Camp David, known formally as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is the President’s country residence. Located in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, Camp David has offered Presidents an opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to host foreign leaders.
Did you know that President Roosevelt won the greatest number of electoral votes in 1936? Remember, there are a total of 538 electoral votes. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes—at least 270 electoral votes. President Roosevelt won 523!
You have to wait until you are eighteen to vote, but you don’t have to wait until you’re eighteen to learn about the candidates, form your own opinions, and think for yourself. Click HERE to learn more about the candidates.
Barack Obama is our 44th president, but there have actually been only 43 presidents! How is that possible? Grover Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is therefore counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th president.
Cartoonist Thomas Nash is credited with creating both the Republican and Democratic symbols. His 1874 cartoon in Harper’s Weekly magazine used an elephant and a donkey to make fun of the political parties. Soon people everywhere began using those symbols to represent the parties.
Can you believe that the White House has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence area? There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators. Who knew?
Why is the presidential election held in November? Congress decided that it was practical because the young nation was largely a rural farming country. Early November seemed the best time because harvesting would be over and winter would not yet have made Northern roads impassable. At any other time, farmers were either too busy, or it was too hard for them to reach the poll.
Did you know that Ulysses S. Grant helped set up Yellowstone National Park, which was our country's first national park?
There are eleven presidents on U.S. paper currency. They are: George Washington (One dollar bill), Thomas Jefferson (Two dollar bill), Abraham Lincoln (Five dollar bill), Alexander Hamilton (Ten dollar bill), Andrew Jackson (Twenty dollar bill), Ulysses S. Grant (Fifty dollar bill), Benjamin Franklin (One hundred dollar bill), William McKinley (Five hundred dollar bill), Grover Cleveland (One thousand dollar bill), James Madison (Five thousand dollar bill), and Woodrow Wilson (One hundred thousand dollar bill).
There were eight left-handed presidents:. They were James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Can you believe that for two years the United States was led by a president and a vice president who were not elected by the people? It’s true! After Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973, President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as vice president. Nixon resigned the following year, which left Ford as president, and Ford appointed vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, as second in line.
Barack Obama is the first African American to be elected president of the United States. He was also born in Hawaii, making him the first president not born in the continental United States.
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