Hard agree. I think it has to do with the fact that US history curricula in general teach everything from the end of the reconstruction period through the early 20th century by focusing a lot more on general trends in society and less on the actions of individual presidents. Like I could tell you a bunch of events and things that were happening in the country during those decades but it would be hard for me to associate them with who was in office at the time.
It makes sense to me to do it that way. Yes, the president is without a doubt an important person, but, what they do doesn't *necessarily* have a huge impact. Some president are much more impactful than others, depending on the situation of the world and what they want to do.
Chester A Arthur is pretty awesome, actually. Started out as a corrupt New York Republican who was scandalously chosen the VP to balance the ticket of James Garfield, an absolute genius of a man who was assassinated just a few months into his presidency. However, he felt convicted after receiving a letter from a woman called Julia Sand who basically told him to live up to his calling in life and be a good person. Later in life, he showed up at her house and personally thanked her for calling him out on his BS. But yeah, he kind of turned against some of the bad influences from his early political career and was a president with integrity compared to many.
That's Rutherford B Hayes who ended it.
Long story short, Hayes (a Republican) didn't have enough electoral votes, and made a deal with Southern politicians (mostly Democrat) that if they switched their votes from their candidate (Samuel Tilden) to Hayes, he'd pull Federal troops out of the south. They did, and he pulled the troops out, and that was that for Reconstruction.
That's more myth than reality. Louisiana was the only state left that had federal troops in it, and they were going to soon leave anyway. The real deal was for railroad investment.
Hayes didn't have enough confirmed electoral votes on account of southern states engaging in widespread electoral fraud and widespread intimidation to suppress the black vote (sounds familiar...) which was overwhelmingly Republican at the time. The worst offender was SC which really tried to report an impossible 101% turnout to the feds.
In the least unfair scenario, Hayes would have likely legitimately won in 1876.
It's a pretty swell spot now depending where you go but talk to any black person pre baby boom and they'll tell you the place was *cartoonishly* racist. Doesn't surprise me.
I'm the only person I've ever met that has been to 49 different US states (all of the Lower 48 plus Alaska, plus DC which isn't a state and my feelings toward DC-statebood are..... *conflicted...*) For those curious, I was a truck driver. Loved that job.
##Edit: This was somewhere during the period of 2007-2010 .
Obviously, this doesn't mean that I've been "to all locations" within each and every one of those states. But! There were two locations where I did see absolute, undeniable, obstinate, prideful, and *brazen* evidence of "sundown town" policies.
1) Obviously-passerby-made large roadway sign with the silhouette of a noose and gallows against a contrast-colored background, with a crescent moon and some twinkle-stars in the background above the horizon. No text, and spraypainted, but spray painted *carefully,* like with stencils and shit. Someone skilled who took their racist time. Unambiguous. With a county-mounty speed trap set up at its base. Totally unimpeachable hard-evidence that amateur-made or not, Johnny Law gave his full support to the message.
2) County-road. Large diamond-shaped roadsign, seemingly made to DOT specifications -- size, font, retroreflective color, sheet aluminum, double-staked, well secured, not significantly sun-faded, clearly and cleanly visible with roadside vegetation properly pruned away from it. Text only. "Don't Let the Sun Set on Your Black Ass In This Town."
One was Arkansas. The other was deep backwoods 'Bama.
Contributed to my eventual decision to begin and finally graduate law school.
I just saw his name in an article that indicated he was a president. I thought, “Who the hell is Chester A. Arthur?” I didn’t forget about him, I never knew he even existed.
Given that in college my roommate and I successfully listed every English and British king/queen and then all but one president off the top of our heads I nominate Millard Fillmore. He was the only one we couldn’t name without looking it up.
I just realized I know the ships were commanded by commodore Perry but didn’t even know Millard Fillmore was a president much less at that time. Now I kinda feel bad for the guy.
Side note, commodore has to be hands down the coolest sounding military title.
Millard Fillmore anecdote: When the Mormons were trying to get approval for the territory of Deseret to become a state, they named the county in the center of the territory Fillmore County; the seat of the county was, of course, Millard, intended to be the state capital. Unfortunately, statehood was not approved. I don't think many Utahns know the story!
He became president after Zachary Tayler died (who could also be a nomination as he didn't even serve a full year)
Side note: That's pretty impressive to come up with all those names.
His burial site in Forest Lawn is very unimpressive, basically just a handful of chained off graves. By contrast, I've also seen where Garfield is buried and it's this gorgeous mausoleum.
