James Monroe

The first thing I noticed when I picked up the book from the library is that the author is Gary Hart. Yes its the same Gary Hart who was a US Senator from Colorado and was the front runner for the 1988 Democratic nomination for President until an extra martial affair derailed his bid.

Some milestones of Monroe's life:

Served in the Revolutionary Army and was one of the Founding Fathers.

1803 appointed envoy to France
Helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. The United States acquiring the Louisiana Purchase may go down in history as the best real estate transaction of all time. Monroe was instrumental in the negotiations in obtaining Louisiana.

1811 Secretary of State
When reading the books I am always looking for common themes and characteristics of Presidents. An early trend for becoming President is Secretary of State. Jefferson (3rd), Madison (4th), Monroe (5th) and John Quincy Adams (6th) all served as SOS prior to becoming President.

1816 Elected President
Was the last President of the Virginia dynasty after Washington, Jefferson and Madison. Slaves were counted as 3/5 of a person toward determining electoral college voters. This is the reason Virginia dominated the Presidency holding the office for 32 of the first 36 years of America.

1820 Reelected President and Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise admitted Maine as a free states and Missouri as a slave state. It banned slavery north of the 36 30 line (excluding Missouri). This kept the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states.

1823 Monroe Doctrine
Originally know as the Principles of 1823. This has guided United States for close to 200 years. Here are some excerpts from Monroe's message to Congress.

1. Neither North or South America should any longer be considered subject to colonization by any European power.
2. Any effort by any European power to extend its monarchical system of government to any portion of the Western Hemisphere will be considered as a hostile act by the United States.
3. Although the United States will not interfere in existing South American colonial relations, any effort to reassert European power over those former colonies who have declared themselves to be independent republics, and have been recognized as such by the United States, will be seen as an unfriendly act by the United States.
4. The United States will remain neutral in any ongoing war between Spain and the new South American republics as long as new circumstances do not require additional steps by the United States to ensure their security.
5. The United States will continue to refrain from interference in the affairs of any European power and will seek to maintain cordial relations with all, but in turn will not itself accept being interfered with by them.
6. Allied European powers should not seek to impose their monarchical system of government anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Monroe will not go down in history as a great President. He will go down in history as the first National Security President and led the United States through a transitional period.

20 down (95,85 pages) 24 to go. Next up Millard Fillmore

James A. Garfield

Continuing the trend of reading about Presidents from the 1800s I decided to go with James A. Garfield. 

Garfield was born in rural Ohio in poverty. Garfield is one of seven Presidents from Ohio, joining

• Ulysses S. Grant
• Rutherford B. Hayes
• Benjamin Harrison
• William McKinley
• William Howard Taft
• Warren Harding

1856 Graduated from Williams College

1861 Joined the Union Army and fought in the Civil War

1862 Elected to the US House of Representatives

Between the Civil War and being elected to Congress, Garfield only spent five months of the five year span with his wife Lucretia. Garfield had an affair with Lucia Gilbert Calhoun, a reporter for the New York Tribune. I am losing count on how many Presidents had affairs.

1876

Attended the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia

Twist of fate: renowned British surgeon Dr. Joseph Lister and Alexander Graham Bell were present and would cross paths with Garfield later.

1880 Republican Nomination

Former President Ulysses Grant seeking an unprecedented third term was the leading candidate to secure the nomination. Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York, the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, blocked Grant's nomination.

Garfield was not interested in the Republican nomination which was basically forced on him by Conkling. Garfield had no say in the decision of his running mate. Chester Arthur from New York was selected as VP, mainly to help win the election.

Garfield did no campaigning prior to the election. Far cry from today's presidential campaigns. He stayed at his farm in Mentor, Ohio. Voter turnout was 78% and Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee Winfred Scott Hancock.

March 4, 1881 Inauguration

• Inaugurations would not be moved to January till 1937.
• The reason for March inaugurations was that time was needed for the President elect to secure a cabinet due to difficult travel conditions.

July 2, 1881 Garfield shot

Garfield and his Secretary of State James Blaine were at the train station when Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was quickly apprehended. In 1881 there was no secret service, the President wandered the streets of Washington, D.C. freely with no protection and visitors were allowed in the White House.

