The Bachelor

  James Buchanan is one of the presidents unfortunate enough to be on one side of Lincoln, a president commonly remembered as a great one (well, at least among some folks). The one fact that I remember from elementary school studies is that he was the only president not to have been married, ever. There
…read more

The Old Man Eloquent

 John Quincy Adams is the son in the first US father-son presidential pair. (George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush are the other. Relatedly, William Henry Harrison was grandfather to Benjamin Harrison.) The younger Adams watched as his father performed founding-father duties. Actually, John Quincy Adams did more than watch. As a teenager he
…read more

The Good Feelings

James Monroe was the final founders-generation president. He was also the fourth Virginian to hold the nation’s highest office. Monroe is perhaps best known for the Monroe Doctrine. Back in 1823, Monroe made a speech where he said, “that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are
…read more