46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 7: Hoover to Kennedy

In honor of Presidents Day.

31.  HERBERT HOOVER  (1929-1933)

An Iowa native who spent part of his boyhood in Oregon, Hoover was the first president from west of the  Mississippi River.

32.  FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT  (193-1945)

  The longest serving president claimed to be distantly related to eleven other presidents, including his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt.

33.  HARRY S. TRUMAN (1945-1953)

The "S" in his name was just an initial; it didn't stand for any name.  (The "S" in Ulysses S. Grant's name didn't stand for anything either.)

34.  DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER  (1953-1961)

World War II hero, "Ike" was the first president to ride in a helicopter.

35.  JOHN F. KENNEDY  (1961-1963)

After being injured and honorably discharged in World War II, he was briefly employed as a journalist during the closing weeks of the war.

--DaCootPres

Some More 2020 Deaths: Shula, George, Christo, Unseld, Smith, Reiner

Deaths in May and June.

DON SHULA, 90

He won the most games of any NFL coach and led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in league history.  Died May 4.

PHYLLLIS GEORGE, 70

Former Miss America who became a female sportscasting pioneer on CBS' "The NFL Today."  Died May 14.

CHRISTO, 84

He was known for ephemeral public art projects that often involved wrapping large structures in fabric.  Died May 31.

WES UNSELD, 74

The workmanlike Hall of Fame center who led Washington to its only NBA championship.  Died June 2.

JEAN KENNEDY SMITH, 92

Last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy.  Died June 2.

CARL REINER, 98

Writer, actor, director who rose to comedy's front ranks as creator of "The Dick Van Dyke Show."  Died June 29.

Those Presidents in Order from Shortest Terms to Less Than Four Years

So, here's the short list:

8.  WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON  9th President   (March-April 1841)  Served exactly one month.

7.  JAMES A. GARFIELD    20th President   (March-September 1881)  He and Harrison only presidents to serve less than a year.


6.  ZACHARY TAYLOR   12th president  (March 1849-July 1850)   Served one year, four months and five days.

5.  WARREN G. HARDING    29th President  (March 1921-August 1923)


4.  GERALD FORD   38th  President   (August 1974-January 1977)

3.  MILLARD FILLMORE   13th President    (July 1850-March 1853)


2.  JOHN F. KENNEDY   35th President    (January 1961-November 1963)   Served two years and ten months.

1.  CHESTER A. ARTHUR   21st President   (September 1881-March 1885)

So, Now You Know.  --CootPres

U.S. Presidents Who Served Less Than Four Years-- Part 5: Kennedy and Arthur

JOHN F. KENNEDY  (January 1961-November 22, 1963)

Arguably, the best-known president on this list, John F. Kennedy served as the 35th president.  At age 43, he was the youngest person ever elected.  His biggest challenge was the Cold War with the Soviet Union and faced crisis after crisis, including the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In addition to the international crises, he was in poor health, despite  maintaining an image of youthful vigor.  He served for two years and ten months and was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR  (September 1881-March 1885)

When President James A. Garfield was assassinated on his way to New England in 1881, Vice President  Chester A. Arthur became president.  Initially unpopular, he gained points with the American public by introducing the Pendleton  Civil Service Act, that held  federal employment would be based on merit instead of  political party affiliations.

Suffering fro  a kidney-related disease, the 21st president  managed to finish his partial term of three years and five months before moving to New York City and dying the following year.

--CootPres

U.S. Presidents Who Served for Under Four Years-- Part 1

From the May 30, 2020, World Atlas by Nathaniel Whelan.

**  Shortly after his inauguration, William Henry Harrison developed pneumonia and died on April 4, 1841, exactly one month into his first term.

**  After serving as president for two years and ten months, John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

**  Suffering from a kidney-related disease, Chester A. Arthur managed to finish his partial term of three years and five months.

A typical term of an American president is four years, with an additional four years for reelection.  However, there have been a handful of men who have served less than four years.

I'll be listing the eight shortest serving presidents, starting with the shortest in upcoming posts.

--Cooter

America's Long Line of Presidential Military Heroes-- Part 3: Eisenhower to Kennedy

As the presidency is by definition a political position, the issue of exactly what kind of a military service a president had becomes important.  Seeing combat is the general measure of worth, but not always.  Dwight Eisenhower, the first World War II veteran elected president, graduated from West Point in 1915 and was never under fire during his nearly 40-year military career, yet that was not held against the Supreme Allied Commander.

