{"id":15341,"date":"2012-11-05T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=15341"},"modified":"2016-10-14T00:45:12","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T07:45:12","slug":"u-s-president-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/u-s-president-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Interesting United States President Facts Part 1 (1st-12th President)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There have to date been 43 people who’ve held the highest political position in the United States since the founding of this republic under the current constitution. (And quite a few more Presidents under the old system, but we’ll ignore them in this piece.) Here now is a variety of interesting “President Facts” you may not know about every U.S. President. (And, if you’re curious, here are some interesting facts about the Presidents before George Washington<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1) George Washington Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

George Washington was taphephobic<\/a> (irrationally terrified of being buried alive).\u00a0 On his death bed, he told his attendants \u201cI am just going.\u00a0 Have me decently buried and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.\u00a0 Do you understand?”<\/p>\n

This wasn’t quite as irrational in his day as it is now.\u00a0 Taphophobia hit its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1896, T.M. Montgomery, who was supervising the disinterment of remains at the Fort Randall Cemetery, reported that a little over 2% of those bodies exhumed were definitely victims of being accidentally buried alive.\u00a0 In other words, about 2% woke up, tried to claw their way out, and were unable to do so.\u00a0 Given the oxygen supply in a coffin doesn\u2019t last that long, it is likely the actual percentage of people buried alive was higher, when you include the ones who didn\u2019t wake, but were still technically alive when buried.<\/p>\n

The reason the rate of being buried alive was quite high around this time was primarily due to the high number of people dying of various diseases like cholera, smallpox, etc.\u00a0 These people tended to not get a close investigation to make sure they were really dead, rather than just passed out, and they also tended to be buried quickly to prevent the spread of whatever disease they were thought to have died from.\u00a0 As another example, in the 17th century, William Tebb compiled a list of 219 instances of narrow escape from premature burial; 149 cases of actual premature burial; 10 cases in which bodies were accidentally dissected before death; and 2 cases in which embalming was started on the still living.<\/p>\n

And note: George Washington did not have wooden teeth<\/a> as is often said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>2) John Adams Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adams had the nickname “His Rotundity”.\u00a0 This was because after Washington was elected the first President there was debate over what to officially call the President.\u00a0 The Senate meetings over this lasted about a month.\u00a0 Adams heavily argued for titles for the President that were highly pompous sounding, such as “His High Mightiness” and “His Majesty the President”.\u00a0 Eventually, the simpler title of “President of the United States” won out.<\/p>\n

Adams was the first President to have a child who would become President, John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>3) Thomas Jefferson Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas Jefferson didn\u2019t just write the Declaration of Independence, he also re-wrote the Bible to his liking.\u00a0 Jefferson didn\u2019t hold with the supernatural elements of the Bible.\u00a0 He thus set about making his own Jeffersonian translation that basically excluded every part he didn\u2019t agree with, in his view, separating the wheat from the chaff.<\/p>\n

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (note: it wasn’t actually signed by most until August 2nd).\u00a0 Adam\u2019s last words were, \u201cThomas Jefferson still survives\u201d.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know that Jefferson had died a few hours before.\u00a0 The two were extremely bitter enemies for much of their political life, but in retirement laid aside their differences and became very close friends.<\/div>\n
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Upon his death, Jefferson was about $100,000 in debt (about $2M today).\u00a0 However, very shortly before his death, the public raised about $16,500 to help pay off some of his debts, but when news of his death spread, these efforts stopped.<\/div>\n
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Thomas Jefferson’s last words to his family were<\/div>\n
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I have done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could do, and I now resign my soul, without fear, to my God, \u2013 my daughter to my country.”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He then went to sleep, but woke up later and said to the doctor, “Is it the 4th yet?” which were his somewhat less significant last words.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>4) James Madison Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison was the shortest President to date, standing at just 5 ft. 4 inches tall and reportedly weighing in at about 100 lbs.\u00a0 Perhaps because of his small stature, he was the first President to commonly wear long legged trousers.\u00a0 The fashion at the time was knee breeches.<\/p>\n

Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and also was a key figure in the development and\u00a0establishment of the Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>5) James Monroe Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monroe was elected for a second term in 1820 on a near unanimous vote, missing out by just one electoral college vote. This is today widely claimed to have been because said voter, William Plumer, supposedly felt no President except Washington should have the honor of a unanimous vote. However, this idea has no primary source and was only first proposed about a half a century after this election. The bigger nail in the coffin to this oft-repeated notion is that Plumer himself explicitly gave his reason for not voting for Monroe because he thought Monroe had behaved improperly in his first term. Instead, Plumer voted for a different Democratic-Republican John Quincy Adams. Plumer also refused to vote for Monroe\u2019s vice president, Daniel Tompkins, because Plumer thought he had previously \u201cgrossly neglected his duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monroe was another President to die on July 4th, this time in 1831.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>6) John Quincy Adams Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n