Adams, JohnAdams, John QuincyArthur, ChesterBuchanan, JamesBush, George H.W.Carter, JimmyCleveland, GroverClinton, William J.Coolidge, CalvinEisenhower, Dwight D.Fillmore, MillardFord, GeraldGarfield, JamesGrant, Ulyses S.

Harding, Warren G.Harrison, BenjaminHarrison, William HenryHayes, RutherfordHoover, HerbertJackson, AndrewJefferson, ThomasJohnson, AndrewJohnson, Lyndon B.Kennedy, John F.Lincoln, AbrahamMadison, JamesMcKinley, WilliamMonroe, James

Nixon, Richard M.

Pierce, Franklin

Polk, James K.

Reagan, Ronald

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

Roosevelt, Theodore

Taft, William Howard

Taylor, Zachary

Truman, Harry S.

Tyler, John

Van Buren, Martin

Washington, George

Wilson, Woodrow

Secrets of the PresidentsIndex

Information from http://web.archive.org/web/20121103121035/http://pbskids.org/wayback/prez/secrets/president_01.html

1. George WashingtonMy mouth was full of dentures -- so I had athing about dental care. I made sure everyone of my six horses had their teeth brusheddaily.

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2. John AdamsI taught myself to speak Dutch. Then Ihopped in a boat to the Netherlands, whereI borrowed money to keep America fromgoing broke.

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3. Thomas JeffersonAdmirers once sent me a 1,235-pound blockof cheese, with a note that read:"The greatest cheese in America for thegreatest man in America."

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4. James MadisonNot one, but two vice presidents died inoffice while I was president. Was itsomething I said?

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5. James MonroeI was shot in the shoulder during theRevolutionary War. And they never took thebullet out!

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6. John Quincy AdamsYou think the books you read for school arelong? I read the Bible cover to cover everyyear!

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7. Andrew JacksonMy pet parrot, Poll, could whistle and eventalk, but sometimes the bird wasn't exactlypolite. Ol' Poll had to be taken away from myfuneral service because she was cussin' up astorm! Maybe she just missed me?

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8. Martin Van BurenI'm from Old Kinderhook, New York. I calledmy hometown "O.K." for short... and later,"O.K." started to mean "all right."

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9. William Henry HarrisonWhen I was elected, I was so excited that I sat down and wrote the bestinauguration speech ever! ...Well, it was the longest one, anyway. Ispoke for two whole hours on inauguration day. I was proud of myselffor saying all those things I wanted to say. Too bad it was really cold andwindy that day. I caught a cold that turned into deadly pneumonia, and Iwas laid to rest only a month after becoming president. So I was thepresident who talked the longest and served the shortest. Guess Ishould have known when to call it quits!

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10. John TylerFive years after I left the White House, I wasso poor that I couldn't even pay a bill of$1.25 until after I harvested my corn. And Ithought presidents were supposed to berich!

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11. James K. PolkYou have to be tough if you want to bepresident. At age 17 I had a gallstonesurgically removed without any anesthesiaor antiseptics.

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12. Zachary TaylorI never voted in a presidential election -- butpeople sure voted for me.

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13. Millard FillmoreWhen my wife and I moved into the WhiteHouse, we felt that something was missing.So we had the first bathtub installed there.Those twelve guys before me sure must havebeen dirty.

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14. Franklin PierceI was the first president to memorize andrecite my inaugural address from memory.(And you thought memorizing times tableswas hard!)

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15. James BuchananI had a funny habit of always closing oneeye. It wasn't always the same one, either. Iwas farsighted in one eye and nearsighted inthe other.

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16. Abraham LincolnI used to spy on my neighbors as a creditreporting correspondent. My job was to tellbusinesses who could be trusted with loans.

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17. Andrew JohnsonWho says you have to have to go to school inorder to be president? I never attended asingle day of classes.

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18. Ulysses S. GrantI once got a speeding ticket and a $20 finefor riding my horse too fast. Even presidentshave to watch the speed limit!

