#presidency

[deadpresidents]

Which President, in your opinion, was the most reluctant to seek the position? Which wound up hating it the most by the end of his term?

I am a strong believer that nobody truly becomes President of the United States "reluctantly". That's not exactly the kind of job that seeks you, especially the modern Presidency.

For a significant slice of American history, many of the people nominated for President acted as if they were being called upon to run when, behind-the-scenes, they were very active in building their campaigns and corralling supporters. Until the 20th Century it was frowned upon to openly run for the Presidency, but almost all of the Presidents wanted the gig.

I'd say that George Washington was probably more reluctant than most of his successors and likely would have preferred retiring to Mount Vernon after the Revolution, but I think he also recognized that he was the guy who needed to be the President that set the precedents. I think Ulysses S. Grant would have been perfectly happy to not be President, but once he was elected in 1868 he also wanted to keep the job. He even tried to run for a third term in 1880.

That 1880 election might have been the one case where the winner -- James Garfield -- genuinely wasn't interested in the Presidency at that point. He had gone to the Republican National Convention to support fellow Ohioan John Sherman (and defeat Grant's hopes for a third term) and gained some major attention after giving a well-received speech placing Sherman's name in nomination. When the candidacies of Sherman and James G. Blaine -- another anti-Grant candidate -- stalled, Garfield became a compromise choice and was eventually nominated on the 36th ballot. Garfield was apparently legitimately shocked by the events leading to him leaving Chicago as the GOP nominee.

By most accounts, William Howard Taft was far more interested in a potential seat on the Supreme Court than becoming President. At heart he was a judge and believed himself to be better suited for the judiciary than the Executive Branch. But Taft turned down three offers by Theodore Roosevelt to be appointed to the Supreme Court (in 1902, 1903, and 1906) because he felt obligated to complete his work as Governor-General of the Philippines and then Secretary of War. But Taft's wife desperately wanted him to become President and by the time of President Roosevelt's third offer of a seat on the Court, Taft was already being talked about as Roosevelt's hand-picked successor in the White House. And, as with all other Presidents, once he had a taste for the job, he didn't want to give it up, running for re-election in 1912 against his former friend, Roosevelt.

Gerald Ford is the only other President who hadn't spent a significant portion of his political career with his eyes on the White House. Ford spent nearly a quarter-century in the House of Representatives and his main ambition was to be Speaker of the House, but Republicans weren't able to win control of the House when Ford was in Congressional leadership positions. But even with Ford being a creature of Congress, he did attempt to put himself forward as a nominee for the Vice Presidency, first in 1960 and then in 1968, and Nixon kicked the tires on picking him as his running mate in 1960. No one wants to be Vice President without seeing it as a potential stepping stone to the Presidency, particularly at that point in history before Vice Presidents were empowered with some real influence within the Administrations they served in.

As for who wound up hating it by the end of their time in office, I think it's safe to say that John Quincy Adams didn't shed too many tears when he was defeated for re-election in 1828. And I'm sure he wouldn't use the word "hate", but nobody can convince me that George W. Bush wasn't thoroughly ready to escape Washington by late-2007. There were times in 2008 when he seemed like he just wanted to hold a snap election like they have in parliamentary systems and go home to Texas. If some Presidential insider published a book that said that Bush asked if he could just give the keys to the White House to Barack Obama in July 2008, I wouldn't be the least bit shocked.

On the other hand, if there were no term limits, Bill Clinton would have been running for President in every election since 1992 (and the crazy thing is that he's still younger than both of the presumptive 2024 nominees). I'm kind of surprised that he didn't make an effort to repeal the 22nd Amendment in the past 20 years. Clinton loved being President and was trying to find something Presidential to do until minutes before his successor was inaugurated in 2001.

[rowanwillow06]

16th April 2024

29 days till first exam

I’m gonna be honest!!! I completely stressed out about thinking about revision which is why I stopped posting/ doing anything in order to avoid the problem. I’ve started buckling down again so I figured I would start posting and see what happens :3

I’m going to stop volunteering over the exam period which will feel weird but grades are important right now. Anyway here’s my work for the day:

Write an essay on the US presidency, To what extent is the president imperial?

Write up my Pulp Fiction essay, To what extent is narrative an experimental device in Pulp Fiction

Play some animal crossing (I need a break 😭)

Do my second to last volunteering session :3

I also got my grade back for my Film studies coursework, I got 33/40 which is an A so I’m very happy with that, we have a write up to do for it so I still have a chance on making that grade slightly higher. I’m glad it’s over because it’s been so much work and honestly I have not enjoyed it 💀

For now I’m staying at school to get my essays done and listening to the study with cats pomodoro timer (I’m obsessed w these atm)

Hope you’re all doing well and have a lovely day <33333

[quotelr]

You should have to pass an IQ test before you breed. You have to take a driving test to operate vehicles and an SAT test to get into college. So why don’t you have to take some sort of test before you give birth to children? When I am President, that’s the first rule I will institute.

Marilyn Manson

[therealmillardfillmore]

Happy Presidents’ Day to those who celebrate. On this day, it’s important to remember those who truly fought to hold their nation together, like me, who signed the Compromise of 1850, and uh. Uhmmmmm uhhhhh. Did other positive things for the nation. Uhmmmmmm uhhhh

[deadboydetectivesknowitall]

HOWDY!

Addressing the Tumblr community, I am the true deadboy detectives president. There is my rival upon this hellsite. I will not state their name for their safety because there is too much drama in my life right now, so thank you.

