Bonus content!
Sending all this mail was exhausting. I begged people not to subscribe to The POTUS Notice because I didn’t have any energy to send more mail. Guess what? More people signed up all at once than ever before. I’m not sure what this says about you guys. But I know what it says about me. I’m going to take advantage of your brazen renegate tendencies. Please: DO NOT comment below on this post. Do not post pictures of your zine and tag me. And for crying out loud, don’t tell anybody about my online store. Thank you.
This year, I had too much going on to send holiday cards. I missed sending a big batch of mail though. To make up for it, I sent out exclusive, limited-edition zines to The POTUS Notice subscribers who opted in.
Keep scrolling for one extra doodle for each individual featured in the zine.
Having trouble turning your zine inside out? Maybe this video will help. Maybe not, but it’s worth sixteen seconds to find out, right?
First ladies
Betty Ford
At a time when people didn’t say “breast” or “cancer” (let alone together), Betty Ford raised awareness and saved countless lives.
Far less important, the Fords were the first first couple since the Coolidges to share a bedroom. Openly, at least. These two facts aren’t related in any way, but they appeared next to each other in my sketchbook, so there you go.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Both Eleanor and William Henry Harrison had bounties on their head. Eleanor didn’t waver in her convictions and continued to support civil rights, even after the KKK put a $25,000 bounty on her head.
Rosalynn Carter
First Lady Rosalynn Carter worked tirelessly to get a mental health bill past, knowing that mental health is as important as physical health. Three months later, Ronald Reagan came into office and stripped the funding.
Jackie Kennedy
It blew my mind to learn both that Jackie died so young and that she worked nearly up until she died. Or, if I’m being honest, that she worked at all after the White House.
For more, check out my First Ladies page. (I’ve been adding at least one FLOTUS every Friday!)
These doodles were inspired by First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies, by Kate Andersen Brower.
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Presidents
Rutherford B. Hayes
Hayes signed President’s Day into law, making it a Federal holiday. But before he was president, he was McKinley’s commanding officer during the Civil War. The elder future prez said of the younger: “Exceedingly bright… and gentlemanly… He promises to be one of the best.”
William McKinley
His opponent, the charismatic William Jennings Bryan, went on a speaking tour. McKinley said “I have to think when I speak” and instead launched a successful Front Porch Campaign. The public came to him.
Doodles from President McKinley: Architect of the American Century, by Robert W Merry.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
18-year-old Princess Elizabeth attended his memorial service in London. (I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but Queen Elizabeth met 12/13 of our last presidents. The only one missing? LBJ.)
Doodle inspired by The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War, by Catherine Grace Katz. So good. I’ll be sharing more from this book in the next POTUS Notice.
Grover Cleveland
The tumor removed during his secret surgery is on display at the Mütter Museum, along with John Wilkes Booth’s thorax, a bit of Charles Guiteau’s brain, and Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall’s bladder stones.
Doodle inspired by The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman, by Matthew Algeo. Freaking fascinating.
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Shameless plug
Some of the same doodles in the zine and on the envelope can be found in my little store!
Hey there!
It’s true, I do repurpose a lot of email newsletter content. You can access a lot of the trivia by reading my blogs, without sharing your email address. BUT! Signing up comes with perks! My monthly email newsletter, The POTUS Notice, includes extra content and opportunities to score free POTUS goodies. Plus, it’s free! Sound enticing? Just click this little link to subscribe.
