Tag Archives: President of the USA

Four Freedoms

The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, 6 January 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy:

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.


The second is the freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.


The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.


The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbour—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a world attainable in our time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.”

Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings, in support of FDR’s speech, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear—were first published on 20 February, 27 February, 6 March, and 13 March 1943.

sources

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/four-freedoms

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedoms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_(Rockwell)#

White House Prom

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We sometimes forget that the White House is not only the residence of the President of the USA , but also the residence of the President’s family.

In 1975 Susan Ford, daughter of President Gerald Ford, was in her final year at Holton-Arms School.Her classmates, petitioned headmaster James Lewis to ask Susan if she could arrange for them to use the White House for the senior prom.Susan Ford asked  White House Chief Usher Rex Scouten that they be permitted to hold that year’s senior class prom at the White House. 

The request was granted, however there were a few terms and conditions connected to it.

  • No expenses associated with the dance could be borne by the United States Government.
  • All participants to the prom  were required to provide their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers to the United States Secret Service a minimum of thirty days prior to the event.
  • Members of the band, ‘The Outerspace Band’, selected to perform at the prom could not have any outstanding drug charges against them.

 

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The Class of ’75,  paid $1,300 for the prom out of class funds.

While the President and first lady  were thousands of miles away on a historic European diplomatic mission,  Susan Ford was making some modest history on her own back home. She played host to the first . and thus far only, high school senior prom ever held in the White House. It was held on May 31, 1975, and  it was generally well-received by those who attended.

News

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Sources

Washington Post

Vanity Fair

People Magazine

Ford Library Museum

 

US registered patent No. 6,469

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On March 10,1849, a 40 year old inventor filed  an application for a patent relating to an invention to lift boats over shoals and obstructions in a river.

The patent was registered today 170 years ago on May 22,1849. The inventor was none other than Abraham Lincoln.

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“Be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, of Springfield, in the county of Sangamon, in the state of Illinois, have invented a new and improved manner of combining adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steam boat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes;”

Lincoln’s patent ends with this claim,

“What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by letters patent is the combination of expansible buoyant chambers placed at the sides of a vessel with the main shaft or shafts C by means of the sliding spars or shafts D which pass down through the buoyant chambers and are made fast to their bottoms and the series of ropes and pullies or their equivalents in such a manner that by turning the main shaft or shafts in one direction the buoyant chambers will be forced downwards into the water and at the same time expanded and filled with air for buoying up the vessel by the displacement of water and by turning the shaft in an opposite direction the buoyant chambers will be contracted into a small space and secured against injury.”

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The invention was never produced for practical use.There were doubts it would have actually worked.

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America First

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The slogan America First was not first used by Donald J Trump but by President Woodrow Wilson, and also by Warren G. Harding during the 1920 US Presidential elections.

On September 4th 1940 R. Douglas Stuart Jr., who was a student at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, founded the America First Committee. It would become the foremost United States  pressure group ensuring the US’s neutrality and against the American entry into World War II.

Its spokes person was Charles Lindbergh.

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President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to intervene to help the British in the fight against Germany, but Lindbergh championed the isolationist cause.

Although Lindbergh was unashamedly pro-German and an anti-Semite, historians agree that he wasn’t Pro Nazi.

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Two future US Presidents, John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford initially supported the AFC.

At the outbreak of the war in Europe ,the America First Committee started  a petition with the goal to enforce the 1939 Neutrality Act and reminding and forcing President Franklin D. Roosevelt to maintain his pledge to keep America out of the war. The AFC had very little trust in Roosevelt and argued that he was untrue to the American people.

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Although the AFC was reasonably popular and had the backing of several wealthy business men, there were also some who were very cynical about the AFC movement.

Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr Seuss was a political cartoonist for the New York tabloid PM at the time. In early October 1941 he drew a series of  cartoons criticizing the nation of America First.

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December 7,1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which drew the USA into the war therefore heralding the end of the America First Committee. Three days later after the attack on December 10,1941, the AFC was dissolved.

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Sources

BBC

Library of National Congress.

 

The assassination of William McKinley.

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On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley,the 25th President of the USA, died, as a result of a shot in the stomach, which happened eight days earlier at the World’s Fair in Buffalo, New York. He was the third U.S. President to be assassinated.
President, McKinley became known as a protector of big businesses, which enjoyed unprecedented growth during his presidency He advocated for  the protective tariff as a way of protecting U.S. business and labor from  competition abroad , and he maintained the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of free silver.

 

On September 6, 1901, William McKinley, , was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. He was shaking hands with members of  the public when Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist and former steel worker, shot him twice in the abdomen.

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McKinley was approached by Leon Czolgosz,  carrying a concealed .32 revolver in a handkerchief. Drawing his weapon, he shot McKinley two times at close range. gunOne bullet deflected off  button on McKinley’s suit , but the other went into  his stomach, passed through the kidneys, and lodged in his back.

Dr. Matthew D. Mann and a team of other physicians were not able to find  the bullet during an operation, due to this gangrene soon spread throughout his body. McKinley died eight days later.