This is a complete joke, btw, BUT IF YOU DO HAVE AND QUESTIONS ABOUT DEADBOY DETECTIVES, I AM HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUERIES IF MR NEIL GAIMAN IS UNAVAILABLE :)

Most likely, I won't post anything original. I'm just here to stalk deadboy detectives and Neil Gaimans other works. And many different things.

HAVE A GOOD DAY :D

Laters Gaters!

[here-a-lee-there-a-lee]

James Madison at his Inaugural Ball in 1809

[alwaysbewoke]

[dougielombax]

Does the White House have a basement?

If so, it begs the question.

What’s inside?

Aside from old items and documents I mean.

I wonder.

Hmmm…

Perhaps a bowling alley?

A secret library?

Storage and filing cabinets?

Kid Named The Monument Monster:

Shambling horrors living in the White House.

Bottom text.

No I didn’t draw them.

[youareinlovetv]

Please look into Claudia De la Cruz! She's a 2024 USA presidential candidate with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and she is actively trying to help Palestine and to improve conditions for working class people. If you like her, please help spread her name

thank you anon! i hadn’t heard of her before and im always happy to spread the word. thanks for bringing her to my attention! :)

[todaysdocument]

President Johnson called for a partial halt to bombing in Vietnam, and announced his decision not to run for a second Presidential term, in this speech [page 3] on March 31, 1968. 

Collection LBJ-STMNT: Statements Files

Series: Statements Files

File Unit: 3/31/68 Original Drafts "Accordingly I Shall Not Seek - and Would Not Accept the Nomination of my Party for Another Term"

Transcription: 

-3-

[typed] What [crossed out] has been [handwritten, inserted] We [typed] won [crossed out] in the unity of all our peoples [handwritten, inserted] when we [crossed out] all our people united [typed] must not now be lost in [crossed out] division [handwritten, inserted] division distrust and selfishness [typed] among any of our people.

Believing as I do, I have concluded that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are developing in this political year. With America's sons in the field far away, with America's future under challenge here at home, with our hopes -- and the world's hope -- for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour of my time to any personal partisan causes or [handwritten, inserted] to [resume typed text] duties other than the awesome duties of this office.

Accordingly, I shall not seek -- and [crossed out] would [handwritten, inserted] will [resume typed text] not accept -- the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

Let men everywhere [handwritten, inserted] however [resume typed text] know that a strong, confident, vigilant America stands ready to seen an honorable peace and ready to defend an honored cause, whatever the price, whatever the burden, whatever the sacrifice [crossed out] the duties of the future [handwritten, inserted] duty [resume typed text] may require.

[deadpresidents]

Awash in conflicting reports from unstable battlefronts, [President Gerald] Ford wanted a firsthand appraisal [on the situation in Vietnam] from someone he could trust. General [Frederick] Weyand was his chosen emissary. "You are not going over to lose," he instructed Weyand, "but to be tough and see what we can do." Ford conceded that any military options were severely limited. "I regret I don't have the authority to do some of the things President Nixon could do," he remarked wistfully. As the Oval Office emptied, photographer David Kennerly stayed behind. "You know, I would really like to go with the General," he said. Ford needed no persuading. As a journalist, and a friend, with extensive knowledge of the region from his two-year stint as a combat photographer for UPI, Life and Time, Kennerly could be counted on for an honest assessment of events -- more honest, perhaps, than that of diplomats and military men -- and with it, the pictures to back him up. Kennerly returned to his first-floor office with a sign dangling from his neck. GONE TO VIETNAM. BACK IN TWO WEEKS.

That evening the irreverent photo hound dubbed Hot Shot by the Secret Service appeared in the upstairs family quarters to say goodbye. Ford threw a protective arm around the young man's shoulders.

"You be careful. You have everything you need?"

As a matter of fact, Kennerly's pockets were empty. Local banks were closed and he could use some cash. Ford opened his wallet and handed over its contents, $47, as Betty Ford gave Kennerly a hug. He was striding toward the door when the President called out his name. "Here," said Ford, tossing Kennerly a quarter. "You might as well clean me out."

-- Richard Norton Smith, on White House photographer David Hume Kennerly's interactions with President Gerald Ford after Kennerly asked to accompany a General on a fact-finding mission to Vietnam in March 1975, shortly before the Fall of Saigon, An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

[therealmillardfillmore]

Some days I talk about my fascination with presidents like “none of them can be considered objectively good or bad people that can be judged by our modern understanding of what is or isn’t moral, history is complicated” and then I remember Lincoln lost his son in the beginning of the Civil war and then I’m like “history sometimes isn’t complicated, it’s just sad”

[sjerzgirl]

Will it take an insanity diagnosis to fix this???

[deadboydetectivesknowitall]

Is the 2022 run by pornsak pichetshote in the dead boy detectives omnibus? And are there any comic runs that aren’t in the omnibus?

Okay, so while I don't have the omnibus myself (I know, call me a fake president all you like), I found a list of what it includes. The 2022 run by pornsak pichetshote is not in it :/. I'm not sure why, but it's probably because the run finished earlier that year. I don't think there's anything else the omnibus missed, but here's a list of what it includes.

WHAT'S IN THE OMBIBUS:

The Sandman #25, The Children's Crusade #1-2, an original middle chapter to the Children's Crusade from the pages of Free Country: A Tale of the Children's Crusade, The Sandman Presents: The Dead Boy Detectives #1-4, Dead Boy Detectives #1-12, and Jill Thompson's the Dead Boy Detectives; stories from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3, Ghosts (vol.2) #1, Time Warp (vol.2) #1, and The Witching Hour (vol.3) #1; and pages from Death: at Death's Door, swaml thing annual #7, and the Doom Patrol annual #2

Hope this helped!

[jfkkennedy]

On this day in 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States, Senate Caucus room, Washington D.C.