Happy Presidents' Day to Martin Van Buren! Because he's still O.K. by me

This year we give a shout out to "Old Kinderhook" aka "Martin Van Ruin", aka Martin Van Buren, spiritual founder of the Democrat Party. Van Buren was the 8th President and also the 8th Vice President, and 10th Secretary of State (so much for the Lucky 8's). He served as Minister to the United Kingdom (the picture here is the plaque on his London residence).

His campaign nickname, "Old Kinderhook" was said (primarily by etymologist Allen Walker Read) a possible origin of OK (aka okay, ok?).

And so, well, Martin, you're ok by me.

Happy Presidents' Day ... this year, I honor Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Pierce

Pierce Manse

Last summer, I visited New Hampshire and Vermont -- homes to this year's Presidents. So, in honor of Franklin Pierce and Calvin Coolidge, I dedicate this Presidents' Day.

First, I stopped in Concord, NH and, in addition to visiting the State Capitol, stopped to see the Pierce Manse. Sadly, it wasn't open, but I did get to walk around a bit. As an interesting side note, in elementary school (4th and 5th grade), one of my classmates claimed to be descended from Franklin Pierce. Who knows?

From New Hampshire, we drove on to Vermont and spent some time in the Rutland area. Before driving back to Manchester, we took a side trip to Plymouth Notch, the home and birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. The historic site was quite interesting.

So, what about the two Presidents? Pierce was certainly one of the worst (despite having his biography being written by Nathaniel Hawthorne! Coolidge probably somewhere in the middle.

Coolidge Birthplace (and birthroom)

Happy Presidents' Day! This year I celebrate, Richard Milhous Nixon because ...

Well, probably hard to believe, but, well, in many ways, he was perhaps our last true liberal president. Yes, seems hard to believe, but I doubt many conservatives would embrace many of his domestic programs (can you say EPA?).

This is a presentation I did with a friend a number of years ago: The Conversation: March 21, 1973 and the Negotiation of Information. Martin R. Kalfatovic and Janice Bailey-Goldschmidt. 1994 Meeting of the Popular Culture/American Culture Associations. April 6-9, 1994. Chicago, IL.

Rosslyn Garage where [the FBI source with a code name that caused Blogger to flag the post as inappropriate] revealed Watergate

Nixon's errors and negative points can be enumerated on a very long list of course, but will pass on that today.

So, here's to you, Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President.

The Watergate

Celebrating President's Day: Theodore Roosevelt

This year, I'm choosing to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt on Presidents' Day. It was pointed out to me the other day that the official Federal Holiday is still actually "Washington's Birthday" but is know in many states as "President's Day" or "Presidents Day" or yadda yadda (see the Wikipedia article above to get all the technical and gory details.

In any case, this year, I will celebrate TR on February 20. Why? Well, why not but also because the other day at work, we had a little celebration to mark the acquisition of a TR letter. In addition to the letter, on display were some bird and mammal specimens collected by TR and now in the possession of the Smithsonian.

So, here's to TR!

Celebrating Presidents' Day: James K. Polk

Hon. Mr. Polk
Originally uploaded by martin_kalfatovic

Since it's Presidents' Day, not Washington or Lincoln's birthday, I like to pick a different president every year. This year, James K. Polk (1795-1849; President, 1845-49) from the State of Tennessee is my selection

Now, in addition to his other numerous achievements, I'd like to point as as the Historical Polk fact for the day, that on August 10, 1846, President Polk signed the legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian.

The rest, as they say, was history ...