The President Whom No One Voted For

[Bruce Wrenn]

With election (mud slinging) season if full swing, how many remember the President whom no one voted for. He even got to pick his VP AFTER he was in office.

[mike stenson]

I turned 3 two days before he took office.. and I know it ;)

He wasn't even on the ticket as VP either.

[Ron Selzer]

He was a good not great man He was voted in office but not as president.
Small part of the public voted him in for a different job.


Will get off the soap box before I get in any more trouble

Ron

[Mel Fulks]

Talking about Truman ?

[Lee Schierer]

Gerald Ford. He was picked by President Nixon to replace VP Agnew, who had resigned. He became President when Nixon resigned.

[Mel Fulks]

Thanks, Lee. I was guessing Truman.

[Jim Koepke]

With election (mud slinging) season if full swing, how many remember the President whom no one voted for. He even got to pick his VP AFTER he was in office.

Easy and already answered.

What many do not realise is we have had one President who was born a King.

Some likely know the answer.

jtk

[Lee Schierer]

I'll sit this one out....

[Jim Becker]

Please keep this to history and trivia with zero political commentary per our rules, folks...if so, it could be a very interesting and educational thread.

Jim
Forum Moderator

[Brian Tymchak]

Easy and already answered.

What many do not realise is we have had one President who was born a King.

Some likely know the answer.

jtk

Same answer. Gerald Ford was born with last name of King.

[Adam Herman]

i grew up where ford did, in GR michigan. he was well respected and admired. My wife sold lemonade to his detail when they were in colorado as a kid.

[Rob Luter]

I got to shake Gerry Ford's hand at the Traverse City Cherry Festival one year. He was there for the parade and was walking the rope line. They made him out to be a clumsy doofus on Saturday Night Live. He was actually quite an athlete and accomplished snow skier.

[Bill Dufour]

I believe it was Will Rodgers who said that "I not a member of an organized political party, I'm a democrat." He was also a promoter of early aviation and when asked why his hometown did not have an airport he replied they were waiting until the high tension lines were installed so they could place it nearby.
Bill D

Hope the first one is not to political. It dates from the 1930's and still applies to any current political party.
Do not take life too seriously, you are not getting out alive.

[Bill Dufour]

I looked it up, George Washington was elected not appointed. He did no campaigning and gave no speeches and spent no money on the campaign. I have no idea who ran against him. He got all the electoral college votes.
Bil lD

[mike stenson]

I believe that would have been John Adams. Back then, the person who lost the race became the VP as I recall.

[Rod Sheridan]

Gerald Ford. He was picked by President Nixon to replace VP Agnew, who had resigned. He became President when Nixon resigned.


Amazingly, I knew that.

In Canada we don't elect our Prime Minister, they're a member of parliament who is chosen by the party as Prime Minister. I have never lived in a riding that was the same as the PM so I haven't even voted for them as MP.

Of course being Canadian, we typically follow American politics due to that old saying about the elephant and the mouse.........Rod.

[Stan Calow]

I believe that would have been John Adams. Back then, the person who lost the race became the VP as I recall.
Technically it was the person who came in second, as there were multiple parties.

[mike stenson]

Technically it was the person who came in second, as there were multiple parties.


Still, not shabby for someone who grew up in Europe. I'm pleased I remembered something :D

[Rod Sheridan]

Still, not shabby for someone who grew up in Europe. I'm pleased I remembered something :D

Hi Mike, is it a requirement that the VP be born in the US?

Regards, Rod.

[mike stenson]

Hi Mike, is it a requirement that the VP be born in the US?

Regards, Rod.

I don't think it's actually enumerated, however... since they would be in line for succession, I believe so.

I do have to say, not being able to be the President of the United States does take a huge amount of pressure off.

[Mel Fulks]

Ford was agood guy with a strange habit of bumping his head every time he got on the plane, or was it the 'copter.....
or both. Some nut who worked for him decided the best way to handle it to not let the press pool see him board.
I 'm guessing that genius went into J.C. Penney's store and asked to see a suit "like Liberace wears....but with more
glitter".

[Mel Fulks]

Hi Mike, is it a requirement that the VP be born in the US?

Regards, Rod.
Sure, constitutional requirement that the President be born in USA.
And a spare tire needs to be "properly inflated" too

[Jim Becker]

Technically it was the person who came in second, as there were multiple parties.

