In Honor of President's Day

In honor of President's Day coming up Monday, why not impart a little Presidential trivia?  I am sure many of you already know these tidbits, but it is always fun to re-visit them.  Like my old history professor at Baylor, Dr. Paul Armistead would say, "You can put that in your storehouse of useless information."  I always liked that saying.  Good, bad or otherwise, those tended to be what you remembered most about his class.  Anyway, I digress.  Back to Presidential trivia:

President who served the longest term:  Franklin Roosevelt
President who served the shortest term:  William Harrison (32 days)

The tallest Presidents:  George H W Bush and Abraham Lincoln were both 6'4" tall
The shortest President:  James Madison, who stood 5'4" tall.  It is also reported that he weighed less than 100 lbs.

Most popular Presidential name:  James.  We have had six presidents named James:  James Madison, James Monroe, James Polk, James Buchanan, James Garfield, and of course James Earl ("Jimmy") Carter.  Fortunately, we have had only one President with the names Rutherford, Chester, and Millard.

We have had 4 Presidents named John, and 3 were from Massachusetts:  John Adams, John Quincy Adams and John Kennedy.  The only other was John Tyler from Virginia

We have had two father & son Presidential combinations:  John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams and George HW Bush and his son George W Bush, Jr.  The only other family connection was William Harrison and his grandson Benjamin Harrison who both served as President.

Four Presidents have been assassinated:  Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John Kennedy.

Six Presidents survived assassination attempts:  Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan

Our youngest President:  Theodore Roosevelt, who became President at 42 when President McKinley was assassinated.

Our Youngest Elected President:  John Kennedy was just 43 when he was elected President

Presidents with the longest lives:  Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford were both 93 when they passed away.

President with the shortest life:  President Kennedy was just 46 when he was assassinated.

President who was never elected either President or Vice President:  Gerald Ford  Mr. Ford became President when Richard Nixon resigned the office.  Ford, who was his VP was never elected on the ticket but was appointed by Nixon when his VP, Spiro Agnew, was forced out of office due to a tax scandal.

Grover Cleveland was the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Interestingly, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was born during President Grover Cleveland's first term.  In 1952, Grover Cleveland Alexander would be portrayed in the movie The Winning Team by future President, Ronald Reagan.  Doris Day starred opposite Reagan as the pitcher's wife.

Presidential Top Ten List - The 10 Best Presidents in Our History
1 (tie)  George Washington
1 (tie)  Abraham Lincoln
3  Thomas Jefferson
4  Franklin Roosevelt
5  Harry Truman
6  Ronald Reagan
7  Theodore Roosevelt
8*
9*
10*
* - help me fill in the blanks.  They could come from the following list:

Most Underrated Presidents:
1.  James Polk
2.  Calvin Coolidge
3.  Bill Clinton

Most Overrated Presidents:
1.  Andrew Jackson
2.  Woodrow Wilson

Most Incomplete Presidents:
1.  John Kennedy.  Just long enough to glimpse that he might have been great.  We shall never know.
2.  Gerald Ford.  His pardon of Nixon was scorched at the time, much appreciated later.  No other lasting legacy.

I hope you've enjoyed some of this trivia.  If you have anymore trivia that you can pull from your storehouse of useless information, then do so and share with us!