Fun Presidential Facts

In honor of President's Day, here are some fun facts that I found on the White House Website.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to travel outside of the United States.  His destination was Panama, and he arrived on Nov. 14, 1906.

Lucy Webb Hayes was the first First Lady to receive a college degree.  She received a degree in Liberal Arts from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850.

William Howard Taft was the first president to have an official White House automobile, a White Motor Company Model M seven-passenger steam-powered touring car.

Woodrow Wilson was the first president to hold a doctorate – he received a degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1886. His dissertation was entitled "Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics."

In 1812, Dolley Madison arranged the first nuptials held at the White House – the wedding of her widowed sister, Lucy Payne Washington, to Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd.

After applauding war hero Andrew Jackson's first inaugural address at the Capitol on March 4, 1829, a crowd of thousands descended on the White House to enjoy the reception for the "People's President" – to the accompaniment of crashing china and glassware. President Jackson escaped the crush of the crowd of merrymakers and would-be handshakers by leaving through a window.

Rutherford B. Hayes was the first president to have a telephone and a typewriter in the White House – the telephone was installed in May 1879 and the typewriter arrived in February 1880.

The White House's first web site was developed during the Clinton administration and made its debut on October 20, 1994.

George W. Bush was the first president to complete a marathon, finishing the Houston Marathon with a time of 3 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds on January 24, 1993.

Three presidents have won Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album – Bill Clinton (2005), Jimmy Carter (2007) and Barack Obama (2006, 2008).

Source: The White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org accessed Feb.  15, 2016.