Thomas Jefferson

Presidents’ Common Birth Years, And Death Dates, As Three Presidents Reach Age Of 80 In Next Eight Weeks!

Ronald 29 Comments

The year 1946 witnessed the births of three American Presidents, in reverse order of date of birth, and all three will reach 80 years of age in the next eight weeks:

Donald Trump June 14
George W. Bush July 6
Bill Clinton August 19

But there are other Presidents who share similar birth years, although no cases of THREE Presidents, rather TWO, who have the same birth year.

1767—John Quincy Adams (July 11) and Andrew Jackson (March 15), consecutive Presidents but reverse dates of birth.

1822—Ulysses S Grant (April 27) and Rutherford B. Hayes (October 4).

1913—Richard Nixon (January 9) and Gerald Ford (July 14).

1924—Jimmy Carter (October 1) and George H. W. Bush (June 12), non consecutive Presidents but reverse dates of birth.

At the same time, there are only three sets of cases of death dates of American Presidents dying on the same day of a year, with two in the same year:

July 4—John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (1826) and James Monroe (1831). But Jefferson died a number of hours before Adams on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and supposedly, Adams’ last words were “Thomas Jefferson still survives”, which was not the truth!

March 8—Millard Fillmore (1874) and William Howard Taft (1930)

December 26—Harry Truman (1972) and Gerald Ford (2006).

Trump Vanity Projects Add Massive Costs, And Against American Historical Traditions!

Ronald 27 Comments

Donald Trump is on a rampage to have as many “Vanity” projects as possible, defying history, where only leaders who have passed away, and have high regard of the American people, have projects and buildings named after them.

Trump has destroyed the East Wing of the White House, in his mad dash for a massive 90,000 square foot Ballroom, that would overwhelm the historic building of 226 years.

Trump has also destroyed the Rose Garden, one of the major attractions of the White House.

Additionally, he has promoted a 250 foot Triumphal Arch;

renamed the John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts to include his name;

adding his name to the US Institute of Peace;

is renovating the Reflecting Pool of the Lincoln Memorial;

painting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to be as white as the White House, even though it has always been granite;

a proposed National Garden of American Heroes;

banners on federal buildings of his portrait;

wishing to have Penn Station in New York City and Dulles International Airport in Virginia renamed after him;

proposal to have American Passports with his face on them;

along with wish to create a $250 bill with his face on the currency, when that only happens for leaders who have passed away.

The extent of his self aggrandizement and ego promotion is unprecedented, and no past President would endorse it, not even Richard Nixon, and would be particularly condemned by the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.

What Trump is promoting reminds one more of the ancient Roman Empire; King Louis XIV of France; and Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany.

In a new development, the federal courts have intervened to attempt to end control of the Kennedy Center and the adding of Donald Trump’s name;

and are resisting the “Weaponization” proposal to award financial damages to January 6 Insurrectionists, a proposal that many Republicans in the US Senate are now working to prevent.

While for now, there is no final decision on these matters, finally, we are seeing an organized attempt to rein in the reckless activities of Donald Trump, and it is a good sign for the preservation of American democracy and the rule of law.

Four Octogenarian Presidents In Next Three Months!

Ronald 14 Comments

America has had 45 men serve as President, and 12 of them have reached the age of 80, and with three more to be added to the list between June and August 2026.

So one third of our Presidents will have reached the age of 80, with six of them reaching the 90s up to 100, and nine reaching the age of 80 plus.

Those in their 90s include Jimmy Carter, who reached age 100, followed by George H. W. Bush (94); Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan (93); John Adams and Herbert Hoover (90).

Those in their 80s include Harry Truman (88); James Madison (85); Joe Biden (who will be 84 in November 2026); Thomas Jefferson (83); Richard Nixon (81); and John Quincy Adams (80).

In the next three months from today, Donald Trump will reach 80 on June 14; George W. Bush on July 6; and Bill Clinton on August 19.

