Presidential Trivia: 40 Fascinating Facts About US Presidents – Part 3

President William McKinley wore a red carnation in his lapel at all times as a good luck charm. During a public meeting in his second term, he took out the flower from his lapel and gave it to a 12-year-old girl. Minutes later, he was shot. He died a week later.

27. Rutherford B. Hayes was the first US President to oppose the Spoils System of giving federal jobs to political supporters, wanting instead to pick them by merit according to an examination.

28. Contrary to popular belief, President William H. Taft who weighed in excess of 350 lb did not get stuck in a White House bathtub. The White House got a tub that was so big a President couldn’t possibly get stuck. A Manhattan company specially crafted the largest solid porcelain tub ever made for an individual.

29. President Warren Harding wrote steamy, erotic letters to his mistress Carrie Phillips. Even though he asked her to burn these letters, she kept many of them and they are on display at the Library of Congress.

30. In 1927, Calvin Coolidge walked outside of his vacation home to waiting reporters, handed them a slip of paper that said, "I do not choose to run for President in nineteen-twenty-eight.", took no questions, and went back inside.

Eisenhower visited Taiwan in 1960 and an estimated 650,000 people packed into the Presidential Plaza to hear the American president. He lauded President Chiang for his courage and tireless effort in leading the nation in the struggle against in­human tyranny

32. Grover Cleveland served on two non-consecutive terms as President. People get confused about the number of men that served as US Presidents (44) vs the number of Presidential Administrations (45).

33. Donald Trump tried to stop the building of an offshore wind-farm in Scotland because it would "ruin the view" of his golf course.

34. In Ulysses S. Grant's name, the S didn't stand for anything. He felt that it made his name seem more distinguished.

35. During the campaign of 1920, President Warren G. Harding was accused of making up a word: "normalcy." When asked if he instead meant "normality," Harding responded "I have looked for 'normality' in my dictionary and I do not find it there. 'Normalcy', however, I did find, and it is a good word."

Rutherford B. Hayes is a national hero in Paraguay and even has a province named after him because he mediated the treaty that prevented Argentina and Brazil from annexing them.

37. In 1853, Chester A. Arthur successfully represented a black woman who sued a streetcar company for kicking her out of the white section of a streetcar.

38. In 1928, Lyndon B. Johnson paused his studies to teach Mexican-American children and used his own salary to buy volleyball and softball bats for them.

39. William McKinley was the first president to ride in an electric car - the ambulance that took him to the hospital after he was shot by an assassin.

40. Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words, and got the nickname "Silent Cal." He once remarked, "I think the American people want a solemn a*s as a President." When satirist Dorothy Parker heard he had died, she responded, "How can you tell?"