Was He President for One Day?

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What would you do if you could be President of the United States for one day?

My answer has changed over the years. When I was a boy it was, “Fill the White House with root beer floats and drink as many as I want!” During my college days it was, “Create a National Bikini Modeling Competition with the president as judge!” Nowadays it’s just, “Make sure there’s something left in Social Security’s bank account when I reach 65.” Funny how your dreams downsize with time. But I digress. Continue reading →

The Pastry War (or) How We Wound Up With Santa Anna’s Leg

 

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History is filled with incidents that are so odd, they strain believability. Take John Adams and Thomas Jefferson dying on the very same day. (July 4, 1826 – which happened to be the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which also carried both men’s signature. How do you explain that? I can’t.)

For sheer weirdness, though, nothing compares to the time when France and Mexico fought the Pastry War, Santa Anna lost a leg, and we (the U.S.) wound up with it. Don’t worry – I can explain everything. So sit back and enjoy the strangest tale you’ll ever hear. Continue reading →

Harry Hits the Road

When an ex-president gets behind the wheel, the destination is Adventure!

Harry and Bess behind the wheel

You’ve just wrapped up the most demanding job on earth. For nearly eight years you were President of the United States. You used the atomic bomb for the first time, transitioned the economy from war footing back to a peacetime free market basis (including managing the tsunami of millions of men and women rushing home from World War II, each impatiently demanding a job and a place to live), helped create the United Nations, and stood up to Communist aggression in Korea.

So, what do you do next?

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When Hitler Invaded England … in 1974

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History is littered with possibilities, and the only thing historians love more than bickering among themselves is speculating about what might have happened if the past had played out differently.

What if JFK hadn’t been assassinated?
What if FDR had only served the traditional two terms as president?
And perhaps the most intriguing of all … what if the South had won the Civil War?
Tantalizing possibilities of what may have been gained, or lost, in a history that wasn’t.

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Meet the Old West’s Last Gunfighter

From Oregon State Archives.

You know Jesse James and Billy the Kid. You’ve watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and heard tales of John Wesley Hardin and the Dalton Brothers. All legends in their time, all still outlaw icons today.

Every era eventually ends, and the Old West was no exception. The lawlessness that began with the Civil War’s conclusion stretched into the earliest days of the 20th Century. And when that era finally wrapped up, who was its final desperado?

Meet Harry Tracy, who went down with guns blazing in 1902. He was wildly famous in his day, much like John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde were later on. If the FBI had existed then, he would have been Public Enemy #1. Continue reading →

Happy 5th of July!

calendar_july_5Here we are, the day after Independence Day. So what to write? Our interest in the Fourth of July ended with last night’s fireworks display. Nobody enjoys reading about the Big Day on the Day After the Big Day. Ever read an article about the true meaning of Christmas on December 26th? No, and you never will.

But I have to write about something. July 5th happens to be my father’s birthday (happy birthday, dad!) which got me wondering: what else happened on this date?

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How A Murdered Hound Became “Man’s Best Friend” (Sort of)

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Our Sally. February 12, 2002 – June 26, 2015

You run a terrible risk when you welcome a dog into your life. We know they will only be with us a short while, and yet we fling our heart wide open to them anyway. Even if we tried to resist, we couldn’t: they would wiggle their way inside anyhow. And when the time comes that we must say goodbye, it hurts like a thousand darts hitting your soul.

Continue reading →

Meet the Five Worst Moms in History

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Mother’s Day is here again. The air is filled with purple prose from Hallmark, florists are exhausted from non-stop deliveries, and if you’re planning on eating out, better bring a lawn chair so you can relax during the long wait for a table.

Most people think they have the best mother of all time. (They’re mistaken; my mom was the world’s best.) But this post takes the opposite view. Let me introduce you to the Five Worst Moms in History. Continue reading →

111 Prostitutes: The Original Love Boat

 “There is not much desire on the part of our authorities to welcome such a large addition to the already overflowing numbers engaged in their peculiar profession.” 

– Cincinnati Gazette, 1863

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You wouldn’t wanted to have been William Rosecrans in the spring of 1863, because he was having a really tough time at work.

Rosecrans was major general in command of the Army of the Cumberland, and he had two equally pressing problems. First, Abraham Lincoln was riding him hard because he hadn’t been able to drive the Confederate army out of Tennessee. That’s enough to keep a general awake at night. But it was child’s play compared to his other dilemma: how to get rid of all those prostitutes behind his lines? Continue reading →