We all know basic facts about presidents (or hopefully, at least). George Washington had false teeth and Abe Lincoln was tall, yes. But how much do we really know about our presidents? Here are some crazy interesting and little-known facts about the men who held the most powerful position on Earth.
1.) George Washington’s teeth were made from elephant and walrus tusks, not wood.
2.) William H. Harrison’s campaign opponent said all Harrison did was “sit in his log cabin, drinking hard cider.” Harrison adopted a log cabin and cider as his campaign symbols, and won.
3.) Martin Van Buren was the first president to be born a U.S. citizen.
4.) Andrew Jackson fought in over 100 duels.
5.) John Quincy Adams enjoyed skinny-dipping in the Potomac River to get his kicks.
6.) Monrovia, the capital of the Liberia, is named after James Monroe.
7.) James Madison was America’s smallest president at 5’4, and he weighed less than 100 pounds.
8.) When visiting Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams conspired to (and succeeded in) chipping off a piece of the writer’s old chair as a souvenir.
9.) Despite being the second president, John Adams was the first to live in the White House.
10.) John Tyler had 15 children, the most out of any president.
11.) James K. Polk was the first president to serve a nation that stretched from one coast to the other.
12.) Zachary Taylor ate some bad cherries that likely cause him to die of cholera 5 years later.
13.) Millard Filmore’s wife was also once his teacher.
14.) Franklin Pierce was once arrested for running a lady over with his horse.
15.) James Buchanan would buy slaves in Washington D.C., only to have them freed in Pennsylvania.
16.) Out of the 300 wrestling matches he had in his youth, Abraham Lincoln only lost one.
17.) Andrew Johnson would tailor his own suits.
18.) Ulysses S. Grant would smoke 20 cigars a day. Surprise! He died of throat cancer.
19.) Rutherford B. Hayes was the first president to use a phone. His phone number was simply “1.”
20.) James A. Garfield could write with both hands at the same time in different languages.
21.) Chester A. Arthur owned 80 pairs of pants.
22.) Glover Cleveland was the first and only president to get married while in the White House. He was also the first and only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (elected again after Harrison).
23.) Benjamin Harrison was the first president to have electricity in the White House.
24.) William Mckinley wore a red carnation on his lapel at all times. The only time he took it off was to give it to a little girl. As soon as he did, he was shot and later died.
25.) Theodore Roosevelt was once shot during a speech. He calmly asked if he had been shot and then said, “I give you my word, I do not care a rap about being shot; not a rap,” and then continued the speech.
26.) William Howard Taft was the heaviest president, weighing 332 pounds.
27.) Woodrow Wilson once dreamed of being a stage performer.
28.) Warren G. Harding once gambled away a set of White House fine china.
29.) Calvin Coolidge was born on the 4th of July.
30.) Herbert Hoover’s son owned two alligators for pets.
31.) Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife Eleanor was actually his fifth cousin and niece to Theodore Roosevelt.
32.) Harry Truman read every book in his hometown’s library.
33.) Dwight D. Eisenhower installed a putting green at the White House, and played more than 800 rounds of golf there.
34.) John F. Kennedy was a huge James Bond fan.
35.) Lyndon B. Johnson named his penis “Jumbo.”
36.) Richard M. Nixon recommended a play to the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.
37.) Gerald Ford was a model in college and once appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan.
38.) Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital.
39.) Ronald Reagan’s favorite book was the Bible.
40.) George H.W Bush survived 4 plane crashes in WWII.
41.) Bill Clinton has the most symmetrical face out of any president.
42.) George W. Bush was the captain of the cheerleading team in college.
43.) Barack Obama’s nickname on his high school basketball team was “Barry O’Bomber.”
I think the real fact I’d like to know is how someone found out what LBJ called his penis. Come on LBJ! This is something we’d expect from Clinton, not from you.
