What secrets about the lives of US presidents are hidden by the walls of the White House? Strange facts about US presidents Franklin Pierce hit an old lady and got away with it

Presidents' Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February in the United States. Until the 70s, celebrations were timed to coincide with February 22, the birthday of the first president, George Washington. In any case, this holiday is a good reason for a short excursion into American history.

Even if you know it by heart, you hardly know everything that happened within the walls of the White House. Watergate and the Monica Lewinsky case are just the tip of the iceberg of scandals, most of which are carefully hidden from the general public.

Biographies of presidents are rich in strange, absurd and curious facts, against the backdrop of which Ronald Reagan's transformation from actor to head of state seems commonplace. Absurd deaths, family scandals, murders, addictions, unacceptable absent-mindedness and much more - all this is on our list of 20 incredible facts about US presidents.

George Washington lost almost every battle

No matter how impressive George Washington looked on horseback, in reality his actions during the battles were not beneficial.

There are a lot of nonsense rumors about the first president of the United States. Contrary to one of them, his teeth were not made of wood: the dentures were made from hippopotamus bone, human teeth and metal brackets. As for the successes of the head of state in military affairs, everything is not as rosy as is sometimes claimed.

In fact, Washington was useless on the battlefield. He was an absolute noob at strategy and lost every major battle he fought, each time deciding to retreat and running away from the battlefield with his tail between his legs.

Also, the first US president smoked weed

In the 18th century, many farmers planted the herb for industrial use, but began smoking it later. Therefore, it is believed that Washington, who grew hemp at home, added the plant to tobacco and beer without realizing its special properties. But it's much more fun to think that the first President of the United States was also the first Rastafarian.

John Adams and Herbert Hoover kept pet alligators

John Quincy Adams wisely kept an alligator in the White House.

John Quincy Adams was not very popular among the people. There were various legends about him: for example, that he was a pimp (as sung in 50 Cent's hit "P.I.M.P."), and also stole part of Shakespeare's chair when he went with Jefferson on a tour of the writer's house.

It is reliably known that one of the crazy rumors had a basis: Adams actually had a pet alligator, given to him by the French general, the Marquis de La Fayette. The animal was kept in the East Room of the White House. But Herbert Hoover's son, to whom we will return, had two crocodiles that roamed freely wherever they pleased.

Andrew Jackson taught a parrot to curse

But more remarkable is the fact that Jackson had a parrot that he taught to curse. The bird clearly succeeded in this matter. The report on the funeral of the head of state stated: “Before the funeral eulogy, when people were still gathering, the vile parrot, the deceased’s pet, seemed to go mad, began loudly shouting curses and did not let up, so people were embarrassed, and some even walked away.”

And the seventh American ruler killed people in duels

Andrew Jackson was a tough man and loved to fight.

Not only did Jackson almost beat to death the unlucky criminal who attempted his life, but he also killed opponents more than once in duels (some even on the White House lawn). According to various sources, he shot between 13 and several hundred people. In those days, such fights were considered a matter of honor. Twenty steps, turn, shoot...

Jackson's most notable opponent was Charles Dickinson, a lawyer and famous duelist who insulted the future president and his wife at a horse race. Of course, Jackson finished him off.

Zachary Taylor died of food poisoning

The 12th President of the United States was a valiant man, but he died of simple food poisoning.

The 12th President of the United States lasted just over a year. He rose to the rank of general and made a great contribution to the country's victory in the war with Mexico, thanks to which he was elected head of state despite his lack of interest in politics. During his lifetime, Taylor was a national hero, but he died a far from heroic death.

Doctors at the time were unable to determine the cause of the president's sudden death. There are still many different versions, including poisoning, in which political opponents could have been involved. But an examination of the remains showed that the most likely cause was food poisoning. Looks like a jug of milk and a bowl of berries at the Independence Day picnic were clearly unnecessary.

Franklin Pierce hit an old lady and got away with it

It turns out that such a reserved-looking person is capable of murder.