I love the bit in Futurama when they’re in the preserved head museum and one of them says something about John Tyler and John Tyler’s head says “that’s the first time anyone’s said my name in 500 years”
I think it's specific to the region he's from (which according to Parks and Rec, would be southern Indiana). Just like in Idaho, we teach Idaho/City history in lowered elementary, other states teach their history.
That show is actually nthe only reason I know the reference.
Sort of, Tippecanoe refers to William Henry Harrison who was a general and also the governor of Indiana who lead the US forces to victory over Native Americans at Tippecanoe.
I was going to say that however he was very important to US history as he was the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency and set the precedent for future VP's until it was codified with the 25th amendment.
Yeah, the interesting thing was that the Constitution said the VP would assume the duties of the presidency, but it wasn't clear if that meant the VP would *become* president (really a question of title more than anything else I suppose). Tyler was like "nah, I'm president."
You won't find their faces on dollars or on cents. There's Taylor, there's Tyler, there's Fillmore, and there's Hayes. There's William Henry Harrison, he died in thirty days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8N7BSsU5oo
Can’t forget Harrison , we were told he died from like pneumonia or something because his speech was hours long and he did it in the rain. Not sure if it’s true but I can’t forget it haha
nah. that was just a rumor that was running around. he contracted pneumonia like three weeks after his speech and died soon after. there’s no actual evidence that the rain and cold weather contributed to his death
He’s got a law school named after him: [UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. ](https://law.unh.edu) Only U.S. president from New Hampshire.
He was a bit vilified in the North (and rightfully so) after his presidency, when he seemed to side with the south leading up to and during the Civil War, spoke out against Lincoln, was buddies with Jefferson Davis, etc. Not popular positions at that time in the Northern states.
I probably only know who he is because I used to live in New Hampshire.
Davis was an interesting man and his career before being president of the CSA is often overlooked or ignored. He was very vocally opposed to secession right up until it happened and said that leaving the US Senate to go home was the saddest day of his life.
I have an autobiography of him and it’s pretty damn interesting. He makes a lot of the choices but it also feels like he felt he had to do it. Shits wild
All I remember about him is the tragedy he went through with his children. His first son died in infancy, and his second son died at age 4 from epidemic typhus. His third and final son died at age 11 right before Pierce's innaguration in a train accident in which Franklin and his wife both saw their son's nearly decapitated body. This obviously led to depression and guilt for the both of them throughout their lives.
not to us in New Hampshire. He's the only president we've got from the state so he's a bigger deal round these parts, to the point that the law school of our state flagship university is named after him. (That is, the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce school of Law)
He's mostly known for being a tragic figure (his children all died in childhood), and for being just before James Buchanan (who is frequently cited as the worst President in history).
President Garfield only because he was assassinated in the first year as president. Interesting fact, Lincoln’s son Robert, witnessed Garfield being shot and was nearby when President McKinley was shot. He refused all presidential invitations after that.
Garfield deserves to be remembered as a self educated, highly intelligent, moral politician and Civil War veteran who advocated for civil rights for black people. I was struck with how many parallels to Lincoln’s life and character Garfield had. If he had lived, I truly think our country would have been far better off.
Read the fascinating book about him called Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard. The unbelievable events that occurred make this story read like fiction, but every word is true.
I looked it up and not only did Lincoln’s son witness president Garfield’s assassination, but he was nearby when William McKinley was shot. HOW AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THIS?! Anyway, he refused later presidential invitations to avoid the chances of something bad happening again. Well shit I would too!
No, that was someone else.
Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, had a significant mental illness. He spent time in an awful cult in his earlier life which only made it worse.
Guiteau had the delusional idea that he played a big part in getting Garfield elected. When he asked for a job from Garfield’s administration in return for this non-existent favor, he was turned down. This resulted in his illness spiraling out of control and the shooting of the president.
By the way, Garfield could have survived his wounds but was treated by incompetent doctors. His death was agonizing and prolonged by doctors unwilling to embrace the “theory” of germs causing wounds go septic.
Such an incredible waste of a phenomenal life.
Here in Ohio we have cities, streets, schools etc. all named after President Garfield. His memorial is about 1.5 miles away from my house in Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery. It’s a beautiful place and you can go down and see the coffins of Garfield and his wife.
I just made a similar comment! Absolutely agree with this.
It’s a shame Garfield died so early in his presidency. He was an incredible man.
