Who Was the First President To Use a Car?

Warren Harding inauguration, 1921

Author Bess Lovejoy

July 9, 2026

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Today, it’s hard to imagine a president traveling without a motorcade. But when automobiles first appeared in the late 19th century, many Americans considered them loud, dangerous contraptions that frightened horses, terrified pedestrians, and seemed unlikely to replace the trusty carriage.

So it makes sense that the White House didn’t embrace the automobile overnight. Instead, several presidents each claimed a different automotive “first,” reflecting America’s gradual transition from the horse-and-buggy days to the automobile era.

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The First President To Ride in a Car

The earliest presidential automotive milestone belongs to William McKinley. During his presidency, McKinley became the first U.S. president to ride in an automobile, traveling briefly in a steam-powered vehicle in 1899 at a time when autos were still rare curiosities.

This wasn’t an official presidential vehicle, however — it was more of a demo, and the car was driven by its co-inventor, F.O. Stanley. The ride reflected the novelty of a technology that was just beginning to attract public attention. Later in his life, McKinley was known to take at least two other car rides.

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The First Public Presidential Appearance in a Car

In August 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt achieved another milestone when he became the first sitting president to make a public appearance in an automobile. While touring Connecticut, he rode through cheering crowds in an electric motorcar driven by two professional chauffeurs. Newspapers noted that the vehicle allowed more people to catch a glimpse of the president than would have been possible from a traditional carriage, making the automobile an unexpectedly effective political tool.

Roosevelt’s public embrace of the automobile may have helped legitimize a technology that many Americans still viewed with suspicion. But Roosevelt wasn’t necessarily a fan of cars personally. Three years later, he wrote to a friend: “Motor cars are a trial, aren’t they? I suppose that ultimately we will get them into their proper place in the scheme of nature, and when by law and custom their use is regulated in proper fashion their objectionable features will probably be eliminated; but just at present I regard them as distinct additions to the discomfort of living.”

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The President Who Brought Cars to the White House

If Roosevelt introduced the automobile to the presidency, William Howard Taft made it part of the institution. When Taft took office in 1909, Congress appropriated $12,000 to purchase the first official White House automobiles — a controversial decision at the time. Critics argued that automobiles were nuisances and questioned whether taxpayer money should be spent on such extravagant machines. Nevertheless, the purchase went forward, marking the beginning of the presidential motor fleet.

Taft’s own vehicle was a White Model M, a seven-passenger, 40-horsepower touring car built in his home state of Ohio. It featured the Great Seal of the United States painted on its doors. Meanwhile, First Lady Helen Herron Taft received a blue Pierce-Arrow Suburban car, from a different company but also adorned with the national seal.

Perhaps Taft’s most symbolic act, however, was clearing out the White House’s federal horse stables and converting them into a garage. It was a practical decision, but it also marked the end of an era.

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Taft Also Championed the Automobile

Taft didn’t merely ride in automobiles — he also became one of the country’s most influential advocates for them. He attended automobile shows, welcomed endurance motorists to the White House, praised the rapid progress of the industry, and publicly argued for better roads. At a time when much of America’s road network remained little more than muddy tracks, improved highways were essential if automobiles were ever going to become practical for ordinary Americans.

The prestige of the presidency added weight to Taft’s endorsements. Historians credit his administration with helping to accelerate both the acceptance of automobiles and the growing movement for a national system of improved roads. His successor, Woodrow Wilson, continued that momentum by supporting highway improvements and signing the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act, which provided the first major federal funding for rural roads.

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The First President Who Could Drive

By the early 1920s, automobiles had become a familiar part of American life, and the presidency reflected that change. When Warren G. Harding was elected in 1920, he became the first president who actually knew how to drive. Harding rode to his inauguration in a Packard Twin-Six, a sign of just how quickly the automobile had become woven into American culture. It was the first time a president had ridden to and from his inauguration in a car.

In the space of just two decades, the presidency had traveled an extraordinary distance. What began with McKinley taking a curious ride in an experimental machine evolved into Roosevelt publicly embracing the automobile, Taft making it the official vehicle of the White House, and Harding representing the first generation of presidents who grew up alongside the car.

Which U.S. Presidents Were Multilingual?

Jefferson (left), Hoover (center), Buchanan (right)

Author Nicole Villeneuve

July 6, 2026

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English has always been the dominant language of United States presidents, but many have also spoken other languages. Some presidents were well versed in classical tongues such as Latin and Greek — a standard component of education in colonial America for those who could access it — while others spoke languages such as French, German, and even Mandarin to varying degrees.

More than half of the 45 people who have served as POTUS (across 47 presidencies) are known to have spoken only one language: English. While determining fluency and proficiency can be difficult, 16 U.S. presidents are considered multilingual, meaning they spoke or competently understood three or more languages. Another five presidents were proficient enough in two languages to be considered bilingual. Here’s the full list of America’s most linguistically gifted commanders in chief.

Multilingual

John Quincy Adams: English, French, Dutch, German, Latin, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Russian

John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States and also the eldest son of President John Adams, was proficient in many languages. At 10 years old, he accompanied his father to France during the American Revolutionary War. While in Europe, Adams attended schools and became fluent in Dutch, German, and French. He was so skilled at the latter that at age 14, he joined diplomat Francis Dana in Russia as a secretary and translator for the French language commonly spoken by the Russian aristocracy. According to the Adams Presidential Center, the younger Adams also spoke Greek, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.

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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

7 Curious Facts About the Roosevelts

Franklin D. Roosevelt smiling

Author Bennett Kleinman

June 7, 2026

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The Roosevelts are one of American history’s most prolific and influential political families: Leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt not only redefined the eras in which they lived but also shaped the country for decades to come, in some ways changing the very political fabric of the nation.

