Booth Blog

Written by Chris Binkert

Wine has a long history among the presidents.  From George Washington on, every president has, in one way or another, used wine to further their agendas, recognize a diplomat, toast a friend, or just have a glass for personal enjoyment.

Wine at the White House survived the Temperance Movement, Prohibition – and even the occasional teetotaler president.

Founding Fathers

George Washington (1789-1797) loved madeira, a fortified wine popular in colonial America.  Coming mostly from an island off the coast of Africa owned by Portugal, it was fortified with a distilled spirit like brandy to strengthen it for the long journey to America.  Washington tried to produce wine at Mt. Vernon but wasn’t successful.

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) became America’s foremost presidential wine enthusiast owing to his service as Minister to France in the 1780’s. In that post he became very familiar with French wines, then considered the best in the world.  He said, “good wine is a necessity for me”, and imported thousands of bottles.

He advised other presidents, giving suggestions of particular vintages and using his contacts to place orders.  He once ordered 30 dozen bottles of Chateau Y’quem for George Washington and had 10 dozen sent to himself.  Jefferson also liked Chateau Margaux, a red wine from the Bordeaux region of France that today sells for $600 a bottle.

Early America’s first efforts to produce wine were largely a failure. Dolley Madison, First Lady of James Madison (1809-1817), banned American wines from the White House due to their inferior quality.

Madison’s successor, James Monroe (1817-1825), also served as Minister to France and enjoyed their wines. He once caused a minor scandal by ordering 1,200 bottles but charged it to the ‘furniture’ account instead.

19^th Century

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) and Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) served in office during the onset of the Temperance Movement and personally did not drink much. However, they served wine at the White House due to its diplomatic importance.

The first president to serve an American wine was Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865).  In 1864 he was gifted a case from California and served it to his guests.

Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881) and his First Lady Lucy were staunchly opposed to alcohol and didn’t serve any at the White House, offering guests fruit juice instead. This earned the First Lady the nickname Lemonade Lucy.

20^th Century

During Prohibition (1920-1933), the presidents were more limited in using and transporting wines but received permission from Congress to continue to serve for toasts and diplomatic purposes.

You may wonder where the concept of ‘toasting’ originated, and why it’s called ‘a toast’. The ancient Greeks started the tradition of raising a glass for good health and friendship; but the Romans added a new aspect to the custom. Back then, the wine might be poisoned or impure, so the Romans dunked pieces of burnt bread into their wine to soak up impurities and then proceeded to raise the glass to friendship and good health, thus making it a toast.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and First Lady Jacquline renewed the usage of wine at a whole new level. Jackie attended school in France and spoke French fluently.  Jack and Jackie served Chateau Margaux and Chateau Haut-Brion.

Richard Nixon (1969-1974) introduced Schramsburg Blanc de Blancs as the ‘wine of peace’. Produced in California, Nixon had the sparkling wine on his famous ground-breaking trip to China in 1972 to toast Premier Chou En-Lai.  Schramsburg has been used by every president since Nixon for special diplomatic events.

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) banned the use of hard liquor at the White House but allowed wine to be served. Jimmy also produced his own home-made wine, using Scuppernong and Muscadine grapes. He gave it to friends and family and auctioned off bottles to raise money for the Carter Center.

Carter also made a big change to state dinners. He moved the wine toast to the beginning of the meal, a practice followed by all subsequent presidents. At state dinners three wines are typically served, a light white for the first course, a red with the entrée, and a champagne or sparkling wine with dessert.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), the former Governor of California, intentionally used wine at the White House as a way to help boost the wine producers of his home state.  The sales of Kendall-Jackson chardonnay boomed after First Lady Nancy Reagan said how much she enjoyed it.

Modern Day

Three of our four most recent presidents do not drink alcohol.  However, George W. Bush, Donald Trump and Joe Biden still conducted the toasts, sometimes with just a sip of wine or substituting juice instead.

No longer dependent on European wines, our presidents almost exclusively serve American wines at the White House.

As you can see, wine has a long-standing place in the conduct of the presidency. Let’s raise a glass to honor this great tradition!

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

Written by: Chris Binkert

As we arrive at the 250^th anniversary of the founding of our country, let’s pause and reflect on the events that made it happen. To admire the sacrifices that drove it. To appreciate the burning sense of confidence that grew from it. To gain a fuller understanding of the people and events that pulled it off.

