Presidential Free Association: Grover Cleveland

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Cancer

During his second term as president, Grover Cleveland underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his upper jaw. The surgery was kept secret from the public so as to not effect support for Cleveland's monetary policy. The country was in the midst of a panic, and switching to the silver standard was a topic of fierce debate. Cleveland supported the gold standard, but his Vice President wanted to switch to the silver standard; Cleveland worried that if his illness was made public, Congress would shift its support away from him. 

Coincidently, when the secret surgery came to light, Cleveland and his supporters maintained that he had just had a very large tooth pulled...and of course it was necessary to pull this tooth on a steamer in the middle of the ocean with the utmost secrecy.

Presidential Free Association: Chester A. Arthur

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Whiskers

I think this one is self-explanatory. 

Presidential Free Association: Ulysses S. Grant

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Horses

Grant loved horses. He worked with them when he ran his father’s taxi service, he drew pictures of them, and he encouraged his men to look after their horses after a battle before taking care of their own needs. Reportedly, the only time his men saw him lose his temper was when he saw a man beating a horse. 

Presidential Free Association: Andrew Johnson

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Tailor

Andrew Johnson was our only president to also be a trained tailor. He sewed his own suits and dressed neatly and fashionably. If his skills with a needle had allowed him to sew the Union back together, perhaps he wouldn't have been impeached. 

Presidential Free Association: James Buchanan

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I think of a president along with a brief explanation.

Disgraceful

James Buchanan is the only president from my home state of Pennsylvania and also the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor. He is also widely considered the worst president of all time. His presidency coincided with increasing partisan fervor, fatal violence in Kansas, the Panic of 1857, the Dred Scott decision, and the secession of the southern states from the union after the 1860 election. His infamy can most fairly be chalked up to the inability to be Abraham Lincoln, but it doesn’t change the fact that his presidency was pretty disgraceful.

Presidential Free Association: Millard Fillmore

This is the part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Education

Millard Fillmore was apprenticed to a clothmaker at the age of fourteen. Five years later, he started attending school to improve on his frontier education. At nineteen, he sold his apprenticeship and joined a law office as a clerk, beginning his path to the presidency. If not for Fillmore's determination and desire for education, our thirteenth president could have wound up a clothmaker instead. 

Presidential Free Association: Zachary Taylor

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Tobacco

Zachary Taylor was a military man not known for his refinement. Nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready" he famously used chew tobacco and had excellent aim when spitting. The fact that someone thought to mention this as a gift to posterity makes me ridiculously happy. 

Presidential Free Association: James K. Polk

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation.

Determined 

James K. Polk made essentially one campaign promise, but it was a doozy: as president, he would make sure the United States reached the Pacific. Manifest Destiny was popular back then, and this promise secured his election. In order to keep this promise, he started an unpopular and bloody war with Mexico that essentially ensured his defeat in the next election, but he did manage to keep that campaign promise during his one four year term. His determination to reach the Pacific caused him a lot of stress, and he died not long after leaving office. According to Truman, who considered Polk his favorite president, Polk  did "exactly what he wanted to do in a specified period of time and did it, and when he got through with it he went home."

Presidential Free Association: John Tyler

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Fertile

John Tyler was married twice. With his first wife Leticia he had eight children. After Leticia's death he married Julia Tyler, who was thirty years his junior, and had seven more children. John Tyler is known as the president with the most progeny, as well as the oldest president to still have living grandchildren to this day. Something tells me his record of fifteen children is safe for the foreseeable future.

Presidential Free Association: Martin Van Buren

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Magician


Martin Van Buren was known as "The Little Magician" thanks to his political savvy and the fact that he was 5'6". Prior to becoming president, he worked behind the scenes as a leader of the New York political machine, and was one of the major forces behind Andrew Jackson's election in 1828. Jackson returned the favor by naming Van Buren as his Vice President after a falling out with his previous Vice President John C. Calhoun (he threatened to hang him during the Nullification Crisis). Van Buren managed to not raise his boss's ire, and was handpicked by Jackson to be his successor. 

Presidential Free Association: Andrew Jackson

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.



Wild

He fought in 44 duels. He invaded Florida without government permission. His parrot was kicked out of his funeral because it swore too much. He beat a would be assassin into submission with a cane. Wild doesn't even begin to cover it.

Presidential Free Association: John Quincy Adams

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Alligator

I actually wasn't entirely sure why the first thing I thought of when I saw the name John Quincy Adams was "alligator." Was it because he has a reptilian look about him? His reputation for a snappish temper? So I did a quick google search and discovered John Quincy Adams kept a pet alligator at the White House. Knowing this only strengthens my belief in the theory that people look like their pets.

Presidential Free Association: James Monroe

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Nice

James Monroe was president during a period of political unity. He almost unanimously won his first election in 1816, and managed to get re-elected after a financial crisis. He was an amazing diplomat, and an all around nice guy. Not brilliant, but nice.

Presidential Free Association: James Madison

This is part of a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Prepared

When the country's greatest minds gathered to write the Constitution, no one was exactly sure what they were going to do. Nobody except James Madison. After he heard about the upcoming Constitutional Convention, Madison spent his time researching various kinds of government. He studied what worked, what didn't, and why, and created a framework that later became known as the Virginia Plan, which in turn heavily influenced what eventually became the Constitution. If James Madison hadn't been so prepared, we wouldn't have the Constitution we have today.

Presidential Free Association: Thomas Jefferson

This is the third in a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Weak

Thomas Jefferson is that teacher you really like on the first day and then realize halfway through the semester that you actually dislike. His eloquence makes him a compelling figure, but also makes him frustrating. Here was man who knew that slavery was wrong, truly believed the nation would be better off without it, and continued to own slaves because he was too weak to change his own lifestyle. Thomas Jefferson should be an admirable president, but instead he's just disappointing.

Presidential Free Association: John Adams

This is the second in a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Stubborn

Since much of my understanding of John Adams is shaped by the movie 1776, I associate him with righteous obstinacy. This is both a positive (refusal to declare war on France) and a negative (Alien and Sedition Acts). John Adams was a man who was not afraid to say what he believed and where you could shove your own misguided ideals.

Also, he apparently had issues with sitting down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3TGbKfkwGA

Presidential Free Association: George Washington

This is the first in a series called Presidential Free Association. I post the first word that comes to mind when I hear the name of the president, along with a brief explanation if necessary.

Dignity

I associated George Washington first and foremost with dignity. As the first president, he was responsible for setting many of the precedents of the office, and he did so with integrity and care. George Washington has probably the closest thing to a perfect presidency, which is especially remarkable considering he basically was making it up as he went along. He brought gravitas and dignity to his two terms in office that helped establish the United States as a legitimate country.