The family arrived in pre-independence America around 1649, when Dutch immigrant Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt and his wife Jennetjke began life in New Amsterdam (later known as New York). Shortly after their arrival in the Americas, anglicized variations of the family surname began appearing, with their son Nicholas — born in 1658 — becoming among the first to bear the name “Roosevelt.” Nicholas also became the first Roosevelt to hold political office in the Americas, serving as an alderman in the West Ward of New York City from 1698 to 1701, and again in 1715. The political clout of the Roosevelt family ballooned from there, reaching new heights in the 20th century when both Teddy and FDR served as President, guiding the country through harrowing times. Meanwhile, FDR’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, broke barriers by carving out a new role for women in American society and politics, and spent her lifetime advocating for humanitarian issues. Here are seven facts about this uniquely influential family.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

9 Facts About the Vice Presidents Who Succeeded to the Presidency

Gerald Ford Sworn In 1874

Author Adam Levine

May 31, 2026

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In the United States presidential line of succession, it falls to the vice president to succeed to the presidency if their predecessor is no longer able to carry out the duties of the office. This has happened nine times in the history of the country, under a wide variety of circumstances. Some vice presidents, such as Calvin Coolidge, succeeded to the top spot during a time of relative peace and economic prosperity. Others, such as Harry Truman, were appointed to the office in a climate of war and political turmoil. Vice presidents only inherit the presidency under unusual circumstances, and each instance is unique. Here are nine facts about the U.S. vice presidents who have succeeded to the presidency.

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John Tyler Was Nicknamed “His Accidency”

John Tyler was elected vice president in 1840 as the running mate of William Henry Harrison. Unfortunately, Harrison’s administration did not last long: The president died in 1841 just 31 days after taking office, which meant Tyler quickly found himself the nation’s commander in chief. Tyler’s presidency was marked by tension with his own Whig Party. He vetoed bills proposed by Whig leaders in Congress and began to advocate for policies that broke with the Whig Party line. As a result, the Whigs expelled President Tyler from their party, and some even called for his impeachment on the grounds that he had abused his veto power. To further disparage Tyler, his political critics saddled him with the nickname “His Accidency,” a pejorative reference to the fact that he had become president through chance, and was never elected to the office.

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Millard Fillmore Was the Last President Who Was Not a Democrat or a Republican

When Vice President Millard Fillmore ascended to the presidency in 1850, after his predecessor Zachary Taylor died following a mysterious illness, he did so as a member of the Whig Party, which was founded in 1830 to oppose the policies of then-President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat. President Fillmore proved to be the last Whig Party member to become president of the United States. The party largely disbanded a year after his administration ended in 1853, with many of its anti-slavery members branching off to form the Republican Party. In fact, Fillmore was the last U.S. president to belong to neither of the two major parties that continue to dominate American politics today. Fillmore’s successor, Franklin Pierce, was a Democrat, and every U.S. president since has been either a Democrat or a Republican.

Andrew Johnson Was the First President to Be Impeached

Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, during one of the most turbulent moments in American history. The Civil War had just ended, and the nation was still reeling from that violent conflict and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Vice President Johnson took office following Lincoln’s death, his principal task was the reconstruction of the former Confederate states. President Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, was criticized by Republicans in Congress for being too lenient with former members of the Confederacy, and for vetoing legislation designed to protect the rights of newly freed Black Americans.

The escalating tensions between Johnson and the congressional Republicans reached a crisis point in 1868, when the president fired Edwin Stanton, his Republican secretary of war, without the required congressional approval. In response, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson, marking the first time in U.S. history such an action had been taken against the president. Johnson narrowly escaped conviction by just one vote, but by the end of his first term, he found himself with few political allies in Washington, and was not elected to a second term.

Chester A. Arthur Earned the Approval of Mark Twain

Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency following the death of President James Garfield in 1881. During Arthur’s one term in office, he advocated lower tariffs for businesses and tax cuts for American citizens. President Arthur also passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which made some federal government jobs attainable only through merit-based examinations instead of through the “spoils system.” The “spoils system” allowed politicians to hire and fire civil servants based on their loyalty and political affiliations, and had frequently been denounced as a tool of political corruption. Through policies like these, Arthur managed to earn the praise of one of the sharpest and most unsparing satirists of his day, Mark Twain. Though Twain was noted for his pointed criticisms of many politicians, he claimed that it would be “hard to better President Arthur’s administration” — glowing praise indeed from a writer who once called President Teddy Roosevelt “the most formidable disaster that has befallen the country since the Civil War.”

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Theodore Roosevelt Was the First President to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

Theodore Roosevelt was vice president to William McKinley until President McKinley’s death in 1901. During his time in the White House, President Roosevelt became many things: a conservationist, a trust buster, and, in 1906, a Nobel Prize-winning peace negotiator. From 1904 to 1905, Japan and Russia were locked in the Russo-Japanese War over conflicting imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The war threatened to destabilize Asia and disrupt the balance of power in the Pacific, so Roosevelt decided to intervene to de-escalate the conflict. In August 1905, Roosevelt invited delegates from Japan and Russia to convene in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for peace negotiations. The president presided over the peace talks for 30 days before the two warring countries ended the conflict by signing the Treaty of Portsmouth. For his role in brokering the peace, Roosevelt was awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, making him the first U.S. president to receive the honor.

