Anyone tempted to tell George to Let Teddy Win?
After his victory in the 1904 election, President Theodore Roosevelt promised that although his first term had lasted only three years (beginning after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901), he would adhere to the two-term precedent established by George Washington. Yet by 1912, convinced that only his progressive leadership would save the Republican party, Roosevelt announced his candidacy. Roosevelt contended that he had only promised to refuse a third consecutive term. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman shows Roosevelt attempting to dodge the anti-third term principle as he crouches before Washington’s ghost. Not until 1951, after Franklin Roosevelt’s four terms in office, did Congress enact the XXII Amendment to the Constitution, officially limiting Presidents to two terms.
Untitled by Clifford K. Berryman, 10/1/1912, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 306175)
Lucius Fox
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Thirty four more days until the Presidential election. In the coming weeks, the Presidential Libraries will be featuring memorabilia, photos, and documents from campaigns of the past century.
Up first, a campaign comic book created for the 1952 election. A Republican senatorial campaign in Rhode Island promoted the GOP slate by making the most of Dwight Eisenhower’s heroic image as “Leader, Statesman, Administrator, Presidential Candidate.”
Happy October!
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Jazz legend Duke Ellington died on this day, May 24, 1974
On April 24, 1969, Ellington celebrated his 70th birthday at the White House where he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The medal was presented by President Richard Nixon, who himself had played the piano since childhood. From the President’s remarks:
“When we think of freedom, we think of many things. But Duke Ellington is one who has carried the message of freedom to all the nations of the world through music, through understanding, understanding that reaches over all national boundaries and over all boundaries of prejudice and over all boundaries of language..
In the royalty of American music, no man swings more or stands higher than the Duke.”
Afterwards, the President played “Happy Birthday” on the piano for the Duke while guests at the White House sang along.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974
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Slide Show: Presidential First Pitches
The general-election campaign is under way, and so is the baseball season. Over at Daily Comment, Steve Coll asks how those two could be joined—and maybe, just maybe, whether a World Series run by the Washington Nationals might play a decisive role in the Presidential race. Presidents have been throwing out pitches at Washington baseball games, and at other stadiums around the country, for a century. You can see some of the best moments—from William Howard Taft, who tossed the ball to Walter Johnson, to Barack Obama, in the following slide show: http://nyr.kr/J08ZI1 (Also see: Presidents and their dogs.)
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life:
April 12, 1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Pictured: President Franklin Roosevelt listens to a speech during the annual Jackson Day fundraising dinner in Washington, DC. Originally published in the January 24, 1938, issue of LIFE.
(see more photos here)
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35th Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Selma
President Bill Clinton, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, and Representative John Lewis join hands and they lead the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 1965 March. March 5, 2000.
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“My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.”
Harry S Truman
Bacall and Truman are at the National Press Club canteen, February 12, 1945.
awesomepeoplehangingouttogether:
Lauren Bacall and Harry S. Truman
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President John F. Kennedy establishes The Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961.
Here, a 1961 brochure for the Peace Corps.
More: Birth of the Peace Corps
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