It's crazy to think that President's would not have protection, especially since the country was still recovering from Lincoln's assassination 16 years earlier.

Dr. Lister, a decade earlier in Europe had introduced techniques to sterilize operating rooms. Bell tried to use an induction balance to locate the bullet. Dr. Bliss, Garfield's treating physician made multiple errors using unsterile equipment and fingers to locate the bullet.

Garfield died on September 19, 1881 as the infection is what ultimately killed him. It's pretty safe to say if Garfield had received no medical treatment and the bullet left alone, he would have survived. Plenty of Civil War veterans lived for years with bullets inside them.

Guiteau was hanged on June 30, 1882.

It's hard to judge Garfield's Presidency as he was only President for six months. He served his country in the Civil War and Congress. 

19 down (9,435 pages) 25 to go. Next up James Monroe.

Warren G. Harding, Worst President Ever?

The first thing that caught my eye when I picked the book off the shelf at the library is the name of the author, John W. Dean. Yes, it's the same John Dean who was deeply involved in the Watergate coverup, pled guilty and was a key witness for the government. Dean grew up in Marion, Ohio, the same town as Harding.

Dean starts the book out with "Warren G. Harding is best known as America's worst President." It's interesting way to start a book. I wanted to read the book before determining if I agreed with this statement.

In 1865 Harding was born in Blooming Grover, Ohio. His family later moved to Marion. With the assistance of his wealthy father who was a doctor, Harding bought a newspaper. After purchasing the Marion Star. Harding became active in politics.

1884 Traveled to the Republican Convention in Chicago

• Harding was wowed by the nomination of James Blaine
• More to come on Blaine in the Garfield blog
• Blaine lost election to Grover Cleveland
• Attending the convention inspired Harding to return to Marion and use his newspaper to advance Republican causes

1891 Married Florence Kling DeWole

• Harding previously had feuds via his newspaper with Florence's father Amos Kling over business dealings in town
• Florence previously had child at 19 that Amos did not approve of
• Florence and Warren had a very strained relationship for years with Amos

Political rise started in Ohio

• 1900-4 Member of Ohio State Senate
• 1904-05 Lt. Governor of Ohio
• 1910 Unsuccessful bid for Ohio Governor

 In 1905 Harding started a 15 year affair with Carrie Phillips

• Carrie's husband and Harding were very good friends
• Seems to be a common theme for Presidents
• His wife was aware of the affair

1912 GOP Republican Convention

• Harding gave the nomination speech for William Howard Taft
• This was Harding's introduction on the national political stage

1914 Elected to US Senate

• The year before, the 17th amendment was adopted where general elections elected US Senators
• Previously, state legislators elected the Senators
• Ohio adopted the general election format and the incumbent did not want to run 
• Harding won both the Republican primary and the general election

1916 Republican convention

• Even though Harding had low seniority in the Senate, he was given the coveted spot of the key note speech at the convention
• The Republican party was greatly divided
• Harding is crated with bringing the party back together
• Republican nominee Hughes lost to Democratic incumbent Wilson

1920: Harding and Calvin Coolidge defeated the Democratic ticket of James Cox and FDR. Harding became the 7th President from Ohio

• Ulysses S. Grant
• Rutherford b. Hayes
• James A. Garfield
• Benjamin Harrison
• William McKinley
• William Howard Taft

and first President to go directly from the Senate.

Presidency

• Created Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• Created the GAO- Government Accountability Office along with a Budget director
• Actively involved in ending the coal miners and railroad strikes which had crippled the country economically
• Future President Herbert Hoover served as Secretary of Commerce
• Andrew Mellon served as Secretary of Treasury and helped passed the bonus bill for World War I veterans
• Favorable legislation for farmers was passed as the farm community greatly struggled at the beginning of the 1920s
• Held a conference on agriculture and employment
• Passed immigration law limiting the number of immigrants from each country (quotas)
• Held disarmament conference with Great Britain and Japan to limit the production of warships
• Appointed four Supreme Court Justices including former President Taft

1923 Harding died while in San Francisco. It was after his death that the VA and Teapot dome scandals became public.

• Teapot Dome
• This involved the federal Government awarding oil drilling leases in Wyoming
• Interior Secretary Albert Fall was convicted in 1931 and became the first Cabinet member convicted for a crime while in office
• VA
• Corruption by VA Director Charles Forbes in the construction of hospitals

While the investigations dragged on for close to ten years, Harding was never implicated in any of the scandals. Also contributing to Harding's negative perception was the flood of books critical of him including a book by Nan Britton. Britton alleges that Harding fathered a child with her while Harding was married to Florence. This was never proved to be true.