Calvin Coolidge Was Administered the Oath of Office by His Own Father

After serving as vice president from 1921 to 1923, Calvin Coolidge became president of the United States after Warren G. Harding passed away following a sudden illness. Coolidge was at his family home in Vermont when he learned that Harding had died and he needed to take the oath of office. While the oath is typically administered by the chief justice of the United States, Coolidge wound up going for someone less formal: his own father. As a notary public, Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., had the legal power to administer the oath. The modest inauguration ceremony was attended by just a handful of people, and since it was the middle of the night and the house had no electricity, the new president took his late-night oath by the flame of a kerosene lamp.

Harry Truman Had the First Televised Presidential Inauguration

Harry S. Truman had been vice president for just 82 days when Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in 1945. After completing his first presidential term, during which he oversaw the end of World War II, Truman ran for a second term (the first to which he would need to be elected) in 1948. In a famous upset, the incumbent president beat his Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey. When it came time for Truman to take the oath of office, the event was a far cry from Calvin Coolidge’s candlelit affair. The inauguration ceremony was the first in history to be broadcast on television, and was watched by some 10 million viewers.

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Lyndon B. Johnson Was Elected by the Widest-Ever Margin at the Time

Lyndon B. Johnson’s first presidential term began in 1963 under tragic circumstances following the death of President John F. Kennedy. During his time in office, Johnson laid out his “Great Society” platform, which included new social policies such as Medicare and numerous laws designed to alleviate poverty. In 1964, when it was time for Johnson to seek election to a second term, it quickly became clear that his first term had made a good impression. Johnson won the presidential race against Republican challenger Barry Goldwater by 15 million votes, the widest margin of any U.S. presidential election at the time. (Richard Nixon later won the 1972 election by nearly 18 million votes, and Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 by around 16.8 million votes.)

Gerald Ford Replaced a Resigning Vice President and a Resigning President

Though Gerald Ford served as Richard Nixon’s vice president from 1973 to 1974, he was never Nixon’s running mate. Ford was a leading Republican congressman when, in 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid a corruption scandal. To fill the vacancy left by Agnew’s resignation, President Nixon appointed Ford as his new VP. Ford’s tenure as Agnew’s replacement didn’t last long, however, because just one year later he became Nixon’s replacement. Following the events of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, leaving Ford to take his place in the Oval Office. To this day, Ford remains the only person to serve as U.S. president without winning a general election as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate.

The Catchy History of Presidential Campaign Slogans

“I Like Ike” badges

Author Kristina Wright

May 14, 2026

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In the American political arena, presidential campaign slogans have a long and varied history. When a presidential hopeful is building their platform, they and their team choose slogans for how well they set the tone for the candidate’s agenda, message, and direction for the country. A memorable phrase can concisely convey a candidate’s vision for their presidential term as well as become a rallying cry for supporters. But crafting a winning campaign slogan isn’t just about having the catchiest saying — the right slogan can play a vital role in shaping the narrative of a campaign and influencing voter perceptions about the candidate.

A good campaign slogan can offer hope, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 slogan (and campaign song), “Happy Days Are Here Again,” or serve as a reminder of the prosperity enjoyed under an incumbent, such as William McKinley’s 1900 slogan, “Four More Years of the Full Dinner Pail.” On the other hand, a bad slogan, such as Democratic presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith’s 1928 slogan, “Vote for Al Smith and Make Your Wet Dreams Come True,” might cost a candidate an election as well as land on a list of the worst presidential campaign slogans ever. (Smith’s slogan was a reference to his anti-Prohibition stance that made him a “wet” candidate.) Here is a brief look at the evolution of presidential campaign slogans in the United States.

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The First Campaign Slogan

The first presidential campaign slogan is often attributed to Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison in the election of 1840. Harrison used the catchy phrase “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,” a reference to his military victory over Shawnee Chief Tecumseh at the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, as well as Harrison’s running mate, John Tyler. The rhyming refrain helped promote Harrison’s image as a war hero and a man of the people. It also contributed to his successful campaign against the incumbent President, Martin Van Buren, and played a significant role in shaping the way presidential candidates used slogans to support their platforms in future elections. Harrison’s campaign for President lasted longer than his presidency; he developed pneumonia and died in April 1841, one month into his term, becoming the first President to die in office.

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A Catchy Rhyme Helps Big Time

Campaign slogans need to be short and memorable, which has led to a history of using rhymes, puns, and plays on words to craft phrases that carry a strong message and are still succinct enough to fit on a button. Calvin Coolidge used a play on his name with the 1924 slogan “Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge,” while Lyndon B. Johnson’s winning campaign in 1964 created a rhyme with his initials: “All the Way With LBJ.” (Johnson was inspired by Adlai Stevenson’s catchy slogan in his 1952 failed run against Dwight D. Eisenhower, “All the Way With Adlai.”)

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s successful 1952 campaign, meanwhile, was notable for its own simple rhyming slogan: “I Like Ike.” The slogan appeared on a wide variety of campaign materials and was featured in one of the first televised political endorsements, which included a song written by Irving Berlin and animation by Walt Disney Studios. The catchy jingle incorporated Eisenhower’s popular catchphrase in the lyrics: “You like Ike, I like Ike, everybody likes Ike (for President) / Hang out the banner and beat the drum / We’ll take Ike to Washington.” The slogan served Eisenhower so well in his 1952 presidential bid that his successful 1956 run featured a slightly revised version: “I Still Like Ike.”