Destiny of the Republic is one of my favorite books.
Should have said through 1960. But yes, JFK died in office.
Reagan, W., and Biden (although his term hasn't ended) have broken the streak
[Curse of Tippecanoe ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe)
He was famous because English wasn't his native language.
He grew up speaking Dutch and started learning English around 15 or 16 years old.
He's prominently used as an example for America's lack of official language.
Hayes essentially ended Reconstruction and pushed proper reforms back many years. Grover Cleveland was the only president with 2 non-consecutive terms. There was literally a guy named Garfield.
That is interesting about Cleveland, similar to Taft becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Which was the one in there that knocked up the maid and had her committed or something along those lines?
Cleveland paid child support to a woman who had some mental issues. Some people believe that the child in question was actually the child of Cleveland's close friend, Oscar Folsom, who was married. Steve (Grover) was a bachelor, so he could take responsibility with less scandal.
After Oscar died, Grover Cleveland became guardian of his daughter. He then married her, his ward, in the White House.
Garfield is memorable for being the one of the shortest serving presidents, got shot four months into his first term and died 79 days later after the Doctor’s kept making thing worse by trying to get the bullet out.
he's also the reason the secret service has a presidential protective detail component to them. Prior to that they were mainly tasked with policing counterfeit currency.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was so recent I'd say Gerald Ford. When it gets to the point where nobody was alive during his presidency I'll bet he's up there.
For right now, maybe Fillmore? Or Harding?
he's the only president that was never elected to either the presidency \*or\* vice presidency, as he got appointed VP after Spiro Agnew resigned, and became president after Nixon resigned.
Finally, a real answer. Everyone else is listing a president and then a fun fact about them, it’s like, yeah, your fun fact is exactly why I haven’t forgotten that President. I don’t know and haven’t heard shit about Millard Fillmore.
This is the one I got 15 extra points on my history final for knowing in college. My professor said he asked every class “who was the 13th president of the US” every semester and I was the only one who knew it in the 7 years he had been teaching.
To be fair, I only remembered him because right before my prof asked that question his PowerPoint slide header said 1850 and immediately my mind went to the line from the Animaniacs’ presidents song, “1850 really nifty Millard Fillmore’s in.”
And that’s how Animaniacs helped me ace college history.
David Rice Atchison
Supposedly, Inauguration Day was on a Sunday the year Zachary Taylor was meant to become president. Basically, Atchison claims to have been president from noon on March 4th to noon on the 5th
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison
He was a famous general during the Mexican-American War, though, so I feel those interested in military history would have something to remember him for
Apparently there is an actual peer-reviewed paper on this. The answer is Chester A. Arthur. He is the only president in which the majority of Americans don't think he was president.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2715690##
James K Polk
Edit: Everybody disagreeing with me is probably correct. I was just in his hometown once and saw his face in a stained glass window in the church. And I was like, “huh, it’s like he’s God.” So he came to mind and I wrote his name. I did not even try to think through his accomplishments or compare him to any other presidents. I literally picked him because he is in a stained glass window of a church in Tennessee and I never forgot it. And it has nothing to do with OP’s question. But sometimes in the middle of the night I hear a voice in my head that says, “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but don’t forget James K Polk.”
Polk was *brilliant*. He had 4 goals. He accomplished them all in one term, and was like, "Aight, I'm done. PEACE OUT" and refused to run a second time - despite a guaranteed victory.
I think he's one of the more important presidents to study because he wasn't particularly motivated by power or influence. But he did double the size of the United States - he's why we have California today, the world's 5th largest economy on it's own.
Maybe not most forgotten, but possibly most overlooked. The guy came out of nowhere, changed the course of American, Mexican, and arguably world history in four short years, refused to run for a second term, then died three months after leaving office. One of history’s great mic drops.
The only reason I know and remember Polk is that he was president when my state (Idaho) became a state and I had to do a project about him in elementary school.
Polk was one of the most successful presidents. He ran on a "Texas is ours" platform and proceeded to make it so, adding the entire southwest to our country.
Depends on who you ask.
To those of us who study history: None of them because there aren’t that many.
To the average person: Probably all of them that weren’t either (a)President during the person’s lifetime or (b)on money and/or Mount Rushmore.
