10 Fun Facts About Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States

1. Born in Iowa in 1874, Herbert Clark Hoover would become the first U.S. president born west of the Mississippi River.  His mother was Canadian by birth and his father worked as a blacksmith - his father died when he was still a toddler, and his mother died when he was 9 years old, making him an orphan.  After living for a short time with his grandmother, and later an uncle, in Iowa, he was sent to live with another uncle - a frontier doctor - in Oregon.  He never attended high school, although he learned enough on his own to enroll in the brand new Stanford University.  As a member of Stanford's first class, Hoover would later claim to have been the actual first Stanford student, saying he was the first in his class to room in the school's dormitory.  He graduated with a degree in Geology.

 

2. In 1897, Hoover got a job with a London-based gold mining company that operated out of Australia.  He would live in Australia for the next three years, later becoming the lead engineer for the company's China operations.  In 1899, he married Lou Henry, and the couple had two sons.  His wife had also graduated with Stanford with a degree in geology, the only woman in her class.  By 1901, Hoover became a partner in the corporation and moved back to the United States.  In 1908, he sold his shares and set out on his own.  He quickly became an enormously wealthy mining magnate, with operations on every continent in the world.    

 

3. After the start of World War I, Hoover found himself becoming heavily involved in civilian humanitarian aid.  He became a chief organizer of getting food and rations into war-ravaged Europe, and was eventually named by Woodrow Wilson to lead the U.S. Food Administration, which worked to ensure that enough foodstuffs could be sent to American soldiers overseas.  His efforts included widespread domestic programs to encourage Americans to eat more frugally, so there would be plenty left to send to Europe.  These promotions included things like "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays."  His efforts succeeded; the U.S. never had to institute domestic rationing, and American soldiers overseas remained well fed.

 

4. After the war was over, Hoover dedicated himself to aiding the millions of Europeans, particularly in Germany and Russia, who were left in poverty by the war.  Criticized by some for "aiding Bolshevism" in Russia, Hoover refused to back down, arguing that regardless of political differences, starving people deserved to be fed.  During the height of the Russian famine in 1921 and 1922, his organization helped bring food to more than 10 million people every single day.  He was later recognized in Russia for his humanitarian efforts, and was named one of the Ten Most Important Living Americans by the New York Times.

 

5. Following his rise to prominence, Hoover was courted by both parties as a potential candidate.  Woodrow Wilson, under whom Hoover had obtained his first political appointment, wanted Hoover to run on the Democratic ticket in 1920 to succeed him to the White House.  Hoover, however, had long been a registered Republican, and felt that the Republicans had a better chance of winning the White House in 1920 than the Democrats.  As such, Hoover ran as a candidate in the Republican primary in California.  Failing to win his home state, however, he backed out of the race, and later endorsed Warren G. Harding, who would go on to win the nomination and later the general election.

 

6. After winning the presidency, Harding rewarded Hoover by naming him the head of the Department of Commerce.  He remained in this position throughout the 20's, serving under Harding, and later Calvin Coolige.  As Commerce Secretary, Hoover instituted drastic changes in the department, turning it from a small, relatively new cabinet post with ambiguous responsibilities, to one of the most prominent and politically-active departments in the entire cabinet.  Throughout the 20's, Hoover was jokingly referred to as the "Secretary of Commerce," and the "Under-Secretary of Everything Else."  Among other things, he promoted home ownership and the budding Hollywood film industry.

 

7.  In 1927, Hoover appeared on the first television broadcast in U.S. history.  Standing before a camera in Washington, his image and words were transmitted to an AT&T laboratory in New York.  Newspapers all over the country reported on this new invention, with the New York Times stating that it was as if a photograph of Hoover had come to life and begun to speak and smile and move. 

 

8. In 1928, Hoover's boss, President Coolige, opted not to run for re-election, and Hoover became the immediate front runner, easily winning the Republican nomination, and then defeating his Democratic challenger in a landslide, garnering 58% of the vote.  He became the only president in U.S. history who had never held an elected or executive political office, or held a high military ranking (William Howard Taft also never held elected office or high military rank, but he had served as the governor of both Cuba and the Phillippines, a position to which he was appointed).  His campaign platform had included pointing to his own success in business and humanitarian efforts, as well as a promise to continue the policies of his predecessors.  He famously stated, during the campaign: "...Given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years...we shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this Nation."  Famous.  Last.  Words.

 

9. Shortly after taking office in 1929, the stock market crashed, and the United States was plunged into the worst economic disaster in its history.  Though this was certainly not the direct fault of Hoover, the existing policies he supported were, in many ways, partially to blame for the collapse, and Hoover's efforts to bring the country back to prosperity fell short of the goal.  Hoover effectively became the face of the Great Depression.  Shantytowns that sprang up among out-of-work laborers were called Hoovervilles.  "Hoover Blankets" were newspapers used by poor people to keep warm on the streets.  If someone turned their pockets out to demonstrate their poverty, they were called "Hoover Flags."  "Hoover Wagons" referred to the numerous rusting, broken down cars that people could no longer afford to maintain.  With his party in tatters, Hoover was able to secure renomination in 1932, but lost in a landslide to newcomer Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Hoover's loss was the most lopsided defeat ever suffered by an incumbent president.  He won only 6 states, and failed to gain even 40% of the popular vote. 

 

10. Hoover is the only president in U.S. history who has two celestial bodies named after him - Herberta, an asteroid, and Hooveria, one of numerous minor planets orbiting the sun.  The Hoover Dam was also named after him, as its construction was begun during his presidency.  When the name was made official in 1935, it brought a significant amount of controversy.  After his presidency, Hoover lived for another 31 years, the longest-serving ex-president in history.  Later this year, he will be surpassed by Jimmy Carter.  Carter and Hoover also have several other similarities.  Both were engineers by trade (the only two engineers to ever reach the White House), and both presided over economic woes that ultimately cost them re-election.  Both are also widely known as unsurpassed humanitarians, but poor presidents.  Finally, Carter and Hoover are the most prolific writers among American presidents.  To date, Carter has written more than 20 books, while Hoover published 16.  Hoover died in October, 1964, having outlived his wife by more than 20 years.  They are both buried in Hoover's hometown of West Branch, Iowa.       

10 Fun Facts About William McKinley

William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States

1. William McKinley, Jr., was born in Ohio in 1843, the son of a businessman who owned several iron mills.  McKinley was a devout Methodist throughout his life, and volunteered as a teenager at his local church.  He attended only one year of college, returning home due to depression and illness.  Afterwards, he worked briefly as a schoolteacher. 

 

2. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, 18-year-old McKinley volunteered for the military and served under Major Rutherford B. Hayes, who would, of course, go on to become president in the 1870's.  They remained close friends and political allies for the remainder of their lives.  McKinley eventually earned the rank of Brevet Major.  

