The Supreme

William Howard Taft was one of the first presidential biographies that I read when I decided a few years ago to embark upon a project to read a biography of each United States President. There are several things that stood out to me about him then. One of them is that he took dance lessons
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The Rough Rider

There is so much one could say about Theodore Roosevelt. That, I suppose, is something you could say about all of the faces on Mount Rushmore. Roosevelt did so many things. He overcame childhood illness. He overcame losing his mother and his wife on the same day.  You could choose to look at him as
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The Annexation

  President William McKinley is one of those presidents who stands out in a history class not because of who he was, but because his presidency marked one of those pivotal eras in American history. When you get to the McKinley unit, you’re likely to hear about how his administration set the stage for the
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The Reflection

Every time I get my hands on a book, or a set of cards (don’t judge me) that covers all of the presidents, I am very curious about how Grover Cleveland is handled. This whole only-president-to-serve-nonconsecutive-terms business complicates things. Sometimes he gets one entry that covers both of his terms. In this case, there’s usually
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The Sandwich

Whenever I have the opportunity to talk about Benjamin Harrison, I can’t resist the urge to refer to him as the meat in the Grover Cleveland sandwich. Go ahead. Take a minute; unpack that.  Benjamin Harrison could be described as a heritage president. Great, now I sound like I’m talking about turkeys.  His great-grandfather was
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The Ruth

James Buchanan both started and ended his presidency as a bachelor. Grover Cleveland entered the presidency a bachelor and left it a married man. In fact, he was the first sitting president to be married in the White House. That is the factoid about President Cleveland that takes a second place to the other fact
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The Dude

  Chester Alan Arthur never ran for president. One source describes him as being best known for succeeding  James Garfield. Others might think he should be best known for his dapper style and his righteous facial hair. Burnsides! He had burnsides, a facial hairstyle named for Civil War General Ambrose Burnside. Even the White House
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