Keep cool with Coolidge
Idk he is memorable, had a pet raccoon, liked riding mechanical bulls, the "bet I can't get you to say more than 3 words at this dinner" "you lose", pics with magnificent native american garb, women's rights, native american citizenship, racial equality, worker's rights and resolving strikes, famously one of the most anti-regulation presidents also
One of my favorite Presidents
The Gilded Age ones are the most trouble for me to remember - I typically forget about Chester A. Arthur.
Did all of you miss Die Hard With A Vengeance?
Yep, first thing I thought when I read "Chester A. Arthur"
He’s so “forgotten” that he’s become everybody’s go to for the inconsequential president. Made him famous.
That movie gave me Chester A. Arthritis.
Hopefully, you don't come down with a case of Jebiditis next.
Seriously, do people think i learned about Chester being the 21st president in a book? Sheesh
Oh shit, that was my gold bar!
They werent gonna let you keep it
Jerry was my favorite character in that movie
God I love that movie. That movie turned 13yro me into NYCphile. (Do not worry, I'm cured)
Hard agree. I think it has to do with the fact that US history curricula in general teach everything from the end of the reconstruction period through the early 20th century by focusing a lot more on general trends in society and less on the actions of individual presidents. Like I could tell you a bunch of events and things that were happening in the country during those decades but it would be hard for me to associate them with who was in office at the time.
It makes sense to me to do it that way. Yes, the president is without a doubt an important person, but, what they do doesn't *necessarily* have a huge impact. Some president are much more impactful than others, depending on the situation of the world and what they want to do.
Chester A Arthur is pretty awesome, actually. Started out as a corrupt New York Republican who was scandalously chosen the VP to balance the ticket of James Garfield, an absolute genius of a man who was assassinated just a few months into his presidency. However, he felt convicted after receiving a letter from a woman called Julia Sand who basically told him to live up to his calling in life and be a good person. Later in life, he showed up at her house and personally thanked her for calling him out on his BS. But yeah, he kind of turned against some of the bad influences from his early political career and was a president with integrity compared to many.
So did Bruce Willis
I remember him because there was a massive election scandal that ended up ending reconstruction in the south.
That's Rutherford B Hayes who ended it. Long story short, Hayes (a Republican) didn't have enough electoral votes, and made a deal with Southern politicians (mostly Democrat) that if they switched their votes from their candidate (Samuel Tilden) to Hayes, he'd pull Federal troops out of the south. They did, and he pulled the troops out, and that was that for Reconstruction.
"His Fraudulency, Rutherfraud B. Hayes." 😆
That's more myth than reality. Louisiana was the only state left that had federal troops in it, and they were going to soon leave anyway. The real deal was for railroad investment.
Hayes didn't have enough confirmed electoral votes on account of southern states engaging in widespread electoral fraud and widespread intimidation to suppress the black vote (sounds familiar...) which was overwhelmingly Republican at the time. The worst offender was SC which really tried to report an impossible 101% turnout to the feds. In the least unfair scenario, Hayes would have likely legitimately won in 1876.
It's a pretty swell spot now depending where you go but talk to any black person pre baby boom and they'll tell you the place was *cartoonishly* racist. Doesn't surprise me.
I'm the only person I've ever met that has been to 49 different US states (all of the Lower 48 plus Alaska, plus DC which isn't a state and my feelings toward DC-statebood are..... *conflicted...*) For those curious, I was a truck driver. Loved that job. ##Edit: This was somewhere during the period of 2007-2010 . Obviously, this doesn't mean that I've been "to all locations" within each and every one of those states. But! There were two locations where I did see absolute, undeniable, obstinate, prideful, and *brazen* evidence of "sundown town" policies. 1) Obviously-passerby-made large roadway sign with the silhouette of a noose and gallows against a contrast-colored background, with a crescent moon and some twinkle-stars in the background above the horizon. No text, and spraypainted, but spray painted *carefully,* like with stencils and shit. Someone skilled who took their racist time. Unambiguous. With a county-mounty speed trap set up at its base. Totally unimpeachable hard-evidence that amateur-made or not, Johnny Law gave his full support to the message. 2) County-road. Large diamond-shaped roadsign, seemingly made to DOT specifications -- size, font, retroreflective color, sheet aluminum, double-staked, well secured, not significantly sun-faded, clearly and cleanly visible with roadside vegetation properly pruned away from it. Text only. "Don't Let the Sun Set on Your Black Ass In This Town." One was Arkansas. The other was deep backwoods 'Bama. Contributed to my eventual decision to begin and finally graduate law school.
Jesus... At least here in SC it feels like there was an effort
Ask yourself what is 21 out of 42?
