Presidential History Geeks

Three presidents died on the 4th of July, but only one has a birthday today. John Calvin Coolidge Jr., the 30th President of the United States, was born on July 4, 1872 (148 years ago today).



Coolidge had a remarkably successful career. Born in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, Coolidge became a lawyer and began practicing law in Northampton, Massachusetts. Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, serving as a City Councillor, the City Solicitor, Clerk of Courts for the county, State Representative, State Senator, Mayor of Northampton, State Senator again, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, and finally in 1918 he became Governor of that state. His conduct during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action.

In 1920 he was selected as Warren Harding's running mate and he was elected as the 29th Vice President. Coolidge became President upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in August of 1923. He was elected in his own right as President in 1924, and he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative, and also as a man who said very little. Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity.

After he retired Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column entitled "Calvin Coolidge Says" from 1930 to 1931. Faced with obvious defeat in the 1932 presidential election, some Republicans spoke of dumping Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and drafting Coolidge to run, but Coolidge was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him. Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him.

Coolidge died suddenly from coronary thrombosis at his Northampton home known as "The Beeches", at 12:45 pm, January 5, 1933 at the age of 60.



In 2013, historian Amity Schlaes wrote a wonderful biography of the man, simply titled Coolidge, (reviewed in this community here) in which she made this assessment of him:

"Perhaps the deepest reason for Coolidge's recent obscurity is that the thirtieth president spoke a different economic language from ours. He did not say "money supply"; he said "credit." He did not say "the federal government"; he said "the national government." He did not say "private sector"; he said "commerce." He did not say "savings"; he said "thrift" or "economy." Indeed, he especially cherished the word "economy" because it came from the Greek for "household." To Coolidge the national household resembled the family household, and to her displeasure he monitored the White House housekeeper with the same vigilance that he monitored the departments of the federal government. Our modern economic lexicon and the theories behind it cannot capture Coolidge's achievements or those of his predecessor, Warren Harding.

"It is hard for modern students of economics to know what to make of a government that treated economic weakness by raising interest rates 300 basis points, cutting tax rates, and halving the federal government; so much at odds is that prescription with the antidotes to recession our own experts tend to recommend. It is harder still for modern economists to concede that that recipe, the policy for the early 1920s advocated by Coolidge and Harding, yielded growth on a scale to which we can aspire today. As early at the 1930s, Coolidge's reputation and way of thinking began their decline. Collectives and not individuals became fashionable. Sensing such shifts, Coolidge at the end of his life spoke anxiously about the "importance of the obvious." Perseverance, property rights, contracts, civility to one's opponents, silence, smaller government, trust, certainty, restraint, respect for faith, federalism, economy and thrift: these Coolidge ideals intrigue us today as well. After all, many citizens today do feel cursed by debt, their own or their government's. Knowing the details of his life may well help Americans now turn a curse to a blessing or, at the very least, find the heart to continue their own persevering."

Three of the first five Presidents of the United States died on the 4th of July. The last in this set was James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, who died at the home of his daughter Maria in New York City on July 4, 1831 (189 years ago today.) Monroe is one of my favorite Presidents, because he was so accomplished, and yet so underrated.



Monroe was the last president to be considered a Founding Father and the last president from the Virginia dynasty. He was born on April 28, 1758 in Monroe Hall, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father Spencer Monroe died when James was 16 and young James became the man of the house at an early age. He attended the College of William and Mary, but left school to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He served under George Washington and was wounded in the Battle of Trenton by a musket ball to his shoulder.

After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He was defeated by his friend James Madison, but the two men exemplify how to have a political disagreement without taking it personally. Monroe took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, as well as the release of the Marquis de Lafayette from a French prison. During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison. He predicted that the British would attack Washington, but was over-ruled by Madison's previous Secretary of War John Armstrong.

Monroe faced little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party when he ran for President in 1816 and he was easily elected, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote. As president, he bought Florida from Spain and sought to ease partisan tensions by embarking on a tour of the country that was generally well received. Under the successful diplomacy of his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, giving America harbor and fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Britain jointly occupied the Oregon Country. In addition to the acquisition of Florida, the landmark Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 secured the border of the United States along the 42nd Parallel to the Pacific Ocean. As nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" ensued. In spite of the Panic of 1819, and a dispute over the admission of Missouri which resulted in the compromise of 1820, Monroe won near-unanimous reelection in 1820.

Monroe supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia. That country's capital, Monrovia, is named in his honor. In 1823, Monroe announced that the United States would oppose any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas in what had become known as the Monroe Doctrine, a landmark in American foreign policy.

Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He had operated the family farm from 1788 to 1817, but sold it in the first year of his presidency to the University of Virginia. He served on the university's Board of Visitors almost until his death.

Monroe had racked up many debts during his years of public life. He sold off his Highland Plantation. It is now owned by his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as an historic site. He and his wife lived in Oak Hill, Virginia, until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there.

When Elizabeth died in 1830, Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who had married Samuel L. Gouverneur in the White House. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s and John Quincy Adams visited him there in April 1831. Adams found him alert and eager to discuss the situation in Europe, but in ill health. Adams cut the visit short when he thought he was tiring Monroe.



Monroe died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third president to have died on Independence Day, July 4. His death came 55 years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and 5 years after the death of two other Founding Fathers who became Presidents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Monroe was originally buried in New York at the Gouverneur family's vault in the New York City Marble Cemetery. Twenty-seven years later in 1858 his body was re-interred to the President's Circle at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Monroe is the subject of a new book by Tim McGrath. I'm 400 pages in (of 587) and will post a review of it once I have finished reading it.

On July 4, 1826 (194 years ago today), Thomas Jefferson died, on what was the 50th anniversary of his beloved Declaration of Independence, of which he was the primary author. Jefferson was the third President of the United States serving from 1801 to 1809. He was also the first Secretary of State and the founder of one of the first two political parties, then known as the Democratic Republicans, later to evolve into the Democratic Party.



Jefferson was born in Shadwell in the British Colony of Virginia on April 13, 1743 (at the time the nation was using the old Julian Calendar, and the date was marked as April 2). At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia and then served as a wartime Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. After the war ended, from mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat, stationed in Paris. In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France. Jefferson was the first United States Secretary of State from 1790 to 1793 in the Cabinet of President George Washington. In opposition to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Party, Jefferson and his close friend, James Madison, organized the Democratic-Republican Party, and he later resigned from Washington's cabinet.

