Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson helped popularize ice cream, French fries, and macaroni and cheese in America. He brought recipes from Europe that his staff prepared for guests at the White House. 

James Madison 

James Madison was the shortest president. He measured 5 feet, 4 inches (163 centimeters) tall and is estimated to have weighed about 100 pounds.

James Monroe 

Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, was named after James Monroe, making it the only capital city outside the U.S. named for an American president. 

John Quincy Adams 

John Quincy Adams had a daily routine that involved early morning nude swims in the Potomac River. He maintained his habit of swimming in the Potomac into his late 70s.

Andrew Jackson 

Andrew Jackson was involved in at least a dozen duels during his lifetime (some put the number as high as 100), most of which were resolved without bloodshed. But Jackson did kill one opponent and was shot twice himself. 

Martin Van Buren 

Martin Van Buren was the first U.S. president who spoke English as a second language. He grew up in a Dutch community in upstate New York, and his first language was Dutch.

William Henry Harrison

After only one month in the White House, William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office, serving the shortest tenure in U.S. presidential history.

John Tyler 

John Tyler fathered 15 children with two wives, more than any other president. His first child was born in 1815, when Tyler was 25, and his last in 1860, when the former president was 70. 

James K. Polk 

Some of James K. Polk’s contemporaries considered him to be a rather boring man. This likely wasn’t helped by his wife, Sarah, who banned hard liquor and dancing at the White House.

Zachary Taylor 

In 1848, the Whig National Convention nominated Zachary Taylor as president of the United States. Letters were sent to Taylor requesting his acceptance, but he didn’t respond — he had instructed the local post office not to deliver his mail to avoid postage fees, and didn’t get official word of his nomination for weeks. 

Millard Fillmore 

Millard Fillmore came from a large, poor family and received little formal education until he was 18. When he became president, he and his wife, Abigail, established the first permanent library in the White House. 

Franklin Pierce 

Franklin Pierce was the first U.S. president to recite his inaugural speech entirely from memory — all 3,336 words of it. 

James Buchanan 

James Buchanan never married and remains America’s only bachelor president.

Abraham Lincoln 

Abraham Lincoln is the only president to hold a patent. His invention was designed to buoy and lift boats over shoals and obstructions in rivers.

Andrew Johnson 

Andrew Johnson was supposed to be assassinated on the same night as Abraham Lincoln, as he was serving as Lincoln’s vice president at the time. But his would-be assassin, George Atzerodt, lost his nerve and got drunk instead.

Ulysses S. Grant 

Ulysses S. Grant’s real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. He wound up with the moniker we know today due to a mistake by his benefactor on his application form to West Point, which he was never able to correct.

Rutherford B. Hayes 

As part of his “Great Western Tour” in 1880, Rutherford B. Hayes became the first president to visit the West Coast while in office.

James A. Garfield 

When President James A. Garfield was shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881, he was attended to by Charles B. Purvis — the first Black physician to treat a sitting president.

Chester A. Arthur 

Chester A. Arthur appreciated the finer things in life. His administration spent $30,000 (around $2 million today) lavishly refurbishing the White House, and his love of clothing — he reputedly owned 80 pairs of trousers — earned him the nickname “the Gentleman Boss.” 

Grover Cleveland 

Grover Cleveland was the only president to officially serve as an executioner. As the sheriff of Erie County, New York, he performed the role of hangman on a handful of executions. 

Benjamin Harrison 

Benjamin Harrison was the first president to have electric lighting installed in the White House, but he and his wife Caroline were afraid to touch the light switches for fear of electrocution. 

William McKinley 

William McKinley’s favorite pet was a double yellow-headed Mexican parrot that he named Washington Post and taught to whistle “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” 

Theodore Roosevelt 

Teddy Roosevelt was disappointed with his official presidential portrait by artist Théobald Chartran, which his family jokingly said made him look like a “mewing cat.” Just before the end of his presidency, Roosevelt had the painting removed from the White House and burned. 

William Howard Taft 

In 1910, William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw the ceremonial first pitch of a baseball season. 

Woodrow Wilson 

Woodrow Wilson is the only U.S. president to be buried in Washington, D.C. He is interred at the Washington National Cathedral.

