Archive for president
5 Amazing Firsts Accomplished by Barack Obama
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In honor of Black History Month and Presidents Day, here are 6 accomplishments that Barack Obama was the first to achieve.
- Barack Obama is the first president born in Hawaii.
- Obama was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.
- When Obama turned down public financing in June 2008, he became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn it down since it was first implemented in 1976.
- On September 24, 2009, Obama chaired a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, becoming the first sitting U.S. President in history to do so. The result of the meeting? UNSC Resolution 1887, which lays the groundwork for a world without nuclear weapons and probably helped to solidify Obama as the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
- Barack Obama is the first U.S. President to acknowledge and embrace his African heritage, but he is not America’s first black president. In fact, there is strong evidence that suggests that based on the one-drop rule, the following presidents were black:
- Thomas Jefferson
- Andrew Jackson
- Abraham Lincoln
- Warren Harding
- Calvin Coolidge
- Dwight Eisenhower
Bonus: When Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, he made her the first hispanic Supreme Court nominee in U.S. history.
For even more facts about Barack Obama, check out his book Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
The Casablanca Conference and FDR’s First Plane Ride
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Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference
Today marks the 67th anniversary of the start of the Casablanca Conference, which took place from January 14-24, 1943 in the French colony of Morocco. The Casablanca Conference was the 8th wartime conference of the Allied powers, but only the 3rd in which Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt both took part, and the first that included the French. In attendance at this conference were Roosevelt, Churchill, and the dual leaders of the Free French; Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud. Josef Stalin was invited, but was unable to make it do to a prior engagement known as the Battle of Stalingrad.
The Casablanca Conference was a success, and solved some of the problems that plagued the Allies in 1942. For example, despite Stalin’s absence and the fact that the Soviets were originally allied with the Nazis, the Allies agreed to provide aid to the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the Allies also agreed on a plan to invade Italy in 1943, as opposed to France, which would have to wait until the summer of 1944.
A Boeing 314 "Flying Boat"
Anyway, this date was also significant because Franklin Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to fly in an airplane on official business. The trip was a harrowing journey, as the flight was 17,000 miles and the plane had to stop to be refueled 4 times. Why did the trip take so long? Well, the flight began in Miami, Florida, and flew south to Brazil before crossing the Atlantic. Then it flew north to Casablanca. To return to the United States, FDR had to take the same flightpath and as a result, celebrated his 61st birthday in the skies over Haiti. For you aviation buffs, FDR’s plane was a Boeing 314 Clipper, known as a “Flying Boat.” Can you imagine the historical fiction that could be written based on this plane crashing?
5 Random Things About 5 Random Guys Named Stephen
Posted by: | CommentsI go by Tamahome Jenkins because I have this Mark Twain/George Orwell nom de plume thing going on. When I was born, though, my parents gave me the name Steven, which of course is a derivative of the name Stephen. However, I’ve lived my entire life thinking about how there’s never been a President named Steve, and how most people named Steve are associated with silliness. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that Steve is a pretty awesome name, and I hope my mom was thinking of one of these guys, and not Steve Martin from The Jerk when she named me.
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen
was the first Christian martyr in history. Stephen was put on trial for blasphemy, and in his final words he accused Jewish priests of murdering Jesus and other prophets that the Jews considered heretical (the term Christianity had not yet entered the vernacular). In response, a mob led by Saul (who would become St. Paul, the most prolific Bible author) stoned Stephen to death. The feast day of St. Stephen is December 26, hence Good King Wenceslas going to town “on the feast of Stephen” in the famous Christmas carol.
King Stephen of England
Stephen of England
is the only English king in history, named Stephen. He was the grandson of William the Conqueror, and the last Norman king of England. Unfortunately, his predecessor, Henry I, only had one surviving legitimate child, Matilda, and she wasn’t very popular. However, Henry wished for her to become queen so he made the nobles swear allegiance to her. Stephen was the first noble to do so. However, when Henry died, Stephen quickly assumed the throne, claiming Henry changed his mind on his deathbed. Sadly, the rest of Stephen’s reign was mired by civil war because of his rivalry with Matilda. Before he died, Stephen made peace with Matilda so that the throne would pass to her son, Henry II, upon Stephen’s death. However, Stephen is an ancestor of every English/British King since Richard II of Bordeaux. How? Richard’s father, Edward III, married Philippa of Hainault. Philippa was the great-great-granddaughter of Matilde of Brabant, who was the great-great-granddaughter of Stephen. So, despite not having a direct heir to throne, and no other English monarch willing to take his name, Stephen’s place in British royal history is cemented because he’s related to every monarch since 1377.
