Mike Purdy's Presidential History Blog
Drawing for 3 Free Copies of New Book About Richard Nixon and His Marriage
In the newly published and highly readable book Pat and Dick - The Nixons, an Intimate Portrait of a Marriage, historian and psychologist Will Swift has written a riveting tale that recounts the career and crises of Richard Nixon as filtered through the lens of his...
Book Review: Thomas Jefferson – From Boy to Man
On January 27, 2014, I had the privilege to visit Thomas Jefferson's masterpiece home, Monticello - a building that he called his "essay in architecture." Over the course of more than 40 years, he was continually making changes to his beloved home, changing the...
What’s the Best Presidential Attraction?
Take a survey sponsored by USA Today and vote on the best Presidential attraction from a list of 20 sites. Voting ends March 3, 2014 and you can vote once a day.My recent trip: I visited three of these sites last week (Monticello, Montpelier, and Mount...
Woodrow Wilson’s Earliest Memory
Woodrow Wilson was born in the waning days of 1856 in Staunton, Virginia to a Presbyterian minister father. The actual date of Wilson's birthday has been clouded in controversy. Click here to read my earlier blog posting on this issue.Woodrow WilsonFrom...
The Hidden White House: 3 Lucky Winners of the Book
Mike Purdy and daughter, Janet Purdy On January 1, 2014, I put the email addresses of the 208 subscribers to this Presidential History Blog in a hat and had my daughter draw three names. Reconstruction of White House: Three lucky individuals won a free copy...
Drawing for 3 Free Copies of New Book: The Hidden White House
In a newly published book, The Hidden White House - Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence, Robert Klara has written the definitive, not to be surpassed, work on this sometimes overlooked major saving and reconstruction of the...
Best Wishes from Grover Cleveland (and me!) for a Wonderful Thanksgiving!
Many of us will be taking time off from work this week as we gather with family and friends for a time to remember the many gifts and blessings we have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is a good time to pause and reflect. President Cleveland's...
50 Years in Perspective
November 22, 2013 is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the fourth president to die from a bullet. For those of us old enough to remember November 22, 1963, that day and the events of that day don't really seem that long...
Double Presidential Birthday on November 2
November 2 marks the birthday of two U.S. Presidents: James Polk, born in 1795, and Warren Harding, born in 1865. 70 years separate the births of the 11th and 29th Presidents of the United States. Both born after significant events: Both were born shortly...
Presidential Pardons
The U.S. Constitution gives the President of the United States the "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." (Article II, Section 2)FDR's record breaking number of pardons: Franklin Roosevelt,...
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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.