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20 Jan

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This Day, 1801: John Adams, a lame duck president, nominated John Marshall to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed him seven days later. Marshall would serve in that role for 34 years

This Day, 1937: Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to be inaugurated on Jan. 20th (they used to be Mar. 4). In his Inaugural address, he said the fight against the Great Depression was far from over: “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.”

This Day, 1949: The interlude between World War II and the Korean War was brief, as Harry Truman - a caretaker president since Apr 12, 1945 - was sworn n

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19 Jan

Who takes over if a President dies, resigns or is incapacitated? The order changed this day in 1886, when Grover Cleveland signed the Presidential Succession Act. VP remained #1, but Secretary of State moved up to #2. The 1886 law, a revision from 1792, would change again in 1947

Here's how the White House looked this day in 1950, as a massive gut renovation of the mansion continued. The Trumans lived down the street in Blair House

This Day, 1955: Dwight Eisenhower held the first (taped) televised presidential news conference. "Well, I see we are trying a new experiment this morning," he told the assembled White House press corps. "I hope it doesn't prove to be a disturbing influence.” (more)

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18 Jan

On this MLK Day, President-Elect and Mrs. Biden are volunteering at a hunger relief organization in Philadelphia. It's a renewal of a presidential tradition of giving back, and helping those less fortunate - a tradition that frankly has been absent for the last four years (more)

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Past presidents have volunteered by doing everything from digging ditches, tutoring students, working in soup kitchens and building homes. It is fair and objective to note that Trump has not bothered to set this sort of inspirational example for Americans (more)

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Trump also went out of his way to mock the volunteer organization set up by George H.W. Bush - the "Points of Light" Foundation. Shameful and ignorant washingtonpost.com/video/politics…

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18 Jan

Talk about foresight:
This day in 1803, Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to fund the Lewis and Clark expedition of the Louisiana Territory. This was rather brilliant - given that Napoleon hadn't even offered to sell it yet (more)

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Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500, but in an early demonstration of federal cost overruns, the eventual cost of the Lewis & Clark expedition would top $50,000

John Tyler, who died this day in 1862, wasn't much of a President, except for this: after succeeding the late William Henry Harrison in 1841, he established the standard of the VP becoming POTUS. The Constitution did not explicitly discuss this and there was a dispute
(more)

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2 Jan

Theodore Roosevelt shut down the post office in Indianola, Mississippi - this day 1902 - because it refused to accept a black woman as postmaster. This bigotry reared its ugly head despite the fact that Minnie Cox had already been a postmaster since 1891 (more)

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Cox, known for her professionalism and dedication, worked long hours and payed late rent on post office boxes to help her customers. She even personally paid for a post office telephone so citizens could call to see if they had any mail to pick up.

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But as the post-Civil War policy of reconstruction—which had helped Blacks find work in the deep South—faded in the early 20th century, white citizens in Indianola argued that a good job such as postmaster should be held by whites. A petition called for Cox to resign (more)

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1 Jan

The White House celebrated its first New Year’s Day - on this day in 1801 - with a 4:00 p.m. reception hosted by President John Adams and his wife Abigail (the term “First Lady” would first be used decades later) /1

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President and Mrs. Adams served dinner to their guests and they were entertained by the United States Marine Band - making its White House debut. Back then, “the President’s Own” consisted of eight to ten musicians. In 1801, the mansion looked like this (no porticoes)

Adams, the second president and first to live in the White House, had only been a resident for two months—but was already a lame duck, having been beaten by Thomas Jefferson in the nasty election of 1800. The mansion itself still needed a lot of work

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