With connections in the White House, you can get out of absolutely any unpleasant situation. George W. Bush escaped several charges during his drinking days thanks to his father, Nixon remained in office long after the Watergate scandal, and Pierce got away with murder.

In 1853, Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, hit an old woman with a horse and was arrested, but the case was hushed up due to lack of evidence, which we, of course, readily believe.

James Garfield died at the hands of doctors

Paradoxically, James Garfield died at the hands of the doctors who tried to save him.

The cause of James Garfield's death has never been the subject of controversy. Everything is obvious here: the president was killed by doctors trying to save his life. Like many of his predecessors and successors, Garfield was the victim of an assassination attempt, but the real killer in the end was not the one who put the bullet in him.

Using a new invention - a metal detector (from the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Bell), doctors tried to determine the location of the bullet before performing surgery. Unfortunately, they did not find it, but the metal spring of the bed on which the president was lying, but they did not stop at the first unsuccessful attempt. After several cuts in the wrong places, Garfield died.

William McKinley treated his sick wife badly

William McKinley did not treat his wife very well.

The 25th President of the United States was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Before his execution, the killer said that he did not feel guilty because McKinley was “the enemy of good people.” However, you should not judge a person from the words of the criminal. Let's look at the facts: during the presidency of William McKinley, the United States won the war with Spain and strengthened the national industry.

But in some ways Czolgosz may have been right, because of all the men in the White House, McKinley was clearly the worst, and that means something. The literature says a lot about the attention and concern he provided to his epileptic wife. What was this incredible care? When his wife had an attack at a social gathering, McKinley covered her face with a handkerchief to hide her distorted features and pretended that nothing was happening.

Theodore Roosevelt was a killing machine

Theodore Roosevelt, who spared the bear cub, was actually a man of strength.

It is known that a soft toy, a Teddy bear, was named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt (he refused to kill the bear cub while hunting). The president loved animals, but this did not stop him from walking around the White House with a loaded pistol on his belt, ignoring his bodyguards.

During the war, Roosevelt became famous as a cold-blooded killer. He had a black belt in jiu-jitsu and was a boxing champion in his youth. Not to mention that before becoming president, Roosevelt had worked as a rancher, sheriff, police commissioner, and assistant secretary of the navy. Everything he had ever done had to do with murder in one way or another.

William Taft did not fit in the White House bathtub

There must be many great presidents (like people)!

William Howard Taft, the 27th president, was a major figure in US history. Truly astronomical in scale. Literally. Like Homer from The Simpsons in that episode where he decided to get fat so he could work from home.

Before his election, Taft served as Secretary of War, and after leaving the White House, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the only president in the history of the country to serve in this position. But since this will surprise few people, let’s return to the base and rude ridicule of his weight. During his presidency, Taft was constantly stuck in the White House bathtub and could not get out without help. I ended up having to install a larger tank.

Warren Harding suffered from a gambling addiction

Gambling Warren Harding could not stop in time and even lost the property of the White House.

And that's putting it mildly. Warren Gamaliel Harding was rarely lucky at cards, but this was no obstacle to secret poker games right in the White House. During Prohibition, Harding's political friends gathered in the Oval Office and, drinking homemade alcohol, played cards for huge sums of money.

The figure of Harding is considered one of the most controversial. His good reputation was based on his eloquence and connections in journalistic circles, thanks to which he became a Republican leader, all this coupled with a penchant for love affairs. The president’s passion, as mentioned above, crossed all boundaries: he once lost all the White House china in a bet.

Herbert Hoover forbade White House staff from coming into his sight

Herbert Hoover did not have a good attitude towards his service staff.

Many presidents have become attached to servants over time, but not the father of the lucky owner of alligators, Herbert Hoover. The 31st President of the United States insistently demanded that the staff serving the White House not come into view of either him or his wife. Literally.

