The Political Bible of Little Known Facts in American Politics

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Comment by Rich Rubino on March 6, 2013 at 9:39pm

President Named After Delivery Man: Chester A. Arthur was named after Chester Abell, the doctor who delivered him as a baby.

Comment by Rich Rubino on March 5, 2013 at 8:08pm

Destiny?  The first known reported break-in at the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C. was not the 1972 break-in at the Democratic Headquarters (which led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon). The first break-in was in 1969.  Burglars purloined jewelry from an apartment in the building.  Ironically, the apartment was rented by Rosemary Woods, the personal secretary to President Nixon. Woods is known in history for admitting to “inadvertently” erasing part of the June 20, 1972 audiotape involving President Richard M. Nixon. The tape was a critical part of the Watergate Investigation.

Comment by Rich Rubino on March 4, 2013 at 9:40pm

Kid Gloves Harrison: Suffering from an unsightly skin condition, President Benjamin Harrison wore gloves. His critics, not cognizant of his medical condition, called him  “Kid Gloves Harrison.”

Comment by Rich Rubino on March 1, 2013 at 4:24pm

Tar Heel Veep Hiatus: In 1852, both of the major party Vice Presidential nominees were native North Carolinians. The Democrats nominated William Rufus King (at the time a U.S. Senator from Alabama).  The Whigs nominated North Carolina’s William Alexander Graham (a former Governor and U.S. Senator from that state). The Democratic ticket of Franklin Pierce and William Rufus King defeated the Whig ticket of Winfield Scott and William Alexander Graham. The only other Native North Carolinian to garner the nomination of a major Party for the Vice Presidency was U.S. Senator John Edwards in 2004.

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 28, 2013 at 6:34pm

West Virginia Honors State “Byrd:” In 2000, the West Virginia Legislature voted U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd as “West Virginian of the Twentieth Century.”  As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Byrd earmarked billions of dollars for federal projects in West Virginia.

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 27, 2013 at 9:27pm

Dixie Trends Republican: In the Presidential Election of 2008, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and West Virginia were the only states where the Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama, scored a lesser percentage of the vote than Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004.

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 26, 2013 at 8:38pm

The Real First Nixon-Kennedy Debate: Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy debated more than 13 years before the famous 1960 Presidential debates.  In 1947, the two Freshmen Congressmen debated The Taft-Hartley Labor-Management Relations Act at the Penn McKee Hotel in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.  Nixon favored the Act while Kennedy opposed it. (The act regulates the power of labor unions)

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 25, 2013 at 9:21pm

Hiram Grant Becomes President: Ulysses S. Grant’s real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant.  Somehow his name was incorrectly written when he enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy. The rest is history.

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 22, 2013 at 4:50pm

Voter Turnout Rates: The District of Columbia and Minnesota recorded the highest turnout in the 2008 Presidential election with 75% of registered voters casting ballots. By contrast, Utah and Hawaii recorded the lowest numbers with just 52% of registered voters casting ballots. 

Comment by Rich Rubino on February 21, 2013 at 8:15pm

Kidnapping the President: In 1882, Chester A. Arthur was aboard a boat off the Massachusetts town of Marblehead with the intention of speaking in neighboring Salem. After landing in Marblehead where the boat was moored, a persistent Marblehead resident, Captain Benjamin Pitman, asked the President to speak in Marblehead. On three occasions the President declined. Finally, it is said that the Marblehead resident jumped into the driver’s seat of President Arthur’s carriage and brought him the half-mile to Downtown Marblehead, where he gave a brief address. Arthur later said laughingly:  “I can never forget the time that I was kidnapped in Marblehead.”

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