Mike Purdy's Presidential History Blog
Ohio’s Lost Presidential Birthplaces
Ohio boasts it is to home eight presidents. Seven were born in the Buckeye state and one adopted Ohio as his home. But starting with Ulysses S. Grant’s birth in 1822, all the presidential birthplaces have been lost to history in varying degrees, except for the... read more
Barely Avoiding Disaster
When Harry Truman assumed the presidency in 1945 upon Franklin D Roosevelt’s death, the White House was a dangerous place. The 145-year-old home of the president was ready to collapse and presented serious safety issues for those working and living in it. White... read more
The Shaping of Jimmy Carter
If you want to know what has shaped and made Jimmy Carter the man he is, you have to soak in the ambience of the small town of Plains, Georgia. It was here on October 1, 1924 that the future president was born. And it is in Plains that Carter has always returned, and... read more
The Hands and Halls of Power
I left the air-conditioned comfort of the elegant Willard Hotel – the long-established “Residence of the Presidents” – a little after 5:00 pm. I immediately felt like I had just been immersed into a hot and muggy sauna. Welcome to Washington, DC! It was a sweltering... read more
If I Meet President Trump, What Should I Say?
I’ll be in Washington, DC attending the Presidential Sites Summit during the last week of August. It’s a conference sponsored by the White House Historical Association and will bring together more than 200 presidential historians, archivists, museum/library managers... read more
So Many Presidential Books, So Little Time
Presidential biographers continue to churn out an amazing flow of new books about the presidents. It’s hard to keep up with them all! Steve Floyd, who has been reading and reviewing presidential biographies since late 2012, has compiled a list of upcoming and... read more
Remembering Barbara Bush
There is no job description for First Lady, nor is there a job description for being a political spouse. Nevertheless, Barbara Bush navigated being in the public eye for more than 50 years as the wife of prominent politician and one-term president, George H.W. Bush... read more
The Spell of Reagan’s Ranch
“From the first day we saw it,” Ronald Reagan said, “Rancho del Cielo cast a spell over us. No place before or since has ever given Nancy and me the joy and serenity it does.” Reagan’s Beloved Retreat: Rancho del Cielo (Ranch in the Sky) was Reagan’s beloved... read more
When Shots Rang Out
Many of us know that four presidents have been assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy). But what is less known is there have been numerous attempted assassinations and threats against not just presidents, but presidential... read more
The Scene of the Crimes
Four American presidents have been assassinated. Today, with one exception, you can visit the scene of the crimes and find physical commemorations of the tragedies – in the form of a paint on a road, a theatre box, and an obscure historical marker. The site of... read more
About Mike
Mike Purdy is a presidential historian and author living in Seattle, Washington. As an expert in presidential history, Mike runs PresidentialHistory.com as a public resource.