That is, when Hoover or the first lady appeared in the room, the maids, waitresses and everyone else had to immediately leave the room or quietly hide in the closet, fulfilling the whim of the people's choice.

Franklin Roosevelt drove around in Al Capone's car

Franklin Roosevelt appropriated Al Capone's confiscated car.

President Franklin Roosevelt was in his office when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was lucky enough to arrest Al Capone, the head of the underworld, who until then had inexplicably evaded the law, although his involvement in organized crime, including the St. Valentine's Day massacre, everyone knew. They managed to detain him under the pretext of tax evasion.

The penalty for this crime included the confiscation of Capone's property, which included an armored 1928 Cadillac V-16. But the car did not sit in the confiscated warehouse for long and became the official car of the president.

Harry Truman was a member of the Ku Klux Klan

Harry Truman followed the advice of an acquaintance and joined the Ku Klux Klan, which significantly helped him build his career.

Harry Truman became president with the support of businessmen. After World War I, Kansas City Mayor Tom Pendergast helped him obtain a position as district judge. But local car salesman Edgar Hind had a better idea for how to promote Truman: recruit him into the Ku Klux Klan.

Hind was himself a member of this organization and even offered to pay Truman a $10 entry fee. According to the documentary The Birth of a Nation, there were about 5 million members of the Ku Klux Klan at that time, so the political influence was significant. Truman never appeared at the organization's meetings, but just being on its list helped him advance.

Lyndon Johnson was obsessed with his whims

Lyndon Johnson, who haunted his subordinates with his whims.

For the American people, Lyndon Baines Johnson was a narcissistic, self-willed tyrant and the complete opposite of his predecessor, the beloved John Kennedy. According to the latter, while holding the post of vice president, Johnson forced his subordinates to bend over backwards to please him.

In one of the surviving audio recordings, Lyndon orders trousers, emphasizing that they should not pinch in the crotch, and asks the tailor to increase the distance from the beginning of the fly to the presidential “bunghole” (literally, “hole in the barrel”).

James Carter claimed to have seen a UFO

James Carter was not particularly different, but some of his quirks are known.

James Carter's presidency was not very interesting. Compared to other heads of state, he led a quiet and peaceful life and is remembered as a boring guy whose only mark on American history is the joke in The Simpsons: "He's the greatest monster in history!"

But even he could not do without eccentricities. Just look at the incident with the rabbit that allegedly attacked his boat. And in 1973, while still serving as a senator in Georgia, Carter claimed to have seen a flying saucer and filed a report with the International Bureau of UFO Affairs.

Ronald Reagan believed in astrology

Ronald Reagan relied on the predictions of the stars.

The performer of the role of midfielder Gipper in the film “Knut Ronky - a real American” surprised his compatriots not only by later becoming president. After he was shot by the mentally ill John Hinckley Jr., hoping in such a strange way to attract the attention of actress Jodie Foster, Reagan told the surgeons who operated on him: “I hope you are all Republicans.” Obviously, he did not take the attempt on his life, which almost ended in a logical end, seriously.

At the same time, Reagan took such anti-scientific nonsense as astrology to heart. He always consulted an astrologer before scheduling press conferences, speeches, congressional report debates, and so on. During his presidency, much depended on the position of the stars and planets.

Clinton lost the codes to his nuclear briefcase

The 42nd President of the United States managed to forget the password to the nuclear briefcase.

Bill Clinton became famous not only for having an intimate relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky while he was married. It is not known how he even managed to hold on as head of state for so long.

During his entire presidency, Clinton used email only twice. He ruined relations with dozens of countries, and completely destroyed relations with everyone else. Oh yes, once he also lost the codes for the nuclear suitcase and did not notice it until it was time to change them (and this happened every four months).

Barack Obama became a comic book character

This is how comic book creators portray Barack Obama.

Barack Obama, elected head of state in 2009, became the embodiment of the hopes of Americans, which could not but be reflected in pop culture. Shortly after officially taking over, he was featured as Spider-Man's sidekick in one of the comics, and that was just the beginning.