In 1776 the odds of winning a war against the British were very low.  Britain had the largest and best trained military in the world. The British king had ruled the 13 colonies for 169 years. They enjoyed the support of 20 percent of the colonial population, plus a limited hold on another 35 percent who were on the fence. There was no capital city of the colonies, no government, no mass communication devices, no foreign allies, and no escape from the threat of death to those deemed traitors to the crown.

On top of that, the 13 colonies were anything but ‘united’.  They were fractious, suspicious, and unevenly behind the revolution.  There were vast differences between people from Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia.

What the British did not and could not control was the genuine and inspirational hope that permeated the 45 percent of colonists who were empowered by a fervor that independence was worth the fight, the sacrifice, and the death and destruction sure to come.

Setting the Stage

The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax levied on the American colonies by the British Parliament.  Meant to raise funds to pay off massive debts from the 7 Year’s War against France (1756-1763) and to finance the presence of troops in North America, the Act immediately enraged the colonies.

The opposition was based on the concept of No Taxation Without Representation.  It was so unpopular that it was repealed in a year.  However, it unleashed an unprecedented level of cooperation among the colonies and inspired the creation of the Sons of Liberty that organized protests against it.

The 10 years between 1765 and 1775 saw a long period of underground efforts to organize resistance to the crown.  The Sons of Liberty and other secret societies met in safe places to share news and plan events. There were committees of correspondence that set up shadow governments in towns and drafted letters to share political news and promote a united front.

During this period, the British Parliament passed other taxes on the colonies. The Townshend Acts, the Tea Act, and the Coercive Acts (known as the Intolerable Acts), were met with rising rejections, leading to the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

In March 1775, Patrick Henry gave a moving speech in Virginia where he said, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

The Spark

With mounting fury, the conditions for a revolutionary break with the crown was like a dry tinderbox awaiting a spark to ignite.  That spark came from the town green in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.

On that day, 700 British soldiers marched 21 miles from Boston intent on taking a suspected cache of weapons in Concord, six miles further west of Lexington.  Warned by night riders Paul Revere and William Dawes, 70 residents took up arms on the Lexington Green to face the advancing British army. No one knows who fired first, but in a few minutes, eight colonists were dead and nine wounded.

Bells rang, riders passed the word, and 400 more colonists, known as Minutemen, came into Concord to fight. And fight they did, eventually forcing the British to retreat to Boston. Harassed by colonial snipers and by then thousands of Minutemen, the 28 mile retreat turned disastrous for the British, incurring 73 deaths, 174 wounded, and 53 captured.

The Rising Fury

By firing on the colonists, Britain created a tipping point that could not be reversed. Now it was David vs. Goliath. Now it was survival. Now it meant open rebellion.

George Washington was selected to lead the colonial forces in June 1775, taking command the next month.

Thomas Paine, born in England, published his pamphlet called Common Sense in January 1776. A very effective writer, he laid out the case for independence in clear and persuasive words. “The birthday of a new world is at hand”. It was republished in newspapers and broadsheets throughout the colonies and sold tens of thousands of copies.  George Washington lauded it by saying “It’s working a wonderful change in the minds of many.”

The Declaration of Independence

The Second Continental Congress, formed to coordinate colonial resistance, authorized a small committee comprised of Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York to draft a Declaration of Independence in June 1776.

Led by Jefferson, this geographically balanced group presented the draft to Congress in Philadelphia on June 28.  To Jefferson’s chagrin, the draft was debated and edited over several days prior to its adoption on July 4.

Many of the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration, risking their lives to do so. If a signer was caught by the British, they likely would be hanged for treason.

The War

The Revolutionary War of Independence took six long years to succeed.  In this time of war, the colonists found patriots and allies to drive toward victory.  Patriots like 21 year old Nathan Hale who said just before being  hanged for spying, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”.

Benjamin Franklin was dispatched to France in October 1776 to negotiate a Treaty of Alliance, finally succeeding in 1778.  This encouraged men like the Marquis de Lafayette of France who fought with Washington from 1777 onward to Yorktown in 1781.

The war brought about a unity among the colonies that had never before existed. In 1782 the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution authored by John Adams to adopt a Great Seal that contains the words E Pluribus Unum….Out of Many, One.

