By Haddon Libby
Americans are a mix of joyful and fearful with the election of Donald Trump as President again. More likely than not, his more extreme statements while campaigning will fade away like Trump University, Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines or Trump Vodka.
To get away from the emotion of the election, let’s look back through history as some of the lesser known facts about previous presidents that we typically do not hear about.
George Washington, our first president, had a penchant for cracking brazil nuts with his teeth. By the time that he became President, he had just one natural tooth. Most of us have heard the myth that Washington had wooden dentures. According to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association Washington used dentures made of ivory, gold, lead and a few human and cow teeth. As the dentures caused pain, Washington would take an opium-based product to ease the pain.
John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in a White House bathtub as a pet. He also enjoyed early morning skinny dipping in the Potomac River as part of his morning fitness regimen.
Thomas Jefferson was quite the inventor. Amongst his inventions was a revolving bookstand, the dumbwaiter, a macaroni machine, and the first polygraph. While serving as President, he had the bones of a wooly mammoth sent to the White House where he attempted to construct the skeleton for display. While the effort to build the mastodon failed, he instructed Lewis & Clark on an expedition looking for rare and exotic animals.
Zachary Taylor was known as a great spitter. This chewing tobacco aficionado was known for his accuracy in hitting the spittoon from distance.
In 1853, Franklin Pierce was arrested for running over a woman with his horse. He was found innocent due to insufficient evidence that he had been to one to run her over.
Andrew Johnson became president following Lincoln’s assassination. He was also the first president to be impeached. As a former tailor, he was known to make his own suits while campaigning as President. He was also known to have a nest of mice as his pets.
Chester Arthur (yes, he was a President) auctioned off wagons of White House furniture from prior administrations to raise funds for himself when leaving office. For his efforts, he earned $8,000.
Benjamin Harrison was President when electricity was brought to the White House. Sadly, he had a fear of light switches and never used the technological advance.
Theodore Roosevelt liked to spend time away from his Presidential duties with family. Amongst his favorite things to do with them was walk on stilts. He and his family would walk around the White House on stilts for fun.
Jimmy Carter, now 100 years old, filed an official report while Governor of Georgia reporting that he saw an UFO in 1969. As part of his campaign pledges while running for President, he promised to release “every piece of information this country has about UFOs.” Once president, he backed off on his pledge citing national security interests.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan had an astrologer named Joan Quigley on a $3,000 monthly retainer. After the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981, the couple used the psychic in planning travel and meeting times and dates. It is rumored that they may have used the psychic’s help on other issues as well.
Donald Trump is our first president to be arrested and found guilty of crimes. He was convicted in May of fraud for falsifying business records to secure bank loans and government contracts. In total, Donald Trump has been involved in more than 4,000 legal cases throughout his lifetime. Stated differently, that equates to a lawsuit every 5 days for fifty years. Despite this, he was just elected to serve as our 47th president and ‘Make America Great Again’.
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of RIA firm, Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information on our award-winning services, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com