Jefferson was elected Vice President in 1796, when he finished second to President John Adams of the Federalists. Jefferson opposed Adams and with Madison secretly wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which attempted to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts which were passed under Adams.

He was elected president in the hotly contested election of 1800. As President he oversaw acquisition of the vast Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, and he sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition and later three others, to explore the new west. Jefferson doubled the size of the United States during his presidency.

His second term was beset with troubles at home, such as the failed treason trial of his former Vice President Aaron Burr. Jefferson faced escalating trouble with Britain who was challenging American neutrality and threatening American shipping at sea. He tried economic warfare with his embargo laws, but these just damaged American trade. In 1803, President Jefferson initiated a process of Indian tribal removal to the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River, having opened lands for eventual American settlers. In 1807 Jefferson drafted and signed into law a bill that banned slave importation into the United States.

Jefferson was a very intelligent man. John F. Kennedy once quipped, at a White House gathering of Nobel Prize winners, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Jefferson spoke five languages and was deeply interested in science, invention, architecture, religion and philosophy and was an active member and later president of the American Philosophical Society. These interests led him to the founding of the University of Virginia after his presidency. Jefferson wrote his own version of the Bible. He designed his own large mansion on a 5,000 acre plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia, which he named Monticello, and the University of Virginia's original buildings. Jefferson was a skilled writer and corresponded with many influential people in America and Europe throughout his life.

Jefferson expressed opposition to slavery, but his actions did not match his words on this front. He owned hundreds of slaves and freed only a few of them. There were allegations that he fathered children by his slave, Sally Hemings. DNA tests in 1998, together with historical research, suggest he fathered at least one.

In his later life he resumed his friendship with John Adams and the two men enjoyed a lively correspondence together. In June of 1826 Jefferson's health took a turn for the worse and he was unable to accept an invitation to attend a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On the night of July 3rd, after sleeping, Jefferson later awoke at eight o'clock that evening and spoke his last words, "Is it the fourth yet?". His doctor replied, "It soon will be".

On July 4, at ten minutes before one o'clock in the afternoon, Jefferson died at the age of 83, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He died just a few hours before John Adams, whose own last words were said to be "Thomas Jefferson survives."



Jefferson's funeral was held July 5, performed by Reverend Charles Clay. The funeral was a simple and quiet affair, in accordance with Jefferson's wishes. Jefferson wrote his own epitaph, which reads:

HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

On July 4, 1826 (194 years ago today) John Adams, the second President of the United States and the first Vice-President, died at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, at the age of 90, a ripe old age indeed for those times, as well as today.



Adams was born on October 30 (October 19 according to the old Julian calendar then in use) of 1735 in Braintree (later named Quincy) in what was then the British Colony of Massachusetts. Adams was a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. He was well educated, and believed in a strong central government, He wrote prolifically, both in published works and in letters to his wife and closest adviser Abigail Adams.

Adams was a lifelong opponent of slavery. He never owned a slave in his life. He became a lawyer and in 1770, despite the unpopularity of doing so, he successfully defended British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre.

When the American Revolution began, Adams was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, and he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. In 1775, he nominated George Washington to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its primary advocate in the Congress. He later became a diplomat in Europe and he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain. He was also responsible for obtaining vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers. Adams wrote the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780.



Adams served two terms as George Washington's vice president and he was elected President in 1796. During his one term as president, he encountered ferocious attacks by the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party led by Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi-War") with France, 1798–1800. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In 1800, Adams was defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson and retired to Massachusetts. Following his 1800 defeat, Adams retired into private life. Depressed when he left office, he did not attend Jefferson's inauguration, making him one of only four surviving presidents (i.e., those who did not die in office) not to attend his successor's inauguration. He later resumed his friendship with Jefferson. His son John Quincy Adams became the sixth President of the United States.



On Tuesday, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, at approximately 6:20 PM, Adams died at his home in Quincy. Told earlier that it was the Fourth, he answered clearly, "It is a great day. It is a good day." Relatives who were at his bedside reported that his last words were "Jefferson survives". This was not in fact correct, but news of Jefferson's death earlier that day did not reach Boston until after Adams' death. Adams and Jefferson are the only two Presidents to die on the same day.

John Adams was off by two days. He predicted that in the future, Americans would celebrate the 2nd July as the most momentous anniversary in the history of their nation. On July 3, 1776, he wrote a letter to his wife Abigail in which he said:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."



Technically the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed the previous month by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. The resolution called for a Declaration that the United States were now independent from Great Britain's rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision. A Committee of Five of those in attendance at the meeting were tasked with preparing this declaration, but Thomas Jefferson was selected as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration. So while the decision to become independent of Great Britain was passed on July 2nd, it took another two days before the Declaration of Independence was finally approved. That motion was passed on July 4.

Adams got everything else right, except the day on which the celebration would be marked. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, because this was the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

There is still some debate among historians as to whether members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4. There is considerable evidence that it was in fact signed on that day. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Some other historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. In 1796, signer Thomas McKean wrote that some signers were not present in Philadelphia on July 4th. Several were not even elected to Congress until after that date.

In 1821 the Secret Journals of Congress were published. They contained two previously unpublished entries about the Declaration. The Secret Journals entry for July 19 reads: "Resolved That the Declaration passed on the 4th be fairly engrossed on parchment with the title and stile of 'The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America' & that the same when engrossed be signed by every member of Congress." The entry for August 2 states: "The declaration of Independence being engrossed & compared at the table was signed by the Members."

In 1884, historian Mellen Chamberlain wrote that these entries confirm that the famous signed version of the Declaration had been created following the July 19 resolution, and was not signed by Congress until August 2. Subsequent research suggests that many of the signers were not present in Congress on July 4, and that some delegates may have added their signatures even after August 2.

However both Jefferson and Adams always stated that the signing ceremony took place on July 4. But even renowned historian and Adams biographer David McCullough concludes that Adams is mistaken. He wrote" "No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia."

