The traditional inaugural ball was held for President Ulysses S. Grant in 1873. Everything was in place to make the evening memorable and beautiful and canaries were brought in to enhance the experience.
Unfortunately, a severe cold front came in and all of the birds froze to death. Although some attendees took the bird’s fate as a sign, others simply continued to enjoy their night.
Cleveland’s Marriage
In his personal life, Grover Cleveland did what no other American president has ever done, he got married when he was already in the White House. He married a much younger woman named Frances Folsom Preston when she was only 21 – 28 years his junior.
The American public didn’t seem to mind the age gap. They found the president’s new wife to be very mature and felt that they were a good match.
Ulysses S. Grant
The 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was the Union Army’s commanding general during the Civil War. He was one of the most popular presidents during his time in office between the years 1869 and 1877. Grant attended West Point and found himself in combat in the Mexican-American War just a few years later. The war began his rise to fame and helped him to become one of the youngest presidents in history, being sworn in at the age of 47.
Grant owes his high score to his morality, excellent foreign relations, and good rhetorical ability, which often swayed the public and his pursuit for equal justice for all Americans. He was known as an honest president, the first to appoint African Americans and Jewish Americans to higher office, and as a man who opposed the KKK publicly and vehemently.
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, also known as JQA, was the 6th US president and served between the years 1825 to 1829. He was the son of founding father and former president, John Adams. Adams strongly supported equal rights and was an anti-slavery activist and even dubbed himself as “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of southern slavery that ever existed.”
Adams believed in non-intervention whenever possible and elected not to involve America in European political affairs. He strongly opposed the annexation of Texas and has the oldest surviving presidential photograph in history, which was taken in 1843, when he was 76 years old.
Adams’ Early Morning Swim
John Quincy Adams used to go skinny-dipping in the Potomac River every morning as part of his daily routine. This was not an uncommon practice at the time, but one morning during his swim a strange thing occurred.
A female journalist, who was extremely eager for an interview with the president, decided to sit on the rock which held his clothes and would not get up until he promised her an interview. Unsurprisingly, he agreed.