Questions tagged [president]
A president is a head of republican state. The term can also refer to leader of organization, institution or community.
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Have there been any other US presidents besides JFK that were groomed from birth to be president?
I know it was Joe Jr who was groomed, and then JFK took his place after Jr's death.
"From a very young age, Kennedy was groomed by his father and predicted to be the first Roman Catholic US ...
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Was the first use of glass teleprompters in Lyndon Johnson’s speech to the UN’s 20th anniversary celebration? (1965)
I came across a short video recording of his speech at c-span.org
I was surprised by the appearance of the sleek glass devices that appear to be teleprompters beside the podium. They appear almost ...
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Will we ever get anything like the LBJ & Nixon White House recordings for contemporary presidents?
There are fantastic recordings of Lyndon Johnson's phone calls where for instance he discusses his apprehensions about Vietnam with Robert Macnamara. Likewise we have recordings of Richard Nixon ...
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What is the history of the tradition of the out-going president attending the inauguration of his successor?
I understand that for a long time it has been customary that when a president of the United States is succeeded, he sits near the president-elect at the inauguration before the president-elect is ...
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234 views
Did Argentine President Juan Peron grant free access to the radio, the press and two soccer stadiums to a preacher called Tommy Hicks in 1954?
The title is a summary of claims I've read from several informal sources. For example, this site claims:
It was in this environment that Tommy Hicks was welcomed into the presidential office. After ...
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Can anyone tell me about this old portrait of George Washington?
I’ve searched online, and can’t seem to find this exact portrait of him. There are always differences in the ruffles, lips, nose, etc. Also, what type of print is this and roughly how old is it?
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Has any U.S. Vice President not been nominated as presidential candiate although he ran as candiate? [closed]
The nomination process for US presidential candidates favors incumbents. This seems also to be true for Vice Presidents (e.g. George H. W. Bush, Gore). Have any Vice Presidents not been nominated ...
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What U.S. President said “It's fiction, stupid!”?
In the epilogue to his final book in the “Space Odyssey” saga: 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997), Arthur C. Clarke writes:
And if any readers of the earlier books feel disoriented by such
transmutations,...
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Which head of state had the most gaps in their rule?
Inspired by this question, which head of state in history has had the largest number of non-consecutive periods of rule? One answer on that question has given Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd as an ...
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Why did Teddy Roosevelt have his second wedding in London? [closed]
Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Carow in 1886 at St George's, Hanover Square, London
Both of them were New Yorkers being raised at Union Square.
At the time of his marriage he was just reentering NY ...
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Why was Reagan sworn in twice for his second term?
I was looking at Wikipedia's article on Justice Potter Stewart and was surprised to read:
On January 20 and 21, 1985, Stewart administered the oath of office for Vice President George H. W. Bush.
(...
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Has any U.S. Vice President cast a tie-breaking vote against their own administration?
The US Constitution says the Vice President of the United States may only vote in the Senate to break a tie.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have ...
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Why wasn't Grover Cleveland chided more gratingly for marrying his 21 y.o. wife when he was 49? [closed]
I'm surprised the public or Cleveland's opponents (Republicans) didn't castigate his marriage with Frances Folsom on June 2 1886 when she was 21. This age difference in 2020 would attract castigation,...
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Is there any truth to this story about Coolidge?
I read years ago the following story: A couple were driving through Vermont and saw, on a day that threatened rain, a farmer moving hay into a barn. It was apparently normal in those days to help ...
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What words were spoken about oaths by US supreme court justices presiding over previous presidential impeachments?
The motivation for my Politics SE question US Chief Justice Roberts' choices of “in conformity with” and “in conformance with” during the swearing in at the Senate includes my assumption that the ...
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Was there ever a president of the united states related to more than 1 other president?
I know that george bush and his father were presidents, as well as John Adams (I think), is there any president of the USA who was biologically related to 2 or more other presidents?
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Collaboration between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter after the 1980 election
After Ronald Reagan defeated the incumbent Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, in the midst of the crisis of a large group of American diplomats being held hostage in Iran, it was obvious that they ...
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Has the United States ever had a non-Christian President?
If Bernie Sanders won the 2020 election, he would be the first Jewish POTUS in American history, regardless of how 'cultural' his Judaism may be. Given this, would his being the first Jewish POTUS ...
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Has any country ever had 2 former presidents in jail simultaneously?
I suspect that today, this achievement has been granted for the first time to Brazil, with the arresting of Michel Temer, and considering that Lula da Silva is still under arrest.
It is normally big ...
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Was 2019 the first state of the union to have sung happy birthday?
I watched the state of the union and they sang the happy birthday song to the holocaust survivor because it was his birthday. Has something like this ever happened before?
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What did Harry Truman think about the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution?
The American Presidential succession process is interesting in that it starts off in the executive branch (with the VP), moves to the legislative branch (Speaker of the House, then President Pro Tem), ...
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What is this medal that LBJ is wearing?
This photo shows President Lyndon Johnson wearing a medal that I can't ID:
(LBJ, Westmoreland, and Air Force One. ¿In New Orleans?)
LBJ supposedly won the Silver Star in WW2, but that looks ...
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Who was the real first president of the United states of america? [duplicate]
Me and a colleague are arguing about the actual first president. He says the first was actually president of the continental Congress. My view is that after the constitution was ratified is when the ...
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Does the Presidential term occurring after a death in office have a name (USA specifically)?
I'm working on a project involving US Presidents and their term dates etc. If a President dies in office, how is the new President's term until the next election year referred to? Is it simply 'The ...
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How was Washington and Jefferson's relationship in Dec 1799?
