Bio Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce became president at a time of what seemed on the surface like domestic tranquillity. The United States, by...
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Bio John Tyler
Dubbed "His Accidency" by his detractors, John Tyler was the first vice president to be elevated to the office of...
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Bio Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore became president upon the death of Zachary Taylor in July 1850. Born in the Finger Lakes country of New...
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Bio Lucy Hayes
There was no inaugural ball in 1877. When Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife left Ohio for Washington, the outcome of...
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Bio Zachary Taylor
Northeners and southerners disputed sharply whether the territories wrested from Mexico should be opened to slavery, and some southerners even...
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Bio Florence Harding
Daughter of the richest man in a small town, Florence Mabel Kling was born in Marion, Ohio, in 1860, and grew...
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Bio Martin Van Buren
Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his amiability...
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Book the Decatur House
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Inauguration of 1861
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed soon after. In...
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Presidents and the Potomac
For the politicians, civil servants, and accompanying citizenry of the new federal government—freshly arrived in 1800 from comfortable, sophisticated Philadelphia—the...
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Rules of Engagement
Shortly before Secretary of Congress Thomson arrived at Mount Vernon in April 1789 to announce that George Washington had been elected...
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The White House Collection: George Washington
“It is of very great importance to fix the taste of our Country properly, and I think your Example will go...