The Founders

The most famous of the founders became our first three presidents:  George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.

Many others played significant roles in the establishment of our country. Samuel Adams was a leader in the Sons of Liberty. John Jay won some electoral college votes for president in 1789 and became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. George Clinton, first governor of New York, also won some electoral college votes in 1792, becoming Vice President under both Jefferson and James Madison. The Pinckney brothers of South Carolina, Thomas and Charles, were leaders with strong regional impact.

250 years ago, the colonies teemed with hope and a fervor for independence. Leaders stepped up. Citizens fought and died against the most powerful army in the world. Emerging from that revolution, our more unified country witnessed a bounty of patriotic dedicated men who effectively created the foundation of principles to guide our nation.

No longer disparate colonists, they were proud citizens of a new nation, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, and ready to prove to the world that they could use their newfound independence to effectively govern themselves. No kings needed.

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

Written by Chris Binkert, Photo courtesy of clintonlibrary.gov

While riding along on a tour bus during a recent trip to Scotland and Ireland, I was surprised to see a banner on a light post for William McKinley.  Just moments later, our tour guide began mentioning the number of presidents of Scots Irish descent.

The number and percentage of presidents with this ancestry stunned me. Of the 45 men who have been president, 28 have ancestral ties to Scotland or Ireland, an astonishing 62%.

Indeed, every president since 1961 has been of Scots Irish descent.

My mind began to wonder how these relatively small countries have had such an outsized impact on our nation.

And that’s where history gets interesting and complicated.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, the King of Scotland became the King of England. This man was James I.  The English had engaged in centuries of battles and disputes with Ireland and the Gaelic Irish nobility.  James I decided to confiscate all the lands of the Irish nobility and import Scottish families to live on those lands in the northern part of Ireland known as Ulster.  They called this a ‘plantation’, meaning the Scots, loyal to the King, were ‘planted’ in northern Ireland.

Over the next centuries, these Scots Irish families generally thrived. Yet, significant numbers of both Scottish and Irish families decided to emigrate to the United States following our independence from England in 1776.  They saw opportunities in America that were generally not available to them in Ireland.

Our Scots Irish Presidents

Among our earliest presidents, Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), James Monroe (1817-1825), and Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) were the first of Scots Irish descent.  Jackson’s family came from Antrim county in Ulster, a region of nine counties in northern Ireland.

Jackson was the first of nine presidents with descendants from Antrim. That county also has ties to Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), Chester Arthur (1881-1885), Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 + 1893-1897), William McKinley (1897-1901), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), and Ronald Reagan (1981-1989).

James Buchanan (1857-1861) was the first of four presidents with descendants from Tyrone county, also in Ulster. Others include U.S. Grant (1869-1877), Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), and Harry Truman (1945-1953).

Recent Scots Irish Presidents

Three of our recent presidents have celebrated their familial roots, travelling to their ancestral homes while in office.  John F. Kennedy’s (1961-1963) roots were 100% Irish, with family history in Limerick, Cork, Wexford, and Fermanagh.  He visited Ireland in 1963 and called those days “the best four days of my life.”

Irishman Joe Biden (2021-2025) also visited Ireland, specifically Louth on his trip in 2023. He said, “it feels like a homecoming.”

Bill Clinton’s relationship with Ireland is more substantive.  His mother, Virginia, was of Irish descent.  While president (1993-2001), he engaged in peace settlement talks to end the war in Northern Ireland.

When Clinton took office in 1993, the conflict between Protestant and Catholic communities had claimed over 3,000 lives over a 30 year period.  This period became known as ‘The Troubles’ and Clinton found it difficult to achieve peace.  The Good Friday Agreement with the British and Irish governments was signed in 1998, after years of negotiations and three personal visits from Clinton.

The Clinton-negotiated tenuous peace in Northern Ireland has lasted for 27 years, yet 6 large walls remain in the city of Londonderry/Derry, symbols of the past and ongoing segregation of Protestant and Catholics.   (If you call it Londonderry, you are Protestant, loyal to The Crown in London; if you call it Derry, you’re Catholic)

I was reminded of Clinton’s role in this process while in the lobby of our hotel in Belfast, where a plaque on the wall attests to his stay during one of the three visits.

