Warren Harding Worst President

Warren Harding Worst President, A lot of presidential memoirs, they say, are dull and self-serving. I hope mine is interesting and self-serving.

– President Bill Clinton

A Presidents Day quiz for your Presidents Day weekend.

See if you can name these chief executives, who all visited Augusta at some point in their lives.

Three Williams

1. This president played golf here, remembered a friend here, and cast a large shadow everywhere.

2. This president came by twice, once before and once after his election. Was attorney general of his home state, later known for legal troubles of his own.

3. Famous for his minimal effort at campaigning, this president died in office but not before an Augusta visit that included an enormous crowd.

Three horsemen

4. Considered one of the best horsemen of his era. He got lots of practice, much of it under fire and in retreat.

5. Wounded as a young man in one of America’s most famous battles, he actually rode into Augusta on horseback to inspect our military facilities.

6. Rode with royalty. Liked to project a strong Western image. Still popular.

Two golfers

7. He came to Augusta so often to play that a residence was named for him. But so was a tree.

8. This one played golf in Aiken but watched baseball in Augusta.

Two educators

9. An overachieving Southern school teacher, his trip to Augusta did not go well. He was heckled.

10. The son of a preacher, a lawyer by training, he first gained notice as a college president, not a politician.

Answers

1. Big (330-340 pounds) Bill Taft honored his aide Archibald Butt with a bridge dedication.

2. Bill Clinton.

3. William McKinley campaigned from his front porch, but kept his election running smoothly by using the telephone.

4. George Washington.

5. James Monroe was wounded as a young soldier after crossing the Delaware and attacking Trenton.

6. Ronald Reagan rode with Queen Elizabeth.

7. That would be Ike. President Eisenhower loved to stay at Augusta National Golf Club. He did not love the pine tree on hole No. 17, which seemed to thwart his game.

8. Warren G. Harding, the only newspaper editor to be elected to the White House and (don’t laugh) considered one of our worst presidents.

9. Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texas teacher who became a legend in the U.S. Senate, was taunted during his local visit in 1964 because of his civil rights position.

10. That would be our “local boy” Woodrow Wilson, who grew up on Seventh Street near his father’s First Presbyterian Church. He went on to become president of Princeton University.

Why not drop by his old house Monday for a tour?

WILSON HOUSE
In honor of Presidents Day, admission discounts will be offered at The Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson on Monday.

A Return To Normalcy

A Return To Normalcy, “A return to normalcy” (i.e. a return to the way of life before World War I) was United States presidential candidate Warren G. Harding’s campaign promise in the election of 1920. Although detractors believed that the word was a neologism as well as a malapropism coined by Harding (as opposed to the more accepted term normality), there was contemporary discussion and evidence found that normalcy had been listed in dictionaries as far back as 1857.

Most Scandalous President

Most Scandalous President, This president was forced to resign his presidency in 1974, due to the Watergate scandal. Who was he?

Richard Nixon. President Nixon resigned his presidency rather than face impeachment in 1974.

Which president created a mild scandal in the British press, when he kissed Queen Elizabeth II on the cheek?

Jimmy Carter. Apparently, no one told President Carter that the Queen does not accept kisses as a way of greeting. It must have been a slow day in the British press for this to have made the news.

This president’s term(s) were wrought with scandals. Though not all, they included Travelgate, Whitewater, a sexual harrassment suit, and sex with a White House intern. Who was this president?

Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was the second president to have been impeached by Congress. He had already been elected at the time, however was not removed from office. Andrew Johnson was also impeached, he however was not elected to the office of the presidency, but assumed it after Lincoln was killed.

This president used his power to keep his private secretary, Orville Babcock, and his Secretary of War, William Belknap, from going to jail after they were implicated in several graft scandals.

Ulysses Grant. Though apparently not involved himself, Grant used his power to keep others who were guilty in graft scandals from going to jail. During his presidency there were additional scandals regarding the gold market and its manipulation and illegal reconstruction deals. His presidency is often thought to have been the most scandalous ever.

This president was involved with the Teapot Dome Scandal. He was also forced to admit to having an illegitimate child, after the press uncovered the details of his affair with a young woman.

Warren Harding. The Teapot Dome Scandal involved the illegal leasing of naval oil reserves to private companies.

Most of the scandalous details regarding this president, have come out after he ceased office. He was said to be romantically involved with a Mafia boss’ girlfriend who was spying on him, numerous actresses, and now even a 19 year old intern. This was all going on during his presidency, with much of it happening right at the White House.

John Kennedy. As the myth of “Camelot” gets further away in time, many historians are revising their view on his presidency. Many link his character flaws of infidelity to other flaws in his presidency, including the Bay of Pigs disaster.

This president caused quite a stir with many of the nation’s farmers when he stated his dislike over a certain vegetable.

George Bush. ‘Broccoligate’ caused many broccoli farmers to get unhappy when George Bush stated that he hated it. However all was forgiven, when with good humor President Bush accepted a truck load of the stuff at the White House.

This president refuted the rumors that he was romantically involved with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Still, there was whispers about it amongst the capitol during his presidency.

Thomas Jefferson. Due to recent DNA testing, many believe that Jefferson did indeed have a romantic relationship with his slave. He is also reputed to have fathered at least one of her children, if not all of them.

The moral character of this president came under fire when it was revealed that his wife, Rachel Robards, was not legally divorced from her first husband when she married him.

Andrew Jackson. The president and his wife were married, thinking that the divorce had gone through, when in fact it had not. They then had to wait until her divorce was finalized, and then they remarried.

This president’s election was considered fraudulant by many and not legal. Especially after the two candidates declared victory in several of the same states. Neither candidate won the majority of the electoral votes. Hint: The Supreme Court did not decide this election.

Rutherford B. Hayes. The presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes began under scandal. He won the job of president as a result of a highly unusual electoral process. Hayes ran against Samuel Tilden in the 1876 election and Tilden gained 4,300,590 popular votes to Hayes’ 4,036,298, but neither man had the required 185 electoral votes (Hayes- 165, Tilden- 184) to win. The vote counts were also suspect, and both men claimed that they had won the same three states. A special bipartisan electoral commission was appointed, and by a vote of eight to seven the presidency was awarded to Hayes.