloff of Pennsylvania. The youngest is 17-year-old David Gilbert Pederson from Minnesota.

– The first woman delegate to a Democratic national convention was seated in 1908. She was from Colorado.

– The first Democratic convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1832. President Andrew Jackson was nominated for a second term.

– The 2008 Democratic National Convention is being held later in the year than any previous convention for either party not already holding the White House.

– John F. Kennedy was the last presidential nominee to give an acceptance speech outdoors when he spoke at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960.

To see more trivia, visit CNNPolitics.com.

Memorable Political Moments

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:15:42 +0000

With media playing an ever-larger role in American politics, more and more attention is paid to how radio and television shape the course of events.

Recently, the Museum of Broadcast Communications polled scholars, politicians, commentators and analysts to produce a list of the “Top 125 Most Memorable Political Moments,” beginning with radio’s commercial debut on Election Night, 1920.

Here are the Top 10:

1. John Kennedy Assassination and Funeral (November 22, 1963)

2. 9-11 World Trade Center Attack (September 11, 2001)

3. Kennedy-Nixon: First Televised Debate (September 26, 1960)

4. Franklin Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Speech (December 8, 1941)

5. Moon Landing (Neil Armstrong) (July 21,1969)

6. 1968 Democratic Convention Riot (Chicago) (August 26-29, 1968)

7. Franklin Roosevelt: First Inaugural Speech (March 4,1933)

8. Richard Nixon: “Checkers” Speech (September 23, 1952)

9. Martin Luther King: “I Have a Dream” speech (August 28, 1963)

10. Richard Nixon: White House Farewell Speech (August 9, 1974)

Ready to see the rest? Visit the official MBC site.

Presidents and Their Dogs

Cyndi Hughes — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:54:46 +0000

Forget the vice president; the president’s best friend and most reliable colleague is his dog. Bet you didn’t know about all of these dogs in the White House. And it was JFK who started the tradition of dogs meeting the presidential helicopter at the White House, after an assistant who cared for the dogs had them line up to greet the president once or twice as a gag. From then on, JFK insisted that they always be there when he got off the helicopter.

Here’s a sampling of presidential dogs:

John Tyler: Le Beau, an Italian greyhound

Theodore Roosevelt: Pete, a bull terrier; Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake Bay retriever: Skip, a Heinz 57; and Manchu, a spaniel

Warren G. Harding: Laddie Boy, an Airedale terrier, had his own chair to sit on at cabinet meetings.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Fala, a Scottish terrier (pictured), even starred in a Hollywood movie on the typical day of a dog in the White House.

John F. Kennedy: Charlie, a Welsh terrier; Pushinka, a gift from Khrushchev; Shannon an Irish cocker spaniel given by the president of Ireland

Lyndon B. Johnson: Him and Her, beagles; J. Edgar, a beagle given to LBJ by J. Edgar Hoover; Blanco, a white collie; and Yuki, a mongrel. Sadly, Him was run over and killed on the White House grounds. Yuki made the front page of the Wall Street Journal

Gerald R. Ford: Liberty, a golden retriever memorialized by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live.

George H. W. Bush: Millie, a springer spaniel and the author of a book