Charles Willson Peale-- Part 3: Not That Painting, That Museum

And, by the way, that painting of Washington which Dolley Madison supposedly saved from the White House was not by Charles Willson Peale.  It was by Gilbert Stuart.  Just in case you're wondering.

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Peale was quite the Renaissance Man as he knew a lot about a lot of things.  He not only had expertise in painting, but also many other fields like carpentry, dentistry,  optometry, shoemaking and taxidermy.  Around 1804, he obtained  the American patent  rights to the polygraph (creates a copy of writing) from its inventor John Isaac Hawkins.

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The Peale Museum

He also had a great interest in natural history and organized the first U.S. scientific expedition in 1801.  That led to his founding of  what became the Philadelphia Museum, later known as  Peale's American Museum.  After his death, his museum failed and was sold to showmen P.T. Barnum and Moses Kimball.

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Peale had ten children, most of them named after his favorite artists.  Three of them became noted artists:  Rembrandt Peale,  Raphaelle Peale and Titian Ramsay Peale.

--CootPeale

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 5: Arthur to McKinley

Well, since today IS actually Presidents Day.

In Honor of Presidents Day this Monday.

21.  CHESTER A. ARTHUR  (1881-1885)

Arthur was named  in honor of Chester  Abell, the doctor who delivered him.

22 AND 24.  GROVER CLEVELAND  (1885-1889) and (1893-1897)

No president except Cleveland has ever served non-consecutive terms:  He defeated  James g. Blaine in 1884, lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888(despite winning the popular vote), and then came back to defeat Harrison in 1892.

23.  BENJAMIN HARRISON  (1889-1893)

He was the first president to hire a female White House staffer.

25.  WILLIAM McKINLEY  (1897-1901)

His likeness appears on the $500 bill, which was discontinued in 1969.

--CootPres

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 4: Lincoln to Garfield

16. ABRAHAM LINCOLN  (1861-1865)

"Honest Abe," the tallest president at 6'4", may have had Marfan  Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes people to be  very tall, thin and long-limbed.

17.  ANDREW JOHNSON  (1865-1869)

Though one of the few presidents without a pet, Johnson apparently cared for a family of White House mice, which he called "the little fellows."

18.  ULYSSES S. GRANT  (1869-1877)

Civil War General Grant had been invited by the Lincolns to join them at Ford's Theatre on that fateful evening of April 14, 1865,  but was forced to  decline when he and his wife made plans to visit their children in New Jersey.  (I have heard it was mostly because Grant's wife hated Mrs. Lincoln.)

19.  RUTHERFORD B. HAYES (1877-1881)

Hayes was the first president to have a telephone in the White House.

20.  JAMES A. GARFIELD  (1881)

He was the first-known left-handed president and was elected to the U.S. Senate, but never served as Ohio senator because he then won the Republican nomination for president.

--DaCootPres

A Timeline of 9/11-- Part 4: Flight 77 Crashes Into the Pentagon and South Tower Collapses

Times are Eastern.

**  9:21 am:  The New York Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area.

**  9:24 The FAA notifies NEADS of the suspected  hijacking of Flight  77 after some passengers and crew aboard the aircraft are able to contact family members on the ground.

**  9:31:  Speaking from Florida, President Bush calls the events in New York City an "apparent terrorist attack on our country."

9:37:  Terrorists aboard Flight 77 crash the plane into the western facade of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 civilian and military personnel inside the building.

9:42:  For the first time in history, the FAA grounds  all flights over the continental United States.  Over the next two and a half hours, some 3,300 commercial flights and 1,200 private planes are guided to land in airports in Canada and the United States.

9:45:  Among escalating rumors of other attacks, the White House and U.S. Capitol building are evacuated along with numerous other high-profile buildings, landmarks and public spaces.

9:59:  The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

I conducted my regular class schedule for first period.  It ended at 8:45 am (9:45 Eastern) and that is when I learned about what was going on from another teacher.  I went back inside the room (we had to watch the halls during passing time) and tried to get reception on my 12-inch black and white TV, but couldn't, so turned on the radio.

Second period started at 8:50.  We listened to that radio and talked about what had happened the rest of the day in my next four classes.

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 2: "Bearded Guys, Old Civil War Soldiers"

The presidential egg roll started under President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy in 1878.  President Benjamin Harrison's wife, First Lady Caroline Harrison placed the first White House Christmas tree in 1889 and initiated the tradition of White House china collections.

"Many of the different things that we take for granted in some respects when we hear about them on the news, were actually started by presidents from Ohio," Shererer said.

It was era, the Gilded Age, whose presidents are largely forgotten, said Dustin McLochlin, historian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, Ohio.

"They're bearded guys, old Civil War soldiers and generals when the presidency wasn't as powerful as it is today," he said.    "What the Ohio presidents really speak to, if you're going to talk about them as a whole, is it's an era when Ohio is so important to winning an election, particularly to the Republican Party."

--CootGild

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 1: Easter Egg Roll and the War Room

From the October 9, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Eyeing a Time Buckeye State bred presidents" by Julie Carr Smyth, AP.

Commanders in chief who hail from Ohio star in exhibit.

Lancaster, Ohio

Ohio had a formidable run of early U.S. presidents who established many of the White House's enduring traditions from the frolicsome Easter Egg Roll to the presidential war room.

This is explored in a new exhibit in Lancaster, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus in the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio.  The exhibit is called "The Ohio Presidents Surprising Legacies" which opened in September and ran until the end of the year.  Sorry, you missed it.

The exhibit showcases a roughly 80-year period beginning in 1840.

"We are highlighting some of the things about their lives and careers that are not typically known by the general public," said curator Christine Fowler Sherarer.  "We've tried to find the fun facts and things that aren't common knowledge."