 

3. After several years of law school and training, McKinley set up a small practice in Canton, Ohio.  In 1869, he was elected District Attorney of Stark County, Ohio, but was defeated in 1871 in his bid for re-election. That same year, he married Ida Saxton, and the couple had two daughters.  Their second daughter, Ida, died in infancy in 1873, and the eldest daughter, Katherine, died of typhoid fever two years later.  The couple never had anymore children.  Her daughters' deaths devestated Ida McKinley, and she began to develop pscyhological and physical health problems, including epilepsy and debilitating anxiety.  She remained a recluse for the rest of her life, including during her husband's presidency.   

 

4. In 1875, McKinley famously defended a group of striking coalminers who had been arrested for rioting after strikebreakers attempted to penetrate their line.  McKinley managed to secure acquittals for all but one of the coalminers, and this greatly raised his notoriety around the state.  Following this, McKinley ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1876, also campaigning for his old friend and comrade-in-arms, Rutherford B. Hayes, in his run for the presidency.  Hayes won a narrow victory to become president, and McKinley easily won a seat in Congress.  

 

5. From the start of his first term in Congress, McKinley proved himself to be independently-minded, frequently voting across the aisle and event voting once to override a presidential veto from his friend and fellow Republican  Hayes.  

 

6.  By the late 1880's, McKinley had become a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and after failing in a bid to become Speaker of the House in 1888, he instead was appointed as the chairman of the committee.  As chairman, he was instrumental in passing a new tariff that greatly increased the taxes levied against foreign products entering the country.  This was designed to promote American businesses, and the tariff became known as the McKinley Tariff of 1890.  

 

7. The McKinley Tariff went over like a lead balloon.  Domestic prices shot up throughout the early 1890's as demand for them increased, and the economy delved into the worst economic depression of the 19th century.  Numerous Republicans lost seats around the country, including McKinley, who was defeated for re-election in 1890.  The recession peaked in 1893, thus becoming known to history as the Panic of 1893.  In 1894, the McKinley Tariff was repealed and a new, lower, tariff was put back into place.

 

8. Finding himself out of a job in 1891, McKinley ran for governor of Ohio and won, taking office in 1892.  He proved a popular governor, and was re-elected in 1894.  Despite his involvement in the unpopular tariff that was named for him, McKinley managed to maintain a prominent profile in Republican politics, and was nominated for president in 1896.  He continued to support high tariffs, denying that they were to blame for the recession, and took a compromise position on the issue of the gold standard, which was a hot-button topic at the time.  

 

9. McKinley instituted an effective "Front Porch Campaign," opting to meet with voters and journalists at his home in Ohio, rather than touring the country giving speeches, as his Democratic challenger (William Jennings Bryan) was doing.  It paid off.  McKinley won the election in a narrow victory, winning 51% of the popular vote.  His inauguration was the first in U.S. history to be videotaped.  At least one of his campaign speeches was recorded on audio as well.      

 

10.  McKinley's presidency was widely viewed as a successful one, with the economy improving and American businesses growing larger.  McKinely was also given credit for America's resounding victory in the Spanish-Americacn war, which resulted in territorial gains for the U.S.  In 1900, McKinley again faced William Jennings Bryan in the election, and this time defeated him handily.  Six months after his second inauguration, McKinley was shot twice by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz while shaking hands at a public appearance in Buffalo, New York.  One bullet was stopped by a button and only lodged in McKinley's clothes; the other, however, entered his abdomen.  The only doctor in the vicinity capable of performing a surgical operation was a gynecologist named Matthew Mann.  He was unable to locate the bullet.  As days passed, the president's condition seemed to improve, and the news media was assured that he was in no mortal danger.  However, seven days later, he took a sudden turn for the worse and died, on September 12, 1901.  The bullet had gone through his pancreas and kidney, and gangrene had formed along its trajectory.  He was buried in Canton, Ohio. 

Can Mitt Romney Win in November?

With Mitt Romney's win in the "Super Tuesday" primaries, it seems all but inevitible that he will become the Republican nominee in this year's presidential election.  Putting politics and ideologies and partisan loyalties aside, what can historical trends tell us about his chances of unseating Barack Obama this fall?

Before I begin, let me go ahead and deflect one very easy and obvious criticism: namely, that past trends don't necessarily predict future results.  This is a situation we find in virtually every presidential election - commentators and journalists and political pundits talking about "past trends" in previous elections that may give viewers and readers and listeners an idea of what to expect.  One recent situation comes to mind: prior to 2008, Missouri had voted for the winning presidential candidate in every election, except for one, going all the way back to 1904 - that's 100 years.  And in the one election where they voted for the eventual loser (1956), the vote was separated by just a few dozen ballots - less than 1/4 of 1% of the votes cast in the state - a virtual dead heat.  Thus, as Missouri goes, so goes the country.  Well, that "past trend" failed to predict future results in 2008.  Missouri voted with McCain, but Obama won the election.  The moral of the story is obvious: you have to take great care when assuming that a past trend has any bearing on what will transpire in the future.

So with that caveat in mind, what do history and past trends tells us about Romney's chances of winning this November?

To begin with, it's important to understand one undeniable fact about presidential history: it is extremely difficult to unseat a sitting president - even an unpopular one.  It's only happened five times in the last 100 years; more than twice that many have secured re-election.  It's a simple fact that being an incumbent president gives you a distinct advantage: recognition, familiarity, a prominent position from which to launch your campaign, a well-known record to point to.  Many people are simply willing to stay with what is comfortable rather than take a chance on something new.  This always gives an incumbent president an edge, no matter how popular or unpopular he may be.

In addition to this very general trend, of course, there are also a number of much more specific trends to take into consideration.  All of them bode poorly for Romney's chances of unseating Obama in November.   

The last time a sitting president lost his re-election bid was 1992 with George H.W. Bush.  Prior to that, it had occurred in 1980 with Jimmy Carter.  There are a number of similarities between these two elections.  Both Carter and Bush had entered office with a relatively prosperous and stable economy.  By the end of their first terms, however, the economy was in a recession.

Both Carter and Bush presided over unpopular foreign policy situations: Carter had the Iran hostage crisis, Bush a widely criticized war with Iraq that the general public felt had been left unfinished.

Finally, both both Carter and Bush had famously broken prominent campaign promises: Bush had infamously declared "No new taxes," then later raised taxes anyway, while Carter had promised to eliminate Executive office corruption in the wake of the Watergate scandal, but then steadfastly supported his good friend and appointee to the head of the Office of Management and Budget - Bert Lance - after Lance became embroiled in a financial ethics scandal; Lance eventually resigned in disgrace.

As a result of widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle, both Bush and Carter faced uphill battles to secure the re-nomination of their respective parties.  Carter faced a strong challenger in the Democratic primary from Ted Kennedy, while Bush was forced to contend with prominent political pundit Pat Buchanan in the Republican primary.  While Bush still managed to win every state in the primaries, Buchanan won about 25% of the total primary vote - a very strong showing against a sitting president.  Carter, for his part, only managed to win 37 states in the primary, losing 12 to Kennedy and 1 to Jerry Brown of California.