In 1986 legal historian Wilfred Ritz concluded that about 34 delegates signed the Declaration on July 4, and that the others signed on or after August 2. Ritz argues that it was implausible that Adams, Jefferson and Franklin are all mistaken. Ritz concludes that historians had misinterpreted the July 19 resolution. According to Ritz, this resolution did not call for a new document to be created, but rather for the existing one to be given a new title, which was necessary after New York had joined the other 12 states in declaring independence. Ritz reasoned that the phrase "signed by every member of Congress" in the July 19 resolution meant that delegates those who had not signed the Declaration on the 4th were now required to do so.

Whichever scenario is correct, Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. It is a federal holiday, and all non-essential federal institutions are closed. Independence Day is marked with fireworks displays and patriotic songs.



Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.

In his Inaugural Address in 2017, President Donald Trump announced his “America First” strategy, which included the goals of reducing the trade deficit and bringing back manufacturing jobs that had been outsourced to other countries such as China and Mexico. President Trump has taken the position that the trade deficit is a drain on American wealth, and that trade deals such as NAFTA and the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) were damaging to the American economy and hurt American workers. He pledged that his policies would benefit American workers first.



By June 2019, Trump had signed consequential revisions to NAFTA which are known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. The TPP was renegotiated and renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), following the U.S. withdrawal. It became effective on December 30, 2018 and resulted in 90% of tariffs on goods immediately eliminated by the six of the eleven countries that had already ratified the agreement. Concerns about the American refusal to sign the agreement have been expressed by U.S. Wheat Associates President Vince Peterson, who had stated earlier in December of 2018 that American wheat exporters could face an "imminent collapse" of their 53% market share in Japan, adding that "Our competitors in Australia and Canada will now benefit from those provisions, as US farmers watch helplessly." The National Cattlemen's Beef Association have also complained that exports of beef to Japan, America's largest export market, would be at a serious disadvantage, compared to Australian exporters as their tariffs on exports to Japan would be cut by 27.5% during the first year of CPTPP. The Trump administration has sought a unilateral trade agreement with Japan that would increase American agricultural exports, but in April 2019 Japan rejected greater access to its markets.

In January of 2018, the United States started imposing new trade barriers with China. As of January 7, 2020, the United States had imposed tariffs on 16.8 percent of goods imported into the country, measured as a share of the value of all U.S. imports in 2017. Some of those tariffs apply to imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners, including tariffs on washing machines, solar panels, and steel and aluminum products. A few countries are exempted from certain tariffs, such as Canadian and Mexican imports which were granted exemptions from the tariffs on steel and aluminum products. Other tariffs affected imports from China specifically, covering about half of U.S. imports from China and targeting intermediate goods (items used for the production of other goods and services), capital goods (such as computers and other equipment), and some consumer goods (such as apparel and footwear). In response to the tariffs, U.S. trading partners have retaliated by imposing their own trade barriers. As of January 7, 2020, retaliatory tariffs had been imposed on 9.3 percent of all goods exported by the United States— primarily industrial supplies and materials as well as agricultural products. As of January 7, 2020, tariffs were in-effect for $395 billion of U.S. imports and $143 billion of U.S exports (in retaliation). Almost all of this balance relates to China.

China has devalued its currency (the Yuan) by about 12% from the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2019, making its exports more competitive, in order to offset the impact on its economy from the tariffs. By August 2019, the exchange rate was the lowest in 11 years. The U.S. responded by declaring China a "currency manipulator" on August 5, 2019 although this designation was later rescinded in January 2020 as part of the Phase 1 trade deal. On January 15 of this year, President Trump and China's Vice Premier Liu He signed the US–China Phase One trade deal in Washington DC, called the "Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China", It took effect from February 14, 2020 and focuses on intellectual property rights, technology transfer, food and agricultural products, financial services, exchange rate matters and transparency, and expanding trade. The US–China Phase One agreement does not rely on arbitration through an intergovernmental organization like the World Trade Organization, but rather through a bilateral mechanism.

Recent figures from China showed its 2019 economic growth rate falling as a result of the trade war to a 30-year low. Data from the Commerce Department of the United States showed the US trade deficit falling amid the trade war for the first time in 6 years. On February 17 China granteds tariff exemptions on 696 US goods to support purchases, and on March 5, the United States granted exemptions to tariffs on various types of medical equipment, after calls from American lawmakers and others to remove tariffs on these products in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. By June, China had risen to become the United States' top trading partner again, although the pandemic has resulted in both countries not being on track to meet the targets from the trade deal.

Protectionist tariffs are nothing new and from the administration of George Washington, tariffs were used both as a source of revenue, and as a means of protecting American goods from foreign competition. In the 19th century, it was the Whigs (from 1832–1852) and later the Republicans (after 1854) who wanted to protect American industries and by voting for higher tariffs, while Southern Democrats, whose states had very little industry but imported many goods, called for lower tariffs. Which ever party held power voted to raise or lower tariffs, though there were limits to this, given that the Federal Government always needed a certain level of revenues, and this was an era before there was income tax.

The United States public debt was paid off in 1834 and President Andrew Jackson, a strong Southern Democrat, called for reduction of tariff rates roughly in half and eliminating nearly all federal excise taxes in about 1835. His main opponent in Congress, Henry Clay and his Whig Party, wanted a high tariff, arguing that American factories that were playing catch up with their European competitors, would at first be less efficient and needed the advantage of reduced competition to sell their goods in American markets. American factory workers were paid higher wages than their European competitors. These arguments drew support in industrial districts, and Clay's position was adopted in the 1828 and 1832 Tariff Acts. Fierce opposition to high tariffs resulted in the Nullification Crisis, forcing a reduction in tariffs. But when the Whigs won victories in the 1840 and 1842 elections, taking control of Congress, they re-instituted higher tariffs once again, with the debate between free trade or protectionism continuing.

The election of James K. Polk as president shifted the balance to a lower tariff once again, as Polk succeeded in passing the Walker tariff of 1846 by uniting the rural and agricultural factions of the country to support lower tariffs. They sought a level of a "tariff for revenue only" that would pay the cost of government. The Walker Tariff led to increased trade with Britain and others and brought in more revenue to the federal treasury than the higher tariff. The average tariff on the Walker Tariff was about 25%. Protectionists in Pennsylvania and neighboring states were angered, while the South was pleased with the low tariff rates. Some argue that this forestalled the coming Civil War.

