The President Whom No One Voted For

[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.

[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.