Obama, however, does not have any legitimate contenders for the Democratic primary, and is on pace to win all 50 states and about 95% of the primary vote. 

History has shown that when a sitting president faces a significant battle in his own party's primary, this spells doom for his re-election bid.

In fact, throughout the history of the presidency, virtually every incumbent who faced serious re-nomination challenges went on to lose in the general election.  Likewise, virtually every incumbent who faced no serious contenders within his own party's primary (like Obama this year), went on to win the general election.

In fact, the last time a sitting president faced no serious challenges to re-nomination, but still went on to lose the general election, was 1932.  Prior to that, it was 1888.  And those two instances - Hoover in 1932, and Cleveland in 1888 - are the only two times in U.S. history that a sitting president has faced no serious re-nomination challenge, but still gone on to lose re-election.

History would suggest very strongly that this is a good indicator of Obama's chances to win against Romney in November.  Incumbent presidents with strong support from their party's base simply do not, very often, lose re-election bids.  In fact, it almost never happens.  And the two times it has happened, it has involved unique and unusual circumstances.  

Cleveland, in 1888, actually won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote.  The reason he lost the electoral vote is because he lost his home state of New York.  The reason he lost New York is because New York's powerful Democratic political organization - Tammany Hall - campaigned for the Republican Harrison because Cleveland had attempted to reform Tammany Hall's corrupt politics, and they never forgave him for it.  (Cleveland, by the way, defeated Harrison 4 years later in a rematch.)  

Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland

And Hoover, of course, was blamed for the worst economic disaster in U.S. history and lost in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history to Franlkin D. Roosevelt. 

Herbert Hoover

Hoover's loss to Roosevelt in 1932 segues into yet another historical trend that bodes well for Obama, and poorly for Romney.  Throughout U.S. history, particularly since 1900, when incumbent presidents have lost re-election bids, it has almost always involved a very strong and charismatic opponent who was able to sweep the primaries and unite his political base.  This was seen in 1932 with Hoover and Roosevelt, 1980 with Carter and Reagan, and 1992 with Bush and Clinton.  

As this primary season has shown us, the only thing uniting Republicans right now is their desire to unseat Obama.  Even though Romney appears now to be on the verge of securing the nomination, the Republicans have been largely split on who they most want.  To date, three different candidates have won states, and four candidates have won delegates.  At one point or another, six of the seven original candidates have led in national polls.  The Republicans simply are not united behind any of their candidates, and this has led most commentators to agree that none of the candidates has won the heart of the Republican party.  The Republicans simply are not unified behind any of their candidates.  And while most blue-blooded Republicans will vote, in the general election, for Romney (or whoever wins the nomination), many of them will vote only grudgingly.  This does not bode well for the Republican party.

Since 1900, exactly five incumbent presidents have lost their re-election bid.  Let's look at each of them a bit more closely.

In 1912, William Howard Taft ran for re-election.  That year saw a major split in the Republican party, with Taft leading the so-called "conservative" Republicans, and former president Teddy Roosevelt leading the "progressive" Republicans.  Roosevelt ran on a third-party ticket.  This, of course, effectively split the Republican vote, and newcomer Woodrow Wilson won a landslide victory, winning 40 states.  Taft actually won fewer states, and less of the popular vote, than Roosevelt did.

TAFT!!

In 1932, as we have already seen, Herbert Hoover lost his re-election bid to Franklin Roosevelt.  Hoover had presided over the worst economic collapse in U.S. history.  Roosevelt, on the other hand, was a prominent and widely known figure in the Democratic party, was charismatic and trustworthy, and was able to unite the Democrats behind him.  He swept to victory in a landslide, and most historians would agree that virtually any Democrat in 1932 could have defeated Hoover.

Not until 1976 did another incumbent lose his re-election bid.  That year, Gerald Force ran against newcomer Jimmy Carter.  Ford was one of the most widely criticized presidents of the 20th century.  The only president in history to never win a presidential election as either a president or vice-president, Ford had been the House Minority Leader before ascending to the vice-presidency upon the resignation of Spiro Agnew in 1973.  A year later, when Nixon resigned, Ford became president.  Serving during a turbulent two years, which included an infamously unpopular pardon of Richard Nixon, Ford just barely managed to secure re-nomination by the Republican party in 1976, beating challenger Ronald Reagan by only a few percentage points and carrying only 27 states.  With Republican loyalty so obviously split, Ford had very little chance in the general election against Jimmy Carter.  Carter had charmed the nation with his genteel southern mannerisms, and had come to be viewed as the upstanding, morally-centered Washington outsider the country needed after the corruption of the Nixon years.

Richard Nixon was a crook

Four years later, after a tumultuous presidency that saw many in his own party abandon him, Carter faced an uphill battle for re-nomination in 1980.  He fought long and hard to beat down a challenge by Ted Kennedy, but once he had secured the Democratic nomination, he found himself pitted against Ronald Reagan, a charismatic and energizing figure who charmed and wowed his Republican base - and had nearly unseated his fellow Republican Ford four years earlier.  Reagan, of course, won in a landslide.

And finally, in 1992, George Bush found himself stinging from an infamously broken campaign promise about taxes, an economic recession, an unpopular war left unfinished, and a general feeling, among many Americans, that Bush was certainly no Ronald Reagan.  He too had a fight on his hands for renomination, then faced off against the charismatic and popular Bill Clinton.  In addition to this, Clinton was helped by a general negative feeling towards the Republican party, due to 12 straight years of Republican leadership, and 20 out of the previous 24 years.  Finally, much of the Republican vote was split by the first major third party candidate in several decades, Ross Perot.  Perot did not win any electoral votes, but he did take almost 20% of the popular vote - a significant number of which would almost certainly have gone to George Bush.  What it boiled down to was that the country was simply ready for something new.  Bill Clinton proved to be it.

Ross Perot would like to know if he can finish now.

In the end, when you take all of these historical trends together, even while keeping in mind that past trends don't necessarily predict future results, it would seem that Romney's chances of unseating Obama this fall are very slim indeed.  

Obama has the support of his own party and his own base.  The Republicans, on the other hand, are fighting internally and are, in many ways, in disarray as they seek to find an alternative to Obama.  History shows that without at least one of these trends being reversed, Obama will retain his seat.  

The situation we have this year, in fact, is not unlike the last time a sitting president ran for re-election - 2004.  That year, George W. Bush, though not widely popular and even regarded somewhat drearily by his own base, managed to win re-election, and it was largely due to the fact that the Democrats simply couldn't find a really charismatic, strong, and trustworthy candidate to run against him.  John Kerry was nominated, and Democrats voted for him, but the party enthusiasm was simply not there.  Many votes for John Kerry were no doubt given grudgingly.  The same thing seems to be afflicting the Republican party in 2012.

Short of an unprecedented historical situation, I believe these historical trends and patterns indicate that Obama will remain in the White House to serve a second term.  

