Presidents' Day: A Truly New England Celebration
Our 43 presidents (Grover Cleveland is counted twice having served two nonconsecutive terms) have hailed from 22 of the 50 states, and out of those states, eight of our presidents have been from New England, including Massachusetts (four), Vermont (two), New Hampshire (one), and Connecticut (one). History tells us that among them are some who are notable for their distinguished achievements, while others are such that their legacies have faded into obscurity. But whatever the outcome, they all have the distinction of an 18% share in place-of-origin as New England-born presidents.
John Adams (1797-1801, Quincy, Massachusetts) became our second president for one turbulent term after having served two terms as vice president to George Washington. His relationship with Thomas Jefferson, to whom he lost his second bid for office, was likewise, turbulent. They became great friends and mutual admirers when they met at the 1775 Continental Congress. Together, along with a committee, they drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. However, politically, they were very different, and over time these differences eroded their long abiding friendship. After an icy silence that lasted the better part of a dozen years, Adams reached out to Jefferson on Jan. 1, 1812, wishing him many more new years ahead. Jefferson responded, and for the rest of their lives they remained friends, eventually dying on the same day, July 4, 1826, the semicentennial of Independence Day. Adams’ purported delirious last words: “Jefferson still survives”. But, alas, he was wrong—Jefferson had passed away just five hours earlier!
“John Adams", 1793, oil on canvas, John Trumbull (American, 1756-1843), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829, Braintree, Massachusetts), who, unlike his father, enjoyed much greater popularity as a politician before and after his presidency. But, similar to his father, during his single term in office, his administration was plagued by political strife. Partisanship from his political enemies prevented him from establishing his progressive agenda of bringing the young nation onto the world stage. At every turn, Congress fought Adams from domestic policies to international affairs, and after losing control of Congress in 1826, his administration was essentially crippled. Perhaps the greatest diplomat in US history, Adams began his career at the age of 14 by accompanying an American delegation sent to Russia to obtain international recognition. Among his greatest diplomatic achievements: the Treaty of Ghent (ending the War of 1812); negotiating the northern border of the United States with Great Britain; and with Spain, the annexation of Florida; he was the architect of the Monroe Doctrine, which obliged European powers to acknowledge the US as the dominant power in the Western hemisphere, with a failure to do so necessitating the US to respond accordingly to protect its interests. His policies were generous towards Native Americans, and he was resolute in his opposition to slavery; both he and his father remained the only US presidents who were not slave owners, until 1837, when Martin Van Buren took office. “John Quincy Adams", 1818, oil on canvas, Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857, Hillsborough, New Hampshire) is remembered as a single term president who personally disliked slavery but felt more strongly that the south’s rights superseded any anti-slavery initiatives. During his presidency he successfully campaigned for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed people (not Congress) in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of the latitude 36°30´ parallel. This single action ultimately delivered America into the arms of national rebellion. For this he earned the dubious distinction of being the only sitting president not nominated by his party for a second term bid. He was a critic of Abraham Lincoln and publicly opposed the Emancipation Proclamation. After Lincoln was assassinated a mob descended upon Pierce’s Concord, NH home, demanding to know why he was not flying the flag in national mourning. To this he angrily responded: “I do not need to display the flag to show my patriotism”. He then cited his years of public and military service, and the crowd eventually dissipated. By the end of his life, Pierce’s wife and children had all died. Abandoned by family, friends and neighbors, his Bowdoin College friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, remained his only devoted confidant until he, too, passed away five years before Pierce. Fading into obscurity, Pierce died alone at his Concord home from cirrhosis of the liver. His presidency is considered by many historians to be one of the worst in US history. “Franklin Pierce”, 1858, oil on canvas, George P.A. Healy (American, 1813-1894), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Chester Arthur (1881-1885, Vermont) was as surprised as anyone when he was selected as James Garfield’s running mate, first, because he had never before held public office, and second, his affiliation with the Republican Party’s Stalwart faction, which supported machine politics including opposing civil service reform, branded him dishonest. As fate would have it, that wasn’t his last unlikely role. Just six months into his term, Garfield’s presidency came to an end when he was shot in the back by Charles Guiteau who exclaimed, ““I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! Arthur is president now!” Nonplussed, Arthur went into hiding at his home while Garfield hovered over death for two months, leaving no one actually running the country. When he took office he surprised everyone by enacting, of all things, civil service reform (and successfully!), and fought fraud within the US Postal Service. By the end of his term he left office considered, against all odds, an honest president for this and other noble achievements; he was known as a man of his word, and for keeping clear of internal corruption. For his love of fine clothes and the 80 pairs of pants he owned he was given the moniker “Elegant Arthur”. While in office, he was secretly suffering from Bright’s disease (inflammation of the kidneys), and did not seek a second term. He retired to his home in New York City where he died a year later from a cerebral hemorrhage. "Chester A. Arthur", 1885, oil on canvas, Daniel Huntington (American, 1816-1906), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929, Vermont) was another to assume office as the successor to a president who died midterm. Known as Silent Cal, he suffered fools little, and if he deemed one such, he folded his arms, frowned, and remained silent. In 1919, as Governor of Massachusetts, he made the bold and decisive move of firing the striking Boston Police Force, a sacred city institution, eventually replacing the entire 1,100 member department with WWI veterans, which landed him in the spotlight. This, along with his political philosophy speech “Have Faith in Massachusetts”, gave rise to his subsequent nomination as vice president on the successful Warren G. Harding ticket. When Harding suddenly passed away from a brain aneurysm, officials were immediately dispatched to Vermont, where Coolidge and his family were visiting his father. Upon notifying him of Harding’s death, Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a notary, under lamplight, in the early hours of Aug. 2, 1923. True to form, afterwards, he went back to bed for the remainder of the night. Unfortunately, during his administration, it was his approach of small government that substantially contributed toward the Great Depression of 1929. He decided not to seek a second full term, and died, unexpectedly, from a coronary thrombosis four years later.
