From the first American president to the 45th, here are some interesting facts that you were never taught in school. Wonder why?
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1. George Washington
An ultra-successful liquor distributor in the new country. He made rye whiskey, apple brandy and peach brandy in his Mount Vernon distillery.
2. John Adams
He was overweight, and some people called him by the nickname “His Rotundity.”
3. Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson and John Adams paid a visit to William Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1786. There, they chipped off a piece from Shakespeare’s chair as a souvenir.
4. James Madison
James Madison was Princeton University’s first graduate student.
5. James Monroe
Monrovia, the capital of the Liberia, is named after James Monroe. He supported the American Colonization Society in its work to create a home for freed slaves in Liberia.
6. John Quincy Adams
Enjoyed skinny-dipping in the Potomac River in the early mornings.
7. Andrew Jackson
He was involved in as many as 100 duels, most of which were fought to defend the honor of his wife, Rachel.
8. Martin Van Buren
He blocked the admission of Texas to the Union.
9. William H. Harrison
Harrison’s supporters gave away booze during his presidential campaign.
10. John Tyler
He had 15 children, more than any other president. Two of his grandsons are still alive today.
11. James K. Polk
The tradition of playing the song “Hail to the Chief” started while Polk was president.
12. Zachary Taylor
He was often disheveled, wore a straw hat, and sometimes wore farm clothes under his officer’s jacket.
13. Millard Fillmore
Fillmore’s first wife, Abigail Powers, was his teacher while he was a 19-year-old student at the New Hope Academy in New York.
14. Franklin Pierce
Pierce was arrested for running over a woman with his horse. Charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
15. James Buchanan
James Buchanan regularly bought slaves in Washington, D.C. and quietly freed them in Pennsylvania.
16. Abraham Lincoln
As a young man, and a wrestler, he was only defeated once out of approximately 300 matches.
17. Andrew Johnson
Johnson apprenticed as a tailor. He never stopped making his own suits.
18. Ulysses S. Grant
After a great military victory at the Battle of Shiloh, citizens sent him more than 10,000 boxes of cigars as gratitude. He died of throat cancer in 1885.
9. Rutherford B. Hayes
He was the only president to have been wounded in the Civil War — not once, but four times. Four horses were shot down from beneath him.
20. James A. Garfield
He could write Latin with one hand and Greek with the other at the same time.
21. Chester A. Arthur
Because of his desire for attire, he had the nickname “Elegant Arthur.” Also, he owned 80 pairs of pants. 162 shirts. 46 pairs of shoes.
22. Grover Cleveland
While serving as sheriff of Erie County, N.Y., he had to spring the trap at a hanging on two occasions. This earned him the unflattering nickname “Buffalo Hangman.”
23. Benjamin Harrison
Once, over a period of 30 days, Harrison made 140 completely different speeches.
24. Grover Cleveland
Tumor that was removed from the roof of his mouth, resides at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.
25. William McKinley
Always wore a red carnation on his lapel as a good luck charm. While greeting a line of people in 1901, he gave the flower to a little girl. Seconds later, he was shot by an assassin, and died eight days later.
26. Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt was blind in one eye after a boxing injury in the White House.
27. William H. Taft
He was the largest president in American history. He was once got himself wedged into the White House bathtub and had to call his advisers for help getting out.
28. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson’s face is on the $100,000 bill. The bills were mainly designed for trade between Federal Reserve banks, but fell out of use with the invention of the wire transfer.
29. Warren G. Harding
He wore size 19 shoes, making the largest feet of any U.S. president.
30. Calvin Coolidge
Occasionally pressing all the staff buttons in the Oval Office, and hide to watch his staff run in.
31. Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover’s son had two pet alligators, which were occasionally permitted to run loose throughout the White House.
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, was his fifth cousin. She was also the niece of Theodore Roosevelt.
33. Harry S. Truman
The “S” in Truman’s full name doesn’t stand for anything. His parents couldn’t decide on a middle name for over a month, so they settled on the letter “S”.
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
He installed a putting green at the White House and played more than 800 rounds while in office — exceeding the record of any other president.
35. John F. Kennedy
A huge James Bond fan, he met Ian Fleming, at a dinner party in 1960. They bounced around ideas about how to get rid of Fidel Castro.
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
He taught for nine months at a segregated school for Mexican-American children south of San Antonio.
37. Richard M. Nixon
In China, the most well-known Western names are Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon.
38. Gerald R. Ford
He worked as a fashion model during college, appearing on the cover of Cosmopolitan.
39. Jimmy Carter
Carter filed a report for a UFO sighting in 1973.
40. Ronald Reagan
In 1940, the University of California bestowed Reagan with the Most Nearly Perfect Male Figure Award. The prize was the opportunity to pose nearly nude for an art class learning to sculpt the human body.
41. George H. W. Bush
Bush was the first sitting vice president to be elected president since Martin van Buren in 1836.
42. Bill Clinton
He ranked in facial symmetry alongside male models.
43. George W. Bush
During his senior year of high school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., he was captain of the cheerleading team.
44. Barack Obama
Obama’s high school nickname on the basketball team was “Barry O’Bomber,” which he earned due to his awesome jump shot.
45. Donald Trump
His family’s name was originally Drumpf or Drumpft but changed to Trump when the Thirty Years’ War occurred in the 1600s.
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