US Presidents For Dummies
Page 43
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was another vice president who became president by default. He took over after President Zachary Taylor died one year into his term.
Shortly after taking office, Fillmore destroyed his own party by backing the Compromise of 1850 (see Chapter 9 for more information), which many Whigs considered pro-slavery. To make matters worse, Fillmore ran for the presidency in 1856 as a candidate for the racist American party, which advocated against blacks, Jews, and Catholics.
In 1864, Fillmore turned against Lincoln by backing Lincoln’s opponent, General George McClellan. He then later he backed Andrew Johnson in his fight with Congress (see Chapter 11). I guess it takes one bad president to try to help out another bad president.
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was one of the most capable soldiers in U.S. history — for this, he deserves much credit. As president, however, he was the opposite of capable. Grant filled cabinet positions with his friends and relatives, resulting in rampant corruption and many scandals. Grant was an honest man, but he didn’t have many honest friends. To make matters worse, he defended his corrupt friends, undermining his own credibility in the eyes of the public.
Grant’s trust in people was so high that he lost all of his money when his son invested it improperly. He retired a pauper and wrote his memoirs to help feed his family.
William Henry Harrison
It is not fair to judge William Henry Harrison on his term in office. He served only a little over a month, most of it on his deathbed. It is justified, however, to rank him on his campaign and his agenda. Well, there was no agenda, because Harrison stood for nothing and ran without a platform. His campaign portrayed him as a hard-drinking man of the people, who was born in a log cabin. He did drink hard cider, but he grew up wealthy on a large estate in Virginia. His campaign was based on a lie, but it got him elected.
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was one of the best politicians in U.S. history. He knew how to play the political game. He helped create the Democratic Party on Andrew Jackson’s behalf. He served his country well until he reached the presidency. Suddenly, his accomplishments stopped. How could such a great politician be such a bad president?
He wasn’t responsible for the depression of 1837, but he also didn’t do anything about it, which undermined his chances for reelection. He refused to address slurs against him in the 1840 election and lost badly. In 1848, he took the presidency away from his own Democratic Party by running as a third-party candidate.
Herbert Hoover
It pains me to put Herbert Hoover on the list of the ten worst presidents. Hoover was a self-made man and a great humanitarian who was responsible for saving millions of Europeans from starving to death after both world wars. How could such a great human being be such a bad president? Well, although he can’t be blamed for causing the Great Depression of the 1920s and early 1930s, he can be blamed for reacting to it too late — a classic example of doing too little, too late.
Hoover shows that being a great person and being a great president don’t necessarily go hand in hand.
Chapter 28
Ten Presidential Libraries Worth Visiting
In This Chapter
Finding information about U.S. presidents
Visiting the top presidential libraries
I n this chapter, I look at presidential libraries. Most of America’s older, historical presidents don’t have libraries, so a lot of the libraries worth visiting are those of more modern presidents.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the first presidential library in 1939. Every U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt has set up a presidential library after finishing his term in office. The National Archives and Records administration operate all presidential libraries. Getting the financing to build his library, through private donations, is up to the president. After it is built, the federal government takes over and operates the library.
The ten libraries listed below are the ones I recommend that you visit at some point in your life. The list begins with the best coming first. (Remember, this list is subjective in nature; it represents my own personal preferences.)
When mentioning presidential libraries, it is important to keep in mind that the libraries are found in the home state of each particular president, or the state he considered his home. For example, Truman was born in Missouri: He considered it his home, and he represented it in the Senate. Thus, he chose Missouri as the site for his presidential library. Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, was born in Illinois, but he considered California, the state he governed, his home. So, his library is in California.
Presidential libraries contain all the public papers of a president, including information concerning his public career before his presidency. The presidential libraries even include some private information on the chief executives. In addition, the libraries contain pictures and films, and tapes of presidential speeches. Finally, gifts from foreign dignitaries are on display, because the president, as a public official, is not allowed to keep them.
