The Value of Teaching History

by Mike Purdy | Oct 7, 2019 | History, Presidential Sites

The Plodding Through the Presidents blog recently sponsored a writing contest asking people to describe the value of teaching history. While I didn’t win, I did receive an honorable mention recognition. The following is what I wrote: Why Teach History? In our...

Ohio’s Lost Presidential Birthplaces

by Mike Purdy | Sep 30, 2018 | Benjamin Harrison, Homes, James Garfield, Presidential Sites, Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses Grant, Warren Harding, William Henry Harrison, William Howard Taft, William McKinley

Ohio boasts it is to home eight presidents. Seven were born in the Buckeye state and one adopted Ohio as his home. But starting with Ulysses S. Grant’s birth in 1822, all the presidential birthplaces have been lost to history in varying degrees, except for the...

The Hands and Halls of Power

by Mike Purdy | Sep 3, 2018 | Calvin Coolidge, Donald Trump, Events, John Tyler, Presidential Sites, Secret Service, Uncategorized, Vice-Presidents, White House

I left the air-conditioned comfort of the elegant Willard Hotel – the long-established “Residence of the Presidents” – a little after 5:00 pm. I immediately felt like I had just been immersed into a hot and muggy sauna. Welcome to Washington, DC! It was a sweltering...

The Spell of Reagan’s Ranch

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)...

The Scene of the Crimes

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...

Grant’s Race Against Time

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)...