President James K. Polk achieved many of his goals during his single term as President, but one goal he failed to achieve was to turn the White House over to a Democrat. Instead, the President-elect was a Whig, and a man who had never held elected office, namely General Zachary Taylor. Although he was cordial to his successor, privately he didn't ( Read more... )

Prior to 2021, every year on this day (January 7th) a ceremony was held at the grave of President Millard Fillmore at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo New York. Faculty, staff, students, administrators and friends of the University of Buffalo would gather at Fillmore’s gravesite at Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery to mark the birthday of the ( Read more... )

The Inaugural Address that Theodore Roosevelt gave on March 4, 1905, following his victory in the election of 1904, had a very optimistic tone. In less than 1000 words (984 to be precise), he spoke about the resiliency of the American people. He spoke of past successes that the nation had accomplished, but warned that any success in the future will ( Read more... )

On January 6, 1919 (106 years ago today) Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the 26th President of the United States, died at his home, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York. Though it seem as if he had the legacy of a much older man, he was only 60 years of age.


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Calvin Coolidge became President on August 2, 1923, following the death of Warren Harding. He was sworn in initially by his father, who was a justice of the peace, but he later retook the oath when he arrived in Washington. Coolidge won election to the office of President in the 1924 presidential contest, and his inauguration following that ( Read more... )

On January 5, 1933 (92 years ago today) John Calvin Coolidge Jr., the 30th President of the United States, died at his home in Northampton, Massachusetts (known as "the Beeches") from coronary thrombosis. He was 60 years old.


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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... )

Abraham Lincoln gave two inaugural addresses and both were magnificent for their rhetorical brilliance and eloquence. While it might make sense to deal with them in chronological order, the second of the two, delivered on March 4, 1865, is especially interesting. Lincoln was beginning his second term as President of the United States, a term that ( Read more... )

On the 20th of this month, Donald Trump is scheduled to be become the 47th President of the United States. He will give his inaugural address following a tradition that first began in 1789, when on April 30th of that year, George Washington took the same oath, the first president to do so. The first presidential term was supposed to start on March ( Read more... )

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