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StumbleUponThe Little League President
Q. Which President killed a man?A. In 1828, after General Andrew Jackson was elected President but before his inauguration, his wife, Rachel, died of a heart attack. In Jackson's mind, ugly rumors broke her heart. Bigamist was one epithet hurled at her and technically it was true. Rachel married Jackson in 1791, thinking she'd divorced her first husband. But the marriage was not dissolved. After the divorce was finalized, Rachel remarried Jackson in 1794. One of those who gossiped about Rachel was a prominent lawyer, Charles Dickinson. In May 1806 Jackson challenged Dickinson to a duel in Kentucky, killing him.
Q. Who were the largest, smallest and tallest Presidents?
A. Elected in 1908, the six-foot William Howard Taft weighed in at 335 pounds. Once, Chauncey Depew, a renowned turn-of-the-century orator, pointed to Taft's massive stomach and asked, "What are you going to name the baby?" Taft replied: "If it's a boy, he will be a junior. If it's a girl, I'll name her Helen. But if, as I expect, it is only gas, I'll name it Chauncey Depew." James Madison was our smallest leader: 5 feet, 4 inches, 100 pounds. Abraham Lincoln, 6 feet, 4 inches, was our tallest.
Q. Which President's father was a film producer?
A. John F. Kennedy's father. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., was also a bootlegger during Prohibition, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and ambassador to Britain.
Q. Which President fathered a child at age 70?
A. John Tyler, father of 15 and the only President to be subsequently elected to the Confederate Congress.
Q. Which President had a foreign country's capital named for him?
A. In 1821 the American Colonization Society purchased land in West Africa for the purpose of resettling freed slaves. This land became Liberia (Freedom), and the capital was named Monrovia in honor of President James Monroe. Even today, Liberia uses as its currency U.S. bills.
Q. Which President is credited with saving 77 lives?
A. Ronald Reagan, as a lifeguard in his hometown of Dixon, Ill. But some of the rescues may have been young women faking it simply to get the handsome "Dutch" Reagan's attention.
Q. Which two Presidents died on the Fourth of July, 1826?
A. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence.
Q. Which President was taught by his wife to read and write?
A. In 1827, in Greeneville, Tenn., Eliza McCardle, 16, married Andrew Johnson, 18. He was a tailor who could barely read or write. Yet he was extremely ambitious. In the evening his wife taught him to read and write. And from there his political career took off, from mayor of his town to governor to Vice President and finally President.
Q. Who was the first President to play Little League baseball?
A. George W. Bush, for the Midland, Texas, Cubs from 1954 to 1958. His coach, Frank Ittner, now 94 years old, recalls Bush as a fine defensive catcher who needed work on his hitting.
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