I hadn't realized that until watching the (excellent) Hamilton musical not long ago. It's in the story-line. It's interesting how some processes have evolved over time. Power sharing constructs still exist in Great Britain and some of the "former colonies" when they form their governments after an election.

[mike stenson]

I hadn't realized that until watching the (excellent) Hamilton musical not long ago. It's in the story-line. It's interesting how some processes have evolved over time. Power sharing constructs still exist in Great Britain and some of the "former colonies" when they form their governments after an election.

It's normal in most parliamentary democracies (which the US is NOT one of)

[Kev Williams]

Something I stumbled on accidentally the other day while looking for funny stuff for the 'levity' thread:

A certain writer of children's books was also a prolific political cartoonist (I had no idea)-- ?

[Rob Damon]

Of course all quiz questions can be answered via google.

And interesting the US went through eighteen times periods without a standing vice president! Some looks like long stretches'. I guess VP's were not that important back then.

James Madison from 1812-1813
James Madison from 1814-1817
Andrew Jackson from 1832-1833
John Tyler from 1841-1845*
Millard Fillmore from 1850-1853*
Franklin Pierce from 1853-1857
Andrew Johnson from 1865-1869*
Ulysses S. Grant from 1875-1877
Chester A. Arthur from 1881-1885*
Grover Cleveland from 1885-1889
William McKinley from 1899-1901
Theodore Roosevelt from 1901-1905
William H. Taft from 1912-1913
Calvin Coolidge from 1923-1925
Harry S. Truman from 1945-1949
Lyndon B. Johnson from 1963-1965
Richard Nixon from October 10 – December 6, 1973
Gerald Ford from August 9 – December 19, 1974

[Mel Fulks]

The story of Hamilton is interesting ,just needs some good music. The real story ,with the letters exchanged between them
show the civil formality of dueling. Today killing is so uncivil.

[mike stenson]

Of course all quiz questions can be answered via google.

And interesting the US went through eighteen times periods without a standing vice president! Some looks like long stretches'. I guess VP's were not that important back then.


There wasn't a method for replacing the VP until the 25th amendment. So that explains everything prior to 1967.

[Doug Dawson]

Of course all quiz questions can be answered via google.

And interesting the US went through eighteen times periods without a standing vice president!

Even a Vice President has to sit down sometimes. It’s a wonder anyone even takes the job, if that’s the standard. To quote Cactus Jack Garner (FDR’s first VP,) the Vice Presidency ain’t worth a warm bucket of spit. You can tell _he_ liked to sit down every now and then. As to whether he also had to sit down to pee, you’d have to consult the more unexpurgated histories of the time. FDR eventually replaced him, ostensibly for being irritable. I wonder why...

[Bill Dufour]

The vice president has to meet the qualifications to be president as far as age and citizenship.
Technically the president does not have to be born a citizen. But since 1850 or so they have had to be born a citizen. The first presidents were obviously not born citizens of a country that did not yet exist. They have to be natural born citizens meaning born in what would become the USA. Today that means born as US citizens. As long as one parent is a citizen the baby is automatically born a citizen regardless of where they are born or where they grow up.
I have no idea what happens if they reach below the vice president like to speaker of the house or president of the senate. Would they have to be a natural born citizen, what if they are not old enough. Do they get passed over or do they get the job regardless.
Bill D

[mike stenson]

Article II clearly states 'Natural born citizen'

"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President"

[Bill Dufour]

I looked it up, George Washington was elected not appointed. He did no campaigning and gave no speeches and spent no money on the campaign. I have no idea who ran against him. He got all the electoral college votes.
Bil lD

[Mel Fulks]

Adams wanted to be president ,but pretty much knew he had no chance. And decided second Prez was the way to go.

[Jim Koepke]

There is an old story told about a woman who had two sons. One went off to sea the other became Vice President. She didn't hear anything about either of them after that.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

People used to be more formal. Washington was greatly admired as a big dignified guy. Decorum meant a lot then.
He had few close friends. At some dance or "ball" a bet was made about touching GW. Can't remember whose idea it
was. But John Hancock walked up to GW put his hand on one of his shoulders and said something close to " Good evening
General, you are looking well tonight". Washington reached up ,removed the hand and stepped back ,turned and walked
away. He did not speak.