Stephen Foster is considered by many, to be the Father of American music, and why not, since he was born on July 4th. His works include “My Old Kentucky Home” (the state song of Kentucky), “Old Folks at Home” aka “Swanee River” (the state song of Florida), “Camptown Races”, “Oh! Susanna” and many more. Foster was instrumental in shifting American music away from the popular minstrel shows (blackface) of the day, as he found them distasteful and offensive. Foster attempted to capitalize on these successes, but due to the limited scope of copyright law at the time, he was unable to do so. He died at the age of 37, coincidentally, with only 37 cents to his name.
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
is considered to be one of the most innovative American writers of the late 19th century. He wrote The Red Badge of Courage at the age of 24, despite never having been in battle (he was born six years after the Civil War ended). A brilliant writer, Crane eschewed the values of a traditional education, in favor of gaining real experience, so he worked as a journalist for most of his adult life. However, writing was not a lucrative career at the time, and he died of tuberculosis, badly in debt, at the age of 28. The realism portrayed in Crane’s works, though, would live on, and he was very influential to later writers, such as Ernest Hemingway.
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
, known as the Father of Texas, was instrumental in colonizing Texas. Though not as well known outside the state as his contemporary Sam Houston, Austin played a pivotal role as a politician in the 1820s. Austin strived to work with the Mexican government to create a peaceful colony, which was ultimately undermined by the Texas Revolution. Once the Republic of Texas gained its independence, Austin ran for president, but Sam Houston won in a landslide. Stephen Austin would be named secretary of state of the new republic, but he would only survive for two months before dying of pneumonia at the age of 43. The state capital of Texas is named in is honor.
Bonus: There have been nine popes named Stephen, and one pope-elect, who didn’t survive to reach ordination. However, there hasn’t been a pope named Stephen in almost 1,000 years.
5 Random Things About Andrew Jackson
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Image by JoWiJo via Flickr
What do people do more than anything else during the holidays? That’s right, spend money. So here are 5 random facts about the man on the face of the most popular piece of paper in America.
- Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 on the border between North and South Carolina. Although his exact birthplace is unknown, legend has it that he was born in a cabin just on the South Carolina side of the border.
- Andrew Jackson was an able military commander. Jackson was able to win the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812, with a smaller force than the British had. His actions in the First Seminole War, and his later occupation of Pensacola, Florida, would lead Spain to cede its claim on Florida in 1821. His toughness on the battlefield led his soldiers to nickname him Old Hickory.
- Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. However, he ran for president in 1824, and was almost the sixth president. In a hotly contested election that had four candidates, Jackson won the popular vote, and had a plurality in the Electoral College, but he did not have a majority. As such, the vote went to the House of Representatives, who elected John Quincy Adams. The ruling shocked Jackson, who believed that Adams had struck a corrupt bargain with Henry Clay (one of the other candidates), as Adams named Clay secretary of state in exchange for Clay’s support.
- By 1835, Andrew Jackson had reduced the national debt to a mere $33,733.05. He would eventually pay off the national debt, and has been the only president to ever accomplish that feat.
- Andrew Jackson was the first president to face an assassination attempt. On January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence attempted to kill Jackson outside the Capitol building using two single-shot pistols. Lawrence pulled out the first pistol, aimed at the president’s heart, and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. As Lawrence calmly reached for the second pistol, Jackson charged at him with his cane. The second pistol misfired as well. Legend has it that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane, and had to be restrained by startled onlookers, which included Davy Crockett.
Bonus: Andrew Jackson is on the $20 bill, which is ironic considering his opposition to having a central bank during his presidency. As a matter of fact, he allowed the charter on the Second National Bank of the United States to lapse during his presidency.
Did you find this post interesting? You should check out American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
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On This Day: The Gettysburg Address
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Only Known Photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg
In full irony, Lincoln would comment during the address that, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here”. Lincoln could not have been more wrong in this assertion as, according to a U.S. Department of State publication, the address is among the most remembered speeches in American history. This truth is evident in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s own famous oration of “I Have a Dream”. King’s speech opens with a parallel of Lincoln’s words “Four score and seven years ago” when he remarks “Five score years ago”. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he goes on to reference the late president and his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Gettysburg speech is so prominent in the legacy of Lincoln that its full content is carved onto the south wall of the Lincoln Memorial’s stone cella in Washington, D.C.