Obama appeared in the Japanese roller-skating manga Air Gear, alongside Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and in the sci-fi comic Drafted, where he helps fight off an alien invasion. But the strangest entry on the list is perhaps the fantasy comic Barack the Barbarian, which appears to have been inspired by the president's confession that he is a fan of Conan the Barbarian.

Presidents are people too, but what kind of people? Sometimes it seems as if in order to take a high position you need to pass some kind of top-secret eccentricity test (at least in the USA). By the way, note: there is no item about George W. Bush on the list. This is who should be dedicating an entire article to...

The head of state carefully protects his private life, however, a certain number of facts are still known to the public. ELLE chose the most interesting of them.

Putin is a native of Leningrad; as a child he lived in a communal apartment on Baskov Lane. “The yard is a well, the fifth floor without an elevator. Before the war, my parents had half a house in Peterhof. They were very proud of the standard of living they had then achieved. But what a level it was! But it seemed to them that this was almost the ultimate dream,” the president said later.

At school, the future head of state did not do well at first, but, according to teacher Vera Gurevich, energy and character were already felt in him. After graduating from the eighth grade, he moved to a school with a chemical focus, while still achieving C grades in science subjects, and excelling in literature.

In the summer of 1970, Vladimir Putin entered the law faculty of Leningrad State University with a competition of 40 people per place. While in his third year, he got his own car - the mother of the future president won the Zaporozhets lottery.

Putin’s childhood dream, who adored films about intelligence officers, was to work in the police. As a result, in 1975, after graduating from Leningrad University, a certified lawyer was assigned to the KGB.

Soon, Putin met domestic flight attendant Lyudmila Shkrebneva. “Once, when I was already working in the first unit in St. Petersburg, a friend called and said that he was inviting me to the Arkady Raikin theater. He has tickets, the girls will be there. Let's go. There really were girls. The next day we went to the theater again. I already got the tickets. And on the third it’s the same. I started dating one of them. We became friends,” the president later recalled.

The relationship developed quite rapidly. “After three or four months, I already decided that he was exactly the person I needed,” admitted Lyudmila Putina.

In this marriage, which was registered in 1983, Lyudmila and Vladimir Putin had two daughters, named after their grandmothers, Maria Putina and Ekaterina Shkrebneva.

The official end of family life came several years ago. At least the public learned about the divorce in 2013. The couple themselves announced their decision to separate in an interview with one of the TV channels. Recently, during a direct line with Russians, answering a question about his relationship with his ex-wife, the president said: “I communicate with Lyudmila Alexandrovna not as often as before, but I can say that she is doing well, she is happy with everything.” According to Putin, he had a “good” relationship with his ex-wife, “maybe even better than it was before.”

Putin also became the hero of a dozen films. 12 documentaries are dedicated to him - “Unknown Putin”, “Comrade of the President”, “Putin’s System”, “55”, “The Wall”, “Putin, Russia, the West”, “Bridge over the Abyss”, “Dans la peau de Vladimir Poutine” "/"In the Skin of Vladimir Putin", "The Real Putin", "Paper Coronation", "Putin's Kiss", "I, Putin. Portrait".

President Putin's rating is a record - it has remained around 80% for many years. The colossal support of Russians, despite the contradictory attitude towards the president in the international arena, allowed him to be considered more often than other state leaders in the world according to surveys of authoritative international publications.

There is also a feature film “A Kiss Not for the Press,” which officially has nothing to do with Putin. The main characters of the film are Tatyana (Daria Mikhailova), a former flight attendant, and official Alexander (Andrey Panin), the right hand of the St. Petersburg governor, who eventually became president. The film was filmed back in 2002, but was released six years later.

The creators did not directly draw parallels between the characters and the Putin couple, although Alexander Belyavsky, who plays the governor, called “A Kiss Not for the Press” “a film about Putin’s young years.” The film received the attention of Western media: an article in Time magazine dedicated to the film was called “A Movie Valentine for Putin.”

