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
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There were some eras in history when the job of being President must have been a killer for the office holder. Literally. In just two years (1849 and 1850), the president and former president would pass away, likely the result of the disease of cholera. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
James K. Polk is famous (in song among other places) for
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Probably no period of presidential transition was ever as sad or tragic as the one that occurred following the election of 1852. On January 6, 1853, just over two months after the election, the family of President-elect Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire were traveling from Boston by train. Tragedy struck when the rail car they were riding in
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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
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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*).
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
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In 1852 Millard Fillmore's term as president ended. He had become president in July of 1850, upon the death of the sitting President Zachary Taylor and he hoped to be the Whig Party's candidate for President in 1852, but unfortunately for him, that didn't pan out. Fillmore had become unpopular with northern Whigs for signing and enforcing the
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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.
It's almost a certainty that Franklin Pierce was an alcoholic. He died from cirrhosis of the liver, and he is quoted as saying "after being President, there's nothing left to do but get drunk." Whether this quote is authentic or apocryphal, the sentiment expressed in it appears to match Pierce's post-presidential life.
Millard Fillmore was the second Vice-President to become President upon the death of the incumbent. He would turn out to be the last President from the Whig Party and despite his desire to hold on to the job and run for re-election, his party had ideas. The Compromise of 1850 that Fillmore had supported made him unpopular in the north, especially
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