by Mike Purdy | Jul 4, 2022 | George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson
My opinion article setting Independence Day in historical context was published on TheHill.com. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the article: “It was an audacious and brave statement. On July 4, 1776, 56 men adopted what we now know as the...
by Mike Purdy | Apr 30, 2020 | Constitution, Elections, George Washington, Inaugurations
It was April 30, 1789 – exactly 231 years ago – that George Washington took the oath of office for the first time as the first president of the newly minted United States of America. It was the launch of our great American experiment in democracy. What was...
by Mike Purdy | Jan 7, 2018 | Assassinations, Books, Campaigns, Chester Arthur, Elections, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, Presidential Sites, Richard Nixon, Thomas Jefferson
There was definitely not enough time in 2017 to read. So many books, so little time! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to read more books. The following is a list of the books about the presidents that I read in 2017 (the titles below are linked to Amazon or...
by Mike Purdy | Jun 4, 2017 | Abraham Lincoln, Assassinations, Books, Chester Arthur, Deaths, George Washington, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Martin Van Buren, Post Presidencies, Presidential Sites, Thomas Jefferson, Warren Harding
It’s been 100 years since John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born. It’s been more than a half century since he was assassinated after serving as president for less than three years. High Marks: And yet Kennedy is consistently ranked among our greatest...
by Mike Purdy | Jan 29, 2017 | Books, George Washington
George Washington didn’t win the Revolutionary War because he had a superior fighting force. It was a ragtag army that was always in danger of either being wiped out by an engagement with British forces, or evaporating when enlistments were up. He didn’t...
by Mike Purdy | Jan 16, 2017 | Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Constitution, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington, Herbert Hoover, Inaugurations, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, John Quincy Adams, Lyndon B. Johnson, Rutherford Hayes, Thomas Jefferson, William Henry Harrison, William Howard Taft
As the United States prepares for the transfer of power between presidents, it’s a good time to pause and remember some interesting facts about previous inaugurations. Prior to 1937, the president was inaugurated on March 4 following the November election. That...