Jenna
and a classmate are going to give an assigned PowerPoint this week. I haven't seen any of it as it was a project
they worked on it at school. The first PowerPoint
that I remember Jenna doing for her current school was a presentation on one of
our former presidents.
Before
she had been assigned this task, I had told her that if ever she was to do a
report on an American President, to pick either William Henry Harrison or
Gerald Ford as William Henry Harrison was Pres. for only one month and Gerald
Ford is the only President that hadn't been voted to be president (or
vice-president) by the public. I just
like interesting facts that set apart from others. But I suppose they all have something
interesting about them.
She did
get an opportunity to do a power-point on a president, but not totally of her
choosing. Presidents' names were written
on a paper and placed in a hat or box.
Students could draw two and make a choice between the two names
drawn.
She
came home one day and asked what I knew about Martin Van Buren. Not much.
I know that he was president during the time when the members of the
church were being harassed in Missouri and Joseph Smith went to the white house
to talk to the president and was not impressed with Martin Van Buren and
decided that he, himself, would run for president.
Jenna
thought that was a cool story and wanted to use it, but the story has more to
do with the Prophet Joseph Smith rather than the Van Buren - except to say that Van Buren was arrogant
and did not want to interfere with Boggs order of extermination as elections
were coming up and he did not wish to lose the vote in Missouri. (Stevenson, 2013)
Though
there are some names that stand out for us more than others, there is tons of
information about each of our past presidents if we but look.
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president while
James Monroe was the shortest. (Fun Facts, 2003)
Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest President to take
office (at age 42) while Ronald Reagan was the oldest (age 69) Taft was the
largest president and had to have a custom made tub.
Franklin D. Roosevelt served more terms than any
other president. Grover Cleveland was
President twice (#22 and #24)
James Buchanan was the only president to be single
throughout his term. According to the
History Channel, Cleveland is the only president to have his wedding ceremony
in the White House (Siese, 2015)
though John Tyler was the first to marry while in
office
For more fun facts and scandal, you can visit the
following (or click on cite dates in post)
AMERICAN HISTORY: Presidential Trivia, Fun Facts and Firsts. (2003). Retrieved from Legends of America:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-presidenttrivia.html
Siese, A. (2015, June 3). These 2 Single U.S. Presidents
In History Prove There's Precedent For Candidate Lindsey Graham's Bachelor
Status. Retrieved from Bustle:
https://www.bustle.com/articles/87904-these-2-single-us-presidents-in-history-prove-theres-precedent-for-candidate-lindsey-grahams-bachelor-status
Stevenson, F. (2013, May 20). Top scandals and
controversies of each United States president. Retrieved from Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/1512/8/Top-scandals-and-controversies-of-each-United-States-president.html