Bottom Line Up Front(BLUF)
George Washington died December 14th, 1799.
My question is what are some examples that demonstrate this period when these two preeminent founding fathers were bitter ...
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Did Andrew Jackson threaten to kill the Vice President?
In my Government and Politics class the other day, we were taught that Andrew Jackson threatened to kill the vice president. This sounded a bit odd to me so I wrote it in my notes and resolved to look ...
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American presidents on secession legality?
I am writing article (in Russian) on secession legality, and would like to include and analyze expressed opinions of antebellum American Presidents on the subject.
My favorite is Andrew Jackson’s ...
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3answers
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How was President Andrew Jackson able to eliminate U.S national debt in 1835?
How was President Andrew Jackson able to eliminate U.S national debt in 1835?
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118 views
What's the relation of FDR and Wilson to War on Terror/terrorism? [closed]
In House of Cards, Frank Underwood brings up FDR and Wilson when saying that he wants to declare war on ICO (fictional terrorist group possibly related to ISIS). What's the relation please? I mean, ...
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Did a senator try to oust Woodrow Wilson from office?
The book "Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die" by Garret M. Graff contains the following passage:
When Wilson left America for the ...
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1answer
143 views
Which US Presidents travelled around the world?
Shortly after President Grant left office, he went on a round-the-world journey, with stops all over Europe, in Russia, through the Suez Canal, to China and Japan, arriving in San Francisco and then ...
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Can anyone verify this story about the President's driver?
I remember hearing a story that I believe was either President Roosevelt or President Truman which involved his driver. There was a crash or incident because of his driver's error or negligence. After ...
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Holders of what offices are usually used to inaugurate the new head of state in various countries? [closed]
In the USA it is the Chief Justice of the United States. In Russia it is the Chairman or the Central Electoral Commission. In Byzantine Empire it was the Patriarch. What are other examples? What are ...
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Who were the chief executives of the United States in the thirteen years before George Washington? [duplicate]
Fully thirteen years passed after the Declaration of Independence before George Washington became President—first under Congress, then under the Articles of Confederation. It's a famous trivia fact ...
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Why did Roosevelt and Truman change the usual switch date of presidency? (4th of March to 20th of January)
Before Roosevelt, all Presidents started and ended their time in office on 4th of March (excluding, of course, deaths). Roosevelt himself took the office on March 4, 1933.
I don't understand why ...
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Other than Mr. Putin, has there been occassion of an ex-secret agent becoming the primary executive power holder?
In the modern era, are there people who were secret agents before they started to play politics and get elected as the primary executive power holder such, as but not limited to, the position of ...
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Why was Franklin D. Roosevelt pro-intervention?
In the lead-up to WW2, most Americans were in favor of neutrality and isolation. President Roosevelt, however, was privately in favor of intervention.
One paragraph from Wikipedia summarizes it ...
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Why did South Carolina continue to select their Presidential Electors by legislative choice until after the Civil War?
Looking back through a history of the electoral college, many of the states did not at first actually have a popular vote to decide the electors for president. Instead many states chose electors by ...
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657 views
Why is the US Independent in 1776 but the first President isn't inaugurated until 1789? [closed]
I'm reading a book1 covering the events around The Independence of United States from Britain, which happened on 4th July in 1776. However, the first US president was George Washington and he was in ...
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Was George Washington the thirteenth president? [closed]
I recently read in a book called Contrary to Popular Belief that George Washington was in fact the thirteenth president of the US. Is there any truth to this?
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Organizing the 1788 presidential and congressional elections
In 1788 the new Constitution of the United States went into effect in the states that had ratified it, and that meant elections had to be organized for representatives in Congress and for members of ...
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On what accomplishments does Theodore Roosevelt's present day reputation rest?
Teddy Roosevelt appears on Mount Rushmore, and Wikipedia's Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States page reveals almost unanimous love for Teddy. But why? From what I know about his time ...
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At what point were the most current and former US Presidents alive?
At what year or parts of years were the most current (meaning in office) and former Presidents of the United States alive? It seems that 1833 to 1836 had the most current, former, and future ...
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Was the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson a "media circus"?
I recently watched a History Channel special on presidents during the Reconstruction era, where various historians describe the Andrew Johnson impeachment trial as a "media circus" comparable to the ...
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What's the story behind this photo of hikers who brought white plague cure to President Wilson?
"LOS ANGELES HIKERS WHO BROUGHT WHITE PLAGUE CURE TO PRESIDENT WILSON. AT WHITE HOUSE"
I stumbled upon this interesting photo at the United States Library of Congress site, which seems to refer to ...
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Why did Taft write a one cent check on his first day as Chief Justice?
I was looking at William Howard Taft's Wikipedia page, and among other things was a $0.01 check drafted by him on his first day as Chief Justice of the United States.
The check has ended up at the ...
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Why didn't Henry A. Wallace become President in 1945?
Henry A. Wallace was Roosevelt's vice-president during WWII. Shortly before Roosevelt's death (82 days) following a slow decline in health, the Conservative wing of the Democratic Party started an ...
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Why did Thomas Hendricks win the majority of Horace Greeley's electoral votes in 1872?
In researching my answer to Can electors "flip the ticket?", I re-examined the results of the election of 1872. As stated in that answer, 1872 was an interesting election, not for the result (Grant ...
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Were any other members of the Kennedy (Political) family affected by Addison's disease?
Besides JFK, are there any known Addison's sufferers in the Kennedy political family?
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Did Jefferson and Washington smoke weed?
According to this document (page 26, §1):
Like all farmers, Washington probably sampled the quality and potency
of what he grew, and he may have used this hemp to treat his chronic
tooth aches. ...
