Written by: Chris Binkert

Material things—books, pets, cars and the like—are intertwined with the lives of the presidents, just like anyone else.

It makes me wonder “Whatever happened to those items?”

Thomas Jefferson

A lifelong bibliophile, by 1814 Jefferson owned the largest personal library in the country, totaling over 6,487 books.  When the British burned the Capitol during the War of 1812, they wiped out the Congressional Library. Jefferson, being “land rich and cash poor”,  was constantly in debt.  In 1814 he made a deal to sell his collection to the government for $23,950 to help pay some debts.

66% of that collection burned on Christmas Eve 1851 at the Capitol due to a faulty chimney flue.  The roughly 2,000 surviving books are preserved on public display today at the Library of Congress.

John Quincy Adams

After his one term presidency ended in 1829, Adams decided he could best serve his country by running for Congress. Elected in 1830, he was in his 9th term in 1848 when he collapsed at his desk at the Capitol.  He was moved into the Speaker’s Room and laid onto a massive mahogany couch. Adams never left that couch, dying two days later.

The historic sofa has been reupholstered and kept in that very same room, now called the Women’s Reading Room.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fala

Roosevelt’s Scottish Terrier, Fala, was his constant companion for the last five years of his life. Fala was famous too, becoming a part of some of FDR’s speeches.

What happened to Fala after FDR’s death at Warm Springs in 1945?  FDR’s wife Eleanor kept Fala as her pet until he died in 1952.  If you visit Roosevelt’s memorial monument in Washington DC, you will see Fala sitting next to FDR as the president sits in a chair.

John F. Kennedy

There are two items related to Kennedy’s assassination that are of interest.  First is the original casket used to transport his body from Dallas to Washington.  Once back in DC, the morticians found they could not use the casket, as it was defiled by blood.  They acquired a second casket, the one in which he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  What happened to the first casket?

It was secured in a warehouse for two years while the government negotiated the price for the casket from the funeral director from Dallas.  The final price was $3160. The funeral director offered to charge nothing as long as he could get the casket back. He had received offers up to $100,000 to buy it for public exhibition. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s brother,  requested that the military dispose of it in a way such that it would never become a macabre attraction.  In 1966, after drilling it and filling it with sand, it was parachuted into the ocean from a cargo plane 100 miles east of Washington in about 9,000 feet of water.

The second item related to the assassination is the limousine Kennedy was riding in when shot.  What happened to that vehicle?

The government had the limo completely refurbished at a cost of $500,000 and it continued to serve four more presidents.  Technically, the limo is owned by the Ford Motor Company, who had leased it to the government for $500 a year.  It is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan.

Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson

Both Truman and Johnson had cars that became part of their legacy.

Harry Truman purchased a 1953 Chrysler New Yorker upon leaving office that year.  After a few months in Independence Missouri, Harry and Bess decided to drive themselves back to Washington for a visit. Yes, just the two of them drove the big Chrysler, 2500 miles,  with Harry driving and Bess navigating.  They stayed in motels and ate at restaurants along the way.  They had no Secret Service protection.

Harry sold the car in 1955, and it was lost to history until 2010 when it was discovered in a barn in Kansas. Unfortunately it was not maintained and is currently undriveable. The owners hope to have it restored one day.

Lyndon Johnson owned an Amphicar and kept it at his Texas ranch. The car was drivable on land as well as water.  Johnson loved to drive visitors around the ranch in the car, and when he’d get close to the lake, he would pretend that the brakes had gone out and they were heading into the lake!  Once on the surface, the car floated and was propelled along at a slow speed.  All in good fun except for one occasion when a startled woman decided to jump out before hitting the water, breaking her leg.