Photo credit: Eric Thayer/ Getty Images News via Getty Images

Some Slogans Have Been Used By More Than One Candidate

Campaign slogans have changed over time to reflect the shifting political, social, and economic landscape of the United States — but some slogans have done so well that they’ve been adopted and reused. Two Presidents successfully used “Don’t Swap Horses in Midstream,” encouraging voters to support the incumbent President during times of conflict. Abraham Lincoln used the metaphor as one of his slogans during the Civil War in 1864, and 80 years later in 1944, FDR recycled it in the lead-up to his unprecedented fourth-term win during World War II.

In more recent political history, Barack Obama borrowed one of his most effective and powerful campaign slogans from 1970s labor organizers César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, who led the United Farm Workers of America. Obama loosely translated their catchphrase “Sí, Se Puede!” into the English “Yes, We Can!” Donald Trump’s 2016 slogan “Make America Great Again” was also previously used, first in promotional materials for Barry Goldwater’s failed 1964 presidential bid, and again as “Let’s Make America Great Again” by Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Photo credit: Independent Picture Service/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Power of Unofficial Slogans

Some historians and political consultants believe that social media may mark the end of official campaign slogans. Instead, unofficial slogans in the form of memes and hashtags shared by supporters may prove to be even more effective campaign tools. Even before social media, an unofficial slogan set the tone for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. Clinton’s platform utilized a handful of lofty and aspirational slogans, including “For People, for a Change,” “It’s Time to Change America,” and “Putting People First.” But while all of the official slogans referenced a serious regard for voters’ concerns, none of them specified what those concerns might be. Then an in-house phrase coined by lead strategist James Carville to describe Clinton’s platform became the defining catchphrase of the 1992 campaign. “It’s the Economy, Stupid” may not have been an official campaign slogan, but it caught the attention of voters who were tired of the lingering effects of the 1990 recession, and it helped Clinton define his campaign message.

All the Presidents in Height Order

President height lineup

Author Mark DeJoy

April 29, 2026

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When we think of U.S. presidents through history, we don’t tend to picture their physical frame so much as recall a collection of historical facts and anecdotes. If you imagine George Washington, for example, is a mental image of his presence in a room the first thing that comes to mind? Or do you recall a story about a cherry tree, or crossing the Delaware? With a few exceptions here and there, the physicality of presidents has been largely obscured by history. Can you name the tallest president? The shortest? What about the second-tallest or second-shortest? A full list of the height of each president follows, spanning a foot difference from 5 feet, 4 inches tall to 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

Images via Getty Images, illustration courtesy of Madison Hunt

Over 6 Feet Tall

The tallest president in U.S. history was Abraham Lincoln, who stood at 6 feet, 4 inches — and that’s without his signature stovepipe hat. It’s a height that still sounds fairly tall today, but it was extraordinarily tall for the time; the average height for an American male during Lincoln’s presidency was 5 feet, 7 inches, making him 9 inches taller than average. Lincoln’s equivalent height today would be 6 feet, 7 inches — a half-inch taller than the average NBA player.

Given his distinct physical presence, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Lincoln’s appearance was frequently commented upon in his day. The New York Herald once wrote, “Lincoln is the leanest, lankiest, most ungainly mass of legs, arms, and hatchet-face ever strung upon a single frame.” Another reporter wrote of his “shambling gait” in London’s The Times, and described him as “a tall, lank, lean man, considerably over six feet in height, with stooping shoulders, long pendulous arms, terminating in hands of extraordinary dimensions, which, however, were far exceeded in proportion by his feet.” Here are the 18 other presidents who stood over 6 feet, if not quite as noticeably as Uncle Abe.

– Abraham Lincoln: 6 feet, 4 inches (193 cm)
– Lyndon B. Johnson: 6 feet, 3.5 inches (192 cm)
– Donald J. Trump: 6 feet, 3 inches (191 cm)
– Thomas Jefferson: 6 feet, 2.5 inches (189 cm)
– Chester A. Arthur: 6 ft, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Bill Clinton: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– George H. W. Bush: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Franklin D. Roosevelt: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– George Washington: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Andrew Jackson: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– John F. Kennedy: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Barack Obama: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Ronald Reagan: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James Buchanan: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Gerald R. Ford: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James A. Garfield: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Warren G. Harding: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James Monroe: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– John Tyler: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)

Over 5 Feet, 10 Inches Tall

The average height of all 46 U.S. presidents is 5 feet, 11 inches, and it has been decades since the United States elected a president below that height (in part, notably, because all U.S. presidents have been male). Jimmy Carter was the last one, at 5 feet, 9.5 inches — still roughly an inch taller than the average American male at the time. According to the data, the United States almost never elects a president who is shorter than the average U.S. citizen of the time. The last time Americans voted in a shorter-than-average president was when Benjamin Harrison emerged victorious in the election of 1888, though at only 1.5 centimeters below the average of the time, he wouldn’t have been noticeably shorter. Based on this fact, it does seem that Americans prefer their presidents to be somewhat tall — though, considering the lack of mention in exit polls over the years, that may be a subconscious preference rather than an actual requirement. Here are the presidents who fell right around average height for a commander in chief, between 5 feet, 10 inches and 5 feet, 11 inches tall.

