John Quincy Adams The White House grounds which John Quincy Adams inherited upon his inauguration on March 4, 1825, were stark and chaotic. A budding botanist, John Q. determined to rectify the mess. Eleven years earlier, President James Madison was driven out of the White House during the War of…
On holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans’ Day, we often give lip service only to what these days represent. It’s easy to forget the sacrifices of those in American history, which enable us to enjoy a family cookout with no thought of those service men and…
Abraham Lincoln Mention inventions and presidents in the same breath, and Thomas Jefferson springs to mind. Indeed, he invented more things than any other president. Some of his inventions had a world-wide impact, such as his redesign of the plow. Jefferson never applied for a single patent, however, believing that…
George A. Hormel George A. Hormel, the founder of Hormel Foods, opened a small retail butcher shop in Austin, MN, on May 16th, 120 years ago, a mere seed of what was to germinate. At the same time, he fertilized grand plans for an innovation which broke ground in the…
John C. Calhoun Is South Carolina the most independent-minded of our fifty states? The answer might be yes. Not only was it the first to secede from the Union in 1860, fulfilling its promise on the election of Lincoln months before Lincoln was inaugurated, but it had considered and threatened…
After funerals in a dozen or more cities between Washington and Springfield, three weeks after that madman Booth destroyed the nation’s last best hope, the Great Man rolled into town in a special railroad car, gently borne on a million spirits. A million heads bared, a million knees bent, a…
Thomas Jefferson The United States of America had barely set up a permanent government when its legislators, the Congress, determined that an in-house reference library was necessary to assist the senators and representatives of the two Houses to prepare materials for debates and legislation. Two hundred and eleven years ago…
This week, Massachusetts and Maine celebrate Patriots’ Day to honor those who stood up to face the world’s finest army in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. In the 236 years which have intervened, this historical event has spawned endless cultural activities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which chronicle…
It was on the Ides of March in 1820 (191 years ago this week) that Maine became the 23rd of the United States, part of the Missouri Compromise. (This Congressional agreement between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions involved primarily the regulation of the expansion of slavery into the western territories….
This week celebrates the 182nd anniversary of the birth of Carl Schurz. The name of Carl Schurz means little to most Americans today, but one hundred years ago, it was synonymous with integrity. This German immigrant advised presidents from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt, and his power and public voice were…