Seven of these 15 are Republicans (HW Bush, Ford, Reagan, Hoover, Nixon, Trump, W Bush); 4 are Democrats (Carter, Truman, Biden, Clinton); 1 is Federalist (Adams); and 3 are Democratic Republicans (Madison, Jefferson, JQ Adams) in party affiliation.

Interestingly, 4 of the 15 Presidents were from the first 6 Chief Executives. Then, all of the remaining 11 Presidents who will have reached the age of 80, are a full century later after JQ Adams.

And after Hoover and Truman, and from Nixon onward in succession, every President from Ford, Carter, Reagan, HW Bush, Clinton, W Bush, Biden and Trump, will have reached that accomplishment, with only Barack Obama still nearly 15 years away from being an octogenarian.

Supreme Court Finally Upholds The Constitution, And Rebukes Donald Trump On Tariffs!

Ronald 22 Comments

After acting totally submissive toward Donald Trump in his first year of his second term, finally the Supreme Court majority, including two Trump appointees—Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, along with Chief Justice John Roberts and the three Democratic women justices–have delivered a solid rebuke to Trump on the subject of protective tariffs.

This is long overdue, as the Court has developed a reputation as the most extreme right wing Court in a century, and Chief Justice Roberts presides over a majority which usually has no desire to challenge executive power of the President.

This dangerous trend, hopefully, will continue to be challenged in future cases, particularly on birthright citizenship rights, which are contained in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified after the Civil War.

Donald Trump does not care about the reality that protective tariffs are a disaster, as they were in causing the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of the 1930s, because Republican Presidents Benjamin Harrison (prodded on by future President William McKinley’s promotion of high tariffs) and Herbert Hoover stubbornly imposed them on the American people, destroying the economy.

With the economy not doing well, despite Trump’s delusional statements, this repudation of Trump’s tariffs should be seen as a blessing by him, as well as the American people.

But instead, Trump is railing against his own Republican Justices who have “defied” him, and one wonders how it will show up in his State of the Union Address next Tuesday.

Will he openly condemn Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett in his speech, or will he be diplomatic and maybe just lightly tease them?

This should be a very interesting moment of confrontation between the Supreme Court members who show up and the President of the United States!

It reminds one of past clashes of Presidents and Supreme Courts, including under Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson with Chief Justice John Marshall; Abraham Lincoln with Chief Justice Roger Taney; Franklin D. Roosevelt with the majority conservative Court and Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes during the New Deal; and other controversies involving Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Barack Obama and Supreme Court decisions!

The $175 Billion raised in tariffs this past year were a financial burden on the American consumers, and should be returned to the American people with a refund per taxpayer of $1700, as suggested by Illinois Governor JD Pritzker. However, it seems that Trump has no concern of the damage done to the average American, while constantly engaged in grift for personal gain, having enriched himself in the past year, a crime against the Constitution!

The Total Preposterous And Outrageous “Prager University” Presidential Rankings Survey!

Ronald 20 Comments

The Right Wing Propaganda Organ known as “Prager University”, which is NOT a university, but a well financed attempt to distort the reality of American history, extol the virtues of unbridled capitalism, work against “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”, and undermine science, has come out with a 2026 Ranking of American Presidents.

Anyone who would believe the virtues or veracity of this listing needs their heads examined, as it is a total distortion of the office of the Presidency to the extreme imaginable!

All Presidents except William Henry Harrison (one month) and James A. Garfield (6 months) are included, but with the decision NOT to include Donald Trump, even though he finished his first term five years ago, but using the excuse that he is presently in office, so not to be placed in the listing for now.

One can be certain when a later version of this so called “Ranking” is published in the future, Donald Trump will end up very high on the list, probably in the top five, based on the crazy order of the Presidents compiled by the propagandists promoting this pure trash of a listing.

So without listing every President, let’s look at the most significant cases of total distortion.

The survey starts off with George Washington Number 1 and Abraham Lincoln Number 2, but after that, the listing goes totally awry.