Warren G. Harding 

Warren G. Harding was involved in a number of extramarital affairs. He wrote more than 100 lustful letters to his mistress Carrie Fulton Phillips.

Calvin Coolidge 

Considering it to be good for his health, Calvin Coolidge had his head rubbed with petroleum jelly every morning while he ate his breakfast in bed.

Herbert Hoover 

While living in China, Herbert Hoover and his wife were caught up in the Boxer Rebellion, an uprising against foreigners that occurred in 1900. While they were trapped during the Siege of Tientsin, Hoover took a leading role in the defense, building barricades around residential areas. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt 

FDR suffered from a mild case of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13. He didn’t like Friday the 13th, wouldn’t travel on the 13th day of any month, and avoided hosting 13 guests at a dinner party. 

Harry S. Truman

The “S” in Harry S. Truman’s name doesn't stand for anything — it’s simply the letter “S” and not an initial for a middle name. According to Truman, the letter was chosen as a compromise between the names of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.

Dwight D. Eisenhower 

In 1954, Dwight D. Eisenhower had a putting green installed outside the Oval Office — but squirrels kept digging holes in it. Growing increasingly irate, he had his groundskeepers live-trap the squirrels, which were then released in nearby Rock Creek Park.

John F. Kennedy 

When JFK and his crew were stranded on an island during World War II, they carved a rough rescue message onto a coconut shell. Kennedy later had the coconut turned into a paperweight, which sat on his desk throughout his presidency.  

Lyndon B. Johnson 

Lyndon B. Johnson owned an amphibious car, which he used to prank people. Exclaiming to all on board that the brakes had failed, he’d head straight into a lake — at which point the terrified passengers would learn that the car could actually float.  

Richard Nixon 

Richard Nixon was a talented musician. He played five musical instruments — saxophone, violin, clarinet, accordion, and piano — and even composed a piano concerto.

Gerald Ford 

While still in his late 20s, Gerald Ford worked as a fashion model. He even made it onto the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. 

Jimmy Carter 

During a fishing trip in 1979, President Jimmy Carter was “attacked” by a swamp rabbit. He was in a small boat when the agitated rabbit swam toward him, possibly trying to escape a predator. The press had a field day with the story, dubbing it the “killer rabbit” or “banzai bunny” incident. 

Ronald Reagan 

Over the course of seven summers, the young Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard at Lowell Park on the Rock River. During that time, he saved 77 lives — a number he kept track of by cutting a notch in a log each time he pulled someone from the water.

George H.W. Bush 

George H.W. Bush had a passionate dislike for broccoli. While reports that he banned it from the White House and Air Force One may have been exaggerated, Bush is on record as having said, “I'm president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.”

Bill Clinton 

In 1963, when he was just 16 years old, Bill Clinton shook hands with President John F. Kennedy — and the moment was captured on video. 

George W. Bush 

During his senior year of high school in the 1960s, George W. Bush was the head cheerleader at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. 

Barack Obama 

As a child, Barack Obama spent four years living in Indonesia. His family pets included a large turtle and an ape named Tata — and his stepfather secretly bred crocodiles in the house.

Donald Trump 

Donald Trump’s Secret Service code name is Mogul, while Melania Trump is Muse. Both code names were selected during Trump’s first term as president. 

Photo link

Credit: Bill Waterson/ Alamy Stock Photo 

Joe Biden 

While he was a student at the University of Delaware, Joe Biden was put on academic probation for a prank in which he sprayed the dorm director with a fire extinguisher.

Abraham Lincoln: One Egg and Toast

Given Abraham Lincoln’s profound legacy and brilliant mind, I was surprised by the simplicity of his favorite breakfast. In fact, Honest Abe would sometimes skip meals altogether. According to President Lincoln’s Cottage — a historical museum in Washington, D.C. — the stress of the Civil War had a negative impact on the president’s eating habits. Lincoln’s private secretary John Hay once noted, “The pleasures of the table had few attractions for [Lincoln],” who “ate less than anyone I know.” When the 16th president did eat breakfast, it was usually nothing more than a single egg, one piece of toast, and a meager cup of coffee.