--CootEye

Presidential Perks-- Part 4

Finishing up the this topic.


WHITE HOUSE WINGS

The president gets the West Wing, where the Oval Office is (and I always thought it was in the White House), with a view of the Rose Garden (good for those thorny issues).   Also in the West Wing (I liked the TV show) is his top staff, usually about 18. 

The first lady gets the East Wing.  Both wings extend from the White House, which is the residence only.  She has an office with several staff assistant offices.


RECREATION

A putting green on the South Lawn; a gym in the White House; and the circular drive on the South Lawn is rubberized for aerobic walking.  The pool was removed to make room for the media briefing room in the West Wing.  (And, I'd heard something about a bowling alley and a movie theater.)


ELEVATOR

A paneled and mirrored private elevator is in the residence manned by a fellow who tells select visitors, "Welcome to the presidential elevator."  (Not having ever been invited, I can't attest to this, however.)


NEWSPAPERS

Each morning the Bushes had several newspapers delivered, which they liked to read in bed.  (Wow, getting news the old-fashioned way.  Perhaps the current president gets his his a teleprompter.)

Of Course, I Have to Wonder Why Anyone Would Ever Want the Job.  --Cooter

Presidential Perks-- Part 3

CAMP DAVID

The presidential retreat in the woods atop the Catoctin Mountains in Maryland, about an hour's car drive away from Washington, but usually reached by helicopter.  Elevation 1500 feet.  Opened with the name Shangri-La, but President Eisenhower renamed it Camp David.


HELICOPTERS

Has access to a fleet of helicopters.  The one the president is on is referred to as Marine One.  The helicopters fly three at a time, with the president on one and the other two decoys.  The Marines have a contract out to replace these with even more sophisticated and expensive ones.


CUISINE

The White House has a fully staffed kitchen with a head chef, pastry chef and more.  The White House Mess in the basement of the West Wing is a men's club like restaurant with paneling and service by a formally attired Navy staff.  Navy bean soup is a specialty.


EXPENSES

$100,000 given each term for decoration or redecoration of the residence and Oval Office.  The First Family also can set up an outside fund through the White House Historical Association to help cover additional costs.

Good Job If You Can Get It.  --Cooter

The Oval Office-- Part 3

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

1880--  THE RESOLUTE DESK is given to Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria of England as a thank-you for the safe return of the HMS Resolute, which provided the wood for the desk.

1902--  THEODORE ROOSEVELT builds the West Wing, fitting it with a rectangular office that predates the Oval Office.

1929--  HERBERT HOOVER'S OVAL OFFICE is destroyed by a fire on Christmas Eve.  The blaze started in another room.


1934--  FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT  moves the Oval office to the southeast corner of the White Houseand installs the famous trapdoor in the Resolute desk.  (I'll have to find out some more on that trapdoor.)

Gonna Have to Find Out Some More About the Resolute Desk.  --Cooter

The Oval Office-- Part 2

William Howard Taft made it into an oval in honor of a symbolic feature of George Washington's Philadelphia residence where the first president would stand surrounded by a circle of guests, allowing him to democratically greet each visitor from the same distance.  The office was moved to its current location in the southeast corner of the White House in 1934.

Presidents have made their mark on the Oval Office (except Jimmy Carter, who kept Ford's decor).  LBJ installed a bank of televisions.  The Resolute desk has been used by 21 of the past 24 presidents.  President Truman had his famous "The Buck Stops Here (reverse said "I'm From Missouri")" on this desk.  This is also where Nixon made his secret tapes amd Clinton had his Monica Lewinsky trysts in adjoining rooms.

The Oval Office is where presidents bring the country together as Reagan did after the Challenger disaster and Bush did after 9-11.

A Room With a View Next.  --Cooter

The Oval Office-- Part 1

From the Nov. 24, 2008, Time Magazine's A Brief History Of: The Oval Office.

Always an interesting bit of history based on something currently happening.  This one was President Obama taking over it.

INSIDE THE OFFICE:

FLAGS:  The U.S. and presidential flags hand for all presidents.
TABLE: Personal items
DESK: Traditionaly, the 1880 HMS Resolute desk
RUG:  Each president has their own.  The last Bush's looked like a sun.
FLOORING:  Originally made of cork, later linoleum, now wood.

One of the best-known rooms in the world and an enduring symbol of the presidency.  Before the 1930s, the Oval Office was in a different part of the White House and before that, wasn't even oval.

In 1902, President Theordore Roosevely built a rectangular room on the ground floor of the new West Wing, replacing offices on the second floor of the White House. 

Glad It's Oval Now.  The Rectangle Office Just Doesn't Have the Sound.  --Cooter

White House Gone to the...Dogs, Cats, Ponies, and Cows

Well, one cow.

The Obamas new pet dog, Bo, is one neat looking Portuguese Water Dog that he got as a gift from Senator Kennedy. Hopefully, with a name like water dog, it can swim.

Anyway, the Chicago Tribune internet had photos of other presidential pooches and pets.

Going back to Teddy Roosevelt First Family and pet name:

George W. Bush-- Barney (the biter) and Spot
Clintons-- Buddy and Socks the cat (I see Socks just died)
George H.W. Bush-- Millie (my favorite White House dog)
Reagans- Rex
Carters-- Grits
Fords-- Liberty
Nixons-- King Timahoe, Pasha, Vickie and Checkers while VP
Johnsons-- Blanco and two beagles: Him and Her (ear-pulling)
Kennedys-- Caroline had two ponies: Macaroni and Tex
FDR-- Fala
Hoovers-- King Tut
Coolidges-- Rob Roy
Hardings-- Laddie Boy
Tafts-- a pet cow
Teddy Roosevelts-- pony Algonquin

Here Spot! --Cooter