Tagged: Franklin Roosevelt
HIT THE ROAD, JACK
March 4th in history:
Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for the first of his four terms as president on March 4th, 1933. It was the last March inauguration. The swearing-in date changed to January 20th in 1937. FDR’S first inaugural address was the one in which he said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Fear of an unseen, menacing truck driver is what drives the plot of Steven Spielberg’s 1971 made-for-TV movie Duel. The real driver behind the wheel of the truck in Duel was stunt driver Carey Loftin, who also drove in famous chase scenes for Bullitt and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Loftin was 83 years old when he died on this date in 1997.
March 4th is the birthday of the AAA (American Automobile Association), founded in Chicago in 1902.
German auto maker Gottlieb Daimler unveiled his first automobile on this day in 1887. Daimler is credited as the inventor of the first four-wheel auto.
Popular hot-rod designer of the 1960′s, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, was born on March 4th, 1932.
SO, YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT
February 27th in history:
Historians believe a speech by Abraham Lincoln on this day in 1860 gave him a major boost toward the presidency. Lincoln impressed an audience with an address at the Cooper Union hall in New York City, raising his national profile.
If Lincoln had not been shot during his second term, he could have run for as many terms as he liked. There was nothing in the Constitution to stop him — until February 27th, 1951, when the 22nd Amendment was ratified. That amendment was passed after Franklin Roosevelt was elected president four times. It says a president can be elected to no more than two terms — or just one full term, if he or she took over for another president who had served less than half a term.
February 27th is the birthday of two men who have run for president: consumer advocate Ralph Nader (1934) and former Texas Governor John Connally (1917). Also, the birthday of a recent White House resident, Chelsea Clinton (1980).
GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS
January 30th in history:
The British monarchy came to a temporary end on January 30th, 1649, when King Charles the First was beheaded by opponents of royalty. Oliver Cromwell led England as Lord Protector for several years afterward. When the monarchy was restored, after Cromwell’s death, royalists dug up his body and beheaded him in retaliation on January 30th, 1661.
On January 30th, 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as the chancellor of Germany. Hitler came to power on the 51st birthday of the newly-elected U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was sworn in weeks later. FDR and Hitler would both die in the same month, April 1945, as the U.S. and its allies were about to defeat Nazi Germany in World War Two.
LEADERS OF THE WORLD
November 22 in history:
On the last day of his life, John F. Kennedy was thinking about the 1964 election. President Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, were making a political trip through Texas on November 22nd, 1963. The president had appearances scheduled that day with Vice President Lyndon Johnson in Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin. Kennedy only got to attend the breakfast in Fort Worth. Gunfire broke out as the president’s motorcade was leaving downtown Dallas on the way to a luncheon. Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally, riding with their wives in an open car, were hit by bullets, and taken to Parkland Hospital. Within a short time, Kennedy was dead, Johnson was president, and the world was in mourning.
While in Fort Worth, Kennedy made a phone call to wish John Nance Garner a happy 95th birthday. Texas native Garner served two terms as Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt. French President Charles de Gaulle turned 73 on that Friday in ’63. The following Monday, de Gaulle was in Washington to join other world leaders at Kennedy’s funeral.
A few hours before the Kennedy shooting, “The CBS Morning News,” anchored by Mike Wallace, aired a story about a new rock-and-roll band creating a stir in England. That may have been the first time many Americans heard about the Beatles. The story on CBS coincided with the release that day of a new album by the Fab Four in the UK, called “With the Beatles.” The same album was sold later in the US under the name “Meet the Beatles.”
In later years, the Beatles recorded songs with references to politicians such as British Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. The first English woman to serve as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, stepped down because of a political power struggle on November 22nd, 1990. Thatcher had held that post for 11 years.
TRIVIAZOIDS MOST POPULAR WEBSITE EVER!
November 3 in history:
It may be the most famous wrong headline in newspaper history…”DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” Based on the early returns on election night in 1948, the Chicago Tribune published the first edition of its November 3rd paper with the Dewey headline. Later in the night, incumbent President Harry Truman won a full term by defeating Republican Thomas Dewey. Shortly after the election, Truman happily posed for a picture, holding up the incorrect headline.
We know for a fact that presidents elected on November 3rd include Franklin D. Roosevelt (second term) in 1936…Bill Clinton defeating President George H.W. Bush in 1992…and Lyndon Johnson winning a full term with a victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964.
“The Andy Griffith Show” was a top 10 hit in 1964…and in every year that it was on CBS. Two cast members of the Griffith show and its spinoff, “Mayberry RFD,” both were born on November 3rd in 1933. Aneta Corsaut played Mayberry schoolteacher Helen Crump, who dated and then married Sheriff Andy Taylor. Ken Berry was brought in to play town councilman Sam Jones, who became the main character on “Mayberry RFD” when Griffith ended his own show in 1968. Berry also starred on “F Troop” and “Mama’s Family.”
SHOW YOUR PATRIOTISM
July 3rd in history:
George Washington took command of the Continental Army of the colonies on July 3rd, 1775.
Four score and eight years later, the Battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3rd, 1863, with the Army of the Potomac defeating Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Seventy-five years after the battle, President Franklin Roosevelt lit an eternal flame at the Gettysburg memorial in Pennsylvania.
George M. Cohan wrote about being “born on the Fourth of July” in the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” But official records show that he was born on July 3rd, 1878. And the star of the movie “Born on the Fourth of July,” Tom Cruise, was a July 3rd baby in 1962.