While it may be simple and somewhat bland, there’s nothing wrong with eggs, toast, and coffee in my book. There was no exact recipe for how Lincoln liked his meal prepared, so I went with a sunny-side up egg, sourdough toast (a popular type of bread in the mid-19th century), and black coffee, as there is no historical record of Lincoln preferring sugar or cream. 

I certainly enjoyed what I’d consider to be a light breakfast, even if it didn’t fill me up. At the same time, though, I was amazed that Lincoln had enough energy to lead the country through one of its most tumultuous periods while eating bare meals such as this. I would definitely order Lincoln’s preferred breakfast at my local diner, but if I ever became president, I’d probably need a bit more fuel to start the day.

Theodore Roosevelt: Fat Rascals

Not only did Teddy Roosevelt “speak softly and carry a big stick,” but he also woke up each morning with a hearty appetite. In researching his favorite dishes, I came upon a breakfast treat that I’d never heard of before: the fat rascal. According to What Was Cooking in Edith Roosevelt’s White House? by Tanya Larkin, one of the first lady’s “most treasured recipes” was for fat rascals, which are essentially flaky biscuits filled with dried currants. The Roosevelts enjoyed these biscuits for breakfast served alongside hard-boiled eggs and coffee.

That said, Teddy wasn’t your typical coffee drinker. As a child, he was given cups of coffee to ease his asthma, and developed an early love for the beverage. Roosevelt was said to drink a gallon of coffee per day, and was known to put as many as seven sugar lumps into each cup. One of his sons even described Teddy’s huge coffee cup as “more in nature of a bathtub.”

All told, I have mixed feelings about this breakfast. On one hand, the food was delicious. The fat rascals were quick to prepare and turned out flaky and perfectly buttery without being overly sweet, and the dried currants were a delightful touch. The hard-boiled eggs were a nice complement as well, providing a little bit of savory protein that I personally feel is essential in every breakfast. 

The coffee, however, was far too sweet, and I’m amazed that Teddy consumed so much coffee and sugar each day. I had two cups of joe in the morning in an attempt to keep pace with the gallon a day that Teddy drank, and even that felt like enough sugar to last me a lifetime. However, maybe this explains why Roosevelt had a reputation for being so energetic — he may have had a constant sugar rush and caffeine buzz going.

William Howard Taft: 12-Ounce Steak

William Howard Taft is known for being one of the physically largest U.S. presidents, and he had an appetite to match. According to former White House head housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray, Taft came down for his morning meal a little before 8:30 a.m., and “as a rule he would eat two oranges, a 12-ounce beefsteak, several pieces of toast and butter, and a vast quantity of coffee, with cream and sugar.” However, there was one breakfast standard you’d never find him eating: According to Jaffray, “President Taft liked every sort of food with the single exception of eggs.” 

Sitting down for Taft’s daily breakfast, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was about to participate in some sort of food challenge. It was a lot of food. As I took a few bites, I realized that my stomach wasn’t ready for such an early-morning culinary marathon, but I kept going. I scarfed down the steak, buttered toast, oranges, and sugary coffee, all while wondering how Taft was able to consume this breakfast daily. After I finished the meal, all I wanted to do was go back to bed — I can’t imagine how the president went to work in the Oval Office afterward.

Woodrow Wilson: Grape Juice With Raw Eggs

America’s 28th president endured health issues while in office, struggling with his appetite and appearing quite frail at times. According to Dinner With the President by journalist Alex Prud’homme, one doctor predicted that Woodrow Wilson wouldn’t last through his first term. In response, Wilson’s personal aide Cary Grayson, a former Navy doctor, stepped up in an effort to improve the president’s health and diet. This included one odd suggestion in particular: Grayson insisted Wilson drink “a glass of grape or orange juice with two raw eggs every morning, for strength.” 

The president abided, though he compared the daily concoction to drinking “an unborn thing.” Given that review, it may not be entirely fair to call this drink Wilson’s “favorite” breakfast. But he still downed it each day, and so I had the chance to try it myself… Yippee.

During the preparation process, I chose to go with grape juice over orange juice. After I mixed in the raw eggs, it developed a lighter, purplish color that looked similar to a tasty fruit smoothie. But it was impossible to ignore the raw bits of egg that floated to the top and sat there almost mocking me. I really wasn’t excited to take a sip of this unusual beverage — but I did, and after a few swigs, I couldn’t help but agree with Wilson’s description. 