[Jim Koepke]

Into the 1950s and '60s most men dressed well, wore ties and hats to work even for non-office jobs. It has gotten much less formal since.

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

Kenendy(1960) was the first president to not wear a hat when he was sworn in.

[Mel Fulks]

Kenendy(1960) was the first president to not wear a hat when he was sworn in.

I think "in hat wearin' times" needs to be added. The early bunch didn't wear hats.

[Mel Fulks]

[QUOTE=Jim Koepke;3065161]Into the 1950s and '60s most men dressed well, wore ties and hats to work even for non-office jobs. It has gotten much less formal since.

Agree. Once they let in the "sport coat" office suits started disappearing. But many left orders to "suit them up" for
their funerals ..... " Not gonna waste it"

[Rod Sheridan]

Into the 1950s and '60s most men dressed well, wore ties and hats to work even for non-office jobs. It has gotten much less formal since.

jtk

Very true, my father grew up during the Great depression, he was a tradesman.

Grocery shopping night was Thursday, suit and tie, fedora on his head.

Times are much different now...............Rod.

[Jim Becker]

Into the 1950s and '60s most men dressed well, wore ties and hats to work even for non-office jobs. It has gotten much less formal since.

jtk

And I"m thankful for that change! I. Despise. Ties. :) :D

[andrew whicker]

I read (a long time ago) a biography on Adams. He had to have Jefferson as his VP (his seemingly mortal enemy, politically speaking). Had to be extremely awkward. It would be interesting to have that system to this day. I would imagine VP's being a little bit more active : )

What's really cool is that back when Jefferson was president you could just knock on the 'white house' door! You could literally have dinner with the sitting president. Pretty crazy. I can't remember the where's and when's of the first presidential houses, but I think it had to do with where that house was located at the time and the fact that the US was still pretty much a show with no resources.

[Jim Becker]

Andrew, I think "accessibility" was the norm for far longer than carefully guarded has been in place for the president and many other officials.

I do agree that it's an interesting thought about how things were back then when "they who came in second" automagically held the Veep roll. It would indeed present challenges with many combinations I can think of. I think that "how active/involved" the VP has been something that has been variable in recent times. Personalities in the top spot play a roll...not everyone likes or is comfortable sharing power/responsibilities to the same level and VPs get chosen for a variety of reasons. Some dive into certain very key roles and others are less involved in anything meaningful.

[mike stenson]

Jim, I agree. Just look at how it's changed in the last 20 years.

[Gary Ragatz]

Kenendy(1960) was the first president to not wear a hat when he was sworn in.

I'm not sure that's accurate. I googled for photos of presidents prior to Kennedy taking their oath of office, and couldn't find any who were wearing a hat. I think that might have been considered poor etiquette.

[Dave Zellers]

To quote Cactus Jack Garner (FDR’s first VP,) the Vice Presidency ain’t worth a warm bucket of spit.

That's the polite version. Warm bucket of pi$$ was the actual quote.

[Doug Dawson]

That's the polite version. Warm bucket of pi$$ was the actual quote.

He said it more than once, and both versions are quoted. TBH though, I don’t know which one is more polite. :^)

[Dave Zellers]

And I"m thankful for that change! I. Despise. Ties. :) :D

You've got the makings of a poem.:)

[andrew whicker]

To be honest, without Googling I don't know what powers the VP has. Is it equal to the President, but the President controls how much that person gets involved?

I don't remember Biden much as a VP, Pence is basically non-existent. The last VP that seemed to have a lot of press was Cheney. (I'm 36, so I don't have a lot to pull from: 8 year terms add up quickly.) How many times has a VP gone on to run for President?

I think of the VP as having a job much like portrayed by Julia Louis Dreyfus in Veep : )

** I hope that I can say such things above without turning this into a locked down post. I did not say anything... enticing, right? **

[Dave Zellers]

He said it more than once, and both versions are quoted. TBH though, I don’t know which one is more polite. :^)

True. I would assume the spit bucket was created for more polite audiences. Choose your bucket!

[Doug Garson]

Amazingly, I knew that.

In Canada we don't elect our Prime Minister, they're a member of parliament who is chosen by the party as Prime Minister. I have never lived in a riding that was the same as the PM so I haven't even voted for them as MP.