Many of the presidential libraries have become important research facilities for scholars studying the respective presidents. All presidential libraries are open to the public and have a wealth of information available to anybody interested in learning more about the president.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the largest presidential library in the United States. The library — located in beautiful Simi Valley, California — contains all of Reagan’s public and personal papers. In addition, the library contains many displays that portray Reagan’s life.
Contact Info: 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065; phone 800-410-8354; Web site: www.reagan.utexas.edu.
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Bush chose to build the library on the campus of the second most prestigious university in Texas, his home state, because Lyndon Johnson had already built his presidential library at the University of Texas.
The library, which contains the private and public papers of America’s 41st president, opened in 1997 and is the most highly computerized of all the presidential libraries. The library’s computer system allows for easy access to all kinds of information on George H. Bush.
Contact Info: 1000 George Bush Drive West, College Station, TX 77845; phone 979-260-9552; Web site: http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library and Museum is in Boston, Massachusetts. The library is one of the best research facilities in the United States for the social sciences. The museum contains many displays of Kennedy’s life. It also has gift shops for the public.
Contact Info: Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125; phone 877-616-4599 or 617-929-4500; Web site: www.jfklibrary.org.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. It is a top-notch research facility for the social sciences and the humanities, containing over 35 million documents. The museum traces the life of Lyndon Johnson.
Contact Info: 2313 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78705; phone 512-916-5137; Web site: www.lbjlib.utexas.edu.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library is part of a larger center that contains President Roosevelt’s childhood home and the burial place of the president and his wife, Eleanor. It is the first presidential library in U.S. history.
Contact Info: 4079 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538; phone 845-229-8114; Web site: www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum
Located in Abilene, Kansas, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library is one of five buildings within the Eisenhower Center. The center also contains Eisenho
wer’s boyhood home, his burial place, a visitors’ center, and the Eisenhower museum.
Contact Info: 200 Southeast Fourth Street, Abilene, KS 67410; phone 1-877-746-4453 or 785-263-4751; Web site: www.eisenhower.utexas.edu.
Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace
The Richard Nixon Library is in Yorba Linda, California, the birthplace of the former president. The library contains most of Nixon’s papers and tapes, including the controversial Watergate tapes. It is surrounded by a beautiful park open to the public. The burial places of Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, are also at the site.
Contact Info: 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, CA 92886; phone 714-993-3393; Web site: www.nixonfoundation.org.
Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
The Jimmy Carter Library is part of the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It contains a research center, which houses Carter’s presidential documents (over 27 million pages), and a museum.
Contact Info: 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307; phone 404-331-3942; Web site: www.jimmycarterlibrary.org.
Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library
The Harry Truman Library is in Independence, Missouri. It contains a museum detailing Truman’s life and accomplishments. Truman is also buried at this site.
Contact Info: 500 West U.S. Highway 24, Independence, MO 64050; phone 1-800-833-1225 or 816-833-1400; Web site: www.trumanlibrary.org.
Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum
The Gerald R. Ford Library is on the campus of the University of Michigan. It is attached to the central campus library, and it contains 20 million documents on the Ford presidency.
Contact Info: 1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; phone 734-741-2218; Web site: www.ford.utexas.edu.
Appendix
Presidential Facts
T he table that is this appendix contains a lot of interesting and relevant information. It gives birth dates for all the presidents and death dates for deceased presidents. In addition, it lists the presidents’ respective vice-presidents, including the ones who died in office. The appendix further presents the political party affiliation for every president and the names of the opponents in their respective elections. To top it off, both the Electoral College votes and the popular vote are provided for the presidential elections. The popular vote is presented in a format that gives the number and percentage of votes received.
Note: The popular vote is not available for the first five presidents, so only the number of electoral votes is provided. Beginning with the 1824 elections, both totals are available. In addition, there were no political parties in 1789 and 1792, so no party affiliation is listed for these two elections.