The President of Russia is a big fan of sports, his main and long-standing passion is judo. Putin has the champion title of Leningrad, he is also a winner of the USSR Cup, and often became the winner of championships at various universities.

He wears a watch only on his right hand. He himself explained this by saying that it was on his right hand that the watch crown did not rub his hand.

 Putin loves animals very much. The president's most famous pet is Connie, a black labrador who died at the end of 2014. The dog became a comic book hero; an entire book was even written on its behalf. In addition to Connie, Putin has two poodles, a goat and a dwarf horse.

Today the book “Starring. Putin in modern culture,” which talks about how the image of the Russian president, the Putin brand, influences artists.

Politicians are people too and nothing human, including oddities, is alien to them.

George Washington loved horseback riding. However, he demanded that the horse he was about to ride be perfectly clean. Washington even checked the cleanliness of the animal's teeth.

Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone and wrote the text for it, which did not indicate that he was president.

John Quincy Adams often swam naked in the Potomac River at dawn. He practically did not change his outfits and wore one suit for more than ten years.

Andrew Jackson was an inveterate duelist. During one of the duels, he received a bullet in the chest, surgeons were unable to remove it, and Jackson lived with this piece of lead all his life.

Martin Van Buren, after leaving the White House, wrote an interesting memoir in which his wife was never mentioned.

William Harrison's inauguration ceremony (1841) was held on an extremely cold day. The new president immediately caught a cold. Soon his cold developed into pneumonia from which he died a month later. He led the United States for a record short time.

John Tyler is the largest president in US history. He had 8 children from his first wife, and 7 from his second. His 15th child was born when the president was over seventy.

Zachary Taylor chewed tobacco everywhere and always. During all official events, he held a snuffbox with tobacco in his fist.

Millard Fillmore refused to accept an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. He explained this by saying that he had done nothing for science.

When the eleventh President of the United States, James Polk was 17 years old, his gallbladder was removed. Doctors administered pain relief by giving the future president cognac.

James Buchanan is the only US president who was not married. He was once engaged, but his bride broke off the engagement and died soon after.

President Abraham Lincoln always wore a tall black top hat on his head, inside which he kept letters, financial papers, bills and notes.

Andrew Johnson never went to school. He was taught to read by his future wife Eliza McCardle at the age of 17. President Johnson exclusively wore suits that he cut and sewed himself.

Throughout his life, Ulysses Grant smoked 20 cigars a day. He died of throat cancer.

President James Garfield was ambidextrous and polyglot. He could simultaneously write in ancient Greek with one hand and in Latin with the other. He died as a result of a cut on his finger - blood poisoning occurred during treatment.

Chester Arthur had about 100 pairs of trousers in his wardrobe.

Grover Cleveland underwent secret surgery to remove part of his jaw that was affected by cancer.

Benjamin Harrison hated electric light and demanded that the light bulbs be turned off and candles lit during his stay in the White House.

During a hunt, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to kill a mother bear and her cub. After this, a new toy appeared - teddy bears, which began to be called “teddy bears” (“Teddy” is a diminutive form of the name “Theodore”).

William Taft weighed more than 136 kilograms. A special oversized bathtub was installed for him in the White House.

Warren Harding played poker at least twice a week. Once he even lost the entire Chinese porcelain service that belonged to the White House. His advisors were nicknamed “Poker Cabinet”, as they were his main partners during this gambling game.

Calvin Coolidge had a very sick stomach. For treatment and prevention, he slept 10-11 hours at night and also rested during the day. Two tame raccoons lived with him in the White House.

Franklin Roosevelt was related to 11 of his predecessors in the White House.

Harry Truman had a pet goat that grazed on the White House lawn.

Military leader and President Dwight Eisenhower was a great lover and master of cooking. He even came up with a recipe for vegetable soup that included nasturtium stems.