- Joe Biden: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- George W. Bush: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Herbert Hoover: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Richard M. Nixon: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- William H. Taft: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Grover Cleveland: 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm)
- Woodrow Wilson: 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: 5 feet, 10.5 inches (179 cm)
- Calvin Coolidge: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Andrew Johnson: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Franklin Pierce: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Theodore Roosevelt: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)

Under 5 Feet, 10 Inches Tall

On the other end of the height spectrum, the shortest U.S. president was James Madison, who at 5 feet, 4 inches holds that record by 2 inches — the next-shortest presidents were Martin Van Buren and Benjamin Harrison, both at 5 feet, 6 inches. The average height in Madison’s time was actually slightly taller than in Lincoln’s time; 172 centimeters to 170 centimeters, or just a bit shy of 5 feet, 8 inches. Despite Madison being the only president on record who was shorter than his First Lady (Dolley Madison was around 5 feet, 7 inches tall), his relatively diminutive physical stature didn’t cause nearly the same level of commentary as Lincoln’s lanky height (or if it did, that commentary is lost to history). To conclude our list, here are the 14 presidents who stood under 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

- Jimmy Carter: 5 feet, 9.5 inches (177 cm)
- Millard Fillmore: 5 feet, 9 inches (175 cm)
- Harry S. Truman: 5 feet, 9 inches (175 cm)
- Rutherford B. Hayes: 5 feet, 8.5 inches (174 cm)
- Ulysses S. Grant: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- William Henry Harrison: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- James K. Polk: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- Zachary Taylor: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- John Quincy Adams: 5 feet, 7.5 inches (171 cm)
- John Adams: 5 feet, 7 inches (170 cm)
- William McKinley: 5 feet, 7 inches (170 cm)
- Benjamin Harrison: 5 feet, 6 inches (168 cm)
- Martin Van Buren: 5 feet, 6 inches (168 cm)
- James Madison: 5 feet, 4 inches (163 cm)

How Many Children Did Each President Have?

Theodore Roosevelt and family

Author Tony Dunnell

April 2, 2026

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In 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States. Since then, 44 other individuals have served as commander in chief, each leaving a political legacy to be analyzed and judged in the course of time. But their legacies are not only political — they’re also familial. The number of children each president had is often overlooked, but on a personal level, few things could be more important. And in two cases, presidential children — John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush — went on to become presidents themselves, combining the familial with the political.

With that in mind, here’s a look at how many children each U.S. president had. For the sake of clarity, this list is ordered by the total number of known biological children only. Fostered and legally adopted children are noted but not counted in the total due to various factors, including legal adoption not existing in the United States until 1851. George Washington, for example, had no biological children but did raise Martha Washington’s two children from a previous marriage (as well as her four grandchildren and several nieces and nephews), but they were not legally adopted.

From the five presidents (including Washington) with no known biological children to the commander in chief with the most kids at 15, here’s a list of all the U.S. presidents in order of the number of children born to them.

No Children

Five presidents fathered no known biological children. In some cases, this was likely due to infertility caused by medical issues, such as the tuberculosis infection Washington suffered before he was married. James Buchanan, meanwhile, remains the only U.S. president who never married.

George Washington: 0 (2 stepchildren)
James Madison: 0 (1 stepchild)
Andrew Jackson: 0 (1 unofficially adopted child)
James K. Polk: 0
James Buchanan: 0

1 to 3 Children

In recent decades, the average number of children per U.S. family has hovered around two — a big difference from a century ago, when that number was closer to seven. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, to see some more modern presidents in this range of one to three children, including Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Harry S. Truman: 1
Warren G. Harding: 1
Bill Clinton: 1
Millard Fillmore: 2
William McKinley: 2
Calvin Coolidge: 2
Herbert Hoover: 2
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 2
Lyndon B. Johnson: 2
Richard Nixon: 2
George W. Bush: 2
Barack Obama: 2
William Howard Taft: 3
Franklin Pierce: 3
Chester A. Arthur: 3
Woodrow Wilson: 3
Benjamin Harrison: 3
James Monroe: 3

4 to 6 Children

Many presidents fathered four or more children, but many also suffered the loss of a child. Child mortality rates were once far higher than they are now, and this difficult loss was not uncommon even among presidents. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt are among the presidents who lost a child. Lincoln lost two sons during his lifetime, which may have caused his “melancholy” — a condition now thought to be clinical depression.

John Quincy Adams: 4
Abraham Lincoln: 4
Ulysses S. Grant: 4
Gerald Ford: 4
Jimmy Carter: 4
Ronald Reagan: 4 (and 1 adopted)
Joe Biden: 4
John F. Kennedy: 4
Andrew Johnson: 5
Grover Cleveland: 5 (and possibly 1 additional child out of wedlock)
Donald Trump: 5
John Adams: 6
Theodore Roosevelt: 6
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 6
George H.W. Bush: 6
Zachary Taylor: 6
Martin Van Buren: 6

7 or More Children

One president stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to procreating: John Tyler, who fathered 15 children across two marriages. Another notable figure here is Thomas Jefferson, who had six children with his wife of 10 years, Martha Jefferson, and likely also fathered six more children with the enslaved woman Sally Hemings. Jefferson’s alleged relationship with Hemings has been debated for more than two centuries, but DNA evidence strongly suggests that Jefferson fathered at least one of Hemings’ sons, and it’s possible that he was the biological father of all of her children.

Thomas Jefferson: 6 (and possibly 6 additional children with Hemings)
James A. Garfield: 7
Rutherford B. Hayes: 8
William Henry Harrison: 10
John Tyler: 15

Which States Have Produced the Most Presidents?

White House, circa 1880

Author Tony Dunnell

March 26, 2026

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Of the 50 U.S. states, only 21 can claim to be the birthplace of an American president. And just four states — Virginia, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts — account for half of all denizens of the Oval Office. This geographic concentration reveals some interesting patterns: Most presidents came from the East Coast, particularly states that either were original colonies or became economically powerful during key periods of American expansion.

Western states are notably absent from the list, with only eight presidents born west of the Mississippi River — and only one president, Richard Nixon, ever born on the West Coast. Here, in descending order, are the U.S. states that produced the most presidents.

