(1st) George Washington (1789 – 1797)

• Washington, along with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, were all passionate marble collectors and players.
• At the time of his inauguration, he had only one remaining good tooth left, so he wore dentures made of gold; elephant and walrus tusks; and human (some his own), horse, hippopotamus, or cow teeth. He never wore wooden teeth; neither was his dentures crafted by Paul Revere, as the legend perpetuated.
• He considered handshaking to be beneath the dignity of a president. He bowed to his guests instead.

(2nd) John Adams (1797 – 1801)

• Adams was the first president to live in the White House, which was then known as the Executive Mansion. The building was still uncompleted when he and his family moved in. The walls were so damp that seven cords (around 900 cubic feet) of wood were needed to be burned to dry them up. Abigail, his well-educated and pragmatic wife, utilized the uncompleted room to dry the family’s laundry.
• Standing only 5 feet 7 inches in height, his round face, and definitely his heftiness gained him the nickname “His Rotundity.”
• His proposed epitaph for himself: “Here lies John Adams who took on himself the responsibility of peace with France in the year 1800.”

(3rd) Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809)

• Jefferson immersed his feet in freezing water every morning in the belief that such practice warded off colds
• He had some unusual pets kept in cages on the White House lawn. A few grizzly bear cubs were sent to him from Merriwether Lewis and William Clark’s celebrated expedition and he was often seen walking them around the grounds. The White house became known as the “president’s bear garden” for several years. He also had a pet mockingbird kept in his study room, trained it to perch on his shoulder and received its food from his mouth.
• A prolific inventor; among his many inventions included the coat hanger, the lazy Susan, the swivel chair, a pedometer, a hemp machine, a letter-copying press and the dumbwaiter

(4th) James Madison (1809 – 1817)

• At 5 feet 4 inches tall and never weighing more than 100 pounds, Madison is the shortest and lightest president in United States history
• He wore long trousers, the very first president to do so. All three presidents before him wore knee breeches.
• He got his nose scarred with frostbite when he ran for the First Congress in 1788. Soon after, he jokingly remarked that he acquired the scar “in defense of his country.”

(5th) James Monroe (1817-1825)

• Monroe ran unopposed and received every Electoral vote except for one, which came from a New Hampshire delegate who desired to protect the George Washington’s record as the first and the only president to be unanimously elected.
• He was the first president to travel by steamboat
• He always wore a tricorne hat that had long been considered unfashionable and was thus nicknamed “The Last of the Cocked Hats”

(6th) John Quincy Adams (1825 – 1829)

• Adams customarily enjoyed a quick swim in his birthday suit in the Potomac River during warm mornings. One day, a lady journalist, who knew of his regular morning routine, surprised him by sitting on his clothes and refusing to leave until he granted her the interview he had long been avoiding.
• He published his own poetry book in 1832, making him the lone president who was a published poet
• He was very sloppy concerning the clothes he wore. In fact, he wore the same hat for a decade.

(7th) Andrew Jackson (1829 – 1837)

• Jackson never had any formal education and taught himself how to read when he was in his teens
• Jackson got himself involved in several duels. In 1806, he dueled with Charles Dickinson over some insulting remarks about his wife and marriage. After taking a bullet in the chest, he calmly shot his opponent without even cringing. The bullet that wounded him could not be removed without putting his life in danger as it got lodged near his heart, so he lived with that bullet for the remainder of his life.
• He was the first president to travel by railroad train

(8th) Martin Van Buren (1837 – 1841)

• Van Buren never mentioned his wife, not even once, in his autobiography, since he always prioritized his political interest over his marriage
• He was credited to creating the term “OK.” He was from Kinderhook, New York, which he frequently referred to in his many speeches as Old Kinderhook (OK). OK Clubs were soon founded to help him in his presidential campaign, during which he often shouted OK to the crowd. OK subsequently came to mean all right.
• His allies gave him many amusing nicknames such as “The Little Magician,” “The American Talleyrand,” “The Red Fox of Kinderhook,” and “Petticoat Pet.” However, his opponents who blamed him for the 1837 Depression labeled him as “Martin Van Ruin.”

