JFK’s Religion as Reflected in His Inaugural Address

by Mike Purdy | Apr 6, 2015 | Inaugurations, John F. Kennedy, Religion, Speeches

John F. Kennedy’s watershed 1960 election as the first Roman Catholic president was a source of concern for many Protestant Americans. Others, such as former President Harry Truman, were less concerned about the influence of the Vatican on a JFK presidency. Truman at...

Which Presidents Who Died in Office Had the Potential to be Great?

by Mike Purdy | Mar 30, 2015 | Abraham Lincoln, Assassinations, Deaths, Franklin Roosevelt, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, Warren Harding, William Henry Harrison, William McKinley, Zachary Taylor

In our nation’s history, close to 20% of our presidents have died in office, either through assassination or death.  Some of their terms were very short, thus making it difficult for historians to assess their performance during their brief tenure.  But two...

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...

What Was Jimmy Carter’s Response to Kennedy’s Assassination?

by Mike Purdy | Feb 23, 2015 | Assassinations, Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy

In a November 20, 2014 interview at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, former President Jimmy Carter was asked by Ronan Farrow the following question: “How does President Kennedy’s legacy echo in your mind today?”  Carter gave a very...

Presidential Books I Read in 2014

by Mike Purdy | Jan 27, 2015 | Abraham Lincoln, Assassinations, Books, Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson

The following is the list of nine books about the Presidents that I read in 2014: Thomas Jefferson – From Boy to Man, by Jayne D’Alessandro-Cox, 342 pages.  This book is more a personal account of Jefferson’s early years than it is a description of...

Did Eisenhower’s Wife Tilt the 1960 Election to JFK?

by Mike Purdy | Nov 3, 2014 | Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Wives and Mistresses

After an almost fatal heart attack and stroke during his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower was not in the best of health as his two terms came to a close in 1960. Ike’s wife, Mamie, was justifiably concerned about the President’s health. Oldest man in the...