I can name all of the presidents
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams, Jackson…
I don’t need to refer to the internet or look at a chart, nor am I able to do this from mindlessly repeating their names over and over in some kind of memorization exercise; nope, nothing like that. It’s just that some things have a way of sticking in my head, and I am interested enough in history that I can often associate past presidents with a significant event or time period (westward expansion, Civil War era, WW I, Great Depression, etc). In other instances, something in pop culture helps me remember. For example, the first few listed above roll off the tongue or keyboard pretty easily, but it’s easy to start getting stuck once the seventh and eighth ones come up--unless you’re a Seinfeld fan, in which case you may recall Kramer escaping the wrath of a gang by accidentally flashing them their sign--eight fingers--representing the eighth president, Martin Van Buren,
Van Buren, WH Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, A Johnson, Grant…
Yeah, I definitely need to think about where we are in history to place some of these guys. For example, there was that curse in which presidents in office during years divisible by 20 died, which started with Harrison. If you know his nickname was Old Tippecanoe, his successor easily follows, and to my previous point, I know I am in the 1840s. That makes me think of western expansion, which in turn makes me think of Polk. Skipping ahead to Lincoln, of course I’m at the Civil War, so, after he’s murdered, his Veep Johnson succeeds him, and then war hero Grant follows. Now I’m in the 1870s. Most of us will recall the controversy of the 2000 election, but there was plenty of controversy surrounding the 1876 election, won by Rutherford Hayes,
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, B Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley…
I have no idea why, but the fact that Lincoln was the 16th president has stuck with me since grade school. When I try to sort out in my head the folks that followed through the turn of the century, there are a few places where I again can get stuck, such as recalling who came between Cleveland’s nonconsecutive administrations. Well, did you see “Die Hard with a Vengeance”? If so, then you may remember that Chester A. Arthur was the 21st president, but I only mentioned four others before getting to him, so Harrison must be the tweener. Ok, McKinley was assassinated, and was succeeded by…
T Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FD Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy...
So, here we are near the end of the presidential roll call and me early in my blogging career. Let me just say that, like everyone else, I have political opinions. But, you won’t be reading about them here, or on any of my other social networking pages…
LB Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, Obama.
I don’t need to refer to the internet or look at a chart, nor am I able to do this from mindlessly repeating their names over and over in some kind of memorization exercise; nope, nothing like that. It’s just that some things have a way of sticking in my head, and I am interested enough in history that I can often associate past presidents with a significant event or time period (westward expansion, Civil War era, WW I, Great Depression, etc). In other instances, something in pop culture helps me remember. For example, the first few listed above roll off the tongue or keyboard pretty easily, but it’s easy to start getting stuck once the seventh and eighth ones come up--unless you’re a Seinfeld fan, in which case you may recall Kramer escaping the wrath of a gang by accidentally flashing them their sign--eight fingers--representing the eighth president, Martin Van Buren,
Van Buren, WH Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, A Johnson, Grant…
Yeah, I definitely need to think about where we are in history to place some of these guys. For example, there was that curse in which presidents in office during years divisible by 20 died, which started with Harrison. If you know his nickname was Old Tippecanoe, his successor easily follows, and to my previous point, I know I am in the 1840s. That makes me think of western expansion, which in turn makes me think of Polk. Skipping ahead to Lincoln, of course I’m at the Civil War, so, after he’s murdered, his Veep Johnson succeeds him, and then war hero Grant follows. Now I’m in the 1870s. Most of us will recall the controversy of the 2000 election, but there was plenty of controversy surrounding the 1876 election, won by Rutherford Hayes,
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, B Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley…
I have no idea why, but the fact that Lincoln was the 16th president has stuck with me since grade school. When I try to sort out in my head the folks that followed through the turn of the century, there are a few places where I again can get stuck, such as recalling who came between Cleveland’s nonconsecutive administrations. Well, did you see “Die Hard with a Vengeance”? If so, then you may remember that Chester A. Arthur was the 21st president, but I only mentioned four others before getting to him, so Harrison must be the tweener. Ok, McKinley was assassinated, and was succeeded by…
T Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FD Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy...
So, here we are near the end of the presidential roll call and me early in my blogging career. Let me just say that, like everyone else, I have political opinions. But, you won’t be reading about them here, or on any of my other social networking pages…
LB Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, Obama.
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