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19. Rutherford B. HayesI won a lot of my elementary school spellingbees. When you have a name like Rutherfordyou have to know how to spell.

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20. James A. GarfieldMy assassin shot me in the back. Thedoctors tried to remove the bullet but theycould never find it. I died eighty days after Iwas shot.

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21. Chester A. ArthurThere was nothing I loved more than fishingfor salmon.

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22 and 24. Grover ClevelandYes, I was president two separate times -- #22 and#24! Doctors gave me a rubber jawbone when theyremoved cancer in part of my jaw. My jawbonesurgery was a secret. Doctors operated on me on aprivate yacht traveling between New York andMassachusetts.

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23. Benjamin HarrisonPeople said I was often in a bad mood whenI was president, so they called me "thehuman iceberg!"

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25. William McKinleyI volunteered for the Union Army during the Civil War.Since I was just a teenager, one of my firstassignments was to bring troops coffee and hot mealsout on the front lines. Nobody on either side calledtime out -- I could have been shot! I was decoratedfor bravery and eventually promoted to major by the

end of the war.Index

26. Theodore RooseveltEverybody knows I loved to go hunting, but Iloved my dogs even more. One time my dogswere attacked by four mountain lions. I killedall the mountain lions with nothing but aknife.

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27. William Howard TaftSome people might describe me as..."pleasantly plump." I guess it's true. When Iwas elected president, I weighed 332 pounds-- that's more than a baby elephant!

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28. Woodrow WilsonI shocked the nation's capital by dating Edith Galtmuch too soon after my first wife passed away. AndI was head over heels -- I proposed just threemonths after I met Edith! When she rejected me,saying it was too soon, I tried again. She becamemy second wife 16 months after my first wife died.

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29. Warren G. HardingI was the first president to ride in style -- thatis, in an automobile -- on election day.

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30. Calvin CoolidgeSure, plenty of presidents had pets, but theiranimals were not as loveable as my wife'ssweet Rebecca... her pet raccoon!

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31. Herbert HooverI am the only president who didn't want anytowns named after me. That's becausepeople who lost their homes during theDepression lived in shanty towns they called"Hoovervilles" -- after me, their president.

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32. Franklin D. RooseveltMy mother, Sara, really must have loved herdogs. When she went on vacation, shewould mail them postcards.

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33. Harry S. TrumanI wasn't much of a jock while growing up.More of a bookworm. By the time Igraduated from high school, I had read all2,000 books in my public library -- includingthe encyclopedias!

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34. Dwight D. EisenhowerMy dog was banned from the White Housebecause it did you-know-what on the floorof the diplomatic reception room!"

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35. John F. KennedySome people go swimming to cool down. Itook dips in the White House pool to warmup. I kept the pool at 90 degrees Fahrenheit!

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36. Lyndon B. JohnsonWhen I visited the Taj Mahal as vicepresident, I let out a holler so I could listento my voice echo. Now wouldn't you havedone the same... same... same?

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37. Richard M. NixonMy mom and I had different plans for my future,and neither of us thought I should be president.She wanted me to be a Quaker missionary, and Iwanted to become an FBI agent -- but the Bureaudidn't accept my application.

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38. Gerald R. FordSeptember 1975 may have been the worstmonth of my life. Two different women triedto shoot me. Fortunately, I was not hurt --and they were put behind bars!

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39. Jimmy CarterWhen I became president, I had to makesome serious changes in my lifestyle... andmy hair style. I started parting my hair onthe left instead of on the right.

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40. Ronald ReaganSome people called me "Rawhide." But don'ttell anyone! It was my Secret Service codename.

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41. George H. W. BushNobody can say I'm afraid of danger! I flew --and survived -- 58 combat missions in WorldWar II.

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42. William J. ClintonI'm allergic to cat dander, but you can tellSocks, my White House cat, not to feel toobad. I'm also allergic to beef, milk, moldspores, and weed and grass pollens.

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8. Martin Van BurenI'm from Old Kinderhook, New York. I calledmy hometown "O.K." for short... and later,"O.K." started to mean "all right."

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