While the flavor was surprisingly OK — it tasted more like grape juice than anything else — I was thrown off by the unsettling globs of albumin in each sip. My mind was far too aware of the unholy concoction I was drinking, and I couldn’t trick myself into thinking it was something more appetizing. In the end, I can safely say that I won’t be trying this breakfast again anytime soon.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Jelly Doughnuts and Dark Roast

FDR had simple culinary tastes that were in line with those of the average American. According to former White House housekeeper Henrietta Nesbitt, some of his favorite meals included grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and fruitcake. When it came to breakfast, he preferred a combination of jelly doughnuts and dark roast coffee above all else. Roosevelt’s favorite type of doughnut was the German-style Berliner Pfannkuchen, which was fried, filled with jelly, and topped with powdered sugar. The doughnuts were produced in large batches by Nesbitt, and Roosevelt would take them up to his private residence to enjoy each morning. 

Much like his cousin Teddy, FDR was also quite particular about his coffee. He strongly preferred a French dark roast, and to make sure that it tasted right, he often prepared the coffee himself. According to The Presidents’ Cookbook by Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks, “A coffee maker was placed on the president’s breakfast tray so that he could regulate the brewing to his satisfaction.”

My baking skills are somewhat lacking, so instead of trying to make jelly doughnuts myself, I went to a trusted bakery down the block and picked up a fresh one. I did, however, buy some French dark roast coffee beans and brew them myself, just like FDR would have done. 

This combination of doughnuts and coffee was a truly delicious way to start the day, and one that feels unequivocally American — ironic given it’s a German doughnut and French coffee. While the dark roast beans were a little more bitter than I usually like my coffee to be, they served as a nice complement to the sweetness of the doughnut. 

Harry S. Truman: A Shot of Bourbon

Last but not least, we jump ahead to the Truman administration. As noted in David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Truman, the 33rd president kept a diary of his morning routine. In an entry from his seventh year in office, he wrote, “I eat no bread but one piece of toast at breakfast, no butter, no sugar, no sweets. Usually have fruit, one egg, a strip of bacon, and half a glass of skimmed milk for breakfast.” 

What made Truman’s breakfast unique was the one special ingredient he regularly had in addition: a shot of bourbon. Truman enjoyed an ounce of Old Granddad or Wild Turkey each morning, which he consumed after a 2-mile walk to begin the day “to get the engine going.”

I’m not sure what was a bigger shock to my system — the early-morning shot of liquor or the lengthy walk. The booze made me a bit tipsy right off the bat, but that feeling soon faded, especially as the tasty food began to hit my stomach.

As for the meal, I consulted a White House breakfast menu from December 24, 1951, that listed grapefruit and a poached egg, so that’s what I went with. It was a pretty tasty and traditional breakfast, whiskey notwithstanding. All told, I’d definitely have Truman’s brekkie again, though I would maybe save the shot for after a long day of work.

While I enjoyed elements from all these breakfasts to some degree — Wilson’s juice and raw egg mix excluded — I’d say my favorite was the fat rascals that Teddy Roosevelt was so fond of. These flaky biscuits were downright delicious, and I’m sure I’ll make them again at my own leisure. As I mentioned, I’d prefer less sugar in my coffee than Roosevelt went for, but otherwise I was a big fan of Teddy’s favorite morning meal.

Ulysses S. Grant: Farmer

Although he became Lincoln's most celebrated Civil War general and springboarded from that role to the White House, Ulysses S. Grant largely struggled in most of his other professional endeavors. One such endeavor, as described in Kate Havelin's biography Ulysses S. Grant, was his attempt to farm the 60 acres of land in St. Louis, Missouri, that had been gifted to him by his father-in-law. The appropriately named "Hardscrabble" farm initially failed to produce anything of significant growth beyond its trees, which Grant chopped down and sold as firewood on the streets of St. Louis as his family's main source of income. By the time Hardscrabble finally began yielding quality crops, Grant was unable to capitalize due to an economic downturn and his own health problems, forcing him to sell the farm by the late 1850s. 