John Kennedy was the first Boy Scout in US history to become president.

Lyndon Johnson loved giving gifts to his employees and visitors. His favorite gifts were electric toothbrushes. The author of Johnson's biography received 12 brushes from his hero over 10 years.

Richard Nixon always heated his office with a fireplace, refusing to use steam heating.

Gerald Ford, at the age of 12, was told by his parents that they had adopted him.

Jimmy Carter became the first US president to publish a historical novel (The Hornet's Nest). True, Carter wrote the novel after leaving the White House.

Ronald Reagan became famous for breaking the “20-year curse” of the White House, under which every president elected in a year ending in zero would die or be killed before the end of his presidential term.

George Bush Sr. was distinguished by the fact that he adored Mexican and Chinese cuisine, but never ate broccoli.

Bill Clinton ordered the creation of a personal website for his cat Sox.

George W. Bush and his wife Laura got married just three months after they met.

We selected from it the most interesting and unusual facts about the lives of presidents.

Jimmy Carter, as President of the United States, once sent his jacket to the dry cleaner, having forgotten a cheat sheet with nuclear launch codes in his pocket.

Pedro Lascuarin is the president of Mexico and is known as the shortest serving president in world history. On February 18, 1913, Mexican President Francisco Madero was assassinated, and the vice president and attorney general were removed from their posts. According to the Constitution, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was appointed interim president, and this was Lascuarin. He served as president for less than an hour (according to various sources - from 15 to 55 minutes), and then resigned.

The first US president, George Washington, borrowed money to travel to Washington for his own inauguration.

In 1942, Konstantin Päts was imprisoned in the Kazan prison psychiatric hospital for “the patient’s persistent belief that he was the former president of Estonia.” Päts was indeed the President of Estonia.

A reporter once asked US President Lyndon Johnson why the Americans were fighting the war in Vietnam. Johnson unzipped his fly, took out his dick and said, “That’s why.”

US President Truman, after resigning in 1953, took his wife Bessie, put her in the passenger seat of the car, got behind the wheel and drove home to Missouri.



Abraham Lincoln, when filling out his application for work in Congress, wrote “Inadequate” in the “Education” column.

Matt Damon often in his interviews urged everyone to vote for Obama - but when he became president, he considered that he was not coping with his responsibilities. Obama retorted to him at one of the press conferences:

I failed my key voters - movie stars! For the day Matt Damon – I love this guy! – said that he was disappointed in my performances. You know, Matt, I recently watched your new film “Reality Changers”... Who would say!



The 29th President of the United States, Warren Hardin, had two mistresses. He started dating one when he was still a senator, she was then 16. They had sex in the White House, she gave birth to a daughter, whom he never saw, and wrote a book about their relationship, dedicating it to all single mothers. The second mistress was the wife of Harding's friend; Harding wrote letters to her in which he called his penis "Jerry" and her vagina "Miss Paterson." Harding was president for only two years and died under unclear circumstances. There is a version that his wife poisoned him.

Kanaan Banana, the first president of Zimbabwe, came up with a law that made it possible to get jailed for making jokes about his name.

Viktor Yushchenko received 5.45% of the votes in the 2010 presidential elections. This is a record low result among sitting presidents in the history of democratic elections.



John Kennedy came up with the idea of ​​giving cigarettes with the president's signature to all his guests on Air Force One. Already in the 80s, Reagan replaced cigarettes first with Jelly Belly candies, and then with M&M's. The package, about the size of a cigarette pack, features the presidential seal and signature on one side and a yellow American flag on the other. Even Obama gave out M&M's, although he himself did not like them very much.

During World War II, the future American President John Kennedy and his crew came under fire while at sea and miraculously escaped in the Solomon Islands. To get him out of there, Kennedy carved a message into a coconut and, with the help of a local resident, delivered it to a nearby military base. This coconut later served as a paperweight for him in the Oval Office