Performance

How have these 28 Scots Irish presidents performed in office?  Six of them are among the top ten ranked best presidents. They are Theodore Roosevelt (#4), with ancestors from Antrim; Harry Truman (#6), with relatives from Tyrone; Thomas Jefferson (#7), whose mother was Scottish; John F. Kennedy (#8), with multiple Irish connections; Ronald Reagan (#9), with ties to Antrim; and Barack Obama (#10), whose maternal relatives came from Offaly.

As you might expect, many of our first 15 presidents were of British ancestry.

For this writer, to know that 62% of presidents sprang from Scotland or Ireland was a revelation, worthy of consideration and respect.

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

Written by: Chris Binkert; Photo by: Chris Binkert

For the first 150 years of our republic, most presidents were laid to rest at their estates or in church graveyards near their homes.

For the most part, their grave sites are relatively simple and unadorned.

For example, Thomas Jefferson, who died in 1826, is buried on his estate at Monticello in Virginia. The simple obelisk marker notes his achievements as author of the Declaration of Independence, author of Virginia’s Statute of Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.  It does not indicate he was President of the United States.

As you might expect, there are exceptions to such simplicity.

In the 1850’s an entrepreneur in Richmond, Virginia, decided he could create an exceptional cemetery if a president were buried there. In short order, relatives of Virginian James Monroe, the fifth president, agreed to relocate his 27-year-old grave in New York City to the new Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Shortly thereafter, John Tyler, the tenth president, joined Monroe at the President’s Circle. As you can see in the photo, Monroe’s sarcophagus is inside a large cast iron ‘birdcage’ and is now a National Historic Landmark.

Hollywood Cemetery is not the only site with multiple presidential graves.

Second president John Adams and sixth president son John Quincy Adams are both buried at the family church in Quincy, Massachusetts, near Boston.

Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia also has two presidential graves.  First was William Howard Taft in 1930 following his national career that included his term as president from 1909 – 1913, and later included his tenure as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1921-1930. Arlington’s second presidential grave is John F. Kennedy’s, buried there in 1963 following his assassination in Texas.

The approach to presidential burial sites changed dramatically in 1941 when Franklin D. Roosevelt created the first presidential library at his estate in Hyde Park, New York.  He did this while still in office to plan for a place to house his presidential papers and artifacts.  He was buried there in 1945 following his sudden death in Warm Springs Georgia.

Succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman thought that FDR had a great idea and wanted his own library in Independence, Missouri, following his departure from office in 1953. In part due to his urging, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act in 1955 that allows any former president to have a library as long as it is built with private funds. Federal money is used for ongoing maintenance of the facility.

Since then, every former president has created their own library, and most are also the location of their gravesites as well.  The only exceptions are Kennedy, buried as noted in Arlington National Cemetery, and Lyndon B. Johnson, buried on his ranch in Stonewall Texas on land that is now a National Historic Park.  Upon his death, Jimmy Carter will become the third president not buried at their library, as he and Rosalynn have decided to be put to rest in the backyard of their home in Plains, Georgia.

Having visited 38 of the available 41 presidential grave sites/libraries/museums, I can attest to the dramatic changes over the centuries. The modern presidential library/museum is a full-on sensory experience, with liberal use of audio-visual effects, museum quality displays, and the expected gift shop stocked with t-shirts, books, golf balls, and tchotchkes for purchase.

In my experience, the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, is the best one to see. His Air Force One jet is on inside display, suspended on three pylons. Ronald and Nancy are buried on the property, simply, with a crescent shaped wall with appropriate words highlighting his legacy.

As to the future, if you visit the Bill Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, you can see the plot set aside for the graves of the president and his wife Hillary.  George W. Bush and Laura have also decided to be buried at his library in Dallas, Texas, on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

The burial plans for still living presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden have not been disclosed. Obama is building his library and museum in Chicago, where it will be the first completely digital presidential library.  His, like Richard Nixon’s in California, will use no federal funding for ongoing operations.

In thinking about all the gravesites I’ve visited, the simplest and most accessible one is for Calvin Coolidge in upstate Vermont. It’s very basic, with only the presidential seal on the stone along with his name and dates of birth and death. There’s no fencing and you can walk right up to it. It’s a perfect reflection of the president, a man of few words. He once settled a wager when a dinner guest said, “I bet my friend that I could get more than two words out of you.”  Calvin’s reply: “You lose.”