Credit: © Corbis—Corbis Historical/Getty Images

Virginia: 8

Virginia claims the title “Mother of Presidents” with eight commanders in chief born within its borders. In fact, four of the first five U.S. presidents hailed from Virginia, which is why that early presidential period is sometimes called the “Virginia Dynasty.” This dominance was no coincidence. Virginia was the first, largest, and most prosperous American colony, and one of the most politically influential states in the late 18th century. Notably, seven of Virginia’s eight presidents were born in the 1700s, with Woodrow Wilson — who served as the 28th president, from 1913 to 1921 — being the most recent Virginian to hold the office.

– George Washington (born 1732)
– Thomas Jefferson (1743)
– James Madison (1751)
– James Monroe (1758)
– William Henry Harrison (1773)
– John Tyler (1790)
– Zachary Taylor (1784)
– Woodrow Wilson (1856)

Credit: © Goodwin and Dickinson/Cincinnati Museum Center—Archive Photos/Getty Images

Ohio: 7

Ohio produced seven presidents, all born between 1822 and 1865. Unlike Virginia, the Buckeye State wasn’t a colonial powerhouse — it wasn’t even one of the original 13 colonies. Ohio rose to prominence, along with its political leaders, during a boom in population and industry following the Civil War. The presidents it produced — including Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley — all served during the war, and this military experience likely made them more attractive candidates. (Ohio sometimes claims eight presidents by counting William Henry Harrison, who was born in Virginia but lived in Ohio when elected.)

- Ulysses S. Grant (born 1822)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (1822)
- James A. Garfield (1831)
- Benjamin Harrison (1833)
- William McKinley (1843)
- William Howard Taft (1857)
- Warren G. Harding (1865)

New York: 5

New York’s influence came from being the nation’s economic and cultural center for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. The population of New York City, in particular, skyrocketed between 1781 and 1800, and it quickly became America’s largest city. The state’s wealth, population, and political power thus made it a natural breeding ground for presidential candidates. Both Roosevelts to ascend to the Oval Office — two of the most influential leaders in U.S. history — came from prominent New York families and used the state as their political base.

- Martin Van Buren (born 1782)
- Millard Fillmore (1800)
- Theodore Roosevelt (1858)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882)
- Donald Trump (1946)

Credit: Popular Graphic Arts/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-07003)

Massachusetts: 4

Massachusetts was at the forefront of the American Revolution, positioning early figures such as John Adams — a key architect of American independence — for national leadership. Later, John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, became the first president whose father had also held the office. (George W. Bush, who, unlike his Massachusetts-native father, was born in Connecticut, later became the second.) The Bay State’s concentration of educational institutions, wealth, and historical significance in America’s founding has long given it a prominent role in U.S. politics.

- John Adams (born 1735)
- John Quincy Adams (1767)
- John F. Kennedy (1917)
- George H.W. Bush (1924)

Credit: © Print Collector—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

North Carolina: 2

North Carolina was still developing as a frontier state when its two future presidents were born. Interestingly, both of them — James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson — moved to Tennessee early in life.

- James K. Polk (born 1795)
- Andrew Johnson (1808)

Credit: Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-30939)

Texas: 2

Due to its frontier character and its relatively late admission to the nation (1845), Texas was a late bloomer in terms of presidential production compared to eastern states. It did eventually produce two presidents, though. Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, though he grew up in Kansas and is more closely associated with that state, which is home to his presidential library and museum. Lyndon B. Johnson was thoroughly Texan, building his political career in the state and serving as Senate majority leader before becoming vice president and then president after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower (born 1890)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (1908)

Credit: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-10712)

Vermont: 2

Because of its small population, Vermont hasn’t often played a prominent role in presidential politics. So it’s quite impressive that America’s second-least-populated state has managed to produce two presidents. Vermont was the birthplace of Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, both of whom came from rural backgrounds. Arthur was born in Fairfield and later built his political career in New York, while Coolidge, born in Plymouth Notch, maintained closer ties to Vermont despite making his political career in Massachusetts.

- Chester A. Arthur (born 1829)
- Calvin Coolidge (1872)

Credit: © Florilegius—Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Pennsylvania: 2

In December 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state (after Delaware) to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It has since produced two presidents. James Buchanan, the 15th president, was born in Franklin County. He is often considered one of the worst U.S. presidents ever, largely due to his failure to avert the Civil War. Joe Biden was born in Scranton but built his political career in Delaware, where he served as a senator for 36 years before becoming vice president and then president.

- James Buchanan (born 1791)
- Joe Biden (1942)

Credit: Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-64879)

States With 1 President

Thirteen states have been the birthplace of exactly one U.S. president:

- Arkansas: Bill Clinton (born 1946)
- California: Richard Nixon (1913)
- Connecticut: George W. Bush (1946)
- Georgia: Jimmy Carter (1924)
- Hawaii: Barack Obama (1961)
- Illinois: Ronald Reagan (1911)
- Iowa: Herbert Hoover (1874)
- Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln (1809)
- Missouri: Harry S. Truman (1884)
- Nebraska: Gerald Ford (1913)
- New Hampshire: Franklin Pierce (1804)
- New Jersey: Grover Cleveland (1837)
- South Carolina (birth location disputed with North Carolina): Andrew Jackson (1767)

7 Presidential Myths That Won’t Go Away

Lincoln delivering Gettysburg Address

Author Tony Dunnell

March 24, 2026

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American presidential history is filled with colorful stories of doubtful veracity that have taken on lives of their own. Many of the most cherished and oft-repeated tales about U.S. presidents are either exaggerated, misunderstood, or completely fabricated. And these aren’t just word-of-mouth rumors — many have found their way into textbooks, tour guide scripts, and seemingly reliable websites, further perpetuating erroneous stories that in some cases have been around for centuries.

