Nobody asked but …
I’ll say again, the Presidents of the United States are a motley crew. So far the scorecard reads 45 attempts, 45 clunkers. I am not saying there were no honorable persons in the group (“honorable” itself is a very iffy word). But I have practically no regard for the intellects of any of today’s half-dozen. With the exception of the monstrous Jackson, the other 5 are bound for the oubliette of history. But, to me, there is no such thing as a great President. To have been a POTUS places a black mark on that career. Few (ie none) have risen above.
On some occasions, some wisdom has been dispensed independently of the downward slide to the oval office. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the second six (7-12):
It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.
As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.
The chains of military despotism, once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away before they could be shaken off.
Let it be henceforth proclaimed to the world that man’s conscience was created free; that he is no longer accountable to his fellow man for his religious opinions, being responsible.
I would bring the government back to what it was intended to be – a plain economical government.
If elected, I would not be the mere president of a party – I would endeavor to act independent of party domination and should feel bound to administer the government untrammeled by party schemes.
But every person who has served in furtherance of this inauspiciously mediocre capacity, in my view, has a great atrocity to their name. Again, the list:
- Andrew Jackson — (if space permits) The Trail of Tears, Bigamy, The Spoils System, the Seminole Wars, Roger B. Taney
- Martin Van Buren — Furthered the ‘Trail of Tears,’ Alcoholism, the Panic of 1837, Pro-Slavery
- William Henry Harrison — First POTUS to die in office
- John Tyler — Never Elected POTUS
- James K. Polk — Mexican-American War, Manifest Destiny,
- Zachary Taylor — Last American President to own slaves, ‘Indian Fighter’, mysterious death
— Kilgore Forelle
Grant was the last POTUS to “own” a “slave”. While Grant was at White Haven in MO he acquired an enslaved man from his Father In-Law. The Grant’s benefited from the enslaved man’s labor. Grant freed the enslaved man in 1859.
Sorry Hank, but Grant was not POTUS in 1859, the year he “freed” the “slave.”
I did not state that Grant was the POTUS in 1859. I stated that he was living at White Haven not the White House in 1859. Grant was the last POTUS who had enslaved someone. Read what I wrote carefully. After Grant no future POTUS had ever enslaved someone. Thus Grant was the last POTUS who had.
So Grant was not the last POTUS to own a “slave.”
Yes he was. Research it. Grant enslaved a man when he was living on the property in MO that at the time was called White Haven. After Grant there were no POTUS’s who had owned a “slave(s)”.
Grant was not POTUS while owning a slave. Your factoid is grammatical. My fact is actual.
Uh I did not state that he was the POTUS when he owned a “slave”. I stated he was the last POTUS who owned a “slave”. You don’t seem to understand that. There is a question in the game Trivia Pursuit that reads: Who was the first POTUS born in a hospital. Obviously that is not meant to mean while they were the POTUS.
Duly noted, by those who play trivial pursuit.
I believe there have been 0 POTUS’ born in hospital or any where else.