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Before he became
president, Lyndon Johnson was a teacher at a small school in South
Texas.
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Before he became
president, Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University.
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Only one president
was a preacher -- James Garfield.
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Did you know that
William Howard Taft is the only President who served as both President
and Chief Justice of the United States?
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President John F.
Kennedy won a Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for his collection of essays,
Profiles in Courage.
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Both George
Washington and Jimmy Carter were farmers before they became president --
President Washington was a planter and a farmer at his home in Mount
Vernon, and Before he was President, Jimmy Carter ran his family's
peanut farm in Plains, Georgia.
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Before he became
president, Barack Obama was a U.S. Senator. Before that, he was an
Illinois State Senator, and before that he was a community organizer in
Chicago.
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The President's
personal office is called the oval office. Any plane he flies on is
called Air Force One, and any helicopter is called Marine One.
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The "S" in Harry S.
Truman's name isn't short for anything. The President was named after
both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young. The
initial honors them both.
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The first public
reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in Philadelphia --
where the bell now-known as the Liberty Bell rang out to call the city's
population together on July 8, 1776.
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On July 9, 1776,
General George Washington gave an order for the Declaration of
Independence to be read to his army.
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In the early part of
the 19th century, a network called the Underground Railroad, which
received its name in 1831, helped escaped slaves gain freedom. As a
conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman helped 300 slaves
gain freedom during the 1800s.
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The Statue of Liberty
was a gift of friendship resulting from the diplomatic relationship
between the United States and France.
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President Lincoln
owned only one home during his lifetime -- in Springfield, Ill.
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President Jefferson
spent more than 40 years designing and building his home in
Charlottesville, VA known as Monticello. The President admired classical
architecture and incorporated this style into his home.
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President Jackson's
estate outside of Nashville, TN was known as the Hermitage.
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President Richard M.
Nixon was offered a position as a player's representative to the Major
League Baseball Players Association in 1965. He declined, stating that
he was needed in politics. Nixon served as President from 1969 to 1974.
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George H.W. Bush
played first base on the Yale University team that twice reached the
finals of the College World Series.
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Grace Coolidge, wife
of President Calvin Coolidge, could often be found keeping a perfect
scorecard while watching baseball games in the presidential box.
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In 1915, Woodrow
Wilson became the first President to attend the World Series, where he
and his fiance, Edith Gault, made their first public appearance since
announcing their engagement. The President insisted on paying for his
own tickets.
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In 1787, just four
years after the end of war with Great Britain, 55 delegates gathered in
Philadelphia to replace the Articles of Confederation. The
Constitutional Convention led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution,
which was signed on September 17, 1787.
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On December 7, 1787,
Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
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The first day
Congress conducted business under the Constitution was April 6, 1789. On
this day, members of Congress counted the votes of the electors, who
unanimously elected George Washington as the nation's first president.
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In order to amend the
Constitution, three quarters of all states must vote in favor before the
proposed amendment becomes law.