Tariffs were lowered yet again with the Tariff of 1857, setting an average rate of 18%. This was in response to the British repeal of their protectionist "Corn Laws". Democrats in Congress, dominated by Southern Democrats, kept reducing rates, and the 1857 rates boosted trade so overwhelmingly that revenues actually increased. The South had almost no complaints but the low rates angered many Northern industrialists and factory workers, especially in Pennsylvania, who were angered because low tariff rates created cheaper iron to complete with their growing iron industry.

The Republican Party replaced the Whigs in 1854 and also favored high tariffs to stimulate industrial growth; it was part of the 1860 Republican platform. The Morrill Tariff significantly raising tariff rates became possible only after the Southern Senators walked out of Congress when their states left the Union, leaving a Republican majority. This tarifff was signed by Democratic President James Buchanan in early March 1861 shortly before President Abraham Lincoln took office. Pennsylvania iron mills and New England woolen mills lobbied Congres for high tariffs. Increases were finally enacted in February 1861 after Southerners resigned their seats in Congress on the eve of the Civil War.

Many historians take the position that the tariff issue was not a cause of the war, noting that the tariff did not come up as an issue in compromise discussions to prevent secession. Secessionist documents do not cite the tariff issue as being significant. During the war far more revenue was needed, so the tariff raised again and again, though most of the wartime government revenue came from bonds and loans, not tariffs. The Morrill Tariff took effect a few weeks before the war began on April 12, 1861, while the Confederate States of America (CSA) passed its own tariff of about 15% on most items.

High tariffs were kept after the war for the benefit of Northern industrialists, and as a means of keeping low-tariff Southerners out of power. The iron and steel industry, and the wool industry, were the well-organized interests groups that lobbied most successfully for high tariffs through support of the Republican Party. Industrial workers had much higher wages than their European counterparts, and it was in their interest to support the tariff and vote Republican.

Democrats were divided on the tariff issue. President Grover Cleveland made low tariffs the centerpiece of Democratic Party policies in the late 1880s. He argued that high tariffs raised prices for consumers. William McKinley was a prominent supporter for high tariffs, claiming that they brought prosperity for all groups. The Republican high tariff supporters sought the support of farmers by claiming that high-wage factory workers would pay premium prices for home grown foods. This won over most farmers in the Northeast, but not so for southern and western farmers who exported most of their cotton, tobacco and wheat. Wool manufacturers wanted high tariffs because wool producers in Britain and Australia marketed a higher quality fleece than the Americans, and British manufacturers had lower costs than American mills. The result was a wool tariff that helped the farmers by a high rate on imported wool.

By the 1880s American industry and agriculture had become the most efficient in the world by the 1880s and took the lead in the worldwide Industrial Revolution. They had the industrial capacity, large market, high efficiency, low costs, and the distribution system needed to compete in the vast American market. The British watched cheaper American products invade their markets.

But American manufacturers and union workers demanded the high tariff be maintained. This was at a time when railroads needed vast quantities of steel. Tariffs raised steel prices, making possible the U.S steel industry's massive investment to expand capacity. In 1881, British steel rails sold for $31 a ton, and if Americans imported them they paid a $28/ton tariff, giving $59/ton for an imported ton of rails. American mills could charge $61 a ton and make a huge profit, to be reinvested into increased capacity, higher quality steels and more efficient production. By 1897 the American steel rail price had dropped to $19.60 per ton compared to the British price at $21.00. The U.S. steel industry became an exporter of steel rail to England selling below the British price. From 1915 through 1918, the largest American steel company, U.S. Steel, alone delivered more steel each year than Germany and Austria-Hungary combined.

William McKinley campaigned heavily in 1896 on the high tariff as a positive solution to depression of 1893. The Republicans passed the Dingley Tariff in 1897, boosting rates back to the 50 percent level. Economic recovery followed and McKinley won reelection by an even bigger landslide and started talking about a post-tariff era of reciprocal trade agreements. But Republicans split bitterly on the Payne–Aldrich Tariff of 1909. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt saw the tariff issue was ripping his party apart, so he postponed any consideration of it. William Howard Taft. He campaigned for president in 1908 for tariff "reform", which everyone assumed meant lower rates. The House lowered rates with the Payne Bill, but the Senate lowered the protection on Midwestern farm products, while raising rates favorable to his Northeast.

By 1913 with the new income tax generating revenue, the Democrats in Congress were able to reduce rates with the Underwood Tariff. When the Republicans returned to power in 1921 they returned the rates to a high level in the Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922. The next raise came with the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 at the start of the Great Depression. Canada, Britain, Germany, France and other industrial countries retaliated with their own tariffs and special, bilateral trade deals. This caused American imports and exports to go into a tailspin. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Dealers responded by lowering tariffs on a reciprocal country-by-country basis hoping this would expand foreign trade.

In 1934, the U.S. Congress, in a rare delegation of authority, passed the Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934, which authorized the executive branch to negotiate bilateral tariff reduction agreements with other countries. Seven tariff reduction rounds that occurred between 1948 and 1994. After the war the U.S. promoted the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1947, to minimize tariffs and other restrictions, and to liberalize trade among all capitalist countries. In 1995 GATT became the World Trade Organization (WTO).

American industry and labor prospered after World War II, but fell on hard times after 1970, faced with stiff competition from low-cost producers around the globe. Toyota and Nissan threatened the giant domestic auto industry and in the late 1970s Detroit and the auto workers union combined to fight for protection. Quotas were agreed to as an alternative to high tariffs. By limiting the number of Japanese automobiles that could be imported, quotas caised Japanese companies push into larger, and more expensive market segments. The Japanese producers, limited by the number of cars they could export to the US, increased the value of their exports to maintain revenue growth. This action threatened the American producers' historical hold on the mid- and large-size car markets.



During the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations Republicans abandoned protectionist policies, and came out against quotas and in favor of minimal economic barriers to global trade. Free trade with Canada came about as a result of the Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1987, which led in 1994 to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). President Bill Clinton, with strong Republican support in 1993, pushed NAFTA through Congress over the vehement objection of labor unions. In 2000 Clinton worked with Republicans to give China entry into WTO and "most favored nation" trading status (i.e., the same low tariffs promised to any other WTO member). Opposition to liberalized trade came increasingly from labor unions, who argued that this system also meant lower wages and fewer jobs for American workers who could not compete against wages paid in China.