Ike was in the Army; six of the seven other World War II-era presidents were in the Navy, starting with John Kennedy, who turned his heroism aboard PT-109 into a best-selling book that helped rocket him to the presidency.

Lyndon Johnson was already a congressman when he entered the Naval Reserve -- there is some question whether his sole moment of combat experience and resulting Silver Star was real or prevarication.

I wrote several posts about Johnson getting his Silver Star in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  WW II blog in 2015.  Go to it and click the Lyndon Johnson tag in the labels section.

--Cooter

Eleven Fascinating Numbers About Apollo 11-- Part 1: 363

From CBS 19 by Arthur Pittman.

Here are some obscure and not so obscure numbers about the mission.

Obviously 7-20-69.

2,978--  Before a joint  session of  Congress, Pres. John F. Kennedy made a declaration on May  25, 1961, to get a man on the Moon.  It happened this many days later.

400,000--  The estimated number of men and women involved in getting this to happen.

1--  Just one movie, "Hidden Figures," that showed the role of women, especially black women, in getting it done.

363--  The Saturn V rocket that carried them off Earth stood this tall in feet.  There is a Saturn 1B rocket at the Alabama border on I-65 if you want to get an idea of how big of a rocket it is.  It is huge.

6,200,000--  Number of pounds it weighed fully fueled.

More to Come.  --Cooter

Man on the Moon-- Part 1: 11 Things You Might Not Know

From the Latest Breaking News "11 Things You Never Knew About Apollo 11."

1.  Did Neil Armstrong put his dead daughter's bracelet on the Moon?  He was out of sight and communication for three minutes while on the moon.

2.  President Kennedy didn't really care that much about the Moon.  In the public he was all gung-ho about it, but wanted to get there before the Soviet Union.

3.  The Apollo 11 team had to sell their autographs to secure insurance for the mission.  Sitting on a flaming rocket propelling into space was not a safe insurance for providers.  To cover insurance, they signed a lot of envelopes and would have their buddies postmark them for July 20, 1969.

These envelopes have sold for as much as $28,500.

--Cooter

Kennedy Auction Back in 2013

From the Feb. 18, 2013, Yahoo! News "JFK birthday card from son, other items auctioned off for up to $2 million" by Daniel Loverwig.

The auction ended Monday.

In it, a birthday card from his son went for $17,000.

A flag flown on Kennedy's motorcade limo went for $55,000.

The seal that hung above the aide's desk in the West Wing-- $17,000.

Kennedy's Air Force One bomber jacket was expected to go for between $20,000 and $40,000, but went for $570,000.  This was found in the home of David Powers who was close to JFK from 1946 to the assassination.

There were also books inscribed by the president.

--Cooter

Back Brace May Have Cost JFK His Life

From the Nov. 18, 2013, Yahoo! News "Doctor: Back Brace may have cost JFK his life" by Jay Hart.

President Kennedy was plagued by severe back pains much of his life and had to take shots and pills for it. It was so bad, he couldn't put his left sock and show without help.

When the president arrived at Dallas' Parkland Hospital that day, Dr. Kenneth Saylor, then 27 and a resident, was the doctor on duty. Kennedy was still breathing in a "sort of agonal, labored, close-to-your-last sort of breath."

He was wearing a corset-like brace which Saylor believes cost the president his life.

"The first shot that hit him went through the soft tissue of the back of his shoulder and exited through his trachea. That same bullet went through John Connally's chest, through his right hand and into his thigh and knocked him completely down in the car."

Connally immediately slumped over and the Zapruder film shows Kennedy didn't. He remained upright and the second shot struck him in the head, the fatal blow. Kennedy had remained upright because of the brace. If he too had slumped over, perhaps the second shot wouldn't have hit him.

Makes Sense to Me.

JFK's Dallas Limo

ABC World News.

That limo "remains one of the most powerful symbols of his final hours. The 1961 4-door Lincoln Continental is now at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

It had no armor that day but was refurbished and remained in the presidential auto fleet until the 1970s.

It had a removable roof and bubble top, but it had been removed that day in Dallas after the rain cleared as President Kennedy didn't like it. Standing White House orders were to remove the top anytime the weather permitted. However, it wasn't bullet-proof.

Now there is near-silence when people see it. Everyone's images of that day include this car. People can't help to think, "What if the car was moving faster?" "What if the top had been on?"