Calvin Coolidge: Toy Maker

Unlike the previous presidents on this list, a 14-year-old Calvin Coolidge didn't need to support himself or a family while attending Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vermont. However, his father insisted on the fiscal lessons to be learned from employment, according to Hendrik Booraem's biography The Provincial, and so the elder Coolidge set up his son with a weekend job at the Ludlow Toy Manufacturing Company in 1886. It's unclear what specific duties the 30th president performed, but they likely included tasks such as sawing, gluing, and painting the wares. In his autobiography, Coolidge noted simply that he "came to know how toys and baby wagons were made" during his brief tenure at the factory. 

Harry S. Truman: Haberdasher

Upon returning home from World War I, Harry S. Truman teamed up with his Army buddy Eddie Jacobson to open a men's clothing store on the ground floor of the Glennon Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. A popular meeting place for other veterans, the Truman & Jacobson Haberdashery initially enjoyed brisk business, with Truman handling sales and bookkeeping and Jacobson overseeing inventory. However, the good fortune dissipated with the onset of a recession in the early 1920s, resulting in the store's closure in September 1922. Similar to Lincoln, Truman was saddled with the financial burden after his former partner declared bankruptcy, finally settling his debts in 1935.

Richard Nixon: Frozen Orange Juice Executive

After graduating from Duke Law School in 1937, Richard Nixon landed a job with the Wingert and Bewley law firm in his hometown of Whittier, California. However, the legal position apparently didn't quite satisfy his professional ambitions, and Nixon soon added the role of president of a frozen orange juice venture called the Citra-Frost Company to his résumé. According to eyewitness accounts, Nixon spent much of his free time diligently cutting and squeezing oranges in an attempt to make his side business a success. However, he couldn't quite solve the problem of proper packaging in a time before the development of frozen juice concentrate, and Citra-Frost went bankrupt after an attempt at storing plastic juice bags blew up a refrigerated boxcar.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Elevator Operator

As told in Volume 1 of Robert Dallek's Lone Star Rising biographical series, a 17-year-old Lyndon B. Johnson spent part of 1925 aiding his lawyer cousin in San Bernardino, California, with the hope of getting a leg up on a fledgling legal career. When it became apparent that the cousin couldn't provide the professional assistance he sought, Johnson spent about a month working as an elevator operator, before heading back home to Texas. Johnson later returned to San Bernardino during the 1964 presidential campaign and demonstrated that he remembered his vocational training from four decades earlier by taking passengers up and down the same elevator he once oversaw.

Gerald Ford: Football and Boxing Coach

After starring on a pair of national championship-winning football teams at the University of Michigan, Gerald Ford leaped at the chance to become an assistant football coach at Yale in 1935, with an eye toward earning his law degree from the esteemed institution. Things didn't initially go as smoothly as he'd hoped; the Yale administration denied his request to apply to the law school, believing he'd be too busy to juggle classes and professional responsibilities, before grudgingly allowing him to take a reduced course load in 1938. As part of his obligations, Ford also had to serve double duty as the school's boxing coach. As he recalled in Sports Illustrated in 1974, he took a crash course in the sport the summer before joining Yale by venturing "to the YMCA three times a week to get punched around by the Y's boxing coach." He wrote, "I didn't get good, but I got good enough to fool the Yale freshmen."

Ronald Reagan: Lifeguard

Ronald Reagan, of course, was a Hollywood actor before heading into politics, but even before that he was a celebrity in his hometown of Dixon, Illinois, for his exploits as a lifeguard. According to Anne Edwards' profile Early Reagan: The Rise to Power, the tall, athletic teenager embarked in 1926 on what became a regular summer gig on the banks of the Rock River, a tributary notorious for its strong undertow. Reagan frequently plunged into the water to pull out flailing swimmers, and afterward would carve a notch on a log to mark his success; by the end of seven summers, he had embedded 77 notches into the log. Reagan later referred to the experience in his autobiography as "one the best jobs I ever had," citing the figure of 77 lives saved as "one of the proudest statistics of my life."