10 Fun Facts About Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States

1. James Earl Carter was born in Plains, Georgia in 1924, the eldest of four children.  The hospital he was born in now bears his mother's name, and is today a mental hosptial.  Carter was the first U.S. president born in a hospital.  An ancestor of 17th century English settlers, Carter's great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

2. Carter played basketball for his high school team, and was a member of the FFA (Future Farmers of America).  June Carter Cash, wife of Johnny Cash, was a distant cousin.

3. Joining the Naval Academy in 1943, Carter served on ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific, and later served in nuclear submarines.  Following a meltdown at a reactor in Canada, Carter was part of an elite team that entered the reactor and sealed it off.  Following his father's death in 1953, Carter - now married to Rosalynn Smith - resigned his commision in the Navy and returned to take over his father's peanut farm in Georgia.  For a short period of time, the Carters lived in public housing, making Carter the only president in U.S. history to have done so.  The Carters have four children.  Carter is also the only president in U.S. history to have graduated from the Naval Academy. 

4. After successfully turning his father's farm into a thriving business, Carter entered politics in 1961 by winning a seat in Georgia's state senate.  He served two terms, but declined running for a third term in 1966, and instead contemplated a run for the U.S. House of Representatives.  Shortly into this campaign, however, he turned his sights on the Georgia gubernatorial race, and instead ran for the Democratic nomination there.  He was ultimately defeated, and therefore returned to his peanut farming business, although he continued to make public political appearances for the Democratic party. 

5. Carter ran again in the Georgia gubernatorial election of 1970, and this time he pulled out a victory over Republican opponent Hal Suit.  In his inaugural speech, he openly condemned discrimination against blacks, making him the first major office holder in the South to publically do so.

6. In 1973, while governor of Georgia, Carter filed a report with the International UFO Bureau, reporting a UFO sighting in 1969 that was also witnessed by several other people.

7. In 1976, Carter ran for the presidency, hoping to capitalize on his status as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the public's negative opinion of the Republican party.  Initially considered a longshot, he became the front-runner and eventually gained the Democratic nomination.  During this campaign, Carter was interviewed by Playboy magazine and famously admitted to being guilty of lust.  He won the election by a slim margin over incumbent Gerald Ford, with the results split largely West to East, with Ford taking virtually all of the western states, and Carter taking most of those east of the Mississippi.

8. Carter's presidency was characterized by rising energy costs, trouble in the Middle East, and the Iran Hostage Crisis, which played a significant role in Carter's re-election bid in 1980.  While Carter was able to broker peace between Israel and Egypt, the economy was largely flat during his presidency, and the public very quickly lost confidence in his leadership.  In 1980, he faced an uphill battle for re-election, having to stave off a significant run by Ted Kennedy to replace him on the Democratic ticket, before facing off against a surging Ronald Reagan in the general election.  Accused of being too moderate by the Democratic base, and too liberal by the Republicans, Carter lost in landslide, winning only 6 states, and losing by nearly 10% of the popular vote.

9.  Jimmy Carter is the only president in U.S. history to serve a full term as president, but never get to nominate a judge for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Together with his vice-president, Walter Mondale, they set the record for the longest living former presidential team in U.S. history, surpassing John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.  In September of 2012, Carter will become the longest surviving ex-president in U.S. history, passing Herbert Hoover. 

10. Carter has become one of the most publically active ex-presidents in U.S. history.  In 2002, he became the only former U.S. president to earn a Nobel Peace Prize for work performed outside the office of the presidency.  He is also the only president to publish a novel.  His post-presidential career is widely viewed as far more successful than his presidential career.  In 2000, Carter and his wife surpassed John and Abigail Adams as the second longest married presidential couple in U.S. history, behind only George and Barbara Bush.  Both plan on being buried in their hometown of Plains, Georgia.           

10 Fun Facts About James K. Polk

James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United States

1. James Knox Polk was born in 1795 in North Carolina, very likely in a log cabin.  His mother, Jane, was descended directly from a brother of John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation and founder of the Presbyterian Church.  As a child, Polk suffered from a number of illnesses.  At the age of 17, he underwent a surgical procedure to have kidney stones removed.  The surgeon who performed the procedure was Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who had performed the first successful removal of an ovarian tumor just three years earlier.  A hospital in Danville today is named after him.

 

2. Polk earned a degree from the University of North Carolina, before settling in Tennessee to study, and later practice, law.  In the early 1820's, Polk served as the clerk for the Tennessee State Senate, and was later elected to the Tennessee legislature.  In 1824, Polk married Sarah Childress, who would go on to become the longest living former First Lady in U.S. history - surviving until 1891.  The Polks never had any children; it has been suggested that Polk's surgery as a teenager may have rendered him sterile. 

 

3. In 1825, Polk was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became a staunch supporter of Andrew Jackson, who was seeking the presidency.  In 1835, near the end of Jackson's second term, Polk became Speaker of the House, a position he kept until 1839, when he became governor of Tennessee.  Polk remains the only Speaker of the House in U.S. history to later become president. 

 

4. Polk served only one term (a 2-year term) as governor of Tennessee, before being defeated for re-election in 1841, and again in 1843.  In 1844, he gave up on Tennessee and ran for vice-president.  The incumbent president was John Tyler, who had gained the White House upon the death of William Henry Harrison.  Tyler was a Whig, but the Whigs had expelled him from their party shortly after he became president because they were unhappy with his policies.  As a result, the Whigs nominated Henry Clay for the presidency, leaving Tyler to form a third party; he later dropped out of the race.  The Democrats, on the other hand, found themselves embroiled in a nomination battle between Martin Van Buren - who had served as president from 1837 to 1841 - and senator Lewis Cass of Michigan.  Van Buren initially garnered a majority of the primary votes, but the Democrats required a 2/3rds majority to win the nomination.  When it became apparent that Van Buren could not get that many votes, the tide turned towards Lewis Cass.  Cass, however, was also unable to secure 2/3rds of the vote.  As a result, James K. Polk was put forth as a compromise candidate, and on the 9th ballot, he won the necessary majority to win the nomination.  As a result, he became the first "dark horse" candidate in U.S. history (a candidate that seemingly comes out of nowhere at the last minute to secure a nomination).

 

5. The 1844 election was primarily about slavery and the annexation of Texas.  Texas had applied for annexation in the late 1830's, but the U.S. had not moved on it and they had withdrawn their request.  It was resubmitted several years later, and a treaty for annexation had been approved.  The question during the 1844 election turned on whether Texas should be immediately accepted into the Union, or whether annexation should wait.  Pro-slavery advocates favored immediate annexation because it was believed that Britain was attempting to encourage Texas - which, at that time, was an independent nation - to end slavery.  Getting them into the Union, then, was seen as vital in order to preserve slavery there.  Abolitionists, and those who did not want slavery to be expanded into new states, favored waiting for annexation, in the hopes that Texas might decide to end slavery first.  They also feared a war with Mexico, who did not support the annexation of Texas.  Polk's position in the campaign was for immediate annexation.  Clay, on the other hand, was initially vague on the issue, and only later grudgingly promised to accept annexation under the right conditions.