Of course being Canadian, we typically follow American politics due to that old saying about the elephant and the mouse.........Rod.

Actually in Canada you can become Prime Minister without running for office much less being elected (by the people). As Rod said, the PM is selected (by a vote among the members of their party) by the party in power and on at least one occasion, they have selected someone who is not a sitting member of Parliament. In typical Canadian fashion, when this happens, a junior Member of Parliament would step down in a safe riding and a by election would be held to elect the new PM. By typical Canadian fashion, I mean traditionally, the opposition parties would not run a candidate in the by election so the new PM would be guaranteed a seat. Until then he sits in the visitors gallery with the general public.

[Frederick Skelly]

There is a good book on President Ford called "Write It When I'm Gone, Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford". LINK (https://www.amazon.com/Write-When-Gone-Off-Record-ebook/dp/B000W93E5M/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23NUK6EJM6CWK&dchild=1&keywords=write+it+when+i%27m+gone&qid=1603498589&sprefix=Write+it+when+i%27m%2Caps%2C-1&sr=8-1) I found it a fascinating story and an easy read.

Here's a summary: "In 1974, Newsweek correspondent Thomas M. DeFrank was interviewing Gerald Ford when the Vice President blurted out something astonishingly indiscreet. He then extracted a promise not to publish it. "Write it when I'm dead", Ford said, and thus began a thirty-two-year relationship. During the last fifteen years of their conversations, Ford opened up to DeFrank, speaking in a way few presidents ever have. Ford discusses his experiences with his fellow presidents, the Warren Commission, and his exchanges with Bill Clinton during the latter's impeachment process. In addition, he shares his thoughts about both Bush administrations, the Iraq war." He also talks about what he perceived about Hillary Clinton and other politicians he knew in his later years.

[Dave Zellers]

I would have been 23 in 1974 and remember reading at the time, that he was chosen for VP specifically because of his integrity and the high respect he had earned among his fellow congress men and women.

[Bruce Wrenn]

When Harry Truman left office, he and Bess DROVE back to Missouri. Refused to serve on any corporate boards. Told them they weren't interested in him, but the office of POTUS, which wasn't for sale. Personally I think all should receive retirement at the end of their term, and never be allowed to work again. This would prevent them from profiting from having been in office. How many leave office, and immediately become lobbyest?

[Dave Zellers]

When Harry Truman left office, he and Bess DROVE back to Missouri. Refused to serve on any corporate boards. Told them they weren't interested in him, but the office of POTUS, which wasn't for sale. Personally I think all should receive retirement at the end of their term, and never be allowed to work again. This would prevent them from profiting from having been in office. How many leave office, and immediately become lobbyest?

YES! A five if not ten year moratorium on lobbying for EVERYONE leaving a government job would be a great law.

[Mel Fulks]

Lots of good story's about Truman. A guy had a flat tire in front of Truman's house. Truman helped him change it. Guy
says "you know, you look a lot like that SOB Truman" Truman smiled and said : "I am that SOB" and kept working.
He gave speeches with mentions about
how bad things were with Pres. Hoover. But when he needed a good engineer for a USA project he would call Hoover
and ask him to help. Hoover never refused. They got along well.
He went to Korea. An officer welcomed him and told him he would get him anything he wanted . Mentioned women.
Truman ,with loud voice rebuked him and told him "I don't run around on my Sweetheart and she doesn't run around on
me!"

[Mel Fulks]

Truman's daughter sang on a TV show and was panned by a critic. He said something about wanting to punch him in the
nose. That was pretty much an immediate public statement ,not something released years later.

[Kev Williams]

When Harry Truman left office, he and Bess DROVE back to Missouri. Refused to serve on any corporate boards. Told them they weren't interested in him, but the office of POTUS, which wasn't for sale. Personally I think all should receive retirement at the end of their term, and never be allowed to work again. This would prevent them from profiting from having been in office. How many leave office, and immediately become lobbyest?

YES! A five if not ten year moratorium on lobbying for EVERYONE leaving a government job would be a great law.

Just my flimsy opinion, but I'm thinking that "never be(ing) allowed to work again" kinda goes against that 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness' thing... no?

