by Mike Purdy | Apr 16, 2018 | Homes, Presidential Sites, Ronald Reagan
“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...
by Mike Purdy | Mar 7, 2018 | Abraham Lincoln, Assassinations, Deaths, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, Presidential Sites, William McKinley
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...
by Mike Purdy | Jan 28, 2018 | Deaths, Presidential Sites, Ulysses Grant
After his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant – an international celebrity – took a two and a half year world tour where he was acclaimed by heads of state. Short of Cash: Back in the United States, he needed an income (the trip had deleted most of his savings)...
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 | Nov 5, 2017 | Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, Post Presidencies, Presidential Sites, Secret Service
It was 38 degrees when I left my hotel room in Americus, Georgia at 5:15 am. My destination was the Maranatha Baptist Church in nearby Plains where Jimmy Carter would be teaching a Sunday School class at 10:00 am. The church’s website informed me that if I...
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...