 

6. The election was a nail-biter.  In the end, Polk lost his home state of Tennessee, but managed to win in New York.  A third-party candidate, abolitionist James Birney, took 15,000 votes in New York, the majority of which would likely have gone to Clay had Birney not been in the race.  Those votes would have been more than enough to give New York to Clay, and thus the presidency.  Instead, Polk won the state and won the White House.  Polk won the overall popular vote by a mere 40,000 votes. 

 

7. Polk's presidency is widely considered one of the most successful in history among "forgotten" presidents.  Because of the competing factions within the Democratic party, Polk promised not to run for a second term, and this helped to solidify his support among legislators and prominent politicians.  As a result of this promise, Polk became the first president in U.S. history to voluntarily retire after one term.

 

8. As promised, Polk backed the immediate annexation of Texas.  As feared, this precipitated the Mexican-American War.  The war, however, was a resounding success for the U.S., and with the treaty came not only Texas, but all of the modern U.S. southwest, including New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California.  Polk was also able to pass a substantial new tariff on manufactured goods, and he overhauled the U.S. Treasury, creating a system that remained in place until the early 20th century. 

 

9. As an expansionist, Polk brokered a deal with Great Britain for the Oregon territory, which, at that time, included all the Pacific Northwest, from California to the southern part of modern Alaska.  The deal effectively divided the territory between the two countries, helping to create the modern day states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and giving territory now in Canada to Great Britain.  Polk also created the Department of the Interior.

 

10. After taking office as the youngest president in U.S. history, Polk had the shortest retirement of any president in history.  He survived only three months after leaving office, dying in 1849 from cholera contracted while on a farewell tour of the South.  His wife would live another forty years after he died, and both are now buried in a tomb at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.   

Widow's Walk: Free Promotion

Those of you who have bought and devoured (ha!) my short story collection "Serendipity...And Other Stories," will be familiar with the short novella "Widow's Walk," which makes up part of that collection.  I have received a number of positive reviews and comments from readers on this story in particular.

Recently, after doing a bit of research on free promotions offered to Amazon authors, I decided to publish Widow's Walk individually, and offer it for free.  The purpose of a free promotion is simply to get your work out there to a wider reading audience - the hope being that if they like the free book, they might open their wallets to buy more.

So Widow's Walk is available, starting today, for free from Amazon.  The promotion will run until this Friday, March 2nd.  After that, it will cost 99 cents.  I would make it free forever, but I don't think Amazon allows you to do that - or, if they do, I haven't figured out how yet.

In any case, here's the link to the book: Widow's Walk

I really like the cover I did for this one...the picture is one that I took myself, and it features the house, on 2nd Street in Lexington, Kentucky, that inspired the story itself.  I did a bit of tinkering with it in Photoshop.

Anyway, I would appreciate as many downloads as I can get.  As always, if you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app for your tablet, phone, computer, etc., from Amazon.  And there is a link for that below this blog post.  

10 Fun Facts About James Monroe

James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States

Be sure to check out my newest book, Washington's Nightmare: A Brief History of American Political Parties, available now at Amazon.com! 


1.  James Monroe was born in 1758 in Virginia.  Born into a prosperous family, Monroe received a good education, but dropped out of college in 1775 to join the Continental Army.  He served as an officer and was involved in Washington's famous Crossing of the Delaware.  In Leutze's famous painting of the event, Monroe is depicted right behind Washington, holding the U.S. flag.  In the Battle of Trenton, Monroe was wounded in the shoulder.  He was the last U.S. president to serve in the Revolutionary War.

2.  Monroe never finished his college degree.  Instead, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, hoping to use his training as a means of entering politics.  It worked.  He entered the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782, and was elected to the Continental Congress the following year.  In 1786 he married Elizabeth Kortright, and together they had two daughters and a son.  The son died in childhood, but his second daughter became the first presidential child to get married in a White House ceremony.

3.  After the adoption of the Constitution, Monroe ran for a seat in the new U.S. House of Representatives in 1789, but was defeated by James Madison.  Instead, Monroe won a seat in the Senate the following year, where he very quickly allied himself with the Jeffersonians - those early politicians who supported agriculture and states' rights over a strong centralized government.

4.  In 1794, Monroe was named Minister to France by president Washington.  An ardent supporter of French interests, he was outraged by the passage of the Jay Treaty, which effectively allied the U.S. with Britain, and kept the U.S. neutral in the ongoing war between Britain and France.  In 1796, he was fired by Washington for working against the Washington administration in regards to French interests.

5.  Elected Governor of Virginia in 1799, Monroe called out the milita to put down a slave rebellion, after which 26 slaves were hanged.  The leader of the rebellion had been a literate (that is, educated) slave, and as a result of the rebellion, Virginia and other states began passing laws aimed at limiting the amount of education slaves could receive.

6.  Named Minister to Britain during the Jefferson presidency, Monroe brokered a renewal of the Jay Treaty that he had so vociferously opposed a decade earlier (and which had ultimately cost him his job).  Jefferson, however, refused to accept the treaty, as it did not end the British practice of impressment (forcibly removing British sailors from American ships and conscripting them to serve on British ships).  As a result, the two countries inched closer to war.

7.  Monroe served as Secretary of State under James Madison, and when the War of 1812 began going badly, Monroe was named Secretary of War to replace the previous secretary.  No replacement for Secretary of State was ever named, however, so Monroe effectively held both offices at the same time - the only person in history to hold two cabinet posts under the same president.  When a peace treaty was finally signed, Monroe resigned as Secretary of War and resumed the full-time duties of Secretary of State.

8.  Monroe ran for president in 1816, and due to the collapse of the old Federalist party, he won a landslide victory against a weak Federalist opponent, winning all but three states, and all but 34 of the electoral votes. In 1820, running for re-election, the Federalist party - now all but defunct - didn't even run a candidate, and Monroe became the only president since George Washington to run unopposed.  He won every state, and would have won every electoral vote, but one elector in New Hampshire decided to cast a vote for Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who wasn't even running.  As a result, Washington remains the only president to ever win a unanimous electoral vote.

9.  Because of the collapse of the Federalist party, Monroe had little to no organized opposition during his two terms in office.  This resulted in what commentators at the time called "The Era of Good Feelings" - a time when there was very little rancor in Washington, and the country was sailing smoothly.  Monroe's most famous legacy is the so-called Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the U.S. would no longer tolerate European intervention in North or South America.  Monroe is also the only U.S. president to have a foreign capital named after him (Monrovia, capital of the African nation Liberia).  

10.  Monroe was the last U.S. president who still dressed in the 18th century fashion of powdered wigs and knee breeches.  He was also the last 2-term president to succeed a 2-term president from his own party.  (In fact, no 2-term president succeeded any 2-term president until Bill Clinton and George W. Bush).  Monroe is also the last president who was never photographed.  Monroe was the first president to deliver an inaugural address outdoors to a public crowd.  Monroe is also considered one of the least religious presidents in U.S. history, with no known religious affiliation.  Finally, Monroe was the first president to live in the White House when it was actually white (prior to Monroe's presidency, the White House was gray).  He died on July 4, 1831, the third president in a row to die on Independence Day.