Here are seven myths about U.S. presidents that won’t seem to go away, no matter how hard historians work to correct the record.

Credit: Glen Stubbe/ Star Tribune via Getty Images

Myth: George Washington Had Wooden Teeth

Perhaps no presidential myth is more widespread and persistent than George Washington’s supposed wooden dentures. Washington did suffer from an array of dental problems throughout his life, and he often mentioned his aching teeth, inflamed gums, and ill-fitting dentures in his letters and diary entries. But wooden teeth were never part of the solution.

The truth, in fact, is arguably even more bizarre: His various sets of dentures were crafted from ivory, gold, lead, cow and horse teeth, and human teeth. The myth of the wooden dentures likely arose because the ivory dentures that Washington did use often became stained over time, taking on a woodlike appearance.

Myth: William Howard Taft Got Stuck in a White House Bathtub

The average person might not know much about William Howard Taft, but they may have heard the bathtub story. According to the popular tale, the 300-plus-pound president became wedged in a White House bathtub and required six men to extract him. It’s quite an image, but there’s no credible historical evidence that it ever happened. However, Taft was very much aware of his size and had oversized bathtubs — one of which weighed a ton — installed in the White House. These supersized tubs may have inspired the myth of Taft getting stuck in a regular-sized bathtub, a fabrication that may have been propagated by his political rivals.

Credit: Image courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Myth: Abraham Lincoln Wrote the Gettysburg Address on the Train

The Gettysburg Address is widely considered one of the greatest speeches in American history. It’s also attached to a persistent myth: that Abraham Lincoln hastily scribbled the immortal address on the back of an envelope while on a train to Pennsylvania. This is entirely fictional. Lincoln actually started working on his speech not long after the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in July 1863 — a few months before he gave the address on November 19. He prepared multiple drafts, five copies of which still exist — and none displays the shaky handwriting that would have been inevitable if the speech were written on the jolting, bumpy trains of the day.

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Myth: Theodore Roosevelt Rode a Bull Moose

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt launched a presidential campaign as the candidate of the Progressive Party. During the campaign, Roosevelt famously declared he felt “strong as a bull moose,” after which the party was popularly referred to as the Bull Moose Party. From there, a very specific embellishment arose: that Roosevelt actually rode a bull moose during the campaign. But this never happened.

The blame for the myth lies squarely with a fake newspaper image created in 1912. Two months before the election, the New York Tribune published a set of humorous pictures under the headline “The Race for the White House.” Created by the photographic firm Underwood and Underwood, the three images showed each presidential candidate astride the animal associated with his party: William Howard Taft riding an elephant, Woodrow Wilson sitting on a donkey, and Roosevelt sitting proudly on a bull moose. A closer look at any one of the photos provides plenty of evidence of fakery — but the images were nonetheless out in the public domain, and Roosevelt’s mythical ride on a bull moose made its way into the popular consciousness.

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Myth: George Washington Cut Down His Father’s Cherry Tree

Apart from his mythical wooden teeth, George Washington is well known for cutting down his father’s prized cherry tree when he was a child. “I cannot tell a lie … I did cut it with my hatchet,” young George is said to have confessed, demonstrating his innate honesty. The story has been told to generations of American schoolchildren as an example of integrity and truthfulness — but it never happened.

The tale was completely invented by Mason Locke Weems, one of Washington’s first biographers, and published in The Life of Washington in 1800, shortly after the president’s death. Weems was just as interested in creating an inspiring moral fable as he was in documenting historical fact. Ironically, his cherry tree story, invented to celebrate Washington’s honesty, became one of presidential history’s most enduring lies.

Myth: William Henry Harrison Died From Pneumonia After His Long Inaugural Speech

On March 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address in history — an 8,460-word speech that took nearly two hours to deliver. Unfortunately for Harrison, he had to deliver the epic address in cold, wet weather without a coat, and he died of pneumonia exactly one month later. That, at least, is the story we’re often told regarding the fate of America’s ninth president. The only problem? The speech is almost certainly not what killed him.

Modern medical historians who have examined the evidence believe Harrison likely died from enteric fever, not from pneumonia as a result of cold conditions at his inauguration. The true culprit was probably Washington, D.C.’s inadequate sewer system at the time, and the White House’s close proximity to a marsh full of human waste — a breeding ground for disease.

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Myth: John F. Kennedy Accidentally Called Himself a Jelly Doughnut

American presidents say a lot of weird stuff, but it’s not every day that they solemnly declare, in front of thousands of Germans and an eagerly watching world, “I am a jelly-filled doughnut.” It’s a common myth, however, that John F. Kennedy did exactly that. In his famous 1963 speech in Berlin, JFK declared “Ich bin ein Berliner” (German for “I am a Berliner”) in solidarity with West Berlin.

But here’s where things get weird. Rumors later began to circulate in the U.S. that Kennedy had made a grammatical error resulting in him referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin but rather as a German confection similar to a jelly doughnut, known in certain parts of the country as a Berliner. Delightful as that gaffe may be, the truth is that every German watching Kennedy’s address would have understood perfectly well what the president was referring to. The crowd knew Kennedy was expressing solidarity, not declaring himself a pastry. Of course, the myth stuck anyway — proving just how stubborn these tales can be.