Tensions over trade policies and protectionism vs. free trade are nothing new. While President Trump's trade policies are a divergence from those espoused by recent administrations both Democratic and Republican, there is nothing unprecedented about strong disagreement over trade policies between Democrats and Republicans.

The phrase "unprecedented presidency" should be credited to Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham, creator and narrator of the wonderful podcast series "Presidential", who used this phrase for her most recent podcast. That podcast compared some of the more unusual aspects of the Trump Presidency, not the least of which is his use of social media sites such as Twitter.



President Trump's use of social media has been one of his strongest methods of attracting attention. He frequently uses Twitter and other social media platforms to comment about other politicians, celebrities, private citizens and daily news, sometimes approvingly, but more frequently to be critical. His twitter profile @RealDonaldTrump has over 82 million followers and has posted over 53,000 tweets as of the date of this entry and many consider his tweets to be official statements by the President of the United States. He has been accused by The New York Times, in an article published November 2, 2019, of having "retweeted 217 accounts that have not been verified by Twitter," at least 145 of which "have pushed conspiracy or fringe content. His tweets resulted in the House of Representatives voting on July 16, 2019 to censure him for "racist comments". A June 2017 Fox News poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump's tweets were hurting his agenda, and a January 2019 UMass Lowell poll, found that 68% of all respondents surveyed between the ages of 18–37 agreed with the statement that President Trump tweets too much.

It is difficult to pick just one or two of the most controversial twitter messages or subjects, though his tweets concerning North Korea are particularly memorable. In September 2017, President Trump posted tweets about North Korea. On September 19, he tweeted, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy #NoKo", and on September 23, "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" "Little Rocket Man" is President Trump's nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Many have speculated that these tweets are used for the purpose or of distracting from negative news or issues, as well as a means of trying to control the news cycle by getting ahead of news day and setting the tone for what will be discussed. It is the opinion of Dan Mahaffee of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress that these tweets are used to distract from pressing national issues. He calls the tweets "as intemperate outbursts or merely stream-of-consciousness responses to current events would thus greatly underestimate their impact and reach." Examples of the use of tweets as a distraction include the President's Twitter attacks against NFL players kneeling during the national anthem as "weapons of mass distraction" in order to divert attention from the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. One reporter observed that "The more time that is spent discussing the president's latest stand-off with the NFL, the less time is spent discussing the Republicans' latest failed efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, and other administration shortcomings." Philip Bump of the Washington Post called the President's Tweets an attempt to create a distraction at times of unfavorable news related to the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

President Trump is not the first president to make use of this social media. Barack Obama's Twitter account @BarackObama was the official account on Twitter for former President Barack Obama, and was also used for election purposes. Obama also used the White House's Twitter account @WhiteHouse for his presidential activities. As of today, this account has over 120 million followers, giving him the most followed Twitter account. He also follows over 604 thousand accounts. He used Twitter to promote legislation and support for his policies, to communicate with the public regarding the economy and employment, and he used Twitter in his presidential campaigns. During his 2008 campaign the account was often the world's most followed. His account became the third account to reach 10 million followers in September 2011.

@BarackObama was launched on March 5, 2007 but after the 2008 United States presidential election, the Democratic National Committee was believed to have taken over the account. In a speech in November 2009, Obama stated "I have never used Twitter", although he had over 2.6 million followers. He said that the @BarackObama account was "run by #Obama2012 campaign staff. Tweets from the President are signed -bo."



Obama held public forums in which he fielded questions posted on Twitter. On July 6, 2011, he participated in what was billed as "Twitter Presents Townhall @ the White House". The event was held in the East Room of the White House and was streamed online. His average responses were over 2000 characters, but when Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner tweeted "Where are the jobs?" to the hashtag #AskObama, his response was 3111 characters. Obama started the session with a sample tweet to himself through @WhiteHouse that said "in order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep – bo".

On July 29, 2011, during the United States debt-ceiling crisis, the account lost over 40,000 followers when the president asked "Americans Friday to call, email and tweet Congressional leaders to 'keep the pressure on' lawmakers in hopes of reaching a bipartisan deal to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit ahead of an August 2 deadline." Later in 2011, Obama used Twitter again to try to encourage the people to voice their opinion on legislation when he was attempting to pass the American Jobs Act.



Twitter was launched in March of 2006, and while George W. Bush has a twitter account @GeorgeWBush, it has no followers and follows no one. Tweets are protected, and it is likely that the account was opened simply to prevent others from opening a parody account under that name.

It's Canada Day today. On July 1, 1867 (153 years ago today) the Dominion of Canada came into being as four British colonies formed a Confederation and gained nationhood status. Since that time, Canada and the United States have shared the world's longest undefended border. For over sixty years it was a tradition for a new president to make his first state visit to Canada since Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Quebec City on July 31, 1936. That tradition was broken in 2001 by George W. Bush, whose first state visit was to Mexico, but his second was to Canada. Barack Obama followed the tradition, but Donald Trump chose not to follow it, traveling to Saudi Arabia instead. President Trump made his first visit to Canada when he attended the G-7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec in June of 2018.



Canadian Confederation came about largely from a fear that the four Canadian colonies would be invaded by the United States. Great Britain's military budget was stretched pretty thin, in 1867 and the time was right for giving Canadians peaceful independence. At the time, Secretary of State William Seward desperately wanted to expand the nation north. The story of how all of this led to Canadian nationhood is ably explained in author John Boyko's wonderful and informative 2013 work entitled Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation (reviewed here).

The relationship of the two nations began with a rocky start. Like Seward, President Ulysses Grant also had dreams of making Canada part of the United States. When the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, visited Washington, D.C. in 1871, Grant did not want to meet with Macdonald and didn't even send any official to greet the Prime Minister on his arrival. The two men met twice, and Grant was cold towards Macdonald on both occasions.

