Influential Figures Lost in March 2022-- Part 4: Delgado, Gurt, Cavazos, Young and Albright

MARCH

EMILIO DELGADO, 81

**  Actor and singer who for 45 years was a warm and familiar presence in children's lives and a rare Latino face on American TV as fix-it shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street.  Died March 10.

WILLIAM HURT, 71

**  His laconic charisma and self-assured subtlety as an actor made him one of 1980s leading men in movies such as "Broadcast News," "Body Heat" and "The Big Chill."  Died March 13.

LAURO CAVAZOS, 95

A Texas ranch foreman's son who rose to become the first Latino to serve in a presidential cabinet as US Secretary of Education during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.  Died March 15.

DON YOUNG, 88

**  The Alaska congressman was the longest-serving Republican in the history of the US House.  Died March 18.

MADELINE ALBRIGHT, 84

**  A child refugee from Nazi and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe who rose to become the first female Secretary of State and a mentor to many current and former American statesmen and women.  Died March 23.

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 9: Bush to Biden

41.  GEORGE H.W. BUSH  (1989-1993)

While a student at Yale University, Bush was captain of the baseball team and a member of the Skull and Bones, an elite secret student society.

42.  BILL CLINTON  (1993-2001)

Clinton played the saxophone and famously on the Arsenio Hall show when he was a candidate for president.

43.  GEORGE W. BUSH (2001-2009)

Post-presidency,  he took up oil painting, exhibiting his work  at the Museum of Southwest Texas.

44.  BARACK OBAMA (2009-2017)

Prior to becoming the first black president, he won two Grammy Awards for "Best Spoken Word Album."  His wife, Michelle, has also won a Grammy.

45.  DONALD J. TRUMP  (2017-2021)

Before becoming president, he  was a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice."

46.  JOE BIDEN (2021-present)

He overcame a debilitating  childhood stutter after enduring bullying in grade school.

--CootPres

U.S. Presidents Descended From Pilgrims

The General Society of Mayflower descendants, an association for people with proven Pilgrim descent, figures that some 10 million people in he United States and 35 million around the world can claim legitimate Pilgrim ancestry.

The Mayflower Society lists 51 Mayflower Pilgrims as possible ancestors.  If you can trace your lineage to any of them, you can become a card carrying member of them.

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PRESIDENTS

If you are a Mayflower descendant, you're among illustrious company.

According to the Mayflower Society, nine U.S. presidents are descended from Mayflower Pilgrims:

John Adams

John Quincy Adams (of course)

Zachary Taylor

Ulysses S. Grant

James A. Garfield

Calvin Coolidge

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (What, no Theodore Roosevelt?)

George H.W. Bush

George W. Bush (of course)

--CootPres

America's Long Line of Military Heroes-- Part 5: The Vietnam War Era

The hugely unpopular Vietnam War can be seen as causing a break between the presidency and the military service, which stopped being an automatic boon it once was.

War hero George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton, who sat out the Vietnam War in Oxford.  John Kerry fought with honor in Vietnam yet his experience was turned against him by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," and he lost in 2004 to George W. Bush, whose tenure in the Texas Air National Guard was is minimal that some question can be raised whether he is entitled to call himself a veteran.

Then, the next president was Barack Obama with no military connection at all.

--CootPres

America's Long Line of Presidential Military Heroes-- Part 4: More World War II Presidents

World War II presidents, continued.

Richard Nixon, Navy,  began the war in Iowa, despite its lack of a coast, then was transferred to the Pacific where he never saw action either.  Gerald Ford was on an aircraft carrier and won ten battle stars.  Jimmy Carter was still a cadet at the U.S. Naval Academy during WW II and served on submarines and battleships in the late 1940s and 1950s and never saw action.

Ronald Reagan , who many thing never served, enlisted in the Army in 1942 but was classified 4F due to bad eyesight and remained stateside.

Of course, there was also George H.W. Bush, who flew planes off the USS San Jacinto aircraft carrier during the war and almost lost his life when he was shot down.  The other man in his plane did die.  Bush was rescued by a submarine.

--GreGen

George H.W. Bush Among a Long Line of American Presidential Military Heroes-- Part 1: George Washington Was the First

From the December 3, 2018, Chicago Sun-Times by Neil Steinberg.

The first president of the United States was a military man.  George Washington not only led the Continental Army during the American Revolution, but also fought in the French and Indian War.  As a matter of fact, 26 of our 44 presidents served the country in uniform in some capacity.

With the death Friday of George H.W. Bush, the most recent military president, this is a good time to take a look at the link between the armed forces and the Oval Office.

Washington was followed by two decades of non-veterans.  Washington left office in 1797, and the next military man to be sworn in was James Monroe in 1817, who had dropped out of William & Mary College to fight in the American Revolution in 1775 and was wounded in the Battle of Harlem Heights.

James Madison, while not in the military, saw more combat than many who were in the military and this will be discussed later.

--Cooter

Oldest Presidents on Inauguration Day

From the same source as them previous post.

10.  Gerald R. Ford  61 years

9.  John Adams  61 years, 4 months

8.  Andrew Jackson  61 years, 11 months

7.  Dwight Eisenhower  62 years

6.  Zachary Taylor  64 years, 3 months

5.  George H.W. Bush 64 years, 6 months

4.  James Buchanan  65 years

3.  William Harrison  68 years

2.  Ronald Reagan  68 years

1.  Donald Trump  70 years

--DaCootPress

Longest Living Presidents

From the May 2, 2019, Kenosha (Wis.) News

10.  Richard Nixon   81 years

9.  Thomas Jefferson  83 years

8.  James Madison  85 years

7.  Harry S. Truman  88 years

6.  Herbert Hoover  90 years, 71 days

5.  John Adams  90 years, 248 days

4.  Ronald Reagan  93 years, 119 days

3.  Gerald Ford  93 years, 165 days

2.  George H.W. Bush  94 years, 171 days

1.  Jimmy Carter  94 years and counting

This past summer, Jimmy and Rosalyn celebrated their 73rd year of marriage.  No trophy wife for him.  Probably the most sincere and honorable president we've had since Harry S. Truman.

And, I Met Him When he Was Governor.  --Cooter

The 41st President, George H.K. Bush: Shot Down Over Chichijima

Since President Bush's burial will take place today in College Station, Texas, where his presidential and vice presidential libraries are located (as well as his vice president during his term, Dan Quayle).

From Wikipedia.

GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

While he was president, he was called just George Bush, but after his son was elected, he was referred to as George H.W. Bush, Bush 41, or George Bush Sr..

I am writing about his World War II service in most of my blogs today.

George Bush piloted one of his torpedo squadron's Grumman TBM Avengers when they attacked Japanese installations on Chichijima on September 2, 1944.  His crew included  Radioman 2nd Class John Delaney and Lt. (jg) William White.  His aircraft was hit by flak during the attack, but Bush successfully released bombs and had several hits.

With his engines ablaze, he flew several miles from the island where he and one of the other crewmen bailed out.  The other one's parachute did not open.