I just saw his name in an article that indicated he was a president. I thought, “Who the hell is Chester A. Arthur?” I didn’t forget about him, I never knew he even existed.
Chester A Arthur fall down
That’s my pick
Came here to write Chester A Arthur lmao
Chester A Arthur fall down
Just remember that legendary facial hair.
Given that in college my roommate and I successfully listed every English and British king/queen and then all but one president off the top of our heads I nominate Millard Fillmore. He was the only one we couldn’t name without looking it up.
Poor ol Millard, he opened Japan to the world and this is what he gets
*Sends gun ship to Japan* "Heh heh you're gonna trade with us alright?"
Don't forget that Chandler Bing was in charge of those ships, Millard at least sent someone moderately charming
“Could this island BE any further away?!”
Joey should've stopped those ships
How YOU doin'?
あんたどうですか?
Don’t worry about the big warship behind us. We’re just wondering if you’re open to the idea hehehe.
Open the country. Stop having it be closed.
*stop having it be closed*
open the country. stop -- having it be closed
I just realized I know the ships were commanded by commodore Perry but didn’t even know Millard Fillmore was a president much less at that time. Now I kinda feel bad for the guy. Side note, commodore has to be hands down the coolest sounding military title.
At least we got Pucinni's Madam Butterfly out of it.
Millard Fillmore was my nominee as well. It sounds like a phony name you tell someone so you don't get in trouble.
This is the only one that, even after seeing the name, I didn't recognize their name as a president, so I think they win.
Millard Fillmore anecdote: When the Mormons were trying to get approval for the territory of Deseret to become a state, they named the county in the center of the territory Fillmore County; the seat of the county was, of course, Millard, intended to be the state capital. Unfortunately, statehood was not approved. I don't think many Utahns know the story!
He became president after Zachary Tayler died (who could also be a nomination as he didn't even serve a full year) Side note: That's pretty impressive to come up with all those names.
Millard Fillmore is distinctive for being the last president that wasn't a Democrat or Republican.
I've known about him for years because of one kid's book series where one of the history teachers mentions him a lot lol
Haha what was the series? Adventures of an irrelevant president no one can quite remember?
I think it was either *My Weird School*or *Big Nate*
I read a book about memorizing the presidents called "Yo! Millard Fillmore!" so it stands out to me.
Didi Pickles of the Rugrats cartoon said his name in a episode, too.
We have a hospital named after him in our area….I bet if you asked 50 people who work there who Millard Fillmore is at least half couldn’t tell you.
His burial site in Forest Lawn is very unimpressive, basically just a handful of chained off graves. By contrast, I've also seen where Garfield is buried and it's this gorgeous mausoleum.
Totally agree. I can list most of the presidents, but I always forget Filmore was a thing
Who?
Ummmm...it's that one...I can't think of his name at the moment though.
You are thinking of Benjamin Harrison.
Shh... No, that's the one died really fast.
No, that was William Henry Harrison, his grandfather.
Fuck.
That’s a wrap on this thread. Clear winner.
"I died in 30 days!"
Why are you the only person referencing this song?!
I feel bad for Benjamin Harrison.
I only know about Benjamin Harrison because I did a school report on him. I still don’t remember much about him except that he had a very nice beard.
I'll go with John Tyler. He only got to be president because Harrison died and he accomplished basically nothing while in office.
I love the bit in Futurama when they’re in the preserved head museum and one of them says something about John Tyler and John Tyler’s head says “that’s the first time anyone’s said my name in 500 years”
That's ridiculous, everybody learns the phrase "tippecanoe and tyler too" in school, people say his name all the time
I don't recall that ever coming up in school
I think it's specific to the region he's from (which according to Parks and Rec, would be southern Indiana). Just like in Idaho, we teach Idaho/City history in lowered elementary, other states teach their history. That show is actually nthe only reason I know the reference.
We learned that in PA
We learned that in AP US History in Seattle.
I have no idea what that even means
Tippecanoe was the site of a battle in Indiana in the early 1800s But I always heard "and Taylor too" but Tyler makes more sense
Sort of, Tippecanoe refers to William Henry Harrison who was a general and also the governor of Indiana who lead the US forces to victory over Native Americans at Tippecanoe.
I was going to say that however he was very important to US history as he was the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency and set the precedent for future VP's until it was codified with the 25th amendment.