Canada would be 66 years old before a US President visited Canada in an official capacity, although William Howard Taft loved to vacation in Quebec and Woodrow Wilson vacationed in Ontario. Warren Harding made the first presidential visit to Canada on a Vancouver stopover from Alaska in 1923. (It was later in that same trip that Harding died in San Francisco.) Harding played a round of golf in Vancouver and made a very cordial speech, some of the words of which are memorialized in a monument in Vancouver's Stanley Park. (One of my favorite journal entries in this community is about a trip I made to Stanley Park to look for the monument, which I entitled Finding Warren Harding or Forgive Me My Trespasses.) Vancouver has another notorious connection to the Presidency. The Vancouver Cigar Company continues to advertise itself as being the place where Bill Clinton bought the infamous cigar mentioned in the Starr Report in the section detailing Clinton's shenanigans with Monica Lewinsky.



The first consequential visit made by a President to Canada was when Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Quebec City in 1936. “I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a ‘foreigner,’” Roosevelt said in Quebec City. “He is just an ‘American.’ And in that same way, in the United States, Canadians are not ‘foreigners,’ they are ‘Canadians.’” The partnership of Franklin D.Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was an interesting one, as both men dominated their respective governments for much of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Each was the longest-serving leader of their respective nation, Roosevelt for 12 years and King for 22 years. Roosevelt's cordiality towards Canada was especially charitable, given than FDR would have more reason than most to hold a resentment against the nation. It was at his vacation home of Campobello Island, part of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, where FDR was struck with polio and lost the ability to walk.

Things have not always been so friendly, especially when the leaders came from opposite ends of the political spectrum. For example, in 2002 when Françoise Ducros, a top aid to then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, called President George W. Bush "a moron," while Bush's staff called Chretien "dino", short for dinosaur. Even earlier than this there were times when relations were less than cordial. In a 1961 speech to the Canadian Parliament, President John F. Kennedy characterized the relationship between the U.S. and Canada by saying: "Geography has made us neighbors, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners, necessity has made us allies." But privately Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker said of President John F. Kennedy: "He's a hothead. He's a fool – too young, too brash, too inexperienced and a boastful son of a bitch!"



In 1965 at the height of the Vietnam War, Prime Minister Lester Pearson (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in making Canada a leader in peace-keeping) visited President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. Pearson had just made a scathing speech the previous night, in which he was critical of US involvement in the Vietnam War. He appeared at the White House the next day to confront a livid Johnson. According to journalist Lawrence Martin, LBJ grabbed Pearson by the shirt collar, lifted the diminutive prime minister off of the floor and shouted, "You pissed on my rug!"

In 1969 Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau told the National Press Club in Ottawa that living next to the U.S. "is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly or temperate the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." Two years later, in 1971 it was revealed that President Richard Nixon called Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau "an asshole" in his private tapes. Trudeau replied, "I've been called worse things by better people." Later that year, after Trudeau had left a session with Nixon in the Oval Office, and Nixon said to H.R. Haldeman, his chief of staff: "That Trudeau, he's a clever son of a bitch." Trudeau so infuriated Nixon during the visit that Nixon called him "a pompous egghead" and told Haldeman: "You've got to put it to these people for kicking the U.S. around after what we did for that lousy son of a bitch. Give it to somebody around here." This was when Nixon ordered Haldeman to plant a negative story about Trudeau with columnist Jack Anderson.

But there have also been many instances of friendly and respectful relations. For example, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and President Ronald Reagan had a very strong relationship, likely because of their common conservative point of view. At one function on St. Patrick's day in 1985 when Reagan was visiting Canada, the two men joined together to sing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." Mulroney would later speak at Reagan's funeral with fond remembrances. In September of 2000 George H. Bush and his wife Barbara attended the wedding of Caroline Mulroney, daughter of the former Prime Minister.

In 2001, following the September 11th tragedy, thousands of airline travelers were diverted to Canadian airports and given assistance. President George W. Bush, in a speech to Congress, thanked countries all over the world for standing with the United States in its fight against terror after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He did not mention Canada. Some perceived this as a snub, but an aide to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said: "If it is anything, it is an indication that our support goes without saying." The aide was Françoise Ducros. In November of 2004, George W. Bush received a chilly reception in Ottawa when he made his first state visit to Canada. About 5,000 protesters turned up on Parliament Hill, and a smaller group clashes with police outside the Chateau Laurier hotel.

On July 6, 2006, Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his first official visit to Washington on Bush's 60th birthday. Harper was given the honor of staying at Blair House, the official White House guest quarters. The prime minister came bearing birthday gifts for Bush: a Calgary Stampede belt buckle and an RCMP Stetson hat.

Barack Obama made his first state visit to Canada in 2009, but has appeared to show little interest in his northern neighbor, although the two nations did cooperate in the bailout of General Motors. Among the issues causing tension during the Harper and Obama years were the Keystone XL pipeline (Obama did not support a proposed pipeline from Alaska to the 48 states through Canada, while Harper saw the economic advantages for Canada), the new Detroit-Windsor bridge that Ottawa had essentially offered to build for Michigan (but the Obama administration will not kick in $250 million for a needed customs plaza at the same time the U.S. Senate wanted to spend tens of billions reinforcing the southern border with Mexico), a dispute over improvements to the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie, and differences of opinion over Israel.

Relations between Donald Trump and current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau) have not gone so well. In April of 2017, Trump announced a 20 per cent tariff on Canadian lumber entering the U.S. Then early last month, Trudeau expressed his disappointment with Trump over the president's decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement. Trudeau said, "We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has decided to withdraw from the Paris agreement. Canada is unwavering in our commitment to fight climate change and support clean economic growth. Canadians know we need to take decisive and collective action to tackle the many harsh realities of our changing climate."

The prospect of a U.S. immigration crackdown also prompted hundreds of asylum seekers to cross the Canada-U.S. border to make their claims in Canada instead. The night of Mr. Trump’s election win saw a huge spike in interest in Americans moving north. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website suffered outages due to heavy traffic. During the early stages of the Corona virus pandemic, President Trump ordered a stop to the export of surgical masks and respirators from the United States to Canada.