Ronald Reagan is Number 3, which is a major distortion of reality, but then is followed by, of all people, Calvin Coolidge at Number 4. That is an example of how wacky this survey is, when examined in detail. No one who has any intelligence would rate Coolidge as anything more than in the bottom third of the Presidents.

The rest of the top 10 are in order—Thomas Jefferson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Monroe, James Madison, John Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt. Monroe, Madison and John Adams in most cases would be in the middle of the second ten, not the top ten, but otherwise, not terrible, except to put Coolidge above the Founding Father Presidents and Theodore Roosevelt, as well! How crazy can one get?

Harry Truman is rated Number 12, behind Grover Cleveland at Number 11, which seems ridiculous, followed by Andrew Jackson as Number 13 and James K. Polk as Number 15, both who have otherwise collapsed to lower than Number 20 with recent reevaluations that have caused their rapid decline. Ulysses S. Grant is Number 14, higher than the rise he has gained in legitimate rankings.

John F. Kennedy ends up Number 18 and Franklin D. Roosevelt as Number 20, with of all people, William Howard Taft in between as Number 19, clearly totally lacking in reality.

The Two Bushes, HW and W are Numbers 21 and 22, with Bill Clinton behind them as Number 23, followed by the largely unimpressive many Presidents that have been ranked low for many decades in surveys.

But once we reach the 31-42 range, the bottom of the list, we discover Lyndon B. Johnson Number 35 behind Herbert Hoover Number 33, as well as behind Gerald Ford Number 27 and Richard Nixon Number 29. How crazy can one get to come up with such rankings?

And it gets worse, as Woodrow Wilson is Number 37, followed by Barack Obama Number 38, Jimmy Carter Number 39, and then followed by two Presidents who belong in the bottom, Andrew Johnson Number 40 and James Buchanan Number 41. One might be harshly critical of Wilson, who has declined in rankings in recent years, but to put him in the bottom six of all Presidents is preposterous! And placing Obama and Carter in this bottom group is outrageous beyond belief and reality!

But one might ask, well, who is the absolute bottom at Number 42, and it is, unbelievably, Joe Biden! Whether one admires Joe Biden’s Presidency or not, to put him dead last is the height of craziness, not based on facts!

Notice that the three recent Presidents who demonstrated compassion, empathy, common decency and humanity, morals, ethics, and had no corruption—Obama, Carter, Biden—end up in the bottom five of these listings, which is testimony to how disgraceful this listing of Presidents really is!

This so called “Prager University” Poll is total garbage, and no serious scholar or intelligent citizen would accept the presposterous and outrageous compiling of this propaganda organ, that deserves to be disposed of as extremist and lunatic in nature!

Ken Burns’ “American Revolution” Documentary Latest In Long Line Of His Contributions To Historical Knowledge!

Ronald Leave a comment

Anyone who is an historian, including this author and blogger, would be certain to applaud Documentarian Ken Burns, who has devoted his career to the development of brilliant historical documentaries on a host of subjects for the past 40 years, presently including “The American Revolution” on PBS!

These include the following topics:

The Civil War
The National Parks
Baseball
The War (World War II)
The Vietnam War
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Country Music
The Roosevelts
The West
The US And The Holocaust
Jazz
Prohibition
Mark Twain
Brooklyn Bridge
Huey Long
The Statue of Liberty
The Dust Bowl
Jackie Robinson
Leonardo Da Vinci

Kamala Harris Memoir Burns Bridges, Likely Insures End Of Political Career!

Ronald 2 Comments

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, by publishing a memoir with strong statements about many political leaders she has worked with, is likely burning her bridges, making it highly doubtful that she will ever again hold public office.

History records that once a Presidential nominee has lost election to the White House, the odds are extremely high that such individual will never be President.

There are only six cases of a defeated Presidential nominee going on to be elected President–three before the Civil War, once in the Gilded Age, once in the mid 20th century, and finally, Donald Trump.