8 U.S. Presidents Who Struggled in School

JFK at Harvard, 1938

Author Timothy Ott

February 5, 2026

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Given the importance of the position of president of the United States, you might expect those who have held the role to wield academic credentials that distinguish them from the general public. Some presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Woodrow Wilson, to name a few, certainly demonstrated their advanced brainpower as students. Even many of those who came of age in the rough-and-tumble frontier years of the 19th century showed a capacity for learning in spite of limited opportunities, with Abraham Lincoln standing as the most famous example of a largely self-taught commander-in-chief.

Yet, there are also a fair share of presidents who either treated their school days as a necessary nuisance to slog through or required some extra assistance to avoid failing grades and expulsion. Here are eight U.S. presidents who encountered more adversity than they wanted in the halls of academia.

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Zachary Taylor

Reared by a prominent landowning family outside Louisville, Kentucky, Zachary Taylor attended at least two local schools as a child. However, one has to question just how much the 12th president learned in these classrooms, as his earliest surviving writing (from when he was a young man) reveals severe deficiencies in spelling, grammar, and penmanship.

Part of this may be attributable to the quality of schooling available on the Kentucky frontier, but it’s also likely this son of a Revolutionary War officer found his attention drawn to what he considered more exciting possibilities. Sure enough, Taylor struck out on what became a lengthy military career in 1808, although he was said to have developed a greater appreciation for education as he aged.

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Franklin Pierce

Popular and outgoing, Franklin Pierce far preferred playing outdoors and socializing to hitting the books as a child. Such lax personal discipline proved problematic after "Handsome Frank," as the future president was known, enrolled at Bowdoin College. Left to his own accord, Pierce frequently snuck out to a local tavern, skipped study sessions, and spent his free time fishing, until learning after two years that he ranked dead last academically in his class. To his credit, Pierce took the news as a wake-up call, and he improved his work habits and performance enough to finish fifth among the 14 graduating students in 1824.

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James Buchanan

The oldest son of a prosperous Pennsylvania merchant, James Buchanan excelled in the classic curriculum of his local academy and became the rare early-19th-century American to have both the intellect and financial means to attend college. However, Buchanan nearly blew his shot when he was expelled from Dickinson College for getting involved with a rowdy group of fellow students who caused mayhem both on and off campus. Reinstated with the help of family connections, the future president remained on good behavior from that point forward and graduated with honors.

Ulysses S. Grant

Outside of an aptitude for math and an innate wizardry for connecting with horses, young Ulysses S. Grant offered little reason to expect that his would become among the most famous names in American history. The future president showed minimal interest in writing and rarely spoke in class, flummoxing locals who learned that the unremarkable boy had secured a spot in the United States Military Academy through his father's efforts.

At West Point, Grant dazzled classmates with his horsemanship skills and uncovered a talent for drawing, but otherwise struggled in French and ethics classes. He finished a middle-of-the-pack 21st out of 39 in his graduating class of 1843, paving the way for the mediocrity that would follow until his ascent to stardom in the Civil War.

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Herbert Hoover

To be fair, the Iowa-born Herbert Hoover received a limited formal education after being orphaned at age 9; sent to live with family in Oregon, he was pulled from school at age 14 to help with his uncle's business. Setting his sights on a career as a mining engineer, Hoover took the entrance exams for the brand-new Stanford University in the spring of 1891 and failed all of them except for math.

Although he performed well enough to gain entry to Stanford on his second try, Hoover still failed the English composition section, and he never managed to get over the hump in that area despite proving a gifted geology student. It took the intervention of a paleontologist professor, who demonstrated Hoover's capabilities for writing strong research papers to the chair of the English department, for the 31st president to earn the passing grade needed to collect his geology degree in 1895.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

An athletic child who enjoyed football and baseball, Dwight D. Eisenhower found an outlet for his relentless energy amid the physically demanding programs of the United States Military Academy. However, a knee injury suffered on the football gridiron as a sophomore seemingly sent "Ike" into a tailspin; his grades plummeted and demerits accumulated, leaving the future president on shaky academic footing. Eisenhower pulled himself together after becoming a student football coach, managing to finish 61st out of 164 students in his class of 1915, although he ranked a lowly 125th in West Point's "conduct" category.

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John F. Kennedy

A look at John F. Kennedy's academic record suggests a young man who benefited from being the son of a wealthy and powerful politician. Focused on sports and social activities at the exclusive Choate preparatory school in Connecticut, Kennedy flunked French and Latin as a freshman, and was briefly expelled for his part in a planned prank as a senior.

Little changed in his first years at Harvard University, as JFK again sunk his energies into football and swimming and largely underwhelmed his professors. However, Kennedy soon grasped the opportunity afforded by his station in life, as his trips to Europe on the eve of World War II brought into focus a possible career in public service. JFK's grades significantly improved over his final years, and his senior thesis, originally titled "Appeasement at Munich: The Inevitable Result of the Slowness of Conversion of the British Democracy From a Disarmament to a Rearmament Policy," earned acclaim after being published in 1940 as the book Why England Slept.

Ronald Reagan

A shy, bookish child, Ronald Reagan came into his own as a teenager after realizing he simply needed a pair of glasses to properly see the world around him. He subsequently became one of the most popular students at Dixon High School in Illinois, earning a letter as a varsity football player while serving as president of the student body and dramatics club.

At Eureka College, Reagan added swimming to his football and acting extracurriculars, while living in a fraternity room that doubled as the gathering place for his frat brothers' pinochle games. But for all his interests, "the Gipper" was never a strong student; he scored just one "A" at Eureka, in a class called "Fundamentals of Sports," while his senior year GPA of 1.96 was the highest of his college tenure. Returning to campus years later to accept an honorary degree, Reagan joked, "I thought my first Eureka degree was an honorary one."