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

Written By: Chris Binkert

I’m often asked the question “Who is your favorite president?”

My reply is always Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), president from 1901-1909.

I’m not alone in my admiration for our 26^th president.  In a YouGov poll of the general population, he consistently shows in the top five, among Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Seen as the architect of the modern presidency, Roosevelt’s multi-faceted life is full of energy, leadership, heroism, decisiveness, and loss.

There’s much you probably already know about Theodore Roosevelt: President, Conservationist, Rough Rider, Panama Canal, Mt. Rushmore, and Bull Moose.  I won’t dwell on those well-known achievements but rather talk about the man himself.

The Theodore Roosevelt you may not know.

First, he hated the name Teddy, finding it “too juvenile”. He preferred Theodore or later, as Colonel.  Also, he had no middle name, and he was a Junior, as his father was Theodore Roosevelt. And yes, he was fifth cousins with future president Franklin D. Roosvelt.

As a child in New York City, he had severe asthma, so much so that his father had to take him out for nighttime carriage rides to force fresh air into his lungs. His father encouraged him to overcome this condition by strengthening his body and mind. He deeply respected his father,  which led him to decide to live a strenuous life, emphasizing effort, hardship, and duty over ease and self-indulgence. He also was very nearsighted and began wearing glasses at age thirteen, an event that opened up the world to him.

He married his college sweetheart, Alice Hathaway Lee, in 1880 at age 22 following his graduation from Harvard.

At age 23, his first endeavor after college was to write an influential book, The Naval War of 1812. Still quoted today, the book cemented his reputation as a scholar and writer. He went on to write 46 other books, 33 articles in major publications, and an estimated 150,000 letters.

On Valentines Day, 1884, Alice died two days after childbirth.  On the same day and in the same house, his mother, Mittie, died from typhoid fever.

In his grief, he left baby Alice with his sister and moved west to North Dakota to become a rancher. Three years in, he lost his investment in the ranch when all his cattle died during a frigid winter.

In 1886, he returned to New York and married a childhood friend, Edith Carow. They had 5 children plus his first daughter Alice.

After a stint as a police commissioner in New York City, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President William McKinley. During the run up to the Spanish-American War in 1898, Roosevelt advocated for a rapid buildup of preparations. He derided McKinley’s reluctance to declare war by saying “he has no more backbone than a chocolate éclair”.

After his wartime Rough Rider charge up San Juan Hill, his popularity boomed, paving the way for his election as Governor of New York.  A reformer at heart, he made the New York politicians so uncomfortable, they strongly recommended Theodore to become the Vice Presidential nominee in the 1900 election with the incumbent McKinley.

President of the United States

McKinley’s second term was short-lived: McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo in 1901. At age 42, Roosevelt became the youngest President in history.

Early in Roosevelt’s presidency, he went on a hunting trip to Alabama, specifically to shoot a bear.  After two days without a bear, the local officials trapped a tired old bear, tied it to a tree, and suggested Roosevelt shoot it. Theodore refused, calling it unsportsmanlike.  The resulting adulation in newspapers across the country gave an entrepreneur in New York an idea:  create  a plush, soft, bear toy. It sold out in hours, and the Teddy Bear was born.

In 1904, he created the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, saying the USA must be the policeman for the Western Hemisphere because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled.

Roosevelt was the first president to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in settling the Russian Japanese War in 1905. He was the first president to travel outside the country, visiting the under-construction Panama Canal in 1906.

Knowing his affinity for all things naval, in 1907, Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet, composed of 16 battleships, around the world as a demonstration of formidable US naval power.

Just before he left office in 1909, he put in place new fitness standards for officers in the Army. To show them it could be done, he rode horseback for 100 miles in one day during winter weather.

Post Presidency

Unhappy with his chosen successor, William H. Taft, Roosevelt ran for president in 1912 as leader of the third party Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party.  While campaigning in Milwaukee, he was shot in the chest at close range. The bullet pierced his glasses case and a 50 page folded speech in his breast pocket, stopping short of his heart and lungs. Bloodied, he went ahead with the 90 minute speech before going to the hospital. He told the audience “it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!”

Roosevelt earned more electoral votes than any other third party candidate in history but lost to Woodrow Wilson.

