Curse of the Presidency 

A Shawnee, who changed his name from Lalawethika to Tenskwatawa, became known as the Prophet. He and his twin brother, Tecumseh, were leaders and wanted to unite other tribes with theirs and established a village that the Americans called Prophetstown. It was north of present-day Lafayette, Indiana.

They wanted to establish a nation with its own borders, government, and culture. Many Shawnees, Potawatomi, Kickapoos, Winnebagoes, Sauks, Ottawas, Wyandots, and Iowas joined them. They wanted a city-state separate from the white settlers.

The governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne, which was signed by some Native Americans. The treaty was for 2.5 to 3 million acres for the Americans. This ended Tecumseh's and Tenskwatawa's plans.

Now, General William Henry Harrison settled the issues with the twin brothers and their followers at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Before he died, Tenskwatawa, the Prophet, pronounced a curse on Harrison. No one thought much of it. Harrison was elected President of the United States in 1840. In March 1841, Harrison, known as the Indian fighter, was 69 when he gave his inaugural speech in the pouring rain. He caught pneumonia and died after one month in office. People remembered the curse.

Harrison was elected in 1840 and died in office. Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 and died in office. James A. Garfield was elected in 1880 and was assassinated while in office. William McKinley, elected in 1900, died in office. Warren Harding, elected in 1920, died in office. Franklin Roosevelt, elected in 1940, died in office. John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, died in office.

Every twenty years, in an election year ending in zero, the president died in office.

Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, was shot but lived. He put an end to the curse.

Information from Shocking Secrets of American History by Bill Coate

My website is https://www.wrintwater, and the drop-down menu "Writing Water Home" has my blog. 

 

                    Freedom of the Press

We all have heard stories about Benjamin Franklin. We know about his inventions, his diplomacy, and his common sense.

Near the end of his life, he wrote his last will and testament. He passed over his illegitimate son William, who was on the opposite side during the War for Independence, and they became bitter enemies.

So Ben left almost his entire estate to his daughter Sarah Bache and to her son, Benjamin Bache. He left his printing press.

 By the late 1790s, Benjamin Bache started his own newspaper, and he did not like President John Adams's administration. His comments on Adams' government were not well received.

 In 1798, Congress passed a law called the Alien and Sedition Acts. The law made it a crime to criticize the government in print.

Benjamin Franklin Bache was true to his grandfather and was not deterred. He publicly attacked the foreign and domestic policies, so Mr. Bache was thrown into prison.

When Thomas Jefferson became President, two years later, he pardoned all those convicted under the Sedition Act. It was too late for Benjamin Franklin Bache. He died in prison a few months before.
He stood by his ideas to his death.

Information from Shocking Secrets of American History by Bill Coate.

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                      That Teddy Roosevelt

            Nothing was going to stop him from making a speech, not even a bullet!

Three men were campaigning for the presidency. Woodrow Wilson was a Democrat, William Howard Taft was running as a Republican, and Theodore Roosevelt was a Progressive, or as some said, the Bull Moose party.

The Progressives had Roosevelt on the campaign trail. And on October 12, 1912, Teddy was in Milwaukee. He was on his way to the auditorium to give his speech when he was shot in the chest by an unknown man. The man was never caught, but his bullet did some damage. It passed through the thick papers of the speech and struck the metal eyeglass case before entering Teddy's body.

Doctors ordered Roosevelt to the hospital, but he had his mind made up, and he was going to deliver his speech. He continued on, entered the auditorium, and stood before the crowd. He began his speech with, "Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."

Despite all his efforts, he finished second in the election. 

When he was determined to do something, he did it. My book, Range War Legacy, is set during his presidency, and he had a significant influence on the cattle and sheep war. My research relates the factual account of the part he played in history. He made things happen.

The information on Theodore Roosevelt, the Bull Moose Party, and his run for president is from Shocking Secrets of American History by Bill Coate.

 

          America's First Woman President

Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. Before he became president, he married Edith Bolling. Was she the right choice for a future president?

