5 through 15

[mmcirvin]

So Oliver Willis said some glowing things about Bill Clinton, and then "Conservative since 63" followed up and said:

100 years from now he'll be as unknown as are the 5th to 15th Presidents -- go ahead, name them without looking them up.

I think we'll have to wait to see whether he's right, but it's an odd choice of example, considering that the list includes Andrew Jackson. And James K. Polk, who is mostly forgotten except to They Might Be Giants fans, but who was extremely important, if not really admirable (during his administration, the United States doubled in size through naked imperial aggression). That nobody can remember their numbers is hardly a demerit. Jackson's on the twenty!

Anyway, let's see, can I name them all? You got Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Martin van Buren, William Henry Harrison (of the one-month presidency), John Tyler, Polk... I'm drawing a blank on twelve through fourteen here, except that one of them was definitely Zachary Taylor. But fifteen was definitely James Buchanan.

Let's see, how'd I do?

...Damn! John Quincy Adams was after Monroe, not before Madison (so Madison isn't even on the list—I originally had him in the first paragraph as an illustrious figure from the era, though of course he's best known for things that happened before he was president). Taylor was number twelve, and the other missing names were Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce. Fillmore is almost the canonical obscure American president (probably because of his odd name), though I keep thinking he was later. samantha2074 and darkphonics will get mad at me for forgetting Pierce, who was from New Hampshire and went to Bowdoin.

So, in the list we have a few definite nonentities and some pretty important people, and it's obviously been a while since I took American history.

Comments

[jwgh]

50 years from now he'll be in a league with Harding and the other half dozen or so ineffective, scandal-ridden Presidents.

Of course when I think of scandal-ridden I think of Reagan and Nixon, though I suppose you can't really call them ineffective.

Andrew Johnson was pretty ineffective, although the fact that he was so universally loathed actually helped prevent the complete dismantlement of Reconstruction for a while.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

I usually remember presidents who either ended their terms prematurely or nearly did. Polk I remember because [of the song and] he didn't run for a second term. Johnson, and Clinton were impeached; Garfield and Lincoln were assasinated. FDR died in office. Nixon resigned.

I can't remember the name of that VP who was sworn in for 1 day (when Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday, and the prospective President wanted to wait until Monday before swearing in), but that's more of a trivium than a presidency. Also, I can't remember which president was shot and waited to finish his speech before getting medical help, so minor was the wound.

Speaking of TMBG, Flansburgh organized an album to support MoveOn.org, which I will not be buying. On it, TMBG covers a presidential campaign song from 1840, though the title escapes me.

You forgot somebody

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

What about McKinley? Wasn't he assassinated, paving the way for T. Roosevelt's presidency?

Also, I thought that A. Johnson missed being impeached by like one vote. Of course, I could totally be misremembering both points.

I didn't remember Garfield being assassinated. Shows what I know.

I should look things up before posting

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

Oops. So A. Johnson was impeached, but not convicted by the Senate. My bad.

Re: I should look things up before posting

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Yep. It was a MUCH nearer thing than with Clinton.

Re: You forgot somebody

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

Also some guy named Kennedy.

W. H. Harrison, Taylor, Harding, and F. D. Roosevelt also died in office.

Also there were assassination attempts against Jackson, Truman, Ford (twice!), and Reagan. Reagan was supposed to die in office, because he was elected in a year ending in zero, but he didn't get the memo. So far Dubya seems not to be playing by that rule either, curse him.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Reagan suffered brain death... close enough. And Dubya WOULD die, were he reëlected, but he might escape that fate.

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, I figured it out... Dubya wasn't elected in a year ending with zero.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

EIGHT MORE YEARS! EIGHT MORE YEARS!

[avocado123.livejournal.com]

Does that mean Gore is a marked man?

Re: You forgot somebody

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean for my list to be exhaustive, but on the topic of JFK, not having lived through his administration, I primarily associate him with his death instead of a useful legacy, like not-getting-us-all-killed during the "Missile Crisis" and his urging the space program.

And yeah, I forgot all about McKinley. To me, he will always be a remote northern mountain. (And a mountain that should rightfully be called Denali, besides.)

I think it was Truman who was shot and finished his speech before getting medical attention.

Re: You forgot somebody

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Teddy Roosevelt, I think. Wasn't it after he was President, during his later run on the Progressive Party ticket?

[manfire.livejournal.com]

Seinfeld fans will probably always remember that Van Buren was president number eight.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

"Conservative since 63". I guess we know when the onset of senility occurred.

I wonder if 25 years from now, Dubya's presidency will be considered in the same breath as Nixon's and Harding's.

[avocado123.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I recall only the first few prez's: Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe Adams.

However, I can name all 50 states. Alphabetically. Frank Sinatra taught me how.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

This is a good place to mention that Ranjit made a similar observation about remembering presidents, but regarding distant future observations of early presidents:

"Yeah, my theory is that -- if they don't realize too late, and it's already gone -- people and civilizations will tend to keep their earliest memories for nostalgia's sake, and discard the middle stuff. For the googcentennial, the U.S. will have floats of the first 100 presidents and the most recent quadrillion, but nobody remembers who the ones in the middle were. (http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=sp1jr4nn63a183%40corp.supernews.com)"