American Presidents

President Harry S. Truman, addressing Americans by radio in 1945.

We Can Thank Harry Truman for TV Politics

Truman was the first president to regularly appear on television

The song made its debut 205 years ago—in a boat.

Why Do We Play 'Hail to the Chief' for the President?

A Scottish rebel features prominently in the anthem

President Franklin D. Roosevelt exits a car during a campaign stop in California. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president with a visible disability, caused by polio.

People Mailed Dimes 'By The Truck Load' to FDR's White House to Cure Polio

He was America’s first and only president with a visible—and known—disability

Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1887

The Tradition of Presidential Portraiture, Explained

The transition of office holders includes the official commissioning of the portrait of the outgoing First Lady and President

A photograph of the National Menorah from 2011.

Why There’s A 30-Foot Menorah on the National Mall

The tradition of the National Menorah was begun under President Jimmy Carter in 1979

Score was a tiny communications satellite attached to a really big rocket.

Celebrate Christmas With the First Voice Ever Broadcast in Space

Eisenhower kicked off the space race with a goodwill wish

Harold Israel, left, and Homer Cummings, right, were linked for life.

The Suspect, the Prosecutor, and the Unlikely Bond They Forged

New evidence shows that Homer Cummings, who would later be FDR's attorney general, rescued an innocent man accused of murder

People Have Spent Years Trying to Diagnose Mary Todd Lincoln From Beyond the Grave

Abraham Lincoln's wife has been called a "wildcat," "menstrual" and "bipolar" among other things

How Trump Tower Takes the Skyscraper Debate to New Heights

The future of urban development takes on a new twist when the president lives among the clouds

The electoral map in 2016, that is, assuming there are no faithless electors

The Electoral College Has Been Divisive Since Day One

It has always had the potential for chaos—one that hasn’t been tapped...yet

President Coolidge conducts the first official transatlantic phone call with the king of Spain in 1927

From the Telegram to Twitter, How Presidents Make Contact With Foreign Leaders

Does faster communication cause more problems than it solves?

Ex-President William Howard Taft (1857-1930) sworn in as chief justice of the United States in 1921

Chief Justice, Not President, Was William Howard Taft’s Dream Job

The 27th president arguably left a more lasting mark on the nation as leader of the Supreme Court

There’s a Department of Government Ethics? What Does it Do?

What is the agency weighing in on the incoming administrations potential conflicts of interest?

What Happens to Obama's Social Media Accounts When He Leaves Office?

The White House and National Archives have come up with a strategy to smoothly transition the POTUS Twitter and other communications channels

Produced by Wedgwood, the Theodore Roosevelt service was patented on June 16, 1903, to its designer Armand Léger of Fenton, England (Pat. No. D36,363).

Did You Know That the Designs On Some White House China Are Patented?

Two, possibly three, of the 19 china services that have been made for 17 U.S. presidents are covered by design patents

Gary Hart campaign (photo by Ken Regan), 1984

The Swag and Swagger Behind American Presidential Campaigns

From a coloring book to a painted axe, election ephemera remind us of the hard-fought elections of long ago

The presidential mask offers Americans a particularly playful—and anonymous—entrance into political humor.

What's Behind America's Obsession With Presidential Masks?

From nose-picking Nixon to Trump-kissing-Clinton, Americans have long imitated their political candidates

The Last Living Carver of Mount Rushmore Reflects on the Monument at 75

The 95-year-old looks back at the colossal effort that went into making the American masterpiece

President Barack Obama and Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney broke bread at the 2012 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.

The History of Presidential Politics' Most Important Dinner Date

For decades, the Al Smith Dinner has helped Catholic voters dine and decide

Did John Adams Out Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings?

A scholar makes the intriguing case that Adams gossiped about the relationship years before the news erupted in public

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