(9th) William Henry Harrison (March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841)

• Harrison has the shortest presidency at only 31 days. He delivered a two-hour long inaugural address, the longest on record, on a bitterly cold rainy day. As a result, he contracted pneumonia and died exactly a month later.
• He had the most number of grandchildren (48) and great grandchildren (106) compared to the other Presidents. Benjamin Harrison, who would become the 23rd US President, was one of his grandchildren.
• He was the only president who took up medical studies

(10th) John Tyler (1841 – 1845)

• Tyler sired more children than any other president, 15 in total – 8 by his first wife Leticia and 7 by his second wife Julia. He was already in his seventies when his youngest child was born.
• His second wife initiated the practice of having “Hail to the Chief” played whenever the president had appearances at state functions
• He joined the Confederacy 20 years after his presidency, thus becoming the sole President to be a sworn enemy of the United States

(11th) James K. Polk (1845 – 1849)

• Polk survived gall bladder operation at age 17 numbed only by brandy. Antiseptics, antibiotics and anesthesia were not used at the time.
• He was the first president whose nomination and inaugural address were reported through the use of telegraph
• His wife Sarah was a devoted Presbyterian who banned all forms of entertainment in the White House such as drinking and dancing. And so in respect to her religious beliefs, all music and dancing were stopped when the Polks entered the inaugural ball but would start again a few hours after they left.

(12th) Zachary Taylor (1849 – 1850)

• As a soldier constantly transferring from place to place, Taylor never registered to vote even in his own election. He cast his first ballot when he was already 62 years old.
• In fact, he despised politics and politicians so much that even when he was nominated for President, he never spoke a word during his campaign but instead depended on the split Democratic Party to vote for him
• He did not receive the news of his nomination until several days later because of his refusal to pay the postage due his formal letter of notification and all other correspondences, as well

(13th) Millard Fillmore (1850 – 1853)

• Fillmore was the first president to install the kitchen stove, a bathtub with running water and the first library in the White House
• He refused to accept an honorary degree conferred upon him by the Oxford University because he believed he had “neither scientific nor literary attainment.”.
• After his presidency, he changed his party membership from Whig to American or Know-Nothing Party

(14th) Franklin Pierce (1853 – 1857)

• Pierce enlisted as a private during the Mexican-American War (1946 – 1948) and came out a general
• His slogan during the 1852 campaign was “We Polked you in 1844, we shall Pierce you in 1852.”.
• He recited his entire inaugural address consisting almost 3,400 words completely from memory, the first president to do so without the aid of notes

(15th) James Buchanan (1857 – 1861)

• Buchanan is the only unmarried man to be elected president. He was engaged to be married once in 1819, however, his fiancée suddenly died a week after calling off their engagement. He swore never to marry, even though he constantly flirted.
• He had uneven sight (one eye farsighted and the other nearsighted). He would slant his head to one side and close one eye when speaking to people or reading.
• He designated Harriet Lane, his orphaned niece, to become his First Lady and White House hostess. She eventually became more popular than her president-uncle.

More US Presidential facts:

• 1^st to the 15^th President
• 16^th to the 30^th President
• 31^st to the new President-elect

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• Mighty Women
• Man-made Environmental Disasters
• Rocks and Stones with Historical, Cultural and Religious Significance
• Famous Holocaust Survivors
• Heroes of the Holocaust & Their Stories of Courage 1
• Heroes of the Holocaust & Their Stories of Courage 2
• 10 Bizarre Deaths in History
• 10 (More) Bizarre Deaths in History
• 10 (Ultimate) Bizarre Deaths in History
• Famous Teen Deaths
• Birthday Deaths

All images courtesy of Wikipedia Commons