Which Untimely Presidential Transition Affected the County the Most?

by Mike Purdy | Mar 16, 2015 | Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Assassinations, Calvin Coolidge, Chester Arthur, Deaths, Franklin Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, John Tyler, Lyndon B. Johnson, Millard Fillmore, Richard Nixon, Terms of Office, Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Harding, William Henry Harrison, William McKinley, Zachary Taylor

Lincoln by a landslide: The weary nation breathed a sigh of relief as the hostilities of the long and wrenching War Between the States closed that frightful chapter of history. But before the wounds began to heal, the bloodshed that had taken a generation of young...

Both Lincoln and Kennedy Had Premonitions of Their Assassinations

by Mike Purdy | Jan 28, 2013 | Abraham Lincoln, Assassinations, Deaths, John F. Kennedy

Both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy had premonitions prior to their deaths of dying by an assassin’s bullet.Lincoln:  According to an account published by Lincoln’s former law partner, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln apparently told the following...

James Madison Died 6 Days Too Early!

by Mike Purdy | Jan 23, 2013 | Deaths, George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson

James Madison died on June 28, 1836.  Had he lived for six more days, he would have died on July 4th.  An Independence Day death for Madison would have meant that four out of the first five presidents would have died on July 4th. George Washington died on December 14,...

Outstanding Book: FDR’s Funeral Train

by Mike Purdy | Jan 7, 2013 | Deaths, Franklin Roosevelt

I recently finished reading Robert Klara’s 2010 book entitled FDR’s Funeral Train, the story of FDR’s death and the long train ride with his body that captivated the nation.  Klara writes like a novelist, but packed with historical detail so you...

The Old Lion is Dead

by Mike Purdy | Jan 6, 2013 | Deaths, Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Harding

Theodore Roosevelt’s death came quickly and suddenly in the early morning hours of January 6, 1919 at his beloved Sagamore Hill estate on Long Island.  He was just 60 years old, but his health had never been the same after his almost fatal trip to South...

Truman and Ford both Died on December 26th – 34 Years Apart

by Mike Purdy | Dec 27, 2012 | Deaths, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman

Harry S Truman and Gerald R. Ford both died on December 26th, but 34 years apart.  Harry Truman and Gerald FordTruman passed away on December 26, 1972 in Independence, Missouri at the age of 88.  Ford, who lived to be the oldest ex-president, passed...