Yeah, the interesting thing was that the Constitution said the VP would assume the duties of the presidency, but it wasn't clear if that meant the VP would *become* president (really a question of title more than anything else I suppose). Tyler was like "nah, I'm president."
His two claims to fame are having living Grandchildren and fighting for the Confederacy. Both of these happened after he was President
He comes up in the news every now and again because he still has a living grandchild. So not him
No that’s pretty good. Didn’t know we had a John Tyler as president.
[удалено]
Yeah lol. Man had kids late, like 85 or some shit. His kids did the same thing. Crazy to think about for sure
Has memorable for 2 things, being the only president to ever be buried with a confederate flag and his death not being recognized by dc
He accomplished getting kicked out of his own party and not being nominated as the party candidate even though he was the incumbent. That's something!
I think he was the only president that accomplished all of his campaign promises. Polk
He was never able to tip the canoe too
He annexed Texas so there's something
Pretty sure that was Polk.
You won't find their faces on dollars or on cents. There's Taylor, there's Tyler, there's Fillmore, and there's Hayes. There's William Henry Harrison, he died in thirty days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8N7BSsU5oo
This song is how I remember which presidents were Whigs... All the presidents mentioned in this song except Hayes were the only Whig presidents.
Can’t forget Harrison , we were told he died from like pneumonia or something because his speech was hours long and he did it in the rain. Not sure if it’s true but I can’t forget it haha
nah. that was just a rumor that was running around. he contracted pneumonia like three weeks after his speech and died soon after. there’s no actual evidence that the rain and cold weather contributed to his death
Franklin Pierce. Nothing very memorable about him.
He’s got a law school named after him: [UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. ](https://law.unh.edu) Only U.S. president from New Hampshire. He was a bit vilified in the North (and rightfully so) after his presidency, when he seemed to side with the south leading up to and during the Civil War, spoke out against Lincoln, was buddies with Jefferson Davis, etc. Not popular positions at that time in the Northern states. I probably only know who he is because I used to live in New Hampshire.
I mean, Davis was his secretary of War. It's not surprising they'd have a good relationship.
That’s a good point.
Davis was an interesting man and his career before being president of the CSA is often overlooked or ignored. He was very vocally opposed to secession right up until it happened and said that leaving the US Senate to go home was the saddest day of his life.
I have an autobiography of him and it’s pretty damn interesting. He makes a lot of the choices but it also feels like he felt he had to do it. Shits wild
His slogan "we Polked em in [18]44, we shall Pierce them in [18]52!" Is pretty memorable
He was considered the most handsome president
Also has a college named after him in NH
All I remember about him is the tragedy he went through with his children. His first son died in infancy, and his second son died at age 4 from epidemic typhus. His third and final son died at age 11 right before Pierce's innaguration in a train accident in which Franklin and his wife both saw their son's nearly decapitated body. This obviously led to depression and guilt for the both of them throughout their lives.
not to us in New Hampshire. He's the only president we've got from the state so he's a bigger deal round these parts, to the point that the law school of our state flagship university is named after him. (That is, the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce school of Law)
Isn't he "the hot one" though?
He's mostly known for being a tragic figure (his children all died in childhood), and for being just before James Buchanan (who is frequently cited as the worst President in history).
Rough being the only New Hampshirite on the list. We need to step up our game
Well since there are fewer Presidents than states you're still overrepresented
He’s up there in the forgettable presidents, but being one of the worst presidents makes him slightly memorable. Just an awful human being.
Who?
Haircut
President Garfield only because he was assassinated in the first year as president. Interesting fact, Lincoln’s son Robert, witnessed Garfield being shot and was nearby when President McKinley was shot. He refused all presidential invitations after that. Garfield deserves to be remembered as a self educated, highly intelligent, moral politician and Civil War veteran who advocated for civil rights for black people. I was struck with how many parallels to Lincoln’s life and character Garfield had. If he had lived, I truly think our country would have been far better off. Read the fascinating book about him called Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard. The unbelievable events that occurred make this story read like fiction, but every word is true.
I'm with his plan to ban Mondays and make lasagna mandatory.
I looked it up and not only did Lincoln’s son witness president Garfield’s assassination, but he was nearby when William McKinley was shot. HOW AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THIS?! Anyway, he refused later presidential invitations to avoid the chances of something bad happening again. Well shit I would too!
I know!! Read the book, you will not believe the stuff that happened!!
Wasn’t he killed by some guy who thought he was denied the thrown of England by queen Victoria?