Calvin Coolidge”, 1921, oil on canvas, Charles Hopkinson, (American, 1869-1962), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.”
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963, Massachusetts) exuded youth and vigor when he was elected president, but in reality, he possessed a frail constitution that plagued him throughout his short life. Being diagnosed with colitis at the age of 17, it was the first of a slew of chronic ailments he would battle lifelong. Also, his legs were different in length, and, thus, he suffered constantly from severe back spasms. In addition to his precarious health, JFK, faced grave danger and almost certain death during a WWII Navy mission in the Solomon Islands. His heroic efforts saved the remaining ten crew members and earned him the Purple Heart, the only President to be awarded this honor. He became a bestselling author with the publication of “Profiles in Courage”, a single volume, multi biographical account, outlining the political bravery and honor displayed by eight US senators. For this he became the 1957 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for biography, and, again, the only US president to be given this accolade. He donated his entire $100K presidential salary (after taxes) to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America, the United Negro College Fund, and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. He received Last Rites (a Roman Catholic act administered by a priest when death is considered imminent) four times, the final being when he was assassinated in 1963. The nation was traumatized by his death as evidenced by those who will tell you where they were and what they were doing on Nov. 22, 1963 at 1:PM. “John F. Kennedy”, 1970, oil on canvas, Aaron Shikler (American, 1922-2015), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
George H. W. Bush (1989-1993, Massachusetts) was a single term president who, like John Adams, had a son who also served as president. During WWII he was the youngest Navy pilot (19), and flew 58 combat missions. Once, during the war, he was shot down, along with eight other aviators by the Japanese during a battle in the Pacific—he was the only one to be rescued; the other men were captured, tortured, and beheaded. For his service he received three Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross, the only president to have achieved these honors. After returning from the war, he attended Yale, where he had been accepted prior to enlisting, and earned an economics degree in less than three years under their accelerated program. Later he became a successful businessman in the oil industry and entered politics as the Republican Party’s chairman in the 1960s, by then a millionaire. During the Carter administration Bush took a brief hiatus from politics and taught part-time at Rice University’s Jones School of Business. He was the sitting Vice President when elected president, unusual in that it has only happened three other times: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren. He came to the White House highly prepared for the job having spent decades as a career politician, but that wasn’t enough to convince voters to give him four more years after an economic recession combined with reneging on a famous campaign promise “read my lips—no new taxes” ended his aspirations for a second term. “George H. Bush”, 1994, oil on canvas, Herbert, E. Abrams (American, 1921-2003), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
George W. Bush (2001-2009, Connecticut) was confronted with the greatest national tragedy since the Civil War—the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, just eight months into his first term as president. Between the time that he promised the American people he would successfully avenge those who had harmed us and the near collapse of the economy in 2008, he received the highest (90%) and lowest (25%) presidential approval ratings in US history (Gallup). In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election to Bush. In the most highly contested election in modern history, the Supreme Court stopped the Florida ballot recount a month after the general election (remember “hanging chads”?), with Bush winning by five electoral votes—the third closest presidential election on record. He is the only American president to hold an MBA, which he earned from Harvard Business School in 1975. His two terms were fraught with cataclysmic events, both human-made and natural (Hurricane Katrina), and his legacy remains a debatable one, in part, for the impact his decisions rendered upon the impossible enormity of all he faced. “George W. Bush”, 2012, oil on canvas, John Howard Sanden, (American, 1935—), National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.