January birthdays

January brought us four presidents. A nice tidy number, though I wish we could have returned a couple of them. Despite finding Millard Fillmore completely unpalatable, I discovered a few unexpected similarities in this quartet and quite enjoyed pulling this together.

The January babies are:

1. Millard Fillmore (1800)

2. William McKinley (1843)

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882)

4. Richard Nixon (1913)

If you prefer by birth date, here’s the order:

1. January 7: Millard Fillmore

2. January 9: Richard Nixon

3. January 29: William McKinley

4. January 30: Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Two were born in NY

McKinley was born in Ohio; Nixon was born in California. (FUN FACT! Fillmore was president when California became a state.)

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Political party

Whig

• Fillmore

Republican

• McKinley

• Nixon

Democrat

• FDR

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Not one of these guys had a single VP

Of VPs serving under the January birthday boys, three went on to become president: Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, and Harry S Truman. Not a single one was elected into their debut.

• Millard Fillmore - no vice president

• William McKinley - 2 vice presidents (his first vice president / friend Garret Hobart died in office; Theodore Roosevelt joined the ticket for his second term)

• Richard Nixon - 2 vice presidents (his first one was a corrupt SOB who needed to be extricated.* Gerald Ford was appointed to take his place, because you can’t have someone super corrupt when your president is corrupt and you need to get rid of him!)

  *It’s a truly bonkers story and if you’re not familiar with it — go read or listen to Bag Man. Go do it now. You’re not missing anything here. Millard Fillmore is mentioned a bunch of times and who even needs that in their life? No one, that’s who.

• Franklin Roosevelt - 3 vice presidents (John Nance Garner, Henry Wallace, and Harry S Truman): more VPs than anyone! Truman was only vice president for 82 days before he became president.

Doodles inspired by Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal by David Pietrusza and Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo

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Age elected president

All became president in their 50s! In order of age:

• Fillmore: 50 years old

• FDR: 51 years old

• McKinley: 54 years old

• Nixon: 56 years old

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None of these guys finished their term

But none exited in the same way.

Less than one term

• Fillmore filled in for Taylor, serving three yearsish

Less than two terms

• McKinley was assassinated the first year of his second term

• Nixon resigned during his second term

Less than four terms

• FDR died of natural causes

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Children

3/4 of them had two kids. FDR had six: the same amount as the others combined.

• Tragically, both of McKinley’s children died young.

• One of Nixon’s children married one of Dwight Eisenhower’s grandsons.

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Lawyers

All were lawyers at least for a bit. Not a huge shock there, as that is the most common pre-presidency career path.

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Military and war

• Fillmore pulled together a militia in Buffalo during the Civil War

• McKinley was last president to serve in the Civil War

• FDR tried to fight in World War I, but President Wilson declined his request (his contributions to the Navy Department were more important). He was also famously president during World War II; I’m sure you knew that already.

• Nixon was a Quaker, so he wouldn’t have had to fight.

  • Nevertheless, he joined the Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II.

  • Before his presidency, he facilitated prolonging the Vietnam war … sabotaging peace talks because, well, if the war ended his anti-war platform wouldn’t make any sense.

Nixon knew ten years of bombing was a failure, but hey! That was only as a military tactic. In terms of how it played politically — it was a success! This gross Nixon doodle (and many other gross Nixon doodles) were inspired by The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward.

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How well do you know these birthday boys?

• Who got married in the same room as Alexander Hamilton?

  Millard Fillmore. Not at the same time, mind you. After his presidency, he married Caroline McIntosh at Schuyler Mansion. There’s speculation that perhaps Alexander’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, arranged their meeting.

• Who was a "20th century Apollo"?

  FDR’s boss, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, called him that.

• Who did Queen Victoria think was hot?

  Millard Fillmore was the best looking man she’d ever met.

• Who was attracted to his wife's “somewhat unladylike zest, in devouring her chicken on waffles”?

  William McKinley.

Doodle inspired by 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents by David Pietrusza

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PS: Do you know Spiro Agnew?

If not, you have to listen to this:

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