Bill Clinton: Grocery Stock Boy/Comic Book Salesman

As he described to Conan O'Brien in 2017, Bill Clinton landed one of his first jobs at a local Hot Springs, Arkansas, grocery store at age 13. However, the store owner was suspicious of his stock boy's left-handed ways, thinking it a sign of demonic influence, and insisted on right-hand usage until Clinton awkwardly knocked over two glass jars of mayonnaise. The pair eventually smoothed things over, and the owner even let the young assistant sell his used comic books out of the store. But that particular venture didn't work out in the long run for Clinton, who lamented that he never should have parted with the classic comics that surely would fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars from collectors today.

Theodore Roosevelt: English, German, Latin, French, Italian, Dutch, Greek

Theodore Roosevelt’s boundless energy and curiosity extended to his love of languages. Raised in a wealthy family, the 26th president was taught Latin, German, and French starting at age 13. (Secretary of State John Hay once described Roosevelt’s French as “lawless as to grammar.”) Roosevelt could also read Italian and Greek and was known to sing his children a Dutch lullaby, though he didn’t use the languages regularly otherwise. 

Thomas Jefferson: English, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Spanish

Thomas Jefferson was an avid learner, and his extensive personal library featured titles in numerous languages. According to his own travel notes from 1788, Jefferson spoke Italian, French, and Latin in addition to English. He also claimed to read and understand Greek and Spanish, the latter of which he said he learned in 19 days while reading a copy of Don Quixote on a 1784 sailing trip to France. John Quincy Adams, after dining with Jefferson in November 1804, recalled this anecdote and quipped that the nation’s third president was a teller of “large stories.”

James Madison: English, Latin, Italian, French, Greek, Hebrew

From around age 10, James Madison studied Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek at a prestigious Virginia school. Although it’s not likely he maintained fluency in all of his early languages, he was a skilled Latin translator. Later, at the College of New Jersey — now known as Princeton — he started learning Hebrew, and he furthered his studies after graduation.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: English, French, German, Latin

Starting when he was about 9 years old and for five consecutive years, Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to Europe every summer with his family as they sought treatment for his father’s heart condition. It was there that he learned German, French, and to a lesser extent Latin, taught to him by governesses.

James A. Garfield: English, Latin, Greek, German, Hebrew

Before his political career, James A. Garfield was a respected Greek and Latin teacher at Ohio’s Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College). He continued his love of learning by later picking up German and Hebrew as well.

Rutherford B. Hayes: English, Latin, Greek, French

In 1837, when he was 15 years old, Rutherford B. Hayes took a similar educational path to many of his presidential contemporaries: He enrolled in a preparatory school, relocating from his hometown of Delaware, Ohio, to Middletown, Connecticut. At Isaac Webb’s Preparatory School, Hayes initially struggled to keep up in his classes, but soon succeeded in learning Latin and Greek. He also studied French on Saturday afternoons.

John Adams: English, Latin, French

John Adams laid the groundwork for his language skills early on, studying Latin during his younger years at school in Braintree, Massachusetts. At just 15, he continued his studies at Harvard, where he also learned Greek. Later in life, after admitting some regret over not speaking French, the founding father took matters into his own hands: When he was sent to Paris during the American Revolution, he worked tirelessly to master the language, eventually becoming fluent and using it to help navigate rough diplomatic waters.

Martin Van Buren: English, Dutch, Latin

Martin Van Buren grew up speaking Dutch as his first language. Born in Kinderhook, New York, a predominantly Dutch area, Van Buren learned English in school as a child, and by the time he entered law school, he was fluent in both languages. He also studied Latin during his early schooling, but was not known to use it much later in life.

William Henry Harrison: English, Latin, French

At Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College, William Henry Harrison took a liking to learning Latin — primarily to satiate his interest in ancient Roman military history. While there, he also learned French, although he did not acquire the same proficiency as in Latin.

James K. Polk: English, Latin, Greek

Compared to some of his early-19th-century contemporaries, James A. Polk started his education relatively late. At age 18, he convinced his parents to enroll him in a Presbyterian school near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Though his formal education was scant up until that point, he quickly rose to the top of his class, learning Greek and Latin along the way. He later attended the University of North Carolina, where he even gave his commencement speech in Latin.