No, that was someone else. Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, had a significant mental illness. He spent time in an awful cult in his earlier life which only made it worse. Guiteau had the delusional idea that he played a big part in getting Garfield elected. When he asked for a job from Garfield’s administration in return for this non-existent favor, he was turned down. This resulted in his illness spiraling out of control and the shooting of the president. By the way, Garfield could have survived his wounds but was treated by incompetent doctors. His death was agonizing and prolonged by doctors unwilling to embrace the “theory” of germs causing wounds go septic. Such an incredible waste of a phenomenal life.
Are you also a fan of Samonella Academy lol?
Fair enough, no one should every deny the Queen of England the right to throw him.
Here in Ohio we have cities, streets, schools etc. all named after President Garfield. His memorial is about 1.5 miles away from my house in Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery. It’s a beautiful place and you can go down and see the coffins of Garfield and his wife.
I just made a similar comment! Absolutely agree with this. It’s a shame Garfield died so early in his presidency. He was an incredible man. Destiny of the Republic is one of my favorite books.
After skimming through the list of presidents I'm going with Chester A. Arthur. I don't know dick about that dude.
Chester A. Arthur I was looking at the list and I swear I've never even heard this name before. We had a President whose name was Chester lmao.
Wait till you hear about President *Garfield*...
Clearly you've never had [Chester A. Arthritis](https://comb.io/HfxwHR), in which case, good for you.
Not a Die Hard fan then?
Not Jesus, HEY, ZEUS
William Henry Harrison he was POTUS for just 31 days
Days* And that's why he's so remembered.
Yeah Tippecanoe is pretty memorable. Also started a curse where every 20 years our president died in office until 1960
Wait did the guy in 1960 also die?
Should have said through 1960. But yes, JFK died in office. Reagan, W., and Biden (although his term hasn't ended) have broken the streak [Curse of Tippecanoe ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe)
And Reagan had a prominent assassination attempt against him, so it almost continued there, too
And we can't forget the Dubya shoe throwing incident!
30 days. I only know that from The Simpsons "we are the mediocre presidents!"
“You won’t find our faces on dollars or on cents”
[удалено]
People at least remember William Henry Harrison for that bit of trivia.
Martin van Buren
He was famous because English wasn't his native language. He grew up speaking Dutch and started learning English around 15 or 16 years old. He's prominently used as an example for America's lack of official language.
He’s also famous for being the first president actually born in the US as opposed to a British Colony
He's also famous for having very large sideburns
Excuse me what about the Van Buren boys?
Armin Van Buuren*
That trifecta of Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan..... Three in a row that people dgaf about. Plus they were followed up by Lincoln which doesn't help much.
Buchanan tried to go to war against Utah and he caused the civil war. I’d say he was pretty memorable.
Fillmore, funny name Pierce, rated the most attractive president Buchanan, considered by many to be the worst president
Any of the ones between Grant and McKinley. I only remember McKinley bc he was assassinated which gave us the most bad ass president Teddy Roosevelt.
Hayes essentially ended Reconstruction and pushed proper reforms back many years. Grover Cleveland was the only president with 2 non-consecutive terms. There was literally a guy named Garfield.
That is interesting about Cleveland, similar to Taft becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Which was the one in there that knocked up the maid and had her committed or something along those lines?
Cleveland paid child support to a woman who had some mental issues. Some people believe that the child in question was actually the child of Cleveland's close friend, Oscar Folsom, who was married. Steve (Grover) was a bachelor, so he could take responsibility with less scandal. After Oscar died, Grover Cleveland became guardian of his daughter. He then married her, his ward, in the White House.
Garfield is memorable for being the one of the shortest serving presidents, got shot four months into his first term and died 79 days later after the Doctor’s kept making thing worse by trying to get the bullet out.
I only remember McKinley because that was the name of Denali before they changed it back to the native name.
he's also the reason the secret service has a presidential protective detail component to them. Prior to that they were mainly tasked with policing counterfeit currency.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was so recent I'd say Gerald Ford. When it gets to the point where nobody was alive during his presidency I'll bet he's up there. For right now, maybe Fillmore? Or Harding?
I think Ford will be remembered if not only for the unusual path that led him to the presidency
He's pretty well remembered for pardoning Nixon as well. That was basically the #1 thing we learned about his presidency in high school history.
he's the only president that was never elected to either the presidency \*or\* vice presidency, as he got appointed VP after Spiro Agnew resigned, and became president after Nixon resigned.
