Presidential Trivia

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wintergreen48 · #26 Post by **wintergreen48** » Sun May 18, 2008 8:24 pm

Yes, I was going for Washington, who had the shortest term since he was inaugurated at the end of April and his first term ended March 4, four years later, and FD Roosevelt, who lost a month and a half from his first term because of the amendment that moved the inauguration from March 4 to January 20.

I forgot about Leap Years (or, non-Leap Year centuries), so John Adams and William McKinley would have been shorted one day apiece compared to other Presidents.

As for shortened Presidential terms... I remember reading some time ago about the events following the Kennedy assassination: one of the things that apparently hit Jacqueline Kennedy pretty hard was that JFK's last paycheck was 'short' because he died during a pay period and so did not get full pay for that pay period; Mrs. Kennedy was not concerned about the money (she had more than enough), but just the pointed reminder about the event that caused the 'short' paycheck.

NellyLunatic1980 · #27 Post by **NellyLunatic1980** » Mon May 19, 2008 4:57 am

TheConfessor wrote:It hasn't happened thrice yet. Although if Bush 43 fails to complete his second term, I think that would be the longest incomplete term in presidential history.

"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.

starfish1113 · #28 Post by **starfish1113** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:34 am

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
TheConfessor wrote:It hasn't happened thrice yet. Although if Bush 43 fails to complete his second term, I think that would be the longest incomplete term in presidential history.
"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.

Oh, please.

There's also an outside chance that Gerald Ford will rise from the grave and start dating your sister.

I was wondering who would make this thread political. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

hf_jai · #29 Post by **hf_jai** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:36 am

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.

Even if the Hague figured out a way to take Bush into custody and remove him from the territitory of the United States, it still wouldn't bring his term to an early end.

peacock2121 · #30 Post by **peacock2121** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:41 am

starfish1113 wrote:
NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
TheConfessor wrote:It hasn't happened thrice yet. Although if Bush 43 fails to complete his second term, I think that would be the longest incomplete term in presidential history.
"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.

There's also an outside chance that Gerald Ford will rise from the grave and start dating your sister.

cracked me up!

good one, fishie.

etaoin22 · #31 Post by **etaoin22** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:49 am

OK here's some trivia on US Presidential foreign visits?

1 - Which president made the second Presidential visit abroad, and what was the destination?

2 - Who was the first President to visit Canada? Why might one consider this visit to have been rather inauspicious?

3 - (I gotta say, first, that 1972 was so wasted a year that I am not sure I was really there:)

Aside from myself, several thousand other students, other demo types, and President Richard M. Nixon, who else was on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 14, 1972?

TheCalvinator24 · #32 Post by **TheCalvinator24** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:58 am

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
TheConfessor wrote:It hasn't happened thrice yet. Although if Bush 43 fails to complete his second term, I think that would be the longest incomplete term in presidential history.
"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.

You're dreaming.

silvercamaro · #33 Post by **silvercamaro** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:06 am

etaoin22 wrote:
2 - Who was the first President to visit Canada? Why might one consider this visit to have been rather inauspicious?

I know this one -- Warren G. Harding. He went to Alaska and Canada. Although I don't know the details, I would suspect that, as usual, he was up to no good.

You didn't ask, but I've also learned that Taft was the first President to take up golf and the first to throw out a pitch at a major league baseball game.

Why, yes, I have been studying up for Jeopardy!

Bob Juch · #34 Post by **Bob Juch** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:32 am

etaoin22 wrote:OK here's some trivia on US Presidential foreign visits?

1 - Which president made the second Presidential visit abroad, and what was the destination?

2 - Who was the first President to visit Canada? Why might one consider this visit to have been rather inauspicious?

3 - (I gotta say, first, that 1972 was so wasted a year that I am not sure I was really there:)

Aside from myself, several thousand other students, other demo types, and President Richard M. Nixon, who else was on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 14, 1972?

#3

Spoiler

Arthur Bremer

etaoin22 · #35 Post by **etaoin22** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:32 am

SilverCamaro:

I know this one -- Warren G. Harding. He went to Alaska and Canada. Although I don't know the details, I would suspect that, as usual, he was up to no good.

His heart was up to no good.

With a possible major precipitant being a golf game on his brief stop in Vancouver on July 26, ,1923, Harding died in San Francisco a week later.

Here is a description of the golf game, from

http://www.doctorzebra.com/Prez/g29.htm

"Harding's final illness occured during an extended trip to the West in summer 1923.
After playing six holes of golf in Vancouver, Canada, Harding became so tired that, to quell any suspicions, he moved to the 17th hole, then finished the 18th. He later called for White House homeopath Sawyer, complaining of nausea and pain in the upper abdomen. Sawyer found the President had a pulse of 120 beats per minute and was breathing 40 times per minute. (Both of these readings are abnormally high.) "Intensive cardiac therapy including digitalis was started." [4]"

It is fairly clear that Harding had advanced heart disease, and could have had emphysema, and even sleep apnea as well. The western voyage was folly.

etaoin22 · #36 Post by **etaoin22** » Mon May 19, 2008 11:10 am

Bremer was in Ottawa.

He stayed in a nice room in what was Ottawa's second best hotel, the Lord Elgin, and went to the Hill with a gun inside the pocket of his suit. Not the right clothing for a demo, to begin with. So, somewhat like Travis Bickle(IIRC), he went home and rethought his situation. Came to a different answer, that of shooting an easier target, George Wallace.

Jeemie · #37 Post by **Jeemie** » Mon May 19, 2008 12:02 pm

starfish1113 wrote:
NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
TheConfessor wrote:It hasn't happened thrice yet. Although if Bush 43 fails to complete his second term, I think that would be the longest incomplete term in presidential history.
"If" is definitely the key word here. There's an outside chance that people from The Hague could arrest Bush and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity before 1/20/09.
Oh, please.

There's also an outside chance that Gerald Ford will rise from the grave and start dating your sister.

I was wondering who would make this thread political. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Consider the source.

This is from a person who thought Americans would hate Oliver North more than a terrorist who bombed the US Capitol.