10 Things You May Not Know About U.S. Presidents

April 29, 2009 by THE POLITICUS

10 Things You May Not Know About U.S. Presidents
By THE POLITICUS

1. President Thomas Jefferson and President John Adams both died on the Fourth of July, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

2. Some people believe the first president to be assassinated was President Zachary Taylor. President Taylor died four month into his presidency after snacking on dishes presented to him by well-wishing citizens. Official cause of death was gastroenteritis.

3. President Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest by John Schrank. The bullet lodged in President Roosevelt’s chest only after penetrating both his steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick (50 pages) single-folded copy of the speech he was carrying in his jacket. After the shooting President Roosevelt continued with his schedule and delivered a ninety minutes speech.

4. President Warren G. Harding is rumored to have African American roots. It is believed one of President Harding's great-grandmothers was African American.

5. The first attempted assignation of a sitting U.S. president was in 1835, when Richard Lawrence, an unemployed and deranged house-painter tried to assassinate President Andrew Jackson.

6. President Franklin Pierce was the first president who placed his hand on a law book rather than on a Bible while being sworn in as president.

7. President William Harrison is the first American president to die in office. He only severed one month in office.

8. President Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897). He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times: 1884, 1888, and 1892

9. President George Washington remains the only president to receive 100% of the electoral votes

10. President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education