The future of relations between the two countries will face many more challenges. Evan Annet of the Globe and Mail wrote:

Canada and the U.S. are as different as can be on trade right now. One is led by a liberal who champions global trade, the other by a nativist conservative who, in his inauguration speech, pledged an “America first” attitude to not only trade, but immigration, foreign policy and taxes. Mr. Trump wants to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Any new agreement would have dramatic implications for Canadian businesses and the flow of goods and workers between the countries. The earliest NAFTA renegotiations can officially begin is this August, and in the meantime, Canada has contentious issues to work out with Washington about its dairy supply-management system and softwood lumber exports.

The era of good feelings for US-Canada relations may be suspended for the time being. President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau continue to be openly critical of one another. As recently as last December, the two leaders traded insults with Trump calling Trudeau "two faced" after Trudeau and other world leaders were overheard mocking the President at the recent G-7 summit.



The US remains Canada’s largest trading partner, a relationship valued at $673.9 billion. A recent report prepared by the CD Howe Institute finds that the tariffs will cause significant economic pain in both countries: Canada could lose as many as 6,000 jobs and a 0.33% GDP reduction, whereas the US would lose 22,700 jobs, but only a 0.02% disruption to the GDP. Canada has introduced more than $16bn in retaliatory tariffs against the United States, meant to inflict targeted pain on politically vulnerable industries, such as whisky, orange juice, frozen pizzas and soy beans. President Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian-made automobiles, a move that would devastate the $80 billion Canadian auto industry. These are troubling times for Canada-US relations.

But for today, let's send best wishes for a Happy Canada Day.

We conclude this series by going back to the beginning. A recent biography of George Washington is entitled "You Never Forget Your First" and there must be some truth in that because, while the early years of many of the early Presidents may not be well documented, George Washington's youth seems to have been well chronicled.



The Washington family had been a wealthy Virginia family and had made its fortune in the buying and selling of land. The family first set foot in the new world sometime in 1656 when Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated from Sulgrave, England, to the British Colony of Virginia. Following his arrival, he managed to amass 5,000 acres of land, including an estate known as Little Hunting Creek, located adjacent to the Potomac River.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732 (February 11th according to the old style Julian Calendar, then in use), at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. At the time, English common law meant that Washington was a naturalized subject of the King, as were all others born in the English colonies. Augustine Washington was a justice of the peace and a prominent landowner in the district. Mary was his second wife. He had three children from his first marriage to Jane Butler, who died in 1730. He and Mary were married the following year. The family moved to Little Hunting Creek in 1735 when George was 3, and then to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1738, when he was 6. Augustine had owned over 10,000 acres of land, over 50 slaves, and the title to an iron mine. When he died on April 12, 1743, the 11 year old George Washington inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves. His older half-brother Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon. (Coincidentally, the day after Augustine Washington died, Thomas Jefferson was born, less than a hundred miles away.)

In 1747, the fifteen year old future President meticulously copied out a list of 110 rules of conduct and civility from a translation of a 17th Century French book on manners. These rules were designed to teach Washington how to be successful by being polite, modest, and attentive to others, an early version of "How to Win Friends and Influence People". The book contained advice such as "Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation," and how, when in the company of a higher class of gentleman, one should not speak unless spoken to.

From an early age, Washington was concerned about how others saw him. He designed a new coat for himself, giving the tailor exacting instructions on the width of the lapels and the spacing of the buttons. Manners and presenting a good impression were important to him, especially after his older brother Lawrence began to introduce him to Virginia society.

Lawrence was 14 years older than his oldest half-brother, and he became a mentor and role model for Washington. Washington frequently visited Lawrence, and through him, he met Lawrence's brother-in-law George William Fairfax. Fairfax had a young wife named Sally that Washington became smitten with. Washington never attended college, and for the rest of his life he would be sensitive about what he called his "defective education". As a teenager he learned the trade of surveying and in 1748 he joined George William Fairfax on the task of mapping out land in the Shenandoah Valley. Aware of class distinctions, Washington would write snobbishly describing the poorer inhabitants of that region as "a parcel of Barbarians." He helped to survey the new city of Alexandria, and later was appointed county surveyor of Culpepper County. This helped him to earn money to purchase land for himself and by the time he was 18, he owned over 1500 acres of land in Virginia.

In 1751 Washington made his only trip abroad when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados. Lawrence was dying from tuberculosis and it was hoped that the Caribbean climate would cure his brother's illness. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip. He recovered and was now immunized from the disease, but it had left his face slightly scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, and Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow. He inherited it after her death in 1761.

By this time Washington had grown to be over six feet tall, with reddish brown hair. He sought to improve his status by following Lawrence's example and joined the military. Travelling to the colonial capital of Williamsburg, he met with Governor William Dinwiddie and was able to obtain a commission in the Virginia militia with the rank of Major. Washington's first assignment was to travel to the Ohio region and deliver an ultimatum to French troops there to vacate the region. At the time the two great world powers Britain and France were at war over control of North America.

Washington delivered the ultimatum, which was rejected by the French commander. He was promoted to Lieutanant Colonel and was given a force of less than 200 untrained men, whose task was the drive the French out. It was the spring of 1754, and the French force was five times as big, aided by local Native tribes. Washington's force happened upon a small French troop and conducted a surprise attack, only to later learn that one of the French soldiers was an envoy with a similar mission to the one Washington had earlier undertaken, delivery of a message to the British to vacate. This surprise attack marked the start of what became known as the French and Indian War.

Washington ordered the construction of a flimsy stockade which he named "Fort Necessity". Some reinforcements arrived, but fewer than Washington had hoped for. The fort was attacked by over 1000 French troops. He lost a third of his men before surrendering and returning home in defeat. In spite of this, he returned home to be hailed as a hero by his fellow Virginians. His British superiors on the other hand looked upon him as unskilled in military command.

Washington remained home, out of the army for a year, before reenlisting as an aide to General Edward Braddock. In the fall of 1755 he was appointed as commander of the Virginia regiment. As the war between Britain and France continued, most of the major battles were taking place further north, but in 1758, Washington was successful in his mission to seize Fort Duquesne from the French, doing so as the French retreated, leaving their fort in flames.

