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The White House celebrated its first New Year’s Day - on this day in 1801 - with a 4:00 p.m. reception hosted by President John Adams and his wife Abigail (the term “First Lady” would first be used decades later) /1
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President and Mrs. Adams served dinner to their guests and they were entertained by the United States Marine Band - making its White House debut. Back then, “the President’s Own” consisted of eight to ten musicians. In 1801, the mansion looked like this (no porticoes)
President and Mrs. Adams served dinner to their guests and they were entertained by the United States Marine Band - making its White House debut. Back then, “the President’s Own” consisted of eight to ten musicians. In 1801, the mansion looked like this (no porticoes)
Adams, the second president and first to live in the White House, had only been a resident for two months—but was already a lame duck, having been beaten by Thomas Jefferson in the nasty election of 1800. The mansion itself still needed a lot of work
One of the most important letters ever written by a president: Thomas Jefferson’s “Danbury Letter” - this day in 1802. Jefferson said that the First Amendment to the Constitution created a "wall of separation between church and state.”
The most important executive order ever issued by a president - Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation - went into effect this day in 1863. Freeing the slaves was not Lincoln's primary Civil War goal - holding the union together was
To say that Theodore Roosevelt was charismatic was an understatement. “After you met Roosevelt," it was once said, "you needed to wring the personality out of your clothes”. This day in 1907, TR held an open house and shook hands with 8,510 people
A stain on the federal government: This day in 1920, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and his assistant J. Edgar Hoover cracked down on a so-called "red menace" that they believed threatened national security (more)
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Without warrants Palmer authorized raids on homes and businesses, arresting some 4,000 people in 33 cities. Many were held for days, never fed and never charged with anything. The "Palmer Raids" found no evidence of a plot to overthrow the government
Without warrants Palmer authorized raids on homes and businesses, arresting some 4,000 people in 33 cities. Many were held for days, never fed and never charged with anything. The "Palmer Raids" found no evidence of a plot to overthrow the government