It was wildly believe that after Harding's death, Florence destroyed all of Harding's personal writings. Harding's personal secretary George Christian had ignored Florence's instructions to destroy the papers and saved them. It wasn't until many years later the papers were discovered and historians had a chance to review.

Harding is ranked 40 out of 43 former Presidents in a CSPAN Poll. While he may not be the worst President, Harding is definitely near the bottom of the list.

18 down (9,175pages), 26 to go. Next up another President from the Buckeye state, James A. Garfield.

James K. Polk

I have to admit, there are quite a few of the Presidents from the 1800s that I know nothing about. One of those is the 11th President of the United States, James K. Polk. I learned more about Polk in the first two pages than I knew about him before starting the book.

Polk's nickname was "Young Hickory" . This is due to the fact that fellow Tennessean Andrew Jackson was called "Old Hickory" and served as Polk's mentor. Jackson was frequently consulted on decisions Polk made during his political career.

1795 Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

1803 Polk family moved to Tennessee

1818 Graduated first in his class from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1823 Elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives

1824 Married Sarah Childress - would have no children due to Polk's medical condition in 1812 to remove urinary stones

1825 Elected to the US House of Representatives

• Would serve in House till 1839 to run for Governor of Tennessee
• Chaired the powerful Ways and Means Committee
• Speaker of the House from 1835 to 1839
• Only President to also be Speaker of the House

1839 Elected Governor of Tennessee

1841 and 1843 loses Governor race

1844 Democratic Nomination

• Promised he would only serve one term
• Polk was in favor of the annexation of Texas
• Polk was a clear dark horse to secure the nomination as he secured no votes on the first ballot
• He ultimately secured the nomination over former President Martin van Buren, Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, Senator James Buchanan and former Vice President Richard M. Johnson
• Polk choose George M. Dallas as his running mate 

1844 Presidential Election

• Defeated Whig candidate Henry Clay
• Similar to his nomination, his position on the annexation of Texas was key
• Polk was in favor of Texas joining the union
• Texas was admitted to the union after the election and prior to Polk becoming President
• Learned in the book that Sam Houston was Governor of Tennessee prior to moving to Texas

Hard to imagine a candidate losing an election twice for Governor and then winning an election to become President of the United States.

Polk had four major agenda items to accomplish as President

1. He would lower the tariff
2. He would re-create Van Buren's independent treasury
1. This would bring an end to the nation's funds being controlled by private banks and would last until 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was created
3. He would acquire Oregon from the British
1. This would include all of Oregon, Washington, parts of Wyoming & Idaho
4. He would acquire California from Mexico
1. Almost 13,000 men died in the war with Mexico (11,000 of those from diseases)
2. Unlike future administrations during the Vietnam War, Polk decided to end the war and reached an agreement with Mexico
1. The US paid $20 Million to Mexico for California and established the Rio Grande river as Mexico's northern border
2. The war included disputed land in Texas near the Rio Grande river

Polk was a workaholic and was able to accomplish all of his agenda. By the time Polk left office in 1849, America was truly a country from coast to coast. He paid a terrible price for his hard work and died three months after leaving office.

It is hard to judge Presidential greatness. An argument can be made that James K. Polk is one of the most underrated Presidents in US history and accomplished great things. A 2017 survey by Presidential historians ranks Polk 14th out of 43 former Presidents.

17 down (9,005 pages), 27 to go. 

Up next is Warren Harding, who some historians claim is the worst President of all time.

Ford

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am using a list from Barnes and Noble. The book on Gerald Ford by Douglas Brinkley is also on a list called The American Presidents Series. 