The car had been flown out from D.C. on a cargo plane accompanying the president's plane. (I know as I asked one of the people at the Air Force Museum this past Nov. 22nd if the limo had been ferried by JFK's Air Force One, which is at the museum, the other iconic image of the assassination). I didn't think a 747's cargo bay was big enough to hold a limo like that.

After the assassination, the limo was brought back to Washington where the Secret Service and FBI intensely studied every square inch of it. It was then refurbished with titanium armor and a permanent top.

It was code-named X-100 and is painted a midnight blue.

Clint Hill, the First Lady's Secret Service Agent that day, will revisit the limo and will be at the car November 22nd. (Was he the one that climbed up on the trunk when Jackie Kennedy appeared to be crawling out of the car?)

A Real Piece of History.

On JFK's Air Force One Fifty Years Later

I was already going to be driving to North Carolina for Thanksgiving anyway and passing by Dayton, Ohio. I had just found out that the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB had the original JFK Air Force One. I figured that would be a great way to commemorate the event by visiting it and hopefully either seeing it or, even better, going on board.

I met my buddy Denny at the museum and we were one of the last ones to get seats on the bus out to what they call the Presidential Hangar which has planes used by FDR, Truman and, of course, JFK's Air Force One.

When we got to the hangar, everyone rushed AF1, so Denny and I took a walk around the research and development planes until the line went away at JFK's plane. Not only did we see the outside of the plane, but we also got to go on it. I went through twice, first taking video of it from my VHS-C camcorder and then a second time to take still pictures.

We saw where the LBJ swearing in took place in that famous photo with Jackie Kennedy standing next to him and also saw the seats that were cut away to allow JFK's casket to be flown back to D.C.. Most caskets would have been relegated to the cargo hold but that wouldn't do for a presidential one.

Sadly, though, plexi-glass lined the hallway and it was difficult to take pictures, but,I WAS THERE WHERE ALL THOSE EVENTS TOOK PLACE FIFTY YEARS AGO TO THE DAY. One man in the group was an expert on all things dealing with the assassination and he said that we were on the plane at the same time JFK would have been on it when he took the short flight from Fort Worth to Dallas back on November 22, 1963.

That Close to History!!

My Recollections on JFK's Assassination

I'll be on the road this Friday, November 22nd, and not sure if I'll have internet access. I do hope to be at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, northeast of Dayton, Ohio, where I hope to see and go in to Kennedy's Air Force One, which was very much a part of that day.

But, back to my memories of the day and days afterwards. I was a seventh grader in Mrs. Banie's social studies class when the principal came in and told us. Some of the girls started crying, but I just sat there, along with most of the boys, with no expression.

Mrs. Banie talked about it some then went on with our lesson. I know we were quite excited when we were told there would be no school for some of next week (I think three days).

Once home, all you saw on our five TV stations was news about the assassination. I was kind of disappointed that nothing else was on. But, watched a lot of it.

The only thing that really got me was the funeral procession and those muffled drums and that cadence they beat out. Even today, when I hear it, I tear up.

"I Could Stay Here Forever:" JFK Picked His Final Resting Place

From Yahoo! News.

A half-century ago "grief and hope were made tangible in the glow of a flame" lighted by Jackie Kennedy in her final official act as First Lady. The Eternal Flame was her idea.

Section 45 is on a steep hillside leading up to Robert E. Lee's Arlington House and not the spot you'd necessarily think would be right for a president to be buried. But, just eight months before the sad event in Dallas, President Kennedy visited Arlington National Cemetery, one of his favorite spots, and taking in the view from the house said, "I could stay here forever." His wife remembered his words and decided to have him buried there so he can belong to the people.

Just 24-hours before the burial, Jackie Kennedy decided she wanted an eternal flame. Most didn't even know what she was talking about at the time, but making one was turned over to Army Col. Clayton Lyle and Lt. Col. Bernard Carroll, who decided to model it after a Hawaiian tiki torch. To light it, they had a piece of wire with a big wad of cloth dipped in kerosene. It worked on the day of the funeral and burial on November 25th.

Those assigned to stand by the grave also had to always have a book of matches on them as the wind often extinguished the flame as did a nun once while blessing it with too much Holy Water.

Huge crowds attended the burial ceremony that day.

The Flame underwent its first major renovation just a few years ago and still operates on the same principle. I always thought they had put in a gas pipe to the grave.

