Chester Alan Arthur - 21st President

Click the photo below to visit my page for Chester Alan Arthur:

George Washington - 1st President

Click the photo below to see my new page for George Washington:

NYC Presidential Site Map

I'm visiting NYC in a couple of weeks.  I've charted a map of all of the sites in Manhattan.  Although I have seen several of the sites, I only have a photo with one of them (birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt).  I've charted out a map so that I can find them easily - I want to try to hit them all!

https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1079743

Martin Van Buren - 8th President

Click the photo below to visit my newest page for Martin Van Buren:

Ulysses Grant - 18th President

Click the photo below to visit my U.S. Grant page:

 

James Monroe - 5th President

Click the photo below to visit my newest page for James Monroe to find out why this desk may, or may not, have been one of the most important desks in history....

Thomas Jefferson - 3rd President

Click the photo below to visit my Thomas Jefferson page...

Abraham Lincoln - 16th President

Click the photo below to visit my new Abraham Lincoln page.  Lots of Lincoln sites to visit, so lots of photos :-)

 

 

Richard Nixon - 37th President

Click the photo below to visit my new Richard Nixon page:

 

 

Andrew Jackson - 7th President

Today is the 20th, so click the photo below to visit the page of the man who's on the $20:

James Polk - 11th President

Click the photo to view my new James Polk page - I like that this photo shows the back of our 1973 Chevy Impala and on the bumper you can see Dad's reflective Bell System sticker :-)

Grover Cleveland - 22nd & 24th President

A special post for Father's Day - click the photo to visit my Grover Cleveland page and see why I've chosen this post for Father's Day...

Herbert Hoover - 31st President

Click the photo to view my Herbert Hoover page (and to discover why I'm on the other side of the rope)

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William Henry Harrison - 9th President

A very short page to match a very short presidency.  Click the photo to visit the William Henry Harrison page...

John Tyler - 10th President

My second post takes me through the life of our 10th president, John Tyler.  Click on the photo below to take you to my John Tyler page:

 

 

 

 

 

Woodrow Wilson - 28th President

My first post chronicles my travels through the life of Woodrow Wilson.  Click the photo to visit my Wilson page...

 

Steve and the Presidents

When I was a child, I had a strong interest in the US presidents.  All 37 of them.  I guess that was a long time ago.

 

I was constantly carrying around the "P" volume of our 1962 set of World Book Encyclopedias.   I was only four years old, and my mother always said that the book was almost as big as I was.  I always had the book opened to the page showing all the presidents - sometimes it would go days without ever being closed.  To this day, over 40 years after my obsession began, that book, when set on it's spine, will still fall open to the page with all the presidents.  When my mother moved out of our family home and the set of Encyclopedias was discarded, I kept the "P" volume for sentimental value.  It shows wear and tear (I still remember crying the day that page got torn), but I will cherish it forever.   
 

At four years old, I couldn't read yet, but I did know my numbers.  I would point to a picture and ask whoever was near me, "Who is that?"  They would say "Millard Fillmore" and I would note that the number by his photo was "13."  They would say "Benjamin Harrison" and I would note the number 23.  And so on.  It wasn't long before I remembered them all.

I was a hit at all my Mom's parties - grownups knew of my fascination and sometimes would greet me, not by saying "hello" but instead by smiling, pointing to me, and saying a number such as "19" and I would answer back "Rutherford B. Hays."  It was possible they didn't know whether I was right or wrong, but they enjoyed it just the same.  Sometimes, skeptical adults would get a list of presidents and rattle of several numbers until they were satisfied that I knew my stuff.  The legend grew.  I imagine that I was the only five-year-old who people asked whether the current president should resign in the wake of the Watergate scandal.  I still remember saying to people that "he says he's not a crook, but I think he is, and he should resign."  

At (almost) eight years old, I was asked by a local civic organization to be the guest speaker at their meeting.  As the news-clipping notes, I gave a "color slide presentation."  Apparently "color" film was still a novelty, and for you young people, "slides" were the PowerPoint of my generation.

 

The clipping notes that I talked about birthplaces of the presidents, but my presentation actually included slides from a lot of different presidential sites (not just birthplaces) that I had visited.  We took a lot of road trips (among many trips during those eleven years were five cross-country trips from our home in West Virginia to California) and my parents and I would visit birthplaces, homes where presidents lived, presidential libraries, burial sites, memorials, museums, etc. 

 

This hobby has taken me to places such as New Hampshire, Georgia, Oregon, and even Hawaii.  My original goal was to visit at least one site for every president.  I've only two to go (Van Buren and Fillmore - I'm coming to see you this year!), so I've now changed my goal to visit the birthplace and burial site of every president.

 

The purpose of this blog is to document the visits I have made and to include info about the places that I have not yet seen.  It's both a fun way to post 40 years worth of photos, as well as a way to help me keep track of the places I still want to see.  Plus, if anyone with a similar interest ever finds this blog, they'll be able to use it as a resource since I'll also include links, addresses, etc.

 

I call this blog Steve and the Presidents.