PRESIDENT'S DAY: Fun Facts to share with your kids!
DID YOU KNOW that James “Jemmy” Madison, our shortest president, was only 5’4”? He was exactly one foot shorter than our tallest president, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was 6’4” even without is famous hat!
LET’S TALK WHITE HOUSE PETS! There have been lots of beloved cats and dogs… but DID YOU KNOW
William Henry Harrison, our shortest TENURE president, had a PET GOAT with him in the White House!
George Washington had a TON of hunting dogs and war horses, but “Royal Gift” was definitely the strangest: an Andalusian donkey that was a gift from King Charles III of Spain.
Thomas Jefferson, also an animal lover, received TWO GRIZZLY BEAR CUBS from Captain Zebulon Pike.
Polly the Parrot outlived both James and Dolly Madison! Other Presidential Parrots include: Snipe (Washington) Polly (Jackson’s rather rude parrot), and Washington Post (McKinley’s parrot who could whistle Yankee Doodle)
A Presidential Zoo? Alligators (Harrison) Hippos (Coolidge) Lion cubs (Coolidge again) Tigers (Van Buren) and Bill the Laughing Hyena (Roosevelt) were just some of the truly WILD pets of the Whitehouse
Tad Lincoln gave the very first Turkey pardon when, seeing who was to be dinner, begged his father for mercy. Jack the Turkey became a pet instead.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
William Taft and Gerald Ford both played professional ball! Taft was a lifelong baseball lover and threw the very first major league season opening pitch! Gerald Ford’s football jersey is retired at the University of Michigan—he wore the number 48
Martin Van Buren is the only president that learned English as his second language! His native language was DUTCH.
