Presidential Trival Poem by Ben Gieske

Presidential Trival

Rating: 2.8


(some information taken
from “American Profile”,
Feb.17-23,2008)

1
George Washington
How did he become the one?
Didn’t belong to any party
Yet he won unanimously

2
John Adams *
The first and not the second Adams
Was not one for hesitation
Rushed to settle in his habitation.

* First president to reside in the White House. Moved in while the paint was still wet.

3
Thomas Jefferson
Did so much for the nation
Authoring the Declaration of Independence
Accomplished many things with magnificence

4
James Madison was short and light *
One custom he did not like
Knee breeches was not his selection
Trousers instead was his election

* Stood 5 feet,4 inches tall weighing 100 pounds. First president to wear trousers.

5
James Monroe
a man from head to toe
with eyes so confident
steamboated the Monroe Document *

* First president to ride a steamboat.

6
John Quincy Adams felt like shedding tears
Living in the White House all those years
First president to be photographed
With his speech he eloquently frontiered paths

7
Andrew Jackson
Once a Tennessean
No friend of any Indian.
“Old Hickory”, the name that followed him

8
Martin Van Buren
How to refer to him?
There was always one way.
“Old Kinderhook” was OK. *

* He was referred to with the term OK after he became known as “Old Kinderhook”.

9
William Henry Harrison
Showed little consideration
His inaugural speech too long *
He died from pneumonia of the lung

* His speech 105 minutes which he gave without wearing an overcoat or hat. He died one month later.

10
What to think of poor John Tyler!
One might say a compiler
Adding 15 children to his generation.
What exceptional courage and imagination!

11
James K. Polk
Loyal to the ordinary folk
Was not caught in remiss
Of keeping every campaign promise

12
Zachary Taylor
Floated like a sailor
Except soldiering kept him on the move
Couldn’t vote until he was sixty two

13
Millard Fillmore was born poor
with kindly blue eyes
disapproving of slavery but compromised
hating civil war even more

* did not accept the honorary degree from Oxford University claiming he did not deserve it

14
Franklin Pierce
once accused of cowardice
fought to protect immigrants under the rights of law
endorsed the full enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law

* First president to have a Christmas tree in the White House

15
James Buchanan
Always a solitary man
Didn’t have a bear named Teddy
Not even a First Lady *

*only president who never married

16
Abraham Lincoln
A real American icon
Six feet and four inches tall
Sought unity and democracy for all

17
Andrew Johnson
without schooling, no paragon *
learned to write at age eighteen
loved the Union, refused to secede

* only president who never went to school but he read a lot and was a very good speaker

18
No success could Ulysses S. Grant assume
Serving in the army he did not like
So many failures and scandals despite
As general he deserved his own tomb.

19
Rutherford B. Hayes
Liquor and wine were not his ways
Of Easter he was quite fond
Held Easter Egg Rolls on the White House lawn

20
James Abram Garfield once lived on a farm
Knew such things as Greek and Latin *
His presidency cut short by a victim
Of the spoils system which needed reform

* entertained by writing Greek with one hand and Latin with the other at the same time

21
Chester A. Arthur
Never an author
Too busy with time spent
Being so eloquent *

* Nicknamed “Elegant Arthur” for his fashion sense

22
Grover Cleveland
Offered his hand
Answered the phone
And took a wife of his own *

* Only president married in the White House.

23
Benjamin Harrison
First with all the fun
Turning on lights with electricity
In White House domesticity *

* First president to use electricity in the White House

24
Glover Cleveland
Met unrest throughout the land
With honesty but no resource-
fullness solving problems by force

25
Ever so thoughtful was William M. McKinley *
Caring for his invalid wife so carefully
Vigorously supported high tariffs
Guided the U.S. toward world leadership

* First president to ride in an automobile, to campaign by telephone and the third to die from an assassin’s wound

26

Theodore Roosevelt
There was much of what he felt
About country, children, and spouse
Dubbed his residence the “White House” *

* First president to call his residence the White House

27
William H. Taft
Was not one to laugh
First president to own a car
Rode around like a tzar

28
From early on Woodrow Wilson *
Learned some important lessons
Helping him excel in his three careers
As educator, scholar, world leader throughout his years.

*Only president buried in Washington, interred at Washington National Cathedral

29
William G. Harding
could do so little to stem the Roaring
Twenties betrayed by graft and scandals in his administration
seething with issues of evolution, prohibition and persecution

* First president to speak over the radio. He had the largest feet of any president: size 14.

30
Was Calvin Coolidge a misfit *
In the Roaring 20s of the Jazz Age
Rarely wasted a word or page
Though he had some wisdom and wit

* Refused to use the telephone while in office

31
Herbert Hoover
Born of parents who were Quakers
Came from out of the west
Iowa is where he was laid to rest. *

* Buried in West Branch, Iowa. He was the first president to be born west of the Mississippi.

32
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Took action to show how he felt
Wanting to help the “forgotten man”
Fought for the plight of the common man

33
Harry S. Truman
was never a seaman
first to travel underwater in a submarine
entering west Point was once his solitary dream

* First president to give a speech on television

34
Dwight D. Eisenhower
A general with five stars
Fought in both World Wars
Guided the launching of Explorer 1

35
John F. Kennedy
Elected early to Presidency *
Opened up new frontiers
Mourned by seas of flooding tears

* Youngest American elected president at age of 43 and the youngest to die in office at 46

36
Lyndon B. Johnson
A man of great constitution
Waged the War on Poverty
Created the Great Society

37
Richard Nixon
Victim of his own fixin’
Set foot in every State
Got caught for one mistake

38
Gerald R. Ford
Great champion of sport
Was an honest man
Wanting to heal wounds throughout the land

39
Jimmy Carter
A peanut farmer
A hospital born in
First of all those sworn in *

* First president born in a hospital

40
Ronald W. Reagan
Long after his acting began
First spoke his presidential line
Still acting at the age of sixty nine

41
George H. W. Bush
All I see is your face in a rush
speeding over the waters in your boats
Just one of your many pleasure sports

42
I listened to Bill Clinton
playing his sax with a band
listened to his case pro and con
found him guilty of playing a loose hand

* First president to be a Rhodes Scholar

43
George W. Bush
To war he had to rush
Even though the facts were clear
There was no danger near

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
James B. Earley 06 August 2008

Nothing trivial about #43 - a sad commentary on Presidential incompetence!

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Not a member No 4 20 March 2008

An educational, entertaining and poetical romp.. thanks for this one Ben..jim

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