In total, the fields at Gettysburg witnessed the bloodied deaths of more than 3,000 Union soldiers and close to 4,000 Confederates. The wounded and missing were more than 20,000 on each side of the battle. These numbers are a mere fraction of the amount of lives lost in a war which held a mortality rate higher than any conflict before or after, according to “Outline of American History”.
Lincoln closed the two-to-three minute speech saying, “… we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
For further information on, and a deconstruction of the Gettysburg Address, check out “Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America”.
On This Day: Saturday Night Massacre
Posted by: | CommentsThe downfall of Richard M. Nixon’s Presidency began on the evening of June 17, 1972, with the break-in of the Democratic National Committee’s offices in the Washington, D.C., Watergate Complex. This break-in brought the indictment of five members of Nixon’s Committee to Re-elect the President, as well as two others, on charges of conspiracy, burglary, and violation of federal wiretapping laws.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the scandal though, came on November 17, 1973, when Nixon held a question-and-answer session with 400 Associated Press managing editors in what would be coined as the Saturday Night Massacre. During this tense, televised, hour-long conference Nixon fielded questions from the editors, at one point professing “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got”. These words, “I’m not a crook”, would later become synonymous with the corrupt image of Nixon and his administration.
The Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C.
Though he steadfastly denied any involvement with the Watergate case, it later became favorable opinion that he was well aware of the plan – most markedly in the fact that he resigned from the Presidency only nine months later. Due to a waning sense of trust among the American people, loss of support from his political allies, and near certainty of impeachment and conviction, Nixon tendered his resignation to Sec. of State Henry A. Kissinger on August 9, 1974. The letter simply stated “I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States”. Though the resignation brought the Congress to drop the impeachment proceedings there was still the possibility of criminal charges. Accordingly, Nixon’s vice-president and successor, Gerald Ford, issued a full pardon on his behalf only a month later.
The Washington Post covered the events of the Saturday Night Massacre in an article published the following day. It can be found by clicking here.
For further information on the Watergate Scandal, check out “The Wars of Watergate“.
The Always Controversial Nobel Peace Prize
Posted by: | Comments“I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.” -Alfred Nobel
We’ve had nearly a week to consider the announcement that Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. In doing so, he became only the third sitting U.S. President to receive the award, following in the footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Yet many throughout the world have considered the award premature and undeserved. Few people argue against the effort that Obama puts forth in the name of peace, but should effort alone be rewarded? Well, if you look back at the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I say, why not? It is the most subjective of all of the Nobel Prizes, and it has been the center of controversy and hypocrisy before. Here are just a few examples.
Notable Exclusions
- Bill Clinton was instrumental in the Middle East peace process. The Oslo Accords would not have happened without his intervention. Also, let’s not forget his role in the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War. I’m not advocating for him to receive the award, but if Al Gore and Barack Obama can win, then why not Clinton?
- Mohandas Gandhi is the face of 20th century non-violent civil disobedience and the inspiration of many of the prize’s winners. Yet Gandhi never won the award despite the fact that he was nominated five times.
Controversial Recipients
- Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his part in negotiating an end to the Vietnam War. However, Kissinger oversaw the illegal bombing of Cambodia from 1969-1975 and may have also been involved in Operation Condor, which was the political suppression of leftist elements in South America.
- Yasser Arafat, the deceased leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was regarded by many Western governments as a terrorist. However, when Israel and the PLO agreed to the Oslo Peace Accords, Arafat and his Israeli counterparts Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. Fifteen years later, Israel is still effectively at war with the PLO, so I guess it can be argued that every recipient in 1994 was controversial.
- Nelson Mandela, recipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, was the leader of the African National Congress’ armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, which literally means “Spear of the Nation.” His incarceration was due to the fact that he committed acts of sabotage against government targets.
Rewarding Failure
- Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres. See Above.
- Woodrow Wilson became the second President of the United States to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending World War I, as well as his idea for the League of Nations. However, the U.S. never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, opting for a separate peace agreement with Germany, and never joined the League of Nations. Twenty years later, the world would be plunged into the biggest war in human history.
- Frank B. Kellogg won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 because he was co-author of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, an agreement which effectively outlawed war. The pact was ratified in 1928 and one of the signatories was Japan, who would invade Manchuria only three years later.
I did not initially believe that Barack Obama deserved to win the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. I felt as though the award should recognize results, not just effort, but I was clearly wrong. The Nobel Peace Prize has always rewarded effort, often in spite of the results. What do you think? Do you think Barack Obama deserved to win the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize? Defend your answer in the comments.
