No doubt you all remember the 1880 election. It came four years after the closest election in presidential history when Rutherford Hayes was elected president after he was awarded the disputed electoral votes of three states just days before he was inaugurated. Many believe that a deal was made in which Hayes was declared president in return for a ( Read more... )

Before Ulysses Grant became President, some made comparisons to George Washington, and how one great general became a great president, though this wasn't always the case. The esteem that many held Grant in lessened when it became known that many of Grant's friends, who had been appointed to positions of responsibility in his administration, were ( Read more... )

Nationwide support between the two major political parties was very evenly divided in the latter part of the 19th century as the years from 1876 to 1888 produced a series of very close election. Since 1860, the Republican party had controlled the White House, but that almost changed in 1876 in what many termed the "stolen election" of that year. In ( Read more... )

Chester Alan Arthur was the son of Reverent William Arthur, a Baptist preacher who was a fervent abolitionist. The family moved frequently before Arthur enrolled at Union College, in Schenectady, New York, in 1845. As a senior, he was president of the debating society. He also taught school during his winter breaks. After graduation, Arthur went to ( Read more... )

James Garfield was a very learned man. He is also the only President to have been a clergyman. At age 16, he left home, planning on going to sea. He worked for six weeks as a canal driver on Lake Erie, but he return home due to illness. Once he recovered from his illness, he attended Geauga Seminary, at Chester, Ohio, and his intellectual curiosity ( Read more... )

For the period following the Civil War, military service seemed to be a must for a presidential candidate's resume. For the Republicans, Ulysses Grant, Rutherford Hayes and James Garfield all used their war service for political recognition. After two non-soldiers at the head of their ticket, the Democrats turned to a prominent Union General to ( Read more... )

After leaving office, either because of defeat in election, because they did not secure their party's nomination, or because the decided to retire (before the two term limit became part of the constitution), a number of presidents decided that they didn't like the label of "ex-president" or "former president" and decided to take a run at another ( Read more... )

Originally posted on June 16, 2020 as part of a series entitled Presidents in their YouthWilliam McKinley's grandfather James and his father William were ironmakers. They had moved to Ohio in the early 19th century from Pennsylvania. William McKinley Jr. was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh of nine children. As a baby he was ( Read more... )

The entire presidency of James Garfield lasted for 200, but for the last 81 days, following July 2nd of 1881, Garfield was bedridden, trying to recover from the gunshot wounds that led to his death on September 19th. His presidency offered such promise. He had risen to the rank of Major General during the Civil War, and had served in Congress from ( Read more... )

One would think that 2020 would have offered an abundance of time for reading and yet for some reason, there weren't as many books reviewed in this community in the past 12 months as in other years. Personally I found myself reading a lot of books on subjects unrelated to this community and therefore fewer reviews were posted here. Still there were ( Read more... )