He guided our nation through World War I. After the war, he wanted to form the League of Nations.

Congress was against it, so he embarked on a train trip through the country, giving speeches in favor of this new idea.

His doctors did not want him to take on the strenuous journey and commitment, as his health was failing. In Kansas, he had a paralyzing stroke. Everyone in his entourage headed back to Washington, D.C.

Edith Wilson took charge. Without her permission, no one could see the president. The vice president, his son-in-law, every secretary, and even Congressmen. There could be no exceptions.

The legislation that could enter his room was decided by Edith. If she approved, the president's palsied hand signed the papers.

His private secretary only entered when sent for. The important information or questions were given to Mrs. Wilson, and she determined when and if they were given to the president. 

Edith decided that while her husband was breathing, he would remain the president in thought and deed.

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was signed. Edith Wilson, however, served as the president's secretary, the acting secretary of state, and the acting president of the United States by this time.

  Source of information from Shocking Secrets of American History by Bill Coate

 

              Election of 1876: Honest or Dishonest

In 1876, the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden sought the office of the presidency of the United States. When the votes were counted, neither one had the majority. The nineteen electoral votes in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida were in dispute.

There were accusations and denials of dishonesty. Congress created a special commission to decide the issue. Commission members were three Republicans and two Democrats from the Senate, three Democrats and two Republicans from the House, and two Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent judge from the Supreme Court. The commission studied the votes from South Carolina and Louisiana. The electoral votes went to Hays.

The commission started looking at Florida.  

The Florida election officials contacted the Tilden people and offered the state's electoral votes to Tilden for two hundred thousand dollars.

Tilden rejected the offer, as he was positive he would win and be awarded Florida's electoral votes.

However, the commission awarded Florida's votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, who became the nineteenth president.

Tilden had won the popular vote by 247,000 over Hayes. But Hayes received 185 electoral votes to Tilden's 184.

                                         Elections in the 21st Century Are Still an Issue.

From Shocking Secrets of American History, written by Bill Coate

        The White House and the Common Man

Andrew Jackson was referred to as "Old Hickory." He campaigned on representing the "common man" as president. 

As a young man, he was considered 'mischievous.' He enjoyed cockfighting and brawling. He frequently misspelled the same word twice in the same letter and had poor grammar.

He lived by the maxim, "Give no insult, and take none." He bit off his opponent's ear during one of his fights. The "common man" was pleased by this behavior in his day.

In the 1828 presidential election, he defeated New England Puritan John Quincy Adams.

His supporters flocked to Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day, and he invited the throng of shopkeepers, clerks, hobnailed artisans, and laborers to the White House. They accepted the invitation. Destruction of China and muddy boots on the furniture, and Old Hickory's ribs to almost crack were the result.

How can the White House be cleared of this mob of supporters? On the front lawn, tubs of lemonade and whiskey were provided. The "common man" swiftly made their way from the White House to the lawn. After the doors were locked, Jackson left through a side door and stayed in a hotel room for his first night as president.

Old Glory

William Harvey Carney, born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1840, attended a school for Black children secretly run by a local minister.

When the Civil War began, he left the South, went to Massachusetts, and joined Morgan's Guard, part of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.

In July 1863, he fought in the horrific battle at Fort Wagner. His regiment, a part of a large force, was ordered to storm the sandy beaches of Morris Island, South Carolina, and take Fort Wagner. The battle was fierce, and Carney was hit twice by minieballs. He plunged on and made up his mind not to stop until he reached the Rebel ramparts.

Then he saw the color bearer get hit in the stomach. Sergeant William Carney rushed to him and dove for the flag. He grabbed it just before it hit the ground. He held the flag throughout the battle in which 1757 Union soldiers died. Sergeant Carney worked his way through the melee until he reached the regimental commander. He gave the commander the flag and said, before he fell unconscious, "The old flag never touched the ground."

He recovered from his battle wounds. He is the first Black soldier in the history of the United States to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Information from Shocking Secrets & American History written by Bill Coate