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Would you lie to read some interesting and fun presidential facts that yo may not know? Well, you are at the right place. And to kick off we will bring you one of the more embarrassing moments for George Bush Snr.
1 George H. W. Bush Was Responsible For Coining the Japanese Phrase Bushusuru
Have you ever heard of Bushu-suru? It came about thanks to President Bush, but not the one you are thinking of. Former US President George W. Bush will forever be associated with public gaffs and mixing his words and phrases up. But it appears he may have just been trying to out do his dad.
On January 8, 1992 at around 8:20 p.m. Japan Standard Time, former US President George H. W. Bush, (George W. Bush’s father) vomited on Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who was hosting a banquet for 135 diplomats, and then fainted. The event became a thing of comedy with networks and comedians from around the world parodying it. In Japan a new word entered the language, Bushu-suru which means “to do the Bush thing”.
2 George Washington Was Nearly Shot In 1777
History could be so different had one man not made a chivalrous decision at the Battle of Brandywine Creek on September 11, 1777. At that battle, Major General George Washington, of the Continental Army fell into the sights of then captain Patrick Ferguson, a sharp shooter of the British Army, but he did not shoot.
It may seem strange that such an opportunity should be passed over. To bring down the leader of an army would surely aid in victory. But to purposely shoot an officer was ungentlemanly behaviour. It was almost unheard of to purposely bring down an officer. That being said, a month later at the final engagement at the Battle of Saratoga, British general Simon Fraser was shot down by sniper Timothy Murphy. Murphy was following the instructions of general Benedict Arnold who has seen general Fraser rousing his troops. Perhaps it was just an example of Arnold’s own morals.
Had Ferguson taken his shot and killed Washington at the battle, or even wounded him history could have been completely different. Washington would not have regrouped at Valley Forge, and the Continental army may have never formed into a well organised, disciplined fighting force. Britain may have won the war.
3 The S In Harry S Truman Stands For S
Most of us have a middle name, even though the only time we ever use it is in official documents. Occasionally though, some people will adopt their second name as the name that they go by, and sometimes some people will use just the initial as part of their name. Just like Homer J Simpson and Harry S Truman. We get used to saying their names like that, and it seems to just roll of the tongue. But from time to time the initial is just sitting there just for the sake of saying it, as if it’s only there for a kind of decoration.
In one episode of the Simpsons Homer goes on a quest to discover what his middle initial, J stands for. It turned out it stood for Jay. So what does the S stand for in Harry S Truman? It’s a little weird, and doesn’t even go as far as the Simpsons. The “S” in Harry S Truman stands for S. But why?
His parents must have either been fun to be around, or a nightmare. It was a compromise between his parents. Both of his grandparents had names that started with “S”, but weren’t the same name, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. They decided to just meet in the middle and only use the “S”.
To complicate things Truman would sometimes sign his name with a period following the S indicating it was short for something. He did ask newspapers not to put the period behind it, but official White House records show it with a period.
4 Some Presidents Have Had Exotic Pets
Calvin Coolidge practically had a zoo at the White House. Among his unusual pets was a pygmy hippopotamus named Billy, a bobcat, 2 lion cubs, a wallaby and an antelope. Most of his pets were gifts from other nations. But he wasn’t the only president to have exotic pets.
Herbert Hoovers second son Allan Henry Hoover owned a pair of alligators that were often allowed to roam the White House grounds. But Herbert Hoover wasn’t the only US President to own pet alligators while in the White House.
John Quincy Adams set the precedence when he owned an alligator that was a gift from Marquis de Lafayette. He kept it in a bathroom in the East Room of the White House. According to reports from the time, President Adams used it to scare his guests. To top this weirdness off, his mother, the former First Lady Abigail Adams, had a dog named Satan.
5 Abraham Lincoln’s Last Words
Often when a President or former President passes away their last words are recorded for historic value. Many of them are true words of wisdom such as Zachary Taylor, “I am about to die. I expect the summons very soon. I have tried to discharge all my duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but I am sorry that I am about to leave my friends”. Others are from delirium or from simple daily conversations.
The last words spoken by Abraham Lincoln were “It doesn’t really matter”. And the final sounds that came from his mouth were that of laughter.
As everyone already knows, Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth during a performance at Fords theatre. But why was he laughing? One of the actresses had asked for a shawl to protect her from the draft. Another actor ad-libbed with “You are mistaken, Miss Mary, the draft has been stopped by order of the President.” Lincoln was laughing at this line when Booth shot him.
6 One President Has Been Born On The 4th Of July, And Three Have Died On That Date
The 4th of July is a pretty important date on the American calendar. It is of course the day that the United Stated declared their independence from their colonial masters, the British, in 1776. So how amazing is it that the three presidents have passed away on that date, and one was born on it?
Three US Presidents have died on the 4th of July. The first two were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams who both died on the same day exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration Of Independence. Adams and Jefferson, the second and third presidents respectively worked together on the drafting of the Declaration of Independence alongside Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The fact that these two men worked on perhaps the most important document in American history and died on the 50th anniversary makes their death on this date remarkable.
But they are only two of the three presidents who have died on the 5th of July. Only five years later James Munroe passed away on the same date.
While 3 US presidents have died on the 4th July only one was born on that day, Calvin Coolidge in 1872. He entered office following the scandals of Herbert Hoover and left office with considerable popularity, despite having a reputation for being a hothead. But he still did at least one cool thing.
7 The First US Born President Was Van Buren And He Spoke English As A Second Language
Today one of the prerequisites for entering the race to become president is that you must have been born in the country. We all remember the furor a few years back when Donald Trump started a campaign to get president Obama to release his long form birth certificate. A lot of people thought that he was stalling, and hence not a natural born citizen. But little did everyone know that he was a little busy tracking down and planning an assault on one Osama Bin Laden. Once that mission was accomplished he did release his birth certificate, and the controversy seemed to be resolved.
This incident highlighted just how seriously the people of the US take the the requirement of being a natural born citizen. But back in the infancy of the country the rules were a little more relaxed, and for a good reason. For a long time no one was a natural born citizen. They were all born British citizens. But someone had to be the first born, so who was it?
Martin Van Buren was the first US President born as a citizen of the United States Of America in 1837. All Presidents before him were born in the British Empire. But his presidence was unique to al others because he didn’t speak English as his first language.
Martin Van Buren was the only United States President not to speak English as his first language. Although he was born in Kinderhook, New York, it was a mainly Dutch community and he spoke Dutch as his first language, both in the community and at home. He learned to speak English as his second language while attending Kinderhook school.
8 All But 1 Of The US Presidents Are Related, And The Rest Are Related To King John
From time to time some presidents will come along who were closely related to another president. In recent history there has been the excellent example of the Bush’s, George H W Bush, and his slightly less intelligent, or if you prefer, linguistically challenged son, George W Bush. There have also been others that have managed to hold the highest office in the land such as the Roosevelt’s and and Adams. Some have looked promising, like the Clinton’s and Kennedy’s, but to date it’s only been a close thing. So what would your reaction be if I were to tell you that all but one of the presidents are related, and related to King John of England?
A few years ago a 12 year old school girl started a family tree for a school project. Inspired and looking for a challenge she sought to trace a family tee of the presidents. She was helped along the way by her 80 year old grandmother who had already compiled a significant portion of the tree.
After a lot of hard work she managed to trace all but one of the president to King John. Before her groundbreaking work genealogists were only able to link 22 of the former presidents. What this clever 12 year old did was not ignore the female lineage. Once completed she found that all except Martin Van Buren, because of his ZDutch ancestry were related to King John.
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