According to the website, " It is the aim of the series to present the grand panorama of our chief executives in volumes compact enough for the busy reader, lucid enough for the scholar. Each volume will be an incisive, meditation-length biographical essay that focuses on the subject's presidency, even as it offers a distillation of his life, character, and career." 

Most of the books I will be reading moving forward will be from the Presidents Series. There is the same intro mentioning different traits of the Presidents in each book. I will be sharing excerpts from the intro in future blogs.
Gerald Ford was born on July 14, 1913 as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. Omaha, Nebraska. His mother moved to Michigan and married Gerald Rudolf Ford in 1917. Gerald would not legally change his name to Gerald R. Ford Jr. until 1935.

• Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 
• He played football at the University of Michigan.
• Received offers from Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions (turned them down)
• Graduated from Yale law school.
• Saw action in World War II in the Pacific abroad USS Monterey
• 1948 won election to the US House of Representatives
• Would serve as House Minority Leader (1965 - 1973) - wanted to be speaker of the House but the Republicans did not have control of the House while Ford was Minority Leader.
• Ford would serve with Nixon in the House, a friendship that would last over 50 years.
• 1968 Election
• Ford was in discussions to be Nixon's running mate. He preferred to stay a Rep with the goal of being Speaker of the House if Republicans took back the majority. Ford would never become Speaker. 
• Nixon shocked everyone and selected Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew.
• December 6, 1973: VP Spiro Agnew resigned, Ford becomes VP.
• August 9, 1974: Ford becomes President when Nixon resigned and is the only President not to win a national election.
• Let me try to explain. Eight other men (John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman & LBJ) became President when the sitting President died in office. All eight were part of the Presidential ticket that won the election.
• It has longed been discussed if Ford promised Nixon a pardon if he resigned.
• Ford carried a portion of the Supreme Court decision of Burdick vs. United States from 1915.
• The justices determined that an individual does not have to accept a pardon if offered.
• The justices state that if a pardon is accepted, you are admitting guilt.
• Ford denied cutting a deal with Nixon. His justification was that Nixon was accepting guilt by accepting the pardon.
• The pardon upset conservatives and was a rallying cry for Democrats.
• Presidency
• Helsinki accord
• Ford's greatest achievement and was the beginning to the end of the Soviet empire.
• Vietnam War ended
• Four predecessors were unsuccessful in ending the war
• Mixed reviews as the war could have been ended 10 years prior with the same results and less deaths.
• Mayaguez
• American ship held hostage near Cambodia where 41 American rescuers were killed

• 1976 Republican Nomination
• Franklin Pierce (1856) is the only elected President not to secure his party's nomination.
• Unelected Presidents Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson & Chester Arthur were unable to secure the nomination. 
• Ford was trying to avoid joining these five presidents
• Ronald Reagan put up a serious challenge and lost a close nomination to Ford
• 1976 Presidential election
• Ford dumped his VP Nelson Rockefeller and choose Kansas Senator Bob Dole as his running mate
• Ford/Dole lost to Carter/Mondale
• Ford partially blamed Reagan for the primary challenge as the reason his lost support and ultimately the election.
• Post Presidency
• While Ford had a short tenure in the Oval Office, he led the country through a difficult time after Watergate and ending the Vietnam War
• Perception changed over the years surrounding the pardon as it led the country on the path to healing.
• Ford considered himself a Moderate republican as the party started to drift towards the right.
• Ford had plenty of battles with conservative Republicans over the years.
• 1980
• Thought about running for President (ultimately decided not too)
• Had discussions with Reagan on becoming VP (Reagan choose George H.W. Bush)
• After Carter left office,Jimmy & Roslyn became close friends with Gerald & Betty.
• Betty Ford Clinic
• Gerald was very supportive of his wife's battle with alcoholism. The clinic opened near their home in California and has helped a tremendous amount of people battle a terrible disease.
• 2001 - Received the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for his work pardoning Nixon and healing the country.
• This award decision was difficult to make as Ted Kennedy was very out spoken towards Ford's decision to pardon Nixon.

While some may say Ford was not a successful President, he dedicated his live to public service and truly had the country in mind when he made difficult decisions.

16 down, 28 to go. 8,849 pages complete.