The inaugural address of John Quincy Adams is fascinating for a number of reasons. He was the first President who did not take the oath of office on a bible (but quoted scripture in his address.) His speech was forward thinking and was worthy of the reputation of being a great intellectual that Adams had earned throughout his life. Though his ( Read more... )

This past year has turned out to be one of the better years for Presidential history books, in spite of early concerns that this might not be the case. The year has produced a thorough biography of a lesser known President (Van Buren), an excellent analysis of an important but overlooked presidential election (1814), an honest account of Woodrow ( Read more... )

(Back by unpopular demand, and with profound apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

Tis the day before Christmas, and here at potus_geeks
The odor of past White House Christmases reeks,
From Washington to Lincoln to T.R., to Trump once again,
Wishing peace on the earth and good will to all men.


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Martin Van Buren is a President who is usually not the subject of biographies. He only served one term in an era of giants like Jefferson, Madison and Jackson and he was not a great orator. His presidency is best remembered for its unseemly aspects like Van Buren's continuation of Andrew Jackson's horrible Trail of Tears removal of Native Americans ( Read more... )

Martin Van Buren was the last person, prior to the late George H. W. Bush, to serve as Vice-President under a two-term President and then win election to the presidency himself. (Joe Biden did not immediately run for President at the end of the term of the President he served under.) Like the first President Bush, Van Buren was also a one-term ( Read more... )

When James K. Polk won the election of 1844, it looked as if outgoing President John Tyler would fail to achieve one of the ultimate goals of his presidency, that being the annexation of Texas. But instead of abandoning his ambitious plan, Tyler took advantage of the transition period between the election and his successor's inauguration, to ( Read more... )

It must have been a very tense transition in the White House following the election of 1828. Not only was the campaign a nasty one, which included a personal attacks against the wife of the victorious candidate, but the stress of those attacks may well have killed poor Rachel Jackson, and the President-elect was never known for his forgiving nature ( Read more... )

November 2nd is the birthday of two of my favorite Presidents. One is James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United States, and probably the most effective one term president. Polk was born on November 2, 1795 (229 years ago today*).


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Millard Fillmore was born and raised in a cabin in upstate New York. His only reading material was said to be a Bible and a hymnal, but despite the paucity of reading material accessible to him as a child, Fillmore grew up with a love of books, an fact often overlooked when consideration is given to the 13th President. When Fillmore became ( Read more... )

On August 27, 1908 (116 years ago today) Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, was born in Stonewall, Texas in a small farmhouse on the Pedernales River. His parents were Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. and Rebekah Baines. His father served five terms in the Texas legislature.


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