Sherwood Forest Plantation was the home of President John Tyler from 1842 until his death in 1862. Since then, it has been the continuous residence of the Tyler family since its purchase by the first "Accidental President" and it is said to be the longest frame house in America, at is over 300 feet long. The plantation was first recorded in a 1616 ( 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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William Henry Harrison has the distinction of having the shortest time on the job as President of the United States. Counting the day he was inaugurated and the day he died, Harrison was president from March 4 to April 4, 32 days by my count (28 in March and 4 in April). He had run for President twice against Martin Van Buren, losing the election ( Read more... )

On July 24, 1862 (162 years ago today), Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States and the first President from New York, died in the same community where he was born, Kinderhook, New York, at the age of 79.


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Martin Van Buren served only one term as President. He lost his bid for re-election largely because the fiscal policies of his predecessor Andrew Jackson had led to a great recession known as the Panic of 1837, and because the Whigs ran a slick campaign against him, painting him as aristocratic and out of touch. At the end of his term, Van Buren ( Read more... )

Andrew Jackson's presidency ended on March 4, 1837, eleven days ahead of his 70th birthday, when his successor, Martin Van Buren, was sworn in as his successor. Jackson left Washington, D.C., three days later, beginning the long journey home, where he would retire to his plantation called "the Hermitage" in Nashville, the site of his present day ( Read more... )

Perhaps one of the most prolific and active retirements of any former Presidents was that of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States. Elected as President in 1824 in a controversial election, (Adams was chosen as President despite finishing second in popular and electoral votes because no candidate had won a majority in the ( Read more... )

James Buchanan was the third in a series of "doughface" presidents. Hailing from Pennsylvania, Buchanan's biographer Jean Baker theorizes that Buchanan was "an intellectual and electoral hostage" to the South, and was so enamored with the ways of the south that he let ideology trump pragmatism. Secession began on his watch, and Buchanan is ( Read more... )

There have been times in US history (such as 1941 or 2001) when war in response to aggression united rather than polarized the nation. Sometimes, as in the case of the second world war, the nation remains united. Other times, as in the case of Vietnam or Iraq, the decision to go to war leaves the nation deeply divided. In 1846, when it was reported ( Read more... )

In his long career as a United States Senator, it seemed that Henry Clay was always on one side or another when it came to contentious issues, from the War of 1812 to the Compromise of 1850. While Clay is remembered as the "Great Compromiser", he wasn't always looking to compromise and was often championing one side or the other of some contentious ( Read more... )