Two of the cases–Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump– won the Presidency, then lost, and then returned, so unusual and special cases. In the case of Cleveland, he won in 1884, lost in 1888, and won in 1892. Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won in 2024.

The three before the Civil War were Thomas Jefferson, who lost in 1796 and won in 1800; Andrew Jackson, who lost in 1824, and won in 1828; and William Henry Harrison, who lost in 1836 and won in 1840.

Finally, Richard Nixon lost in 1960, but then won in 1968 and 1972.

So the odds of Harris coming back are very low, but additionally, by being critical of Joe and Jill Biden and the Biden Staff, and stating her reasons for not selecting Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg as her Vice Presidential running mate instead of Tim Walz, has caused controversy and a sense of anger by those individuals and others.

And it is generally well known that Kamala Harris was not an easy person to work for, losing staff regularly in the Senate and the Vice Presidency.

One gets the feeling from her appearance on Rachel Maddow, and on “The View”, that she does not seem to have the “fire in the belly” to compete in another strenuous Presidential campaign.

It would have been easier for Harris to have run for California Governor, with assurance of an easy victory, and a major role in the largest state’s impact in reaction to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, just like Gavin Newsom is now waging.

So it seems clear this is the end of any serious “comeback” by Kamala Harris to national politics.

Instead, she is on a major speaking tour to promote her book, and to spread the argument of strong opposition to the horrors of Donald Trump, but not a formal national or state role in that effort.

Past Presidential Disputes Never Anything Like Trump With His Predecessors!

Ronald 5 Comments

Donald Trump’s incessant attacks on many of his predecessors in the White House is unparalleled in American history!

Trump has attacked over the years not only Barack Obama, but also Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and both Presidents Bush in vehement and outrageous ways.

In the past, there were cases of “bad blood” between Presidents, but nothing on the scale of what Trump has done.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had strong criticism of each other, as well as Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and neither Adams attended the inauguration of his successor. But later, Adams and Jefferson revived their former friendship, with extensive letter correspondence over the last 14 years of their lives.

John Tyler, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were unhappy with Abraham Lincoln’s policies during the Civil War.

Andrew Johnson had issues with his successor, Ulysses S. Grant, and refused to attend Grant’s inauguration.

Theodore Roosevelt fought bitterly against his own annointed successor, William Howard Taft, and challenged him in 1912, and both TR and Wilson were at odds very often with Woodrow Wilson.

Herbert Hoover was very bitter in his loss to Franklin D. Rooosevelt, and during the terms that FDR was in office, probably more vehement than any other situation other than Trump, and FDR never invited Hoover to visit the White House.

Harry Truman was critical of Dwight D. Eisenhower to some extent, and he and Richard Nixon were dire enemies, until Nixon brought the Truman piano in the White House to the Truman Library in 1969.

Jimmy Carter tended to be critical of other Presidents, but in the case of Gerald Ford, they became the best of friends after both had left office. Carter remained a strong critic, but in a dignified manner, of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Despite past rivalries, both Bush Presidents and Bill Clinton became good friends in later years, and the same for Barack Obama and the two Bushes.

It is extremely inappropriate for the members of the “Presidents Club” to be lambasting others in that group, and it was refreshing that Carter and Ford became friends, and that the Bushes and Clinton were cooperative, as well as Obama with the Bushes.

But then, Donald Trump has destroyed the idea of camaraderie among the small, select group who have the opportunity to be President of the United States.

Trump’s Admiration For Presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, And William McKinley! :(

Ronald 27 Comments

Donald Trump has demonstrated a fixation with three past Presidents–Andrew Jackson (1829-1837); James K. Polk (1845-1849); and William McKinley (1897-1901).

All three of these Presidents had accomplishments worthy of being recalled, but all three also had major shortcomings.

Jackson is rated number 21; McKinley number 24; and Polk number 25 in the American Political Science Association Survey in 2024.

