Song of the Day

Denial

I am in denial about a lot of things.

First, I will deny that my oldest child is wearing one of those green jerseys. Really, he's not.   

I'm also going to deny that my precious baby girl recently turned ten...



Ouch!  

Been busy around here........stay tuned.

SW

The Wife

Because I am still on a presidential history jag and the Legislature has not gone into a special session...yet, I thought I'd give you a little spin on Martin Van Buren's wife.

Well, his late wife.  

Hannah Van Buren was also of Dutch origin, but was born in New York and the first, "First Lady" to be born an American citizen.  Although she only spoke Dutch with Martin at home, Hannah still considered it to be her first language and English her second. 

Hannah and Martin were childhood sweethearts but waited until Martin had finished school to marry at the ripe old age of twenty-four!  Did I mention they were first cousins, once removed? Well, it's true.  They were.

Hannah and Martin were busy.  Hannah gave birth to six children in ten years with only four of the boys surviving into adulthood. It would appear that Hannah never quite fully recovered after her sixth child (can you blame her?), and became ill with what was thought to be tuberculosis.  She died ten years prior to Martin being sworn in as President leaving him to raise four young sons alone.  

Not much has ever really been written about Hannah.  Martin did not mention her in his autobiography and there is only an obituary and some letters written by her church (Presbyterian) clergy that mention her kind heart and empathy for the poor.

Nonetheless, historians still consider Hannah Van Buren as the "First Lady" of this administration simply because Martin never re-married.  Personally, I'm thinking Hannah would have been relieved to miss most of Martin's political career seeing that he was a shrewed political professional, voted out of office and given the nick name, "Martin Van Ruin".  I'm also sure she would NOT have enjoyed cleaning up the White House after Andrew Jackson, the party animal, who apparently trashed the place. I'm just saying...

SW

#8

That portrait from yesterday would be of our 8th President, Martin Van Buren, (1837-1841). I have never really known much about this guy, other than when I get to his spot in the line-up, I begin to stumble over which president comes next. So, I decided to do a little presidential research thinking that knowledge is power and now maybe I can keep reciting presidents...in order.  

Yeah, we'll see about that.  

Anyway, Martin here has a rather interesting history. Martin Van Buren was the first president to actually be born an American citizen.  He was also the first president to come from the state of New York and of Dutch ancestry no less.  (All of his predecessors in office had been of British decent.) Dutch was also Van Buren's first language and English his second, which I find rather interesting considering he was our first president to be BORN an American citizen.

Van Buren worked his way up the ladder in New York and national politics eventually serving as Secretary of  State under Andrew Jackson.  He became one of Jackson's most trusted advisers and the vice presidential candidate on Jackson's successful re-election ticket. 

 As president however, he presided over one of the worst economic recessions in our country's history, the Panic of 1837, and his handling of the crisis earned him the nickname "Martin Van Ruin".  Consequently,  Van Buren was unable to win re-election.

Van Buren, while not glorified in history books was widely recognized as a key political party operator of his time and a pivotal organizer of the Democratic Party and the two party system in place today.

Just a little back to school presidential history.
SW

I  found some of this information on the White House web site in a section for presidential history, but I think the University of Virginia has a much more interesting and detailed presidential history site. Just my personal opinion, though. 

Presidential Trivia -The Answers

1. In American History, only four presidents have been elected while they were serving as vice president. Can you name them?

The Answer: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren and George H.W. Bush.  Note:  The Senator's son informed me that Harry Truman was actually serving as Vice President when he succeeded FDR who died less than three months into his fourth term. Cool.

2. Which President served non-consecutive terms?

The Answer:  Grover Cleveland was elected in 1884 and 1892, but was beaten by Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Clearly, an interesting time in our history!

3. Which President was the "Bachelor President"?

The Answer: James Buchanan. Alone among American presidents, he never married. Hmmm, not gonna go there, but here is a portrait of our 15th President.  You decide. He was also expelled from college so I'm thinking there's a good story here.




4. How many presidents were sons of presidents?

The Answer:  Two.  John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush

5. Why was the White House painted white?

The Answer: The president's house was painted white to cover the scorch marks left by its burning in 1814 by British troops.

6. Who was the only president who had been Speaker of the House of Representatives?

The Answer: The 11th president, James K. Polk

7. How many served both as Secretary of State and president?

The Answer: There were six: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan. Obviously, in our early history, this cabinet post was considered a stepping stone to the presidency.

8. Who was the first president to travel outside the continental United States while in office?

The Answer: Woodrow Wilson became the first globe-trotting chief executive when he led the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

9. Who was the youngest man to become president?

The Answer: Theodore Roosevelt was 42 when he assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination in 1901.

10. Five presidents in our history were never elected president. Which presidents achieved the presidency only by succession?

The Answer: John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur and Gerald Ford.

Oh - extra credit if you can name the president in the photo up top.....

SW

Peace

Northeastern Oklahoma!

Presidential Pop Quiz

Because we're in the back to school mode around here........see how well you fare with this presidential history quiz?

Seriously, this is what we do for fun around here...well, that and talk about health care reform.

Good Luck!

1. In American History, only four presidents have been elected while they were serving as vice president. Can you name them?

2. Which President served non-consecutive terms?

3. Which President was the "Bachelor President"?

4. How many presidents were sons of presidents?

5. Why was the White House painted white?

6. Who was the only president who had been Speaker of the House of Representatives?

7. How many served both as Secretary of State and president?

8. Who was the first president to travel outside the continental United States while in office?

9. Who was the youngest man to become president?

10. Five presidents in our history were never elected president. Which presidents achieved the presidency only by succession?

Answers will be posted this weekend...or as soon as the Senator scores a 100%.

SW

Viva La Taylor!

I am not familiar with the artist in this music video, Jon Schmidt, but a good friend of mine in Oregon (2006 Oregon Young Mother of the Year) posted this on Facebook and I'm sharing it this morning.  

Talk about amazing creativity, talent and vision... to be able to combine Viva La Vida, by Coldplay and Taylor Swift's Love Story...which, by the way, the Senator just informed me are his two favorite songs right now. Perfect for a gorgeous Sunday morning.

Enjoy!

Digital Duplicates

I have been sorting through and organizing the hundreds and hundreds of photos I have accumulated since purchasing a rocking digital camera last year. It is overwhelming actually at how many photos I seem to take of the SAME THING!

Here are a few of the empty beach photos.... 

  


I suppose the hot, humid and sunny beach day photo is not the same as the rainy day beach photo.....



And, then there are the numerous photos of the Senator's daughter.

This was last year's beach photo.

And, again. Same time next year.

The subject matter might have aged over the past twelve months, but the sand and surf.......not so sure!

Then there are the campaign photos....

Hundreds and hundreds of campaign out takes.  I must have at least fifty photos of this similar shot....

And this one....




Do you think anyone would notice if we used these same campaign photos next time around?

Just kidding...sort of.

SW