There Sure Is a Lot of Stuff Out About the JFK Assassination Anniversary

There are plenty of those special $10-$12 magazines in the racks at stores (I bought one) and plenty of articles in the papers about different aspects...and rightfully so. This was my generation's Pearl Harbor and later generations 9-11.

I wish that my teachers back then had made us write a report about how it affected us. The last five years I taught, my seventh graders had to write a report about them, their families and 9-11. And, I taught seventh graders every year for 33 years and I was in seventh grade when it happened. I even had my kids that day, write about it in class as we listened to the radio. It is so important to write these things down, especially while it is happening or as soon as possible afterwards.

Fifty Years Ago, That's Half a Century. Has It Been That Long?

Ten Facts You Didn't Know About the JFK Assassination-- Part 4

3. Were there really "MYSTERIOUS DEATHS?" The rumor went around that many witnesses died under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps there was a secret "hit squad" silencing people. However, many died long after their ceremony, most of heart disease which is the #1 killer anyway.

2. There was no "FOURTH SHOT" from the grassy knoll. The Warren Commission ruled that there were only three shots. Several years later, the House Select Committee on Assassination indicated a possible fourth shot coming from the knoll, but 12 acoustic experts have ruled that out. And, the "fourth shot," if it happened at all, came a minute after Oswald's shots and by then the motorcade was well on its way to the hospital.

1. The REAL KILLER of JFK, depends on the decade. In the 1960s, it was the Soviets. In the 1970s it was the CIA and in the 80s, The Mob. It would seem that JFK's killer is whomever we are the most afraid of at the time.

Ten Facts You Don't Know About JFK's Assassination-- Part 3

5. KENNEDY'S FAMILY chose to keep secrets as well. They kept his hospital and autopsy records under wraps which gave the perception that the family had something to hide.

4. The government isn't keeping very many JFK secrets and won't keep any at all for much longer. Oliver Stone's "JFK" film did lead to declassification of 97% of the documents. The other 3% will be declassified in 2017 unless the then-serving president decides to continue them under wraps.

A Really Sad Time.

Ten Facts That You Don't Know About JFK's Assassination-- Part 2

8. OLIVER STONE'S "JFK" mixed fact and fiction.

7. There was no 'MAGIC BULLET." This idea holds that a single bullet changed direction twice in JFK's body then hit Texas Governor John Connally and emerged pristine. It couldn't have happened and a bullet was flat on one side.

6. The U.S. ERRED in keeping its investigation secret. It was held behind closed doors which is a major problem of all the speculation.

Ten Facts You Didn't Know About the JFK Assassination-- Part 1

From the Nov. 10, 2013, Yahoo! News by Jay Busbee.

The 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination is this Friday, November 22nd. Jay Busbee interviewed author Brad Meltzer for this list:

10. The WINDOW from which Kennedy was shot in the Texas Book Depository Building went missing six years later. Gen. D. Harold Byrd, owner of the building had it removed, framed and hung in his mansion. Another story has it that Aubry Mayhew, who later owned the building, said Byrd had removed the wrong window. He removed the correct window and did the same thing. Both windows ended up for sale on e-Bay, but Mayhew's is the real one.

9. PLENTY OF SHOOTERS HAVE RECREATED OSWALD'S SHOTS. At the time of the shooting, it was believed that no other shooters could fire off three shots from that type of rifle in less than 6.75 seconds. But, according to the Warren Commission, one shooter fired off three shots in 4.6 seconds and eleven averaged three shots in 5.6 seconds. Plus, military marksmen are trained to hit targets at between 200-500 yards away. Oswald's first shot was at 59 yards and the last at 89 yards.

A Big Piece of the JFK Assassination: Air Force One

From the November 10, 2013, Chicago Tribune "JFK's plane at museum"

With a photo of the plane and people coming out of it so evidently you can go inside which makes it even better. "As we approach the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, solemn observances obviously will be many in Washington and Dallas, where he was shot.

But for those looking for a relic integral to that day in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963, visit the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, six miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio.

There in the museum gallery is the Air Force One that carried Kennedy to Dallas that day, then carried his body back to Washington that night.

It's also where Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office in the presence of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, her clothes still stained with her husband's blood.

More at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil."

That oath of office is a very famous photograph. This is also where the Final Toast of the Doolittle Raiders took place last Saturday.

I am thinking of visiting the museum this coming Friday which not only is November 22nd, but also occurs on the same day of the week as the assassination fifty years ago. It will be a connection with that long-ago event.