10 Fun Facts About The Beatles

The Beatles in August, 1969, in their final photo-shoot together.

1.  The Beatles were formed in March of 1957 by 16-year-old John Lennon and several friends.  First called the Blackjacks, and later the Quarrymen, Paul McCartney joined the band later the same year, after hearing them play at a church social.  By early 1958, George Harrison had joined.  They toured off and on for the next several years, eventually adding a fourth guitarist, Stu Sutcliffe, who was slated to play bass.  They lacked a consistent drummer until Pete Best was hired in 1960.  Shortly after this, the Quarrymen, now going by the name The Beatles, left for Germany where they were slated to play as the house band in a number of clubs operated by the same owner.  They performed in Germany for much of the next two years, and played as the backing band for a German pop star named Tony Sheridan.  Sheridan's song "My Bonnie" - credited to Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers - charted at #32 in Germany, giving the band their first hit.  Sutcliffe had left the band shortly before this time, and McCartney had taken over bass guitar duties.

The Beatles in Germany in the early 60's.  From left: Lennon, Harrison, Best, McCartney, Sutcliffe.

2.  In 1962, shortly after being signed to their first major record contract, the band fired Pete Best at the request of the record company, which felt that his drumming wasn't up to par.  He was replaced by another local drummer, Ringo Starr, who had, in fact, filled in for Best on several previous occasions.  Starr was left-handed, but played a right-handed drum kit.

3.  The Beatles' early image of clean-cut teen heart-throbs was, in many ways, largely a ruse.  All four were in their 20's before they were ever heard of in the United States.  When Beatlemania began, in February of 1964 with the band's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, John Lennon was already married with a child.  By 1966, three of the four band members were married.  Lennon himself was hardly a clean-cut "boy next door."  He had a rocky childhood, frequently got in trouble in school, and was widely considered a "bad influence" on his friends.  As seen in the photograph above, The Beatles dressed more in the "dangerous" style of James Dean in their early days, and only switched to well-tailored suits and clean-cut appearances at the behest of their record company after returning to the UK from Germany.

The "clean-cut" Beatles look of the mid-60's.  

4.  Both Paul McCartney and John Lennon lost their mothers to early and untimely deaths - a fact that no doubt helped unite them.  McCartney's mother died of a blood clot following surgery for breast cancer in 1956.  John's mother was struck by a car and killed while walking along the street in 1958.  Neither lived to see their sons become world-renowned musicians.

5.  The song "When I'm Sixty-Four," from the Sgt. Pepper album, was written by Paul McCartney when he was just a teenager, long before his success with The Beatles.  Both Lennon and McCartney insisted that the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was not about LSD, despite the apparent connection of the letters.  Instead, it was based on a drawing by John's son Julian, showing a blonde-haired girl under a starry sky.  When asked by McCartney what the drawing was, toddler Julian responded: "It's Lucy - in the sky with diamonds."  The McCartney song "Hey Jude" was originally titled "Hey Jules," and was intended as a message to Julian Lennon during his parents' divorce.  The song "A Day in the Life" was originally two separate songs, one by Lennon and one by McCartney, that were merged together with a heavy overdub of orchestration.  The final note of the song is played by three pianos and one organ hitting the same chord simultaneously.

6.  The song "My Majesty," from the Abbey Road album, was originally intended to be placed between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam."  McCartney, however, didn't like the song and told the recording engineer to get rid of it.  The engineer complied, cutting the song out of the master tape.  However, after Paul left, he spliced it back onto the end of the reel, fearing he might lose his job if he got rid of something The Beatles recorded.  It had long been an unwritten rule in the recording studio that nothing The Beatles recorded was ever to be destroyed.  When Paul heard the tape again, now with "My Majesty" at the end of the record, he decided he liked it.  As a result, "My Majesty" effectively became the first "hidden track" in popular music, as there is a 14-second pause after the end of the previous song, due to the tape splicing.  Additionally, on the original release, "My Majesty" was not listed on either the album cover or the record's label.  

7.  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is widely regarded not only as The Beatles' breakout album, but also as the first "concept album" in rock history.  However, the "concept" the album was based on was largely abandoned by the group during recording, and only the first two tracks, together with the 13th track, actually retain the original concept of an "alter-ego" Beatles band.  The lead singer of this alter-ego band was Ringo Starr - called Billy Shears on the album.  The song he sings as Billy Shears - "With A Little Help From My Friends" - is one of The Beatles' most famous songs.  It has been covered by more than 50 mainstream acts, and has hit #1 on the UK charts three different times.  The character of "Sgt. Pepper" was conceived when someone misunderstood the phrase "salt and pepper."

8.  The album Let It Be was the final album released by The Beatles.  However, Abbey Road was actually the last album they recorded.  With Let It Be in the mixing stage, the band - unhappy with the final results - shelved the whole thing and recorded Abbey Road.  After Abbey Road was released, Let It Be was re-mixed and finally released in early 1970, right as the band was breaking up.  In the final medley on Abbey Road - the so-called "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" medley - all four Beatles sing, and all four Beatles have instrumental solos - the only time that ever happened.  These were also the last songs they ever recorded together.

9.  The first member to leave the band was Ringo Starr - in 1968.  He rejoined several months later, however.  The following year, in late 1969, John Lennon left the band, although he agreed not to make his departure public, because Abbey Road was being released the following week.  In early 1970, just before Let It Be was released, Paul McCartney left the band, released a solo album, and publicly announced that The Beatles were breaking up.  Lennon was incensed by this, feeling that McCartney had conned him into keeping his departure quiet so that McCartney could get the "credit" for breaking up the band, and so he could use the break-up to promote his own solo album.  Lennon later said: "I started the band.  I disbanded it.  It's as simple as that."

10.  Following their break-up, all four Beatles embarked on solo careers, with each releasing a solo album in 1970.  All four recorded #1 hit songs as solo acts.  Everyone but Ringo had a #1 album.  The best-selling solo album among ex-Beatles in George Harrison's 1970 album All Things Must Pass, which has been certified 6-times platinum in the United States.  The most enduring single by an ex-Beatle is John Lennon's song "Imagine."  The overall best-selling ex-Beatle is Paul McCartney.

10 Fun Facts About Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States

Be sure to check out my newest book,Washington's Nightmare: A Brief History of American Political Parties, available right now at Amazon.com! 


1.  One of seven sons born to his parents, Dwight Eisenhower was born in Texas in 1890, but grew up in Abilene, Kansas.  His parents were originally Mennonites, but later became Jehovah's Witnesses.  Dwight, however, never joined the congregation, and later referred to himself as "deeply religious" but not affiliated with any "sect or organization."

2.  As a young teenager, Eisenhower injured his leg, and the infection became so severe that doctors considered amputation.  He was ultimately forced to repeat his freshman year of high school, but his leg healed completely.

