It just might help my Jeopardy! game
Watching Jeopardy! is a nightly ritual in our house. My daughter, Madeline, and I play recordings of it after dinner, sometimes doubling up if we need to make up for games we’ve missed. We’re always behind by at least a week because not every evening is free.
On most topics, Madeline does far better than I do. She has memorized all sorts of trivia such as country flags, locations and years of the Olympics, stars and planets, the presidents and geography. It helps that she’s just two years past the end of her college days and has a young brain. I have many more years of living behind me, which can sometimes make a difference.
I am especially poor at history. My knowledge of U.S. presidents is meager. If I were to recall them in order, I’d get to John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, lapse until Abraham Lincoln, number 16, and then falter until Theodore Roosevelt. There’s another big gap until I get to FDR, and then smooth sailing up to present day.
You may feel embarrassed for me, for admitting in print to being deficient in my knowledge of presidents. But I am doing something about it, thanks to an item that I purchased at least 10 years ago at the Morrow Turnover Sale. It’s a Fandex Family Field Guide of the U.S. Presidents, a deck of flashcards that features a different president on every page. It only goes up to George Walker Bush, number 43, but I feel confident I can fill in the rest.
Every night at dinner, Madeline, my husband, Rob, and I read out loud the president for the day and then discuss what we just learned. The entries are well-written and even-handed, offering fun facts, insight into the career path of each president and the shifts in the presidency and political parties over time.
For instance, three of the first five presidents died on the Fourth of July: John Adams and his rival Thomas Jefferson died in 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and James Monroe died in 1831. Andrew Jackson married his wife, Rachel, without either of them knowing that her divorce from her first husband hadn’t been finalized. Imagine what today’s media would’ve done with that revelation.
Certainly less exciting but interesting, Martin Van Buren, who followed Jackson, was the first president to be born an American citizen. All of the presidents were married, except for James Buchanan, who became known as the bachelor president.
The first to die in office was William Henry Harrison in 1841, just one month after inauguration day. Vice President John Tyler took his place, but there was significant debate in Congress about whether he could become the president or just the acting president until a new election was held.
Ultimately, the “Tyler Precedent” established that if the president dies, resigns or is removed, the vice president becomes president. That leaves the vice president slot open and, in some cases, that position was never filled. It wasn’t until 1967, in the wake of the JFK assassination, that the 25th amendment was adopted, stating that when there is a vacancy in the office of the vice president, the president shall nominate a vice president to take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress. The amendment was first tested in 1973 with the appointment of Representative Gerald Ford when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned.
I realize that I’m reciting historical trivia, but this exercise has given me a better sense of the continuum of American history. We’re currently at number 30, Calvin Coolidge, and should be done by early September.
Of course, my interest in the presidents has likely been fanned by our country’s upcoming election with its turmoil and unpredictability. If my Fandex were up to date, I would like to see how it describes our latest presidents. The book described Nixon, “at his best a statesman with a true world-view” and “at his worst a covert and mistrustful, if not downright malevolent politician.”
Reading about our presidents shows that there were many unfortunate moments in our history and times when we could be proud of and inspired by our leaders and our country. Here’s hoping the latter is the pattern for our future. In the meantime, I’ll see how my Jeopardy! game fares with my new fount of knowledge. Next subject for me to conquer is geography.
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