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What was it like to grow up in a home where some of the most important political decisions are being made at the same time as you are trying to pass your driver's license exam? We all remember our childhood firsts, but for most of us, these quintessential memories did not take place in one of the country's most famous
Death plagues us all: it is the only certainty in life and plays an integral role in the human experience. When a loved one perishes, it is their survivors who are left to pick up the pieces. In a time of mourning, grief-stricken loved ones turn to a plethora of coping mechanisms, and over time the way we mourn has
Just after midnight on April 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison died after only thirty-one days in office. At daybreak on April 5th, Vice President John Tyler received a knock on his door in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was visiting family. Fletcher Webster, the son of Secretary of State Daniel Webster, delivered the news of the president’s death. By dawn on April 6th
Not long after she became First Lady, Pat Nixon was asked what she planned to focus on in her new role. Her response was simple: “People are my project.”1Mrs. Nixon did not want to be constrained by selecting one specific project. Instead, she wanted the latitude to pursue various projects that directly helped people.As First Lady, Mrs. Nixon trav
The Eisenhower Family Home is located in the heart of the Midwest—Abilene, Kansas—and is part of the complex known as the Eisenhower Center. The 23 acre center includes the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, a repository for the papers of the thirty-fourth president of the United States; the Eisenhower Museum; the Visitors Center; and the Place of Meditation, where Dwig
The White House has many holiday traditions, some of which are historic and others more recent. New arrivals to the Executive Mansion often bring unique familial rituals that they celebrate alongside time-tested White House and presidential customs. During the holiday season, the president and first lady participate in public traditions such as receiving a tree for the Blue Room, lighting
Okay – so he didn’t exactly go to the beach but he did spend four long vacations on the Virginia coast indulging in sea air, privacy, and “bathing.” Close enough! In 1829, during the first summer of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, he went on an inspection tour of several military projects around Norfolk, Virginia. One of the places he visited was a man-made
William Johnson accompanied Abraham Lincoln on the journey from Illinois to Washington, where Lincoln would take the helm of a nation engulfed in crisis. Lincoln hoped Johnson, who was African American, would work as his personal attendant in the White House, but the existing staff had other ideas. They refused to work with Johnson, an outsider with a particularly dark