[Frederick Skelly]

He gave speeches with mentions about how bad things were with Pres. Hoover. But when he needed a good engineer for a USA project he would call Hoover
and ask him to help. Hoover never refused. They got along well.

Yes they did. I dont remember Mr. Truman mouthing off about Mr. Hoover, but maybe it was campaign rhetoric. It wouldn't surprise me. (That kind of campaign mouthing off caused the riff between him and General Eisenhower.) But Mr. Truman did go out of his way to help rebuild Mr. Hoover's self image - pulling him in for multiple consultations while he was President.

[mike stenson]

Just my flimsy opinion, but I'm thinking that "never be(ing) allowed to work again" kinda goes against that 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness' thing... no?

Well, perhaps we should end the $200,000+/yr salary they receive and make them go back to work. I'd be ok with that.

[Dave Zellers]

Just my flimsy opinion, but I'm thinking that "never be(ing) allowed to work again" kinda goes against that 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness' thing... no?

Just lobbying. Plenty of other work to do. Selling access to government after serving in government is wrong and has gotten out of hand.

[Roger Feeley]

I’m going for David Rice Atchison. This from Wikipedia:

Purported one-day presidency[edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Rice_Atchison&action=edit&section=8)]Inauguration Day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_inauguration)—March 4—fell on a Sunday in 1849, and so President-elect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President-elect_of_the_United_States) Zachary Taylor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Taylor) did not take the presidential oath of office (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_office_of_the_President_of_the_United_Stat es) until the next day. Even so, the term of the outgoing president, James K. Polk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk), ended at noon on March 4. On March 2, outgoing vice president George M. Dallas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M._Dallas) relinquished his position as President of the Senate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presiding_Officer_of_the_United_States_Senate). Congress had previously chosen Atchison as President pro tempore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore). In 1849, according to the Presidential Succession Act (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Succession_Act) of 1792, the Senate president pro tempore immediately followed the vice president in presidential line of succession (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession). As Dallas's term also ended at noon on the 4th, and as neither Taylor nor Vice President-elect Millard Fillmore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millard_Fillmore) had been sworn-in to office on that day, it was claimed by some of Atchison's friends and colleagues that on March 4–5, 1849, Atchison was Acting President of the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_President_of_the_United_States).[22] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-1day441849-22)[23] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-23)
Historians, constitutional scholars and biographers all dismiss the claim. They point out that Atchison's Senate term had ended on March 4.[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-HistoryChannel-4) When the Senate of the new Congress convened on March 5 to allow new senators and the new vice president to take the oath of office, the secretary of the Senate called members to order, as the Senate had no president pro tempore.[22] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-1day441849-22) Furthermore, the Constitution doesn't require the President-elect to take the oath of office to hold the office, just to execute the powers. Also, as Atchison never swore the presidential oath either, he could not have acted as President.[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-HistoryChannel-4) Most historians and scholars assert that as soon as the outgoing President's term expires, the President-elect automatically assumes the office, although some claim instead that the office is vacant until the taking of the oath.[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison#cite_note-HistoryChannel-4)

the story goes that Atchison got drunk that Saturday night and slept all day Sunday so he would also have the distinction of being the only president to sleep through his entire term of office. Cynics might suggest that he was the first to sleep through hIs term of office but we won’t go there.

in Atchison Kansas, there is a Presidential Library for Atchison. It’s a shelf in the public library.

[Doug Dawson]

the story goes that Atchison got drunk that Saturday night and slept all day Sunday so he would also have the distinction of being the only president to sleep through his entire term of office. Cynics might suggest that he was the first to sleep through hIs term of office but we won’t go there.

Nobody for president, everyone for vice!

[Bruce Wrenn]

It was reported that once a reporter asked Harry a stupid question, to which he replied "Horse Manure." Later another reporter asked Bess if that bothered her. She said "No, you should hear what he used to say!"

[Ed Gibbons]

Ford was a good president.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Ford was a good president.


True, but he wasn't popular for pardoning Nixon. He did what was right for the good of the country.

[Dave Zellers]

True, but he wasn't popular for pardoning Nixon. He did what was right for the good of the country.

Yeah- I didn't agree with that decision at the time, but I acknowledged that it was his decision, not mine, and I respected his integrity.

He was absolutely a good honest universally respected man.