Here's an article I wrote in February:
President's Day is observed in February and our thoughts naturally turn to those beloved occupants of the White House and their continuing contributions and influences to our country.
Since January 1st I have written about Presidents Bush and Obama. A haircut essay yielded a photo of Harry S Truman. He was president when I was born; I'm even a "Harry S.". My middle initial stands for something. Truman's didn't.
We did an "Onaugural" piece about Bush Street in San Francisco and mentioned many more presidential names. But I did not discuss that the origin of the name for Bush Street is in some debate. The name is not presidential. Apology for the oversight.
We've done two pieces recently on Habitat for Humanity, of which Jimmy Carter is an active supporter.
But we have 44 presidents to honor in February.
Besides the portraits on the vanishing bills in our pocketbooks, how are we connected to the presidents personally? Do most Americans believe they are distantly related to one or more presidential families? There are rumors within my family but those who keep the secrets do it really well...in the cemetery.
My point here is to do a comprehensive post on as many presidents as I can from personal knowledge. I am a product ot San Francisco's public schools and attended Andrew Jackson elementary and George Washington High School. I attended Marina Junior High School (now Middle School) which is on Fillmore Street.
Other presidential street names in San Francisco have been treated. What's next?
Presidents from California: Hoover, Nixon and Reagan. Hoover was an equipment manager for the football team at Stanford in the late 1890's. Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. Reagan (as governor of California said, "If we all threw our car keys away tomorrow, we would end smog. But we can't do that" Or something like that. He also was quoted as saying trees cause pollution. Some experts have said that through some tortured logic that statement might be true.
Kennedy sparked the Peace Corps and the spirit of idealism behind the Peace Corp endures. Jimmy Carter's mother, Lillian, was a member of the Peace Corps. JFK's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Junior, is a top environmental attorney and co-host of a green radio show. He appeared on my show, The Green Hour, in the '90s and advocated for the Hudson Riverkeepers.
Not to further name drop, but presidential daughter Susan Ford was a guest on my show in 2005. At the time she was running the Betty Ford Clinic and our topic was abuse of prescription drugs within families.
Eisenhower created the interstate highway system, the issues raised by its establishment are debated with frequency in this space. The car culture was solidified by the system's completion. Drive 55, anyone? Ever? And it has been said that all freeway exits in the USA are wide enough for tanks to navigate and hence the impetus for building the system. Urban myth?
FDR led the nation through WWII and gave his health and life in the undertaking. Roosevelt also structured the New Deal, causing many in this country to still call him "a traitor to his class".
George W. Bush probably called himself "Commander-in-Chief" publicly more times in his 8 years in the Oval Office than did FDR in his 12.Don't know much about Coolidge. There's a story about him where the punchline is "you lose". You might know it.
Harding died in San Francisco. So have a lot of other comedians. Kidding.Wilson was an enthusiastic promoter of the League of Nations, which the USA never joined. Eventually the idea of a league of nations was realized with the formation of the United Nations, founded in...San Francisco.
Taft had a special large bathtub installed in the White House. Rumors says he became stuck and had to be rescued. He also busted more trusts than the "trustbuster", Teddy Roosevelt. Taft ended his career happily as Chief Justice of the United States. Republicans, both.
TR founded the National Parks systems. The Presidio of San Francisco is a national park. Yosemite is unsurpassed for majesty. And the mansion of John Muir in Martinez falls under the aegis of the National Park Service.
On the paradoxical side, Gerald Ford was assaulted by gunfire in both San Francisco and Sacramento.
I saw LBJ's motorcade pass through North Beach in the '60s. It's easy to criticize Johnson in many policy areas; but he also was a key element in shaping an America that could see the installation of Barack Obama as President of the United States.
That's it; I have not profiled them all, but have mentioned a number of presidents. There's a story about William McKinley's wonder about meeting Haitians around the turn of the 20th century, but, in the parlance, I won't go there.
There used to be separate observances for both Lincoln (February 12th) and Washington (February 22nd). Martin Luther King (January 15th) remains the only individual honored in this country with a holiday with his name on it. Although they've moved it around to give us another three-day weekend.
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