We esteem our presidents fairly high, even when they make grievous mistakes. Sometimes we forget that they are people, just like us. And they have some pretty unique things about them too. Here are just eight of them.
1. William Howard Taft is rumored to have gotten stuck in a bathtub due to his weight.
2. John Quincy Adams had a pet alligator at the White House.
Adams was given this alligator while he lived in the White House. Naturally he utilized the bathroom of the unfinished East Room to keep the reptile in. Sadly, no one can confirm the pet’s name.
3. William Henry Harrison had the longest inaugural speech...and the shortest presidency.
Harrison’s speech was 8,445 words long and took about an hour and 45 minutes to deliver. It was given during a snowstorm, which led to Harrison getting pneumonia and dying after only a month in office.
4. Andrew Jackson had a parrot that started swearing at his funeral.
Rev. William Menefee Norment, the reverend presiding over the funeral, stated, “Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house.” Much to the disappointment of many historians, there is no record of which words the parrot uttered.
5. James Buchanan is hypothesized to be gay.
Key word here is “hypothesized.” There is no confirmation of this theory. The fact of the matter is Buchanan was the only president to never marry. Take that as you will…
6. Martin Van Buren’s campaign coined the phrase “OK”.
Van Buren was from Kinderhook, so a nickname in his campaigns became Old Kinderhook. Over time, this got shortened to O.K. and became a common word to mean alright.
7. Rutherford B. Hayes’s wife refused to have alcohol in the White House.
Lucy Hayes won herself the nickname “Lemonade Lucy” because she would serve lemonade instead of alcohol. Although some considered her a prude, she took the nickname good-naturedly and was one of the more loved first ladies by the people of the day. She even got a coin made after her.
8. Calvin Coolidge had the nickname Silent Cal because he talked so rarely.
As the story goes, Coolidge was at a dinner party and the woman next to him told the president that she had made a bet (for a large sum) that she could make the president say more than two words. Coolidge’s simple response was, “You lose.” While this story has been exaggerated slightly from the original occurrence, it is a testament to the fact that Coolidge was indeed a man of few words.