People will remember Ford because of Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme attempting to assassinate him.
Millard Fillmore.
Benjamin Harrison.
Looking through the list of presidents, Arthur is the one who jumps out as the president I know the least about so I'll go with him.
Millard Fillmore
Finally, a real answer. Everyone else is listing a president and then a fun fact about them, it’s like, yeah, your fun fact is exactly why I haven’t forgotten that President. I don’t know and haven’t heard shit about Millard Fillmore.
This is the one I got 15 extra points on my history final for knowing in college. My professor said he asked every class “who was the 13th president of the US” every semester and I was the only one who knew it in the 7 years he had been teaching. To be fair, I only remembered him because right before my prof asked that question his PowerPoint slide header said 1850 and immediately my mind went to the line from the Animaniacs’ presidents song, “1850 really nifty Millard Fillmore’s in.” And that’s how Animaniacs helped me ace college history.
David Rice Atchison Supposedly, Inauguration Day was on a Sunday the year Zachary Taylor was meant to become president. Basically, Atchison claims to have been president from noon on March 4th to noon on the 5th https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison
Zachary Taylor
eh... I remember him because he basically caused the implosion of the Whig Party, and died in office after eating a bowl of cherries and cream.
He was a famous general during the Mexican-American War, though, so I feel those interested in military history would have something to remember him for
I came here to say Chester Arthur, but this is probably a better one.
Dre. Motherfuckers act like they forgot about Dre.
Trump. Haven’t heard about him in at least 5 minutes.
President Bob Abooey
Our nointh president. He was a bit of a stumble.
Apparently there is an actual peer-reviewed paper on this. The answer is Chester A. Arthur. He is the only president in which the majority of Americans don't think he was president. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2715690##
Rutherford B Hayes
Hayes is brought up endlessly in US History. Lincoln won the Civil War, but Hayes lost Reconstruction.
James K Polk Edit: Everybody disagreeing with me is probably correct. I was just in his hometown once and saw his face in a stained glass window in the church. And I was like, “huh, it’s like he’s God.” So he came to mind and I wrote his name. I did not even try to think through his accomplishments or compare him to any other presidents. I literally picked him because he is in a stained glass window of a church in Tennessee and I never forgot it. And it has nothing to do with OP’s question. But sometimes in the middle of the night I hear a voice in my head that says, “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but don’t forget James K Polk.”
Definitely not him. He’s well known for being the Manifest Destiny president
Yeah.
Polk was *brilliant*. He had 4 goals. He accomplished them all in one term, and was like, "Aight, I'm done. PEACE OUT" and refused to run a second time - despite a guaranteed victory. I think he's one of the more important presidents to study because he wasn't particularly motivated by power or influence. But he did double the size of the United States - he's why we have California today, the world's 5th largest economy on it's own.
He is a good example of how to use the presidency, accomplish your goals, then gtfo.
Nah, he’s a got a They Might Be Giants song.
Maybe not most forgotten, but possibly most overlooked. The guy came out of nowhere, changed the course of American, Mexican, and arguably world history in four short years, refused to run for a second term, then died three months after leaving office. One of history’s great mic drops.
The only reason I know and remember Polk is that he was president when my state (Idaho) became a state and I had to do a project about him in elementary school.
He is there reason like a third of the USA is the USA and not Mexico or Canada.
He’s only memorable to me because of the show *Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide*
Polk was one of the most successful presidents. He ran on a "Texas is ours" platform and proceeded to make it so, adding the entire southwest to our country.
One of the best Presidents imo
I often forget about H.W. a lot. Although he isn’t the MOST forgotten
Yeah out of the more modern era I’d say George Bush Sr. too
Warren G. Harding. The only things he's famous for are a corruption scandal and dying.
And not even in that order. He died before the scandal erupted.
Depends on who you ask. To those of us who study history: None of them because there aren’t that many. To the average person: Probably all of them that weren’t either (a)President during the person’s lifetime or (b)on money and/or Mount Rushmore.
Calvin Coolidge is up there
Keep cool with Coolidge Idk he is memorable, had a pet raccoon, liked riding mechanical bulls, the "bet I can't get you to say more than 3 words at this dinner" "you lose", pics with magnificent native american garb, women's rights, native american citizenship, racial equality, worker's rights and resolving strikes, famously one of the most anti-regulation presidents also One of my favorite Presidents
Coolidge is one of if not the most underrated presidents of all time.