Curated playlist
Presidents of the United States
- John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy spent hours in the water towing a burned crewman after a destroyer cut his boat in half.
- Donald TrumpDonald Trump was a millionaire in inflation-adjusted terms by age eight.
- Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan preached small government, then signed California's largest tax hike.
- Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed from the waist down, and he was careful never to be seen in his wheelchair.
- George H. W. BushAfter being shot down in 1944, George H. W. Bush asked why he alone had been spared. Both of his crewmates died.
- Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to hold a patent. In 1849 he patented a way to lift riverboats.
- Richard NixonRichard Nixon was the only U.S. president to resign. He left office on the 9th of August, 1974, over Watergate.
- Barack ObamaObama rejected a plan to bomb a compound in Pakistan and sent Navy SEALs instead. The 2011 raid killed Osama bin Laden.
- Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest, then gave a 90-minute speech. It happened in Milwaukee in October 1912.
- William McKinleyWilliam McKinley won the presidency in 1896 campaigning from his front porch. Crowds came by train to Canton, Ohio.
- Bill ClintonBill Clinton was born three months after his father died in a car crash.
- Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter once was lowered into a crippled nuclear reactor for 90 seconds at a time. He later ran for president.
- Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
- Ulysses S. GrantIn 1859, Ulysses S. Grant freed an enslaved man worth at least $1,000 that he desperately needed.
- Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison beat Grover Cleveland, then lost the White House back to him.
- Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes won the presidency by one electoral vote, 185 to 184.
- James A. GarfieldJames A. Garfield won his party's nomination after arriving to nominate someone else.
- Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was slashed with a sword as a boy for refusing to polish a British officer's boots.
- Dwight D. EisenhowerEisenhower wrote a note taking all blame if D-Day failed. He drafted it on the eve of the June 1944 landings.
- Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson took the presidential oath from a woman, a first for any American president.
- Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson ordered his own supporters to vote against his League of Nations treaty.
- Harry S. TrumanHarry Truman became president knowing nothing about the atomic bomb. He had been vice president for only 82 days.
- Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson kept his presidency by a single Senate vote in May 1868. The Senate fell one vote short of removing him.
- James BuchananPresident James Buchanan learned the Dred Scott ruling before the public did. A Supreme Court justice leaked it to him.
- President of the United StatesUnder the Articles of Confederation, the American president was only a discussion moderator.