Just in time for the Easter season, the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, loved jelly beans so much that he used to keep a bowl of them on his desk. In this article, you will also learn interesting facts about the only presidents that died inside the White House, as well as the infamous nicknames given to the likes of Andrew Jackson, Calvin Coolidge, and others.
When Bill Clinton was in high school, he had an opportunity to shake hands with President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden. Little did he know at that time that he would someday become President of the United States.
The President of the United States to take to the air in a plane while they were in office was Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943.
The first President of the United States to receive a pilots license with Dwight Eisenhower. It was issued on November 30th, 1939.
The only presidents to die inside the White House were William Henry Harrison in 1841 and Zachary Taylor in 1850.
The only President of the United States buried in Washington, DC is Woodrow Wilson (the 28th), whose body is at the Washington Cathedral.
On April 30, 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first President to appear on black and white television when the opening ceremonies for the World’s Fair were broadcasted. However, the first President to give an address from the White House on television was Harry S. Truman , on October 5, 1947. Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to appear on color television on June 6, 1955. He was appearing at his 40th class reunion at the U.S. military academy at West Point.
In 1891, Benjamin Harrison became the first president to have electric lights in the White House. During his presidency, the first Christmas tree at the White House was put up.
The first President to ever run against a female candidate was Ulysses S Grant, who went up against Virginia Woodhull in 1872. She belonged to the “Equal Rights Party”.
Before Lyndon Baines Johnson became the 36th President of the United States, he ran away from home at the age of 15 , making his way to California where he worked as a grape picker and auto mechanic.
Eight presidents were actually born as British subjects, which included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, and William Harrison.
While Ronald Reagan had a career in acting, there was one President that tried his hand at modeling. Did you know that the 38th President of the United States (Gerald Ford) modeled for Cosmopolitan and Look magazines during the 1940’s?
Not all Presidents of the United States were college graduates, as eight never attended higher education. This included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Grover Cleveland. As for the college that has produced the most presidential alumni, Harvard is a winner with seven former Presidents of the United States, which includes John Adams and his son, Teddy Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.