Ken Jennings - U.S. Presidents

LITTLE SIMON

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Text copyright 2014 by Ken Jennings

Illustrations copyright 2014 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Jacket design by Elizabeth Doyle

Jacket illustration copyright 2014 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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First Edition

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jennings, Ken, 1974

U.S. Presidents / By Ken Jennings ; Illustrated by Mike Lowery. First Edition.

pages cm. (Ken Jennings Junior Genius Guides)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4424-9850-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4424-7332-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4424-7333-1 (ebook) 1. PresidentsUnited StatesBiographyMiscellaneaJuvenile literature. 2. PresidentsUnited StatesMiscellaneaJuvenile literature. I. Lowery, Mike, 1980- illustrator. II. Title.

E176.1.J46 2014

973.099dc23

[B]

2013023737

Settle down, class, the bell has rung. Im Professor Jennings, your gentleman-scholar-in-residence. As always, Ill be spending the day scooping out buckets of cool, refreshing information for your thirsty minds from my bottomless pool of knowledge.

Today were going to meet one of the most elite clubs in the world: the forty-three men who have been president of the United States of America. I know, you think you already know about the presidents. Youve seen them on money. You might have played with the toys they inspired, like teddy bears or Lincoln Logs. Just walking around your neighborhood, you might pass streets or schools named for presidents. But how much do we really know about them? Do you know which chief executive had a pet pygmy hippo? Which one saw a UFO? Which one was afraid of light switches? After todays class, you will.

The presidency is an exclusive club, but we Junior Geniuses are not. Anyone can joinas long as they like to learn cool stuff. So lets begin with the Junior Genius Pledge. Everyone: Please stand up facing the drawing of Einstein, put your right index finger to your temple, and repeat after me.

With all my fellow Junior Geniuses, I solemnly pledge to quest after questions, to angle for answers, to seek out, and to soak up. I will hunger and thirst for knowledge my whole life through, and I dedicate my discoveries to all humankind, with trivia not for just us, but for all.

Very good! Lets all turn to the next page and begin.

After winning the Revolutionary War, General George Washington probably could have had anything he wanted. Some of his army officers suggested he should be crowned king. If Washington had agreed to be king, and the crown had been passed down to his heirs, do you know who would be running America today? Paul Emery Washington, of San Antonio, Texas, retired regional manager of a building-supply company!

Luckily, Washington didnt want to be king, and instead, in 1789, he was elected and sworn in as the first president of the United States. For the last 225 years, instead of His Majesty, weve referred to our head of state as just plain Mr. President. (And maybe, someday soon, Madam President.)

MAYBE THIS SHOULD BE THE HANSON MONUMENT IN HANSON, D.C.

Strictly speaking, Washington wasnt the first American presidenthe was the ninth! Before the Constitution was ratified, eight different men presided over the Continental Congress. If you count these guys, Americas real first president was a Maryland tobacco planter named John Hanson.

But even though the United States is a democracy, the president still gets plenty of pomp and ceremony. In this chapter, well take a look at some of the traditions and trappings that have grown up over the centuries around the highest office in the land.

The bald eagle on the official presidential seal holds both a bundle of arrows and an olive branch, to symbolize the presidents leadership in war and peace. Many people believe that the eagle is redrawn to face the arrows during times of war, but you should know better, Junior Geniuses. Thats just a myth.

The seal has lots of hidden thirteens, to symbolize the thirteen original states of the union.

If you watch the president on TV, youll see the seal printed everywhere he goes. The Mars candy company even puts the seal on special presidential boxes of M&Ms, available only at the White House and on Air Force One.

George Washington never lived in the White House! It took ten years to build the city now named for him, so Washington governed from executive mansions in New York and Philadelphia instead.

John Adams moved into the White House in November 1800 as its paint was still drying. Not a single room was completed, and the First Family used the large East Room, where ceremonies and receptions are held today, to hang their laundry. The day after moving in, Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:

I Pray Heaven to Bestow the Best of Blessings on This House and All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under this Roof!

Today these words appear above the fireplace in the White House State Dining Room.

The Adams family even had to use an outhouse, as the White House had no indoor bathrooms or running water! But dont worry about the president today having to run out to the Rose Garden in the middle of the night when he feels the call of nature. Since 1800, the mansion has been renovated many times with all the latest conveniences: