RICHARD NIXON, LIKE ALMOST EVERY OTHER 20TH CENTURY PRESIDENT, LOVED THE MOVIES. HIS FAVORITE ACTOR WAS JOHN WAYNE, BUT HE ALSO LOVED CLINT EASTWOOD. ONE OF HIS FAVORITE FILMS WAS "PATTON", WHICH HE SAW SEVERAL TIMES. BUT HIS FAVORITE FILM WAS "AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS".
ULYSSES S. GRANT WAS ACTUALLY THE FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT TO GOLF, BUT HORSEBACK RIDING WAS GRANT'S FAVORITE ACTIVITY. GRANT'S GREAT LOVE FOR HORSES BEGAN WHEN HE WAS A BOY, WHEN HE DEVELOPED A GREAT SKILL FOR SENSING THEIR MOODS. GRANT WAS AN EXPERT AT "GENTLING" DIFFICULT HORSES. HE SPOKE TO THEM SOFTLY, HE STROKED THEM, AND HE NEVER RESORTED TO PUNISHMENT WITH THE WHIP. HORSES WOULD SENSE THAT HE WAS THEIR FRIEND, AND THEY TRUSTED HIM.
WHAT WAS JOHN TYLER DOING WHEN HE WAS INFORMED HE HAD BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?
-- PLAYING MARBLES (!!!!!!!)
JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS AN AVID SWIMMER AND AN INCREDIBLE SPEED READER (1,200 WORDS A MINUTE). KENNEDY WAS A HUGE MOVIE FAN AND WATCHED SEAN CONNERY IN THE JAMES BOND FILMS. OTHER FAVORITE FILMS WERE "RED RIVER" WITH JOHN WAYNE, "BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK" STARRING SPENCER TRACY, AND "SPARTACUS" WITH KIRK DOUGLAS. J.F.K. ALSO LOVED "CASABLANCA". KENNEDY WAS NOT A WELL-PUBLICIZED GOLFER, LIKE SO MANY OTHER PRESIDENTS, BUT HE WAS A VERY GOOD ONE. HE OFTEN SCORED IN THE HIGH 70'S AND LOW 80'S.
DURING HIS PRESIDENCY, ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS WIFE, MARY TODD LINCOLN, REGULARLY HELD SEANCES TO CONTACT SPIRITS, IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, ONE OF THE MOST PHYSICALLY ACTIVE U.S. PRESIDENTS, WAS VERY SICKLY AS A YOUNG BOY. HE WAS STRICKEN WITH ASTHMA. ONE DAY ON A STAGECOACH, AT THE AGE OF 14, SOME BOYS TEASED HIM, AND HE WAS UNABLE TO FIGHT BACK. THEN AND THERE, ROOSEVELT RESOLVED TO NEVER AGAIN "BE PUT IN SUCH A HELPLESS POSITION". ROOSEVELT BECAME AN AVID BOXER AND, MANY YEARS LATER, ON THE NIGHT BEFORE HIS INAUGURATION, HE INVITED A HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION HE KNEW IN WASHINGTON TO DROP BY FOR A FEW LIVELY ROUNDS. ROOSEVELT HAD BOXED WHEN HE WENT TO HARVARD AS A YOUNG MAN. HE ALSO WRESTLED, RAN, ROWED, WORKED OUT IN A GYM, AND SKATED.
WARREN G. HARDING SUFFERED A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN AT THE AGE OF 24. HE SPENT SEVERAL WEEKS IN A SANITARIUM IN MICHIGAN.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S PRIZE WAS ALWAYS HIS STAMP COLLECTION. BY THE TIME HE BECAME PRESIDENT, HE HAD FILLED 40 ALBUMS WITH 25,000 STAMPS. ROOSEVELT WAS ALSO AN AVID BOOK COLECTOR. HE ENJOYED READING POPULAR FICTION, INCLUDING "GONE WITH THE WIND," BUT F.D.R. HAD A SPECIAL FONDNESS FOR DETECTIVE STORIES. WHAT BOOK WAS F.D.R. READING JUST BEFORE HE DIED?
--"THE PUNCH AND JUDY MURDERS" BY JOHN DICKSON CARR.
HE ALSO HAD A PENCHANT FOR COLLECTING FIGURINES- LITTLE DOGS AND PIGS, AND OF COURSE, DEMOCRATIC DONKIES.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS HAD A PET ALLIGATOR AND PET SILK WORMS.
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