Washington longed for advancement in the British Army, going so far as to design his own officer's uniform as well as the uniform for his troops. He was on a quest for a Royal Commission in the regular British Army. He rode to Boston to meet with the acting commander in chief of British forces in North America. When this mission failed, he tried again, this time riding to Philadelphia, and once again ending up empty handed. But as one of his leading biographers Ron Chernow notes, Washington would never receive the recognition he sought, always being perceived by his British masters as of lower class, a mere colonist, unworthy of the honors he sought.



On January 6, 1759, the 26 year old Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a 27-year-old widow, whose late husband was the wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis, who Washington described as "an agreeable consort." Their marriage took place at Martha's estate. She brought with her into the marriage over 6000 acres of land, one hundred slaves, and two children: John Parke Custis (Jacky) and Martha Parke (Patsy) Custis. The did not have any children together, and there is speculation that Washington's bout with smallpox had rendered him sterile, or alternatively that Martha's second experience with childbirth had left her with a medical issue that left her unable to have any more children. The new family moved to Mount Vernon, where Washington took up life as a planter of tobacco and wheat. In 1759 he would be elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. But he was not done with soldiering, or with politics. He would emerge as a leading military hero of the forthcoming revolution and would also come to be known as the "Father of His Country."

The previous entries in this series have been chosen either because the subject was marking some anniversary that day, or because of a random draw from a deck of cards with Presidents faces on them. But for the last two entries in this series, we will look at the early years of the two most iconic Presidents.



Abraham Lincoln was born on Sunday, February 12, 1809. He was the second child and the first son of Thomas Lincoln and the former Nancy Hanks. Lincoln was born, fittingly enough, in a log cabin located near Hodgenvillie, in Hardin County, Kentucky. It was a windowless log cabin with a dirt floor. His paternal roots reached back to England, where Thomas's ancestors left in 1637 to settle in Massachusetts. Thomas's father, who was also named Abraham Lincoln, died in 1786 in an attack by an unfriendly Native American tribe, at Hughes Stanton, a fort located about 20 miles east of modern day Louisville. Thomas was a carpenter and a farmer, but had no formal education. Little is known about Nancy Hanks' ancestry. According to former Presidential candidate George McGovern, one of Lincoln's biographers, Lincoln himself believed that his mother had been born "out of wedlock". Nancy had worked as a seamstress. They called their farm "Stinking Spring".

In 1811 Thomas moved his family, composed of Nancy, his four year old daughter Sarah, and the future president, then a two-year-old, to another farm near Knob Creek in Graves County, Kentucky. There, a third child named Thomas was born, but he died in infancy. Lincoln and his sister attended ABC school, taught by itinerant teachers, and Nancy joined the local Baptist church. Thomas farmed and also worked at the local jail guarding prisoners and helping to build roads.

In December of 1816 the family moved once again, this time out of state to Pigeon Creek, in Spencer County, Indiana. Thomas cleared the land, built a cabin and planted 17 acres, with help from his 7 year old son. In 1818 Nancy died from a condition called milk sickness, caused by drinking the milk of a cow that had eaten poisonous white snakeroot. Lincoln was said to have taken the death of his mother quite hard.

Thomas soon remarried, to a woman he had known since childhood, named Sarah Bush Johnson. She was a widow and had three children. The blended family seemed to get along well and Sarah seemed to bring order to the household. She had Thomas install a floor in the cabin and put in windows. More importantly to the future President, she took an interest in Abraham Lincoln's education. She gave him some of her books and encouraged him to pursue his education. The two forged a strong bond, and she later said, "Abe was the best boy I ever saw. He never gave me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or even in appearance, to do anything I requested him." Lincoln himself referred to her as his "best friend" adding that no son could ever love a mother more than he loved her.

Thomas, on the other hand, saw his son's desire for more education as contributing to the loss of his main laborer. The two quarreled over the son's inattention to his chores. Lincoln said that although his father taught him to work hard, "he never learned me to love it." Lincoln's poor work ethic when it came to physical labor caused a rift between father and son, and sometimes resulted in corporal punishment. Another cause for conflict was Lincoln's refusal to attend the Little Pigeon Baptist Church.

In his late teens, Lincoln traveled around the region attending barn raisings, corn shuckings and other community gatherings. He developed a reputation as an entertaining joke and story teller. He and his cousin Dennis Hanks sawed firewood that they sold to steamships. In the summer of 1828, he and his cousin were hired by a businessman named James Gentry to pilot a flatboat along the Mississippi River to New Orleans. They managed to fight off some would-be robbers along the way. In New Orleans, Lincoln saw enslaved people being bought and sold before returning home.

In 1830 Thomas Lincoln moved his family once again, this time to Macon County, Illinois. But after putting down roots, Thomas Lincoln moved yet again, this time to Coles County. Abraham Lincoln was now 21 years of age. He decided not to accompany the family. With his cousin Dennis Hanks and his stepbrother John Johnston, they went to Springfield. They worked operating a flatboat at first. Their employer, Dennis Offutt, was impressed with Lincoln, and offered him a job working at a general store that Offutt was opening in New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln excelled at the work and became liked by the townsfolk. He engaged in a wrestling match with a local tough named Jack Armstrong. The two later became good friends.

Lincoln's popularity in the community led to his first foray into politics. Though he had lived in New Salem for less than a year, in March of 1832 he ran for the Illinois General Assembly. His campaign platform called for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. His skill as an entertaining speaker could not make up for a lack of education, well connected or powerful friends, and most importantly, money, and he lost the election.

The store was doing poorly and Lincoln found himself in need of work. He volunteered to serve in the Illinois Militia to respond to an uprising led by Chief Black Hawk, known as the Black Hawk War, and he was elected to serve as a captain of his company. Fortunately for Lincoln, he never was involved in any battles or skirmishes, and would later joke about his service, claiming that he had "fought his way through hordes of mosquitoes." He returned home to his campaign, but finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct.



Though he was not successful, his political connections got him a job as local postmaster. A second attempt at running a general store failed because his partner was an alcoholic who drank up the profits. He then took a job as a deputy county surveyor. He continued his interest in politics, declaring his support for the Whig Party, and becoming an admirer of Henry Clay, as well as a critic of Andrew Jackson. In 1834, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, finishing second among thirteen candidates. He would serve four terms, leaving the House in 1842. Though Lincoln would go on to lose more elections that he won, prior to his Presidency, he had found the career for which he had been born.