In 1913-1914 he led an expedition to explore the unknown River of Doubt in the Amazon. He nearly died on the long journey in dugout canoes. His son Kermit was there and refused to leave Roosevelt behind when his leg became infected and a fever spiked.

He volunteered to fight in World War I, but President Wilson would not grant him permission. All four of his sons served in the war. Son Quentin was a pilot, dying in a plane crash behind German lines.

Roosevelt was never the same after this loss, dying in less than a year later at age 60.

Enduring Legacy

Roosevelt’s legacy has endured and expanded over the decades.  In the 1930’s, his face was included in the memorial at Mt. Rushmore. In 1953, his home at Sagamore Hill New York opened as a museum. In 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded Roosevelt the Medal of Honor for his exploits as a Rough Rider on San Juan Hill.  His son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., also won the Medal of Honor on the Normandy beaches of World War II.

A new Theodore Roosevelt Museum will open July 4, 2026, in Medora, North Dakota to celebrate this one-of-a-kind man’s life on the prairie.

So, he’s my favorite.  Who’s yours?

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

They are among the most recognizable monuments in the country. Most could identify the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC with ease. Many of you may have also visited these premiere spots to soak up history and ponder the events that led to their greatness.

For me, I love sitting on the top center step of the Lincoln Memorial and just rest quietly with him for a while.

As a nation, we have created numerous monuments to our presidents. They are to be found literally all over the country, in places large and small, urban, and rural, prominent, or hidden.

I began to wonder which of our presidents has the most monuments?  And that’s where the story gets interesting.

That was one of the questions on the mind of the people who conducted the National Monuments Audit in 2021.  Using $4 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, they located nearly 50,000 monuments of all types in the USA.

An examination of the Top 50, ranked by number of monuments, shows some surprising results.

There are 10 presidents among the Top 50 monuments in the country, representing 609 locations. Here’s their ranking and number of monuments:

#1:          Abraham Lincoln                               193

#2:          George Washington                        171

#9:          John F. Kennedy                               44

#10:       Thomas Jefferson                            36

#11:       Ulysses Grant                                    35

#15:       Andrew Jackson                              27

#16:       Theodore Roosevelt                       27

#17:       William McKinley                             27

#32:       Franklin D. Roosevelt                     17

#33:       Dwight Eisenhower                         17

#49:       James Garfield                                 12

We are inclined to memorialize those who led in war, were founding fathers, or were assassinated. Those assassinated presidents were Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, McKinley in 1901, and Kennedy in 1963.

In a related way, one of Thomas Jefferson’s most dramatic decisions was to send Merriweather Lewis and William Clark to explore his 1803 Louisiana Purchase. These men, along with Indian guide Sacagawea, captured the American spirit of courageous exploration and survival during their adventure from May 1804 to September 1806.   Here’s their ranking and number of monuments:

#23:       William Clark                      22

#28:       Sacagawea                          20

# 35       Merriweather Lewis        16

The raising of monuments can be controversial.  It took the citizens of New Hampshire 57 years to erect a monument to Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president, who served from 1853-1857.  Pierce, the sole president from New Hampshire, was a Southern sympathizer who defended slavery, making him unloved by many in his home state.

Presidential monuments can also be quirky.  As you can see in the photo, Ronald Reagan is seated at a picnic table accompanied by Ms. Jennie Gowaty, eating a Polish potato pancake at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown Pennsylvania in 1984 while campaigning for his second term.

Honoring the presidents has become an international effort too.  At least 10 presidents have monuments in foreign countries. Lincoln has 4 in Mexico because he was against the Mexican American War in 1848 and against slavery. There’s one of Lincoln in Moscow, depicted shaking hands with Czar Alexander II. It was dedicated in 2011 on the 150^th anniversary of the freeing of serfs in Russia.

Ronald Reagan, in honor of his spirited efforts to fight communism, has statues in 3 European countries: Budapest, Hungary; Warsaw, Poland; Gdansk, Poland; and Berlin, Germany. It was in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate that he famously declared: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Finally, in a mostly forgotten presidential term, Rutherford B. Hayes, president from 1877-1881, has a statue in Paraguay.  While president, he brokered a peace deal to settle a land dispute between Argentina and Paraguay, resulting in the statue, and other local memorials such as names of streets.