Herbert Hoover: English, Latin, Mandarin

Herbert Hoover is the only U.S. president known to have spoken Mandarin. He wasn’t entirely fluent, but his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, was. The couple lived in China for two years while Herbert Hoover worked as a mining engineer, and it’s been said they sometimes spoke Mandarin in the White House to prevent eavesdropping. (According to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, however, this popular tale isn’t true.) Hoover was also proficient in Latin, and he and Lou once spent five years translating a 16th-century Latin text into English.

James Buchanan: English, Greek, Latin

James Buchanan followed a traditional classical curriculum. He attended the Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where he studied Latin and Greek. He later continued his studies at Dickinson College.

John Tyler: English, Latin, Greek

The College of William & Mary is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S. (after Harvard), and it was at this storied Virginia school that John Tyler received his classical language education. He entered the preparatory branch at age 12, excelling at his studies, including Latin and Greek.

James Monroe: English, French, Latin

James Monroe received a thorough Latin education at Virginia’s prestigious Campbelltown Academy, starting when he was about 11 years old. It was eclipsed by his French skills, however: As George Washington’s ambassador to France, he developed a deep knowledge and appreciation for the language during his time overseas, and he and his family often spoke French with their daughters while living in the White House.

Chester A. Arthur: English, Latin, Greek

Chester A. Arthur’s strong academic foundation earned him admission to Schenectady, New York’s Union College as a sophomore at just 15 years old. His father, a Baptist minister, had taught him Latin and Greek, and the 21st president remained able to converse in both languages throughout his life.

Bilingual

Woodrow Wilson: English, German

Woodrow Wilson’s time at Johns Hopkins University immersed him in the German academic tradition, which often meant reading primary sources in the language. Wilson once said he’d “worn out a German dictionary” writing a paper. 

Jimmy Carter: English, Spanish

Jimmy Carter always maintained that he wasn’t fluent in Spanish, but the 39th president may have been selling himself short. After learning the language in the United States Naval Academy, Carter made an effort to continue using it — Southern drawl and all. He spoke it on the campaign trail, in speeches, and even at home with his wife, Rosalynn; each night, the couple took turns reading the Bible to each other in Spanish as practice.

Bill Clinton: English, German

While a freshman at Georgetown University, Bill Clinton chose German as his required language course. “I was interested in the country and impressed by the clarity and precision of the language,” Clinton wrote in his 2004 memoir My Life. He occasionally used it in speeches throughout his presidency.

George W. Bush: English, Spanish

George W. Bush studied Spanish growing up and, during his presidency, occasionally addressed the public in the language. Campaign spokesperson Sonia Colin confirmed in 2000 that while he may not have been completely fluent, he could “read and write conversationally.”

Barack Obama: English, Indonesian

During his early childhood years living with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia, Barack Obama learned to speak Indonesian. Though he later said his fluency faded without practice, he retained enough knowledge to exchange occasional pleasantries over the years. 

Theodore Roosevelt Witnessed Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral Procession

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln was one of the most shocking and profoundly impactful events in American history. While thousands of countrymen laid eyes on the fallen leader’s funeral procession, perhaps none proved to be more famous than Theodore Roosevelt. Just 6 years old at the time, young Roosevelt gazed down at Lincoln’s casket from the second story of his family’s home on Broadway in New York City. As the late President passed the Roosevelt mansion on April 25, 1865, a perfectly timed photograph captured the image of two young boys — Teddy and his brother Elliot — looking out from the window. Like Lincoln, Roosevelt was one of the most renowned Presidents in U.S. history, though their similarities didn’t end there. While on the campaign trail in 1912, Roosevelt was struck by the bullet of a would-be assassin, but he was miraculously saved when the projectile hit a folded speech that Teddy had tucked in his breast pocket.

FDR Was Related to 11 Other Presidents 

It’s commonly known that Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt were related (the 26th and 32nd Presidents were fifth cousins), but FDR’s familial ties to American Presidents extend far beyond that one link. In fact, he’s related to a total of 11 Presidents by blood and marriage: John Adams, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, and of course, Teddy. What’s more, FDR and his wife Eleanor were related as well, and not just by marriage. The pair were fifth cousins once removed, as Eleanor’s father, Elliott Roosevelt, was the brother of Theodore Roosevelt. The trio was so deeply intertwined that on Franklin and Eleanor’s wedding day, Teddy was the one to give Eleanor away in honor of his dearly departed sibling.