3.  Entering West Point because he was too old to join the Naval Academy, Eisenhower played football but failed to make the baseball team - something he later said was one of the greatest disappointments of his life.    As a football player, he broke his leg in a game - the same leg he had injured earlier in his life - and it never fully healed.  The collegiate player he was tackling during the injury was future Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe.

4.  Eisenhower married Mamie Doud in 1916, and the couple had two sons.  The first son died in 1921 of scarlet fever, but the second son, born in 1922 and named John, is still living.  John gave Eisenhower four grandchildren, including a son named David, who became the namesake of the presidential retreat Camp David.  David Eisenhower, in turn, married the daughter of Richard Nixon - Eisenhower's Vice-President.

5.  During World War II, Eisenhower was elevated to the rank of 5-star general and Supreme Commander of the Allies.  He is one of only five men to ever hold a 5-star rank.  As Commander of the Allies, Eisenhower was the most powerful military man in the world, and oversaw the D-Day invasion in 1944.  Ironically, as Jehovah's Witnesses, his parents had been strict pacifists.

6.  Both parties courted Eisenhower for the 1948 presidential election, but he opted instead to remain in the military, while also becoming president of Columbia University.  Courted again in 1952, he joined the Republicans and ran against Democrat Adlai Stevenson.  Using a now famous campaign slogan - "I Like Ike" - Eisenhower won in a landslide, becoming the only former general in the 20th century to become president.  He also became the last president born in the 19th century.  When he ran again in 1956, he again defeated Stevenson in a landslide.  Despite this, his approval ratings were very low by the time he left office.

7.  Eisenhower was the first president of 50 states, achieving that distinction when Hawaii became a state in 1959.  He was also the first president with a pilot's license, having earned it in 1939.  Eisenhower is also the only 20th century president who was bald.  Finally, Eisenhower became the first president to appear on color television.  

8.  Eisenhower loved golf.  He played more than 100 rounds of golf each year, was a member of Augusta National, and had a putting green installed on the White House lawn.

9.  Eisenhower is the only president in the 20th century who never held a political office prior to becoming president, and only the 2nd in U.S. history (Zachary Taylor was the other).

10.  Eisenhower had several medical issues during his presidency, including a mild heart attack, a ventricular aneurysm, and a mild stroke.  He also suffered from Crohn's Disease and had gallbladder problems.  He lived, however, for 8 more years after leaving office in 1961, finally dying of congestive heart failure in 1969.  During his autopsy, an adrenal tumor was discovered which might have contributed to his continual heart problems late in life (he had survived several more heart attacks after leaving office).

Notes from the Cave

"It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

That opening sentence from Orwell's "1984" would be perfectly appropriate at this moment, except that it's not April.

The Spawn are across the street, and the Mate is shopping with a friend.  That means Yours Truly gets to sit at home and watch Lost, read, and do a little blogging.

If you follow me on Twitter (@BScottChristmas), you may have noticed that I have started getting involved in the so-called "Indie Writer" crowd.  Twitter is a HUGE medium for independent authors, and they all follow each other and retweet each other all the time.  Some of these writers seem to be on Twitter all day long, seven days a week, sending out tweet after tweet after tweet, often times repeating the exact same thing (an advertisement for their book, for instance).  Many of them never tweet anything that is not related to Indie book publishing and writing.  It's as if they eat, sleep, drink, and breathe Indie publishing.  

To be honest, I find it a bit annoying, and somewhat creepy.  Like this underworld subculture of mostly unsuccessful writers that no one knows about.  

I'm not trying to be mean - I'm one of them after all! - but the obsessive way some of them (and I emphasize, it's only SOME) use Twitter to self-promote is a bit of a put-off.  There is at least one guy who I un-followed simply because I got sick of seeing the same self-promoting tweets over and over and over again - dozens of times a day.

Anyway....to my regular followers, sorry for the occasional book-related retweet or for the occasional tweet promoting my own books.  I like the Indie writers community, and I appreciate it that it's there as a resource for me, but I try not to overdo it or abuse it.  

Anyway....

This past week at work was, in all honestly, probably the most stressful week I've had since I've been an X-ray tech.  Very, very busy all week, everyone frazzled and stressed out, and that stress just emanates around the group and becomes a vicious cycle.  It was not fun, at all.  It did, however, make Happy Hour on Friday night especially fun, and we had a very good turn out.  My birthday, as many of you know, was last Wednesday, and while I am not too thrilled about 37, at least it's not 40.  :) 

I am making slow progress on what is set to be my first novel published on Amazon.  As my good friends and family will know, I have written five novels over the years, but have not yet published any of them.  It took me a while to decide which one to publish, and now that I have made the decision, I have to essentially re-write the whole thing. 

The title of the book (which MIGHT be changed) is The Pyrate Chronicles.  This was the first novel I ever completed.  I started writing it after being inspired by a dream in the summer of 1995 - the summer after my Sophomore year of college.  I wrote the first half of the book that summer, then set it aside during my Junior year of school.  The following summer - 1996 - I returned to it and completed it.  It was a big accomplishment, of course, but the book itself was not very good.  

I did a mild rewrite of the book in 1997, and then a much more thorough rewrite about 1998.  Even then, it wasn't particularly good, and I decided to finally put it aside and move on to other things.  I have always regarded it with an almost paternal affection, not just because it was my first literary offspring, but also because it was hopelessly flawed, but still an important stepping stone in my development. 

So here I am now, 17-some years down the road since I wrote the novel's first line, and I have decided to resurrect it with a complete rewrite and release it as my first published novel.  As the title implies, it is a pirate tale, and I hope to make it a sort of action/adventure story with a strong sense of historical setting and historical integrity.  It's not going to be supernatural, like Pirates of the Caribbean, and it also won't be a totally romanticized story - like Treasure Island - of a pirate world that never really existed.  

It is set in Europe in the late 17th century, and the central character is an English sailor turned pirate who haunts the Mediterranean Sea and has a bit of a Robin Hood streak.  He is joined by his lover, a woman who was sold into white slavery on the Barbary Coast as a child, but was rescued by a Dutch privateer and raised on his ship.  Taking a cue from my recent obsession with the TV show "Lost," I intend to fill the book with flashbacks, slowly revealing the back story of the various main characters as the novel progresses.

I will, of course, keep you filled in on my progress :) 

I was very happy yesterday to see the UK Wildcats pull out a tough road win against Vanderbilt - one of the hardest teams to beat on their own floor.  I hate to sound silly, but I really do think this particular Kentucky team is one of the very best UK teams in a very, very long time.  They seem to be peaking at just the right time, and they are playing really good basketball right now.  The "favorite" team of the last few years has NOT managed to go on to win a national championship.  I think UK is the clear "favorite" right now, so I hope that they will break the streak.  They seem to be standing out from the pack right now, in a way that I have not seen teams do for the last few years - which is why, I think, that no "favorite" has won a championship.  There has been quite a bit of parity in college basketball in recent years, but I feel like Kentucky is really stretching out ahead right now.  We'll see how it progresses.  