Jackson fell 12 points in rank; McKinley 3 points in rank; and Polk 6 points in rank from nearly a decade earlier, in 2015.

In the last C Span Presidential Survey in 2021, Jackson was number 22, down from 18 and 13 in earlier rankings

McKinley was number 14, up from 16 and 15 in earlier rankings.

Polk was number 18, down from 14 and 12 in earlier rankings.

Jackson has had major problems in historical rankings with growing recognition of the “Trail of Tears”, the forcible removal of five Indian tribes from the South to Oklahoma in the 1830s. Also, Jackson was a vehement supporter of slavery, and worked to prevent abolitionists from being able to send their antislavery literature through the US Mail system. The corrupt spoils system began under him, and he was infamous for his terrible temper and killing of a number of people through gun duels. And yet, Donald Trump admires him, and promoted him in the Oval Office during his first Presidential term.

Now, in his second term, Trump has promoted James K. Polk, whose imperialistic bent, “Manifest Destiny” led to more gaining of territory than anyone except Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. War with Mexico added the whole Southwest, and a treaty with Great Britain divided the Pacific Northwest between Canada and the United States. And Polk promoted slavery, and like Jackson, owned hundreds of slaves

Also, William McKinley has fasinated Donald Trump, with his McKinley Tariff in 1890, when McKinley was in Congress, which led to the “Panic of 1893”, the worst economic downturn until that time frame. And then, McKinley promoted going to war with Spain (Spanish American War), with the US gaining the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, a sphere of influence over Cuba, and separately, annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. So McKinley, just like Polk, was a clearcut imperialist.

Trump and his fixation with tariffs finds McKinley fascinating, despite the truth of the Panic of 1893, and both Polk and McKinley and their imperialistic bent fascinate Trump, with his stated interest in taking back the Panama Canal; making Canada the 51st state; taking Greenland away from Denmark; and wanting US involvement in the Gaza Strip.

Massive Abuse: Trump Invocation Of Alien Enemies Act Of 1798!

Ronald 9 Comments

In the early days of the Republic, during the administration of John Adams (1797-1801), the Federalist Party majority in Congress enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, an action against French nationals who had migrated to America during the French Revolution.

President Adams signed the legislation’s four laws, which violated the recent enactment of the Bill of Rights in 1791, and the “Quasi War”, undeclared naval war against France went on from 1798-1800, until the coming to power of Napoleon Bonaparte, led to an agreement to end the undeclared war.

The controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts led to the defeat of John Adams by Thomas Jefferson in the Presidential Election of 1800, and the repeal of three of the four laws passed in 1798 was the result, but what remained was the Alien Enemies Act.

The law was used during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, under President James Madison, but after that, ignored for a full century.

That law was utilized by Woodrow Wilson in World War I, against nationals of German and other nationals of enemy nations during that war.

And then, again, that law was utilized to justify internment of Japanese nationals after the Pearl Harbor attack that brought America into World War II.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that led to an apology to survivors of the Japanese internment, and financial compensation to those individuals.

But the law remained in the background, and now, eighty years after World War II, Donald Trump has utilized it as a method and justification to accelerate the deportation of millions of immigrants. Trump is first starting with Venezuelan migrants who have been involved in crimes, but also promoting the removal of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees who had been given Temporary Protected Status by President Joe Biden, and face potential threats if they are forcibly returned to Venezuela, where they faced likely imprisonment or death.

And invocation of the Alien Enemies Act will be used as justification for deportation of millions of other undocumented immigrants, which have come to America to escape persecution and violence in their homeland, and now face a threatening future to their health and safety.

This is perceived as a massive abuse of power, and as the most nativist action by the US government in modern American history!

An update, that despite a federal judge ordering to stop removal of some 250 undocumented Venezuelan immigrants and to return those on the way to El Salvador, which has agreed to accept them, that the Trump Administration has ignored the restraining order, and such immigrants have arrived in El Salvador.