There’s little doubt that the presidents are popular subjects for statues, memorials, and monuments.  We have two prominent presidential sites in Georgia.  Warm Springs was Franklin Roosevelt’s retreat and site of his death in 1945.  Plains is Jimmy Carter’s birthplace and long-term residence. Take a day trip and visit one sometime soon.

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.

One of the most astute and frequently quoted observers of the presidency was Richard Neustadt, author of the influential 1960 book Presidential Power.  His most famous quote is: “The power of the presidency is the power to persuade.”

For much of our country’s history, the president’s ability to persuade became a lightning rod for success in office.  The prominence of this concept has accelerated in the past 90 years as the presidency evolved into the modern, global, media and social media- driven age.  Inspiring and motivating others to support their vision, plans and solutions has become a key focal point for successive administrations.

A sure marker for the acceleration of this concept is its inclusion in C-Span’s survey of historians. Public persuasion is one of ten factors used to rate the success of a presidential administration. The most recent C-Span survey was published in 2017. It ranked all the presidents, the top ten in public persuasion were:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. George Washington
5. Ronald Reagan
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Andrew Jackson
8. Thomas Jefferson
9. Bill Clinton
10. Barack Obama

However, just what does it mean to be an effective presidential persuader?  Convincing Congress to pass the laws you desire? Giving a great speech? Getting elected in the first place or getting re-elected? Bringing on successful cabinet members? Convincing other countries to go to war with you?

On average, most presidents have been mediocre persuaders.  Why would that be the case when they have the immense power of the presidency and the White House apparatus at their disposal?

In looking at those at the top, these presidents have been able to build a shared vision among their targeted influence group.  At any point in time, that might be the Senate, the House of Representatives, an individual leader, the head of a foreign government, or the American people as a whole. The absence of a shared vision generally results in defeat for the president’s ideas.

Yes, it’s helpful if they can give a great speech. With the exception of Washington, who persuaded by example, and Jefferson, who persuaded with his pen, all the others in the top ten above were very effective speakers.  Speaking well counts for much in getting elected, but giving great speeches rarely gets the job done in office when a shared vision is lacking.

For example, in 1993-1994, Bill Clinton made hundreds of speeches about his vision to overhaul the American health care system.  He used all the levers of persuasion he could find but ultimately failed. Why?  He lacked a shared vision with the Congress, who dug in their heels and refused to move ahead.  In political terms, he didn’t have the votes.

Some observers have concluded that the more a president advocates for a measure, the less likely they are to achieve it, particularly in our modern ‘we win, they lose’ dynamic.  The very reality of laying out an agenda makes it harder to accomplish.  But, they keep doing it, because not to push for your agenda is seen as being uncertain about it. In Frances Lee’s book Beyond Ideology (2009), she argues that “the president’s attempts at persuasion might have the perverse effect of making it harder to govern.”

All that said, there are many examples of successful presidential persuasion.  Some of the most memorable are:

John F. Kennedy’s ‘we choose to go to the moon’ program. He kicked it off with a memorable speech and was able to build a shared vision that American could overtake the Soviets and reach the moon by the end of the decade.

Franklin Roosevelt was expert at connecting with everyday Americans. He developed great empathy for rural people from his Warm Springs Georgia polio rehabilitation facility, mixing with them for weeks and months at a time.

Military experience also brings a person closer to real people. Commanding soldiers in battle is highly valued as sharing a purpose with higher values in mind.  Military leaders George Washington, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, Willam McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower all benefited in the eyes of the public, ramping up the shared vision needed to get things done.

Being an effective storyteller can also help. Lincoln was renowned for his home-spun stories that made a point.  To urge Americans to support the Lend-Lease program in 1940, Franklin Roosevelt used a story about “lending your garden hose to your neighbor if his house is on fire”.  Many could relate to that image and approved of lending ships and war materials to England to fight Hitler.

Having a memorable line can also push an agenda forward.  Franklin Roosevelt kicked off his administration in the depths of the depression, stating “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  John F. Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country” is a peak example of setting a vision in a memorable way.

It’s a rare presidency that forms at the confluence of adequate votes in Congress, world events, and voter desires that can coalesce into a shared vision. When these factors come together, let the successful persuading begin.

Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.