U .S. presidents are some of the most studied, discussed, and well-known figures in history. Yet there is so much about them that still manages to surprise. From odd hobbies and strange coincidences to just downright quirky behavior, presidents of the United States are colorful characters you may only think you understand. To get a better sense of who these guys were (and are), here are 30 astonishing facts about the men who have sat behind the Resolute Desk.
1. | George Washington Was in the Whiskey Business
Aside from the five farms his home, Mount Vernon, included, you could also find a distillery. It wasn’t in the original plans, but Washington had a bounty of rye planted in his farms as a cover crop (what farmers use to hold soil in place to safeguard against elements). He and his plantation manager figured, hey, why let it go to waste? The distillery was established in 1797 (after he was president) and produced about 11,000 gallons of whiskey per year. Today, the distillery still releases a limited number of bottles annually.
2. | John F. Kennedy Illegally Joined the Navy
Kennedy was plagued with a bad back that kept him from enlisting in the Army. But no matter: he used his father’s resources to have a family doctor fake a good bill of health, so he could sneak into the Navy and eventually become a lieutenant. Where many presidents found ways to get out of serving—from dodging the draft to paying people to serve in their place—he was an example of true grit and strength. At one point, while serving as a skipper, a Japanese destroyer sunk his boat in burning flames, after which he swam four hours to safety by holding the life jacket strap with his teeth.
3. | Teddy Roosevelt Continued a Speech After Getting Shot in the Chest
During his third campaign running for president (which he lost), Roosevelt was set to deliver a speech in Wisconsin when a would-be assassin by the name of John Schrank shot him in the chest. Thankfully, Roosevelt’s speech was so long that the 50 pages of notes in his chest pocket slowed the bullet (though it did still pierce his chest), and he went on to finish his 84-minute speech. According to the Roosevelt Association, he addressed the audience then and there with the news:
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately, I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet—there is where the bullet went through—and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.”
4. | Ronald Reagan Was Really into Astrology
Reagan loved astrology so much that he even had an astrologer (Joan Quigley) on-hand, which he paid through a third party, since astrological guidance wasn’t exactly presidential. Nancy and Ronald Reagan confirmed that astrology was not used for making any presidential policy decisions, but rather just to consult before scheduling any events or announcements. A “forecast” color code was established for his schedule, where each day was given a color: green for days Reagan was in the clear, yellow for days in which people should exercise caution, and red for bad days.
5. | President Lincoln Established the Secret Service
Lincoln signed legislation on April 14, 1865, authorizing the creation of a government agency that would gain its fame for protecting the President of the United States: the U.S. Secret Service. He was shot and fatally wounded just hours later. However, even if established earlier, the agency probably wouldn’t have been any help: the original purpose of the Secret Service was to investigate and stop counterfeit money trading, as fake money accounted for up to 50 percent of the currency in circulation at the time.
6. | Clinton Lost the Nuclear Codes for Months and Nobody Knew
The president of the United States must always have the codes needed to launch a U.S. nuclear site close by. It’s not really a guarded button that’s always kept on hand, but rather a set of codes that authorize a launch. Every 30 days, a Pentagon staffer is required to check the codes to ensure they’re correct. Then, they’re replaced every four months.
For one of those four-month spans, every time that member was dispatched to check the codes, President Clinton’s aide would say that he was too busy, and the Pentagon official would leave. It wasn’t until the fourth month, when it was time to collect the old codes to replace with new codes, that it became clear that Clinton had totally lost them. Since then, measures have been put in place so that even if the President is “too busy,” the Pentagon official must physically wait (for however long necessary) to verify the codes.
7. | Franklin Pierce Didn’t Swear on the Oath
Upon inauguration, most presidents swear an oath—generally, on the Bible—to the office. Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, didn’t. He merely vocally affirmed it. (In fact, there is actually no law or mandate requiring that oaths in any office be taken on a bible. It has simply become customary.)
Also, Pierce’s vice president, William R. King, was the only VP to ever have been sworn in on foreign soil. King was in Cuba at the time of inauguration, nursing a bad bout of tuberculosis. He died 45 days into the Pierce’s tenure, and the VP office stayed empty for the rest of the term.
8. | President Harrison Only Served One Month
William Harrison died 32 days after becoming President, holding the title for “shortest serving president in American history.” He died of a cold he got while standing in the rain giving is inauguration speech—which, in stark contrast to his time in office, is still the longest running inaugural address in American history. And for more wild presidential stories, check out the 30 Craziest Things U.S. Presidents Have Done.
9. | President Obama Rules the Court
Barack Obama played basketball on JV and Varsity from 1970 to 1970. He was so good, his nickname on his high school basketball team was “Barry O’Bomber,” named after his jump shot. To this day, he’s still pretty good, and he’s mentioned that playing basketball is one of his favorite activities. While he was in office, he would always play a game of basketball on election days, and one got so competitive that he was actually elbowed in the faced and needed 12 stitches!
10. | Jefferson Was Afraid of Public Speaking
Thomas Jefferson was an incredibly intelligent and skilled man, but he preferred to move in silence. In fact, he only made two speeches during his entire eight-year presidency. And when he did, they were “hardly audible.” Many congressmen have been recorded as describing him as quiet, and he has been noted as saying that he would like to “go on in a strict but silent performance of my duty: to avoid attracting notice.”
11. | Donald Trump Doesn’t Drink Alcohol
Despite his reputation for being an partier from the Manhattan 1980s heyday, Donald Trump claims to be a total teetotaler.. In fact (he claims), he’s never done drugs or smoke cigarettes, either. He himself will say that he doesn’t like to ever be out of control, and therefore doesn’t take the risk of consuming alcohol. His alcoholic brother’s death probably played a role in his view toward abstinence as well.
12. | Two Women Shot at President Ford
Two completely unrelated women, 17 days apart, shot at Gerald Ford while he was on his campaign trail in 1975. One, Lynette Fromme, was a member of Charles Manson’s cult, while the other, Sara Jane Moore, was by all accounts “normal.” It’s not clear what exactly prompted these women to shoot at Ford.
13. | President Wilson is on the $100,000 Bill
Yes, the $100,000 bill exists, but they’re very hard to find: they were only created during a three-week stretch of time in 1934. The bills were designed for circulation among the Federal Reserve banks but fell out of use with the invention of the wire transfer.
14. | Cherries and Milk Killed War Hero Zachary Taylor
Though he was a pretty tough guy—a war hero, in fact—Zachary Taylor was done in by two fairly innocuous little thing: cherries and milk. It’s still unclear whether it was the cherries or the milk, but one (or both) of them were contaminated with bacteria that infected him with cholera. He died five days later.
15. | President Garfield Was Shot—But Doctors Caused His Death
President Garfield was shot at in a train station by a deranged writer; the bullet hit his spine and lodged in his abdomen. Keep in mind, this was in the 1830s, and germ theory wasn’t established until 30 years later, so the doctors that rushed to the scene were literally digging through the open wound to try to find the bullet.
Unable to do so, they brought Garfield back to the White House, attempting to widen the wound and dig further. This didn’t work, so in came Alexander Graham Bell (yes, the same guy who invented the phone) with a rudimentary electromagnetic induction device that he had previously experimentally used to detect bullets in meat. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t get it, and eventually his body simply shut down from having to fight off infections for 80 days.