I feel like there is more I should talk about, but I can't really think of anything at the moment.  I hope to get back to work soon on part III of my political party history.  Don't die from anticipation, please.  

The Convoluted History of the Beatles Catalog

Sounds like a fascinating subject, eh?  Well, I think it is.

(By the way, I am opting to use the more modern spelling of "catalog" in this post, because I am tired of having Google Chrome tell me I am spelling it wrong.  I have always spelled this word as "catalogue," but apparently that spelling is no longer in vogue [or should I say "vog"?].  Perhaps "catalogue" is the British spelling.  Either way, you're getting "catalog.")

As my Twitter and Facebook followers will know, I just received the entire Beatles catalog for my birthday.  There aren't many performers for whom you can buy the entire catalog in one fell swoop, but the Beatles, evidently, are no common musicians.  In 2009, their record company released a box set that basically includes every song they ever recorded and released during their reign in the 1960's.  I had never owned a Beatles album before, but have been increasingly interested in their music as I've gotten older, so I decided to just go all out and get the whole thing.

As it turns out, the actual catalog itself has an interesting, and at times extremely confusing, history.

To put it simply, by the time the Beatles broke up in 1970, they essentially had two catalogs: their UK catalog, and their U.S. catalog.  To put it in modern parlance, they basically had two separate discographies - different albums, with different titles, different songs, and different artwork.

To explain this mess, and how it was resolved, it is perhaps best to begin by explaining the often confusing, and sometimes completely paradoxical, terminology used in the music business.

There are three basic types of releases common in the music industry.  The first is the so-called "single."  This is perhaps one of the most confusing terms in the history of popular music.

To begin with, there are two types of singles.  The first type is a song that is released only as a single unit.  It cannot be purchased on a full-length album because it was never put on an album.  It was only and forever a single.

The second type of single is a song that is released as part of a full-length album, but is also released as a single unit.  You can purchase the song either by buying the single, or by buying the entire album.  When I was growing up in the 1980's and 90's, this was the most common type of single.  An album would be put out, and several of the best songs from the album would also be released as singles.

Earlier, in the 50's and 60's, the first type of single - the stand-along single - was much more common.  Bands and performers frequently released songs as singles that were never on a full-length studio album.  With the advent of digital MP3 downloads, it has become common once again for performers to release songs that are only released as singles.

In addition to this, the word "single," itself, is a misnomer, because in the days before digital music, a "single" actually had two songs on it, not one.  So it was really a "double."  There would be a song on the front, or "A" side, and a second song on the back, or "B" side (this was true whether it was a record or a tape).  The A-side song would typically be the song that would get the most airplay on radio stations, and, as such, it would usually be the song that would make the Top 40 lists.  Sometimes, however, the B-side song would get a lot of radio play as well, and it, too, might become a hit.  There are a few cases of B-side songs actually ranking higher on the Top 40 than the corresponding A-side song.  

The second type of music industry release is the so-called "LP."  This stands for Long Play, and it is the most common type of album.  When your favorite performer releases a new, full-length studio album, it is considered an LP.  In the 60's and 70's, an LP might have had 8 or 9 songs on it, depending on how long the songs were.  With the advent of tapes, and later CD's, LP's generally became longer, with as many as 11 or 12 songs (records couldn't hold that many songs, unless the songs were really short; as a result, during the 1980's, when both records and tapes were still being mass-produced, the record version of an album would usually have fewer songs, or the songs would have portions cut out of them to make them shorter).  Even though CD's can hold much more than that, the 12-song standard has generally remained in place for modern LP albums.

The final type of music industry release is the EP, or Extended Play.  Even though this sounds like it should be the longest of the bunch, it's actually in between a single and an LP - something that I always found extremely confusing.  If a single had 2 songs, and an LP had 10 songs, an EP might have 6 songs.  Guns n' Roses' second album, G n' R Lies, is a famous example of an EP.      

With that background in mind, we look now to the actual Beatles catalog.  The first two Beatles albums were released in the UK in 1963.  However, when Beatles music finally came to the U.S. in 1964, entirely new albums were created for the U.S. market.  They were basically made up of songs that had been on the first two UK albums, as well as some songs that had only been released as singles in the UK.  Otherwise, the titles were different, and even some of the cover art was different.  This trend continued up through the 1966 album "Revolver."  Beginning in 1967 with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the catalogs were finally brought together, and with one exception, all the following albums were the same in the U.S. and UK.

The one exception was the second album of 1967, Magical Mystery Tour.  In the UK, this was a Double-EP album - meaning two EP records.  Each record had 3 songs - 2 on the front and 1 on the back.  In the U.S., however, it was an LP with a total of 11 songs on one record.  The front side had the same 6 songs that had been on the UK version, but the back side had an additional 5 songs that had been released only as singles in the UK.

Because of all this, by the time the Beatles broke up in 1970, they had a significant number of LP's, EP's, and singles to their name, and none of it was unified.  In the UK alone, they had released 12 LP's, 13 EP's, and 22 singles.  Among all countries combined, it was 27 LP's, 21 EP's, and 55 singles.  The various catalogs were made up of essentially the same songs, but they were on different albums with different names and different artwork.  Some songs that had been singles in one country were on albums in other countries, and some songs that were part of an LP in one country were part of an EP in another country, and on and on and on.  Even the record companies themselves were different, depending on where the song/album was released.

This mishmash remained until 1987 when the catalog was released for the first time on CD.  Apple Records, the Beatles record label by that time, decided to streamline the catalog to make it easier to access.  The way they fixed the problem was simple: they essentially did away with all the releases in the U.S. and other countries, and made the original British LP's the "official" discography.  However, this act, alone, did not solve the problem, because there were a significant number of Beatles tunes that had never appeared on any full-length LP in the UK.

To correct this problem, Apple first did away with all the British EP's.  They could do this because the vast majority of the songs released on British EP's had also been released, at one time or another, on British LP's.  However, there were still a number of Beatles songs that had been released only as singles in the UK (as well as one song that had only been released in the U.S.).  So Apple took those stand-alone singles, combined them with the handful of EP songs that had not ever been on a British LP, and made them into two compilation CD's, which they called "Past Masters."  These albums also included several singles that were later re-mixed or re-recorded for full length albums (such as Let It Be, which was released first as a single, then later re-mixed and re-released on the album of the same name).

Even after this, however, the problem was still not solved, because the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour album had only been an EP in the UK, while it was a full-length LP in the U.S.  So instead of including those songs from the U.S. version on the Past Masters compilation, and then doing away with the British EP, they simply made the U.S. version of Magical Mystery Tour the "official" album.

Now, finally, every song ever recorded and released by the Beatles was available in a unified format as a single catalog - 13 studio albums, of which 12 were original UK releases, with the original UK titles and artwork, and 1 was an original U.S. release, and two compilation albums that included all the songs that were leftover from singles and EP's.

And now I have them all.  And you can too!  Just follow the link below.

The Beatles Stereo Box Set