Eleanor Roosevelt Held the First Press Conference by a First Lady

After her husband took office in 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt worked tirelessly not only to redefine the role of First Lady, but also to provide a voice for American women. Unlike most of her predecessors, she took an active role in the administration, and on March 6, 1933, she hosted the first official press conference conducted by a First Lady. What’s more, Roosevelt invited 35 female reporters to the press event. The successful women-only media summit wasn’t just a one-off, as the First Lady held 348 further press conferences over the next 12 years, helping to boost the voices of women in the American press. She also welcomed other notable women in politics to field questions at these events, including Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins — the first female Cabinet member — and foreign dignitaries such as Soong Mei-ling, the first lady of the Republic of China. Thanks to her efforts, Roosevelt laid the groundwork for future First Spouses to take on more active roles in governing the nation.

Teddy Was the First President to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

Four U.S. Presidents have taken home the Nobel Peace Prize, including Woodrow Wilson in 1920, Jimmy Carter in 2002, and Barack Obama in 2009. But it all began with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Teddy was not only the first American President to earn the distinction, but also the first statesman of any kind to receive a Nobel honor. Roosevelt was awarded the accolade for his efforts in brokering peace during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, though his victory didn’t come without controversy. Critics derided the President as “military mad,” while others vocalized their displeasure with his imperialistic tendencies in the Philippines. Despite this, Roosevelt was granted the esteemed prize — just one of the historic “firsts” set by the Roosevelt family.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Unsuccessfully Ran for Vice President in 1920

Thanks to modern-day constitutional term limits, no individual has won, nor likely will ever win, more presidential elections than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Though he’s known as a prolific commander in chief, FDR had significantly worse luck when it came to running for Vice President. During the 1920 election, Democratic candidate James M. Cox tapped Roosevelt — assistant secretary of the Navy, at the time — as his running mate against Warren G. Harding. (Incidentally, Harding campaigned on the promise of a “return to normalcy,” which rejected the activism-driven policies that became popular during the administration of Franklin’s cousin, Theodore.) While on the campaign trail, FDR was derided by critics for being too immature, and he and Cox ultimately suffered a staggering defeat at the polls. In the wake of this loss, FDR shied away from politics until successfully becoming governor of New York in 1929, and later President in 1933.

FDR Was the First Sitting President to Fly in a Plane

January 11, 1943, was a major day in the world of aviation. Long before Air Force One performed its maiden voyage, FDR made history in 1943 as the first sitting President to fly aboard an aircraft. (Incidentally, the first former President to fly in a plane was Teddy in 1910.) Amid the turmoil of World War II, Roosevelt decided to travel to Morocco to meet with British leader Winston Churchill. Given that German submarine activity made boating through the Atlantic far too dangerous at the time, the President hopped on a Pan Am Boeing 314 flying boat and took off, unaware that this would soon become the U.S. President’s preferred travel method. The plane made several stops to refuel in Trinidad, Brazil, and The Gambia before FDR switched to a Douglas C-54 transport plane that ushered him to his destination in Casablanca. Two years later, a special bulletproof, wheelchair-accessible plane was constructed to usher FDR to the Yalta Conference to discuss the postwar reorganization of Europe, though that aircraft fell out of operation in 1947. The call sign Air Force One was first used just six years later in 1953, during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration.

Eleanor Roosevelt Flew With Amelia Earhart

FDR wasn’t the only Roosevelt to make history in the skies. Ten years before her husband set off on a flight across the Atlantic, Eleanor Roosevelt accompanied pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart during an impromptu excursion from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and back. The decision to fly was a spur-of-the-moment event, after the pair attended a White House gala together on April 20, 1933. Clad in their formal wear, Earhart and Roosevelt departed the event and headed to nearby Hoover Field in Arlington, Virginia, where they hopped into a twin-engine Curtiss Condor plane. Though Earhart piloted the flight, Roosevelt — who had recently applied for a student pilot license — spent time sitting in the cockpit. Roosevelt ultimately gave up on her pursuit of a full-time pilot’s license, but her brief foray into the skies with one of history’s greatest aviators won’t soon be forgotten.