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Czolgosz was convicted of murder and executed on October 29, 1901. His last words were

“I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father”

The president had, had a fairly relaxed approach to security, even though two of his predecessors (President Lincoln and President Garfield) had been killed in the past half-century.

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After McKinley’s assassination, newspaper editorials across the country heavily criticized the lack of protection afforded to American presidents. Though it still lacked any legislative mandate, by 1902, the Secret Service was established and  was protecting President Theodore Roosevelt full-time.

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July 4th, not a good day for the Founding Fathers .

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July 4th, Independence day, a great day for the USA, but also an important day for other nations.

However for 2 of the Founding Fathers the 4th of July  turned out  to be not such a great day after all.On July 4 1826, the 50th anniversary John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died. Just before  Adams died, his last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime rival but also  friend  “Thomas Jefferson survives”, not knowing  that Jefferson had died several hours before.

Five years later James Monroe(although he was not one of the founding fathers), the 5th President of the US, died at the age of 73 at his son-in-law’s home in New York City.

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With his death came an eerie coincidence that many people just couldn’t ignore: But I believe that is all it is a coincidence be it eerie. It is however intriguing.

 

 

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Roosevelt directives June 1941

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Although the US stayed initially neutral during WWII,it had been making preparations for an eventual war with the Axis powers.

Worsening relations with the Axis powers prompted President Roosevelt to order all German assets in the U.S. frozen on June 14, 1941. On June 16 he ordered the withdrawal of German and Italian consular staffs by July 10.

 

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The executive order was signed for  freezing all German and Italian assets.
The order was also  coupled with new regulations giving the Government complete
authority over European assets in the United States.

The executive order read in part: “It has come to the knowledge of this Government that agencies of the German Reich in this country, including German consular establishments, have been engaged in activities wholly outside the scope of their legitimate duties. These activities have been of an improper and unwarranted character. They render the continued presence in the United States of those agencies and consular establishments inimical to the welfare of this country.”

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In December that year the US entered the war after the Pearl Harbor attack.

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Sources

New York Times

New York Herald Tribune

RIP Barbara

Barbara_Bush_portrait

This is one of those cases where you don’t agree with someone#s politics but yet admire and respect that person.

I am not going to say too much about Barbara Bush except for although I didn’t necessarily agreed with the politics of her husband, her son or herself, I have to admit to me she seemed like a decent human being and at the end of the day that is all you can ever expect of a person.

She also came across like a person who could unify rather then divide.

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Below just a few pictures of her long and fruitful life.

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Barbara Pierce on was born in New York City on June 8, 1925. She graduated from Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina. She met George Herbert Walker Bush at age 16, and the two married in Rye, New York, in 1945, while he was on leave during his deployment as a Naval officer in World War II.

Wedding of George and Barbara Bush

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Capture

RIP Barbara

The death of FDR

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On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia at 3:35 pm. The President was 63 and serving his fourth term. Vice President Harry Truman took the Presidential Oath of Office at 7:09 pm in the Cabinet Room in the White House.

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On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt went to the Little White House at Warm Springs, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt said, “I have a terrific headache.” He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom.300px-FDR-April-11-1945.jpg

The president’s attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed the medical emergency as a massive cerebral hemorrhage.At 3:35 p.m. that day, Roosevelt died at the age of 63. An editorial by The New York Times declared, “Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House.”

On the morning of April 13, Roosevelt’s body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the presidential train for the trip back to Washington.

(Chief Petty Officer ,US Navy. Graham W. Jackson playing “Goin’ Home” on his accordion as FDR’s flag-draped casket passes by}

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Along the route, thousands flocked to the tracks to pay their respects. After a White House funeral on April 14, Roosevelt was transported by train from Washington, D.C., to his place of birth at Hyde Park. As was his wish, Roosevelt was buried on April 15 in the Rose Garden of his Springwood estate.

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I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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Sources

Awesome Stories

Eyewitness to History

The 4 inaugurations of Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Franklin D. Roosevelt had to be considered as the greatest US president.He steered the country in the most difficult of times. He was the only President to be elected 4 times.

Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

On March 3, 1933, the newly elected president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, promises a country battered by the Great Depression a renewed prosperity, setting forth plans to put the government to work.

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In contrast to the grim economic landscape in 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, his second term begins with a brighter outlook. In his January 20, 1937, inaugural address, Roosevelt commends Americans for their hard work over the past four years, but cautions that they must continue their efforts.

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Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt riding in an open car, returning to the White House from FDR’s third inauguration. January 20, 1941.

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Cover of the official 1941 inaugural program.

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The fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States was held on Saturday, January 20, 1945. The inauguration marked the commencement of the fourth term of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President and the only term of Harry S. Truman as Vice President. This was the first and only time a president has been inaugurated for a fourth term. (The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1951, limits the number of times a person can be elected President to two.) Roosevelt died 82 days into this term, and Truman succeeded to the presidency.

Due to austerity measures in effect during World War II, the inauguration was held on the South Portico of the White House, rather than the Capitol. The parade and other festivities were canceled as well. The oath was administered by Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone and the subsequent address was one of the shortest on record.This was also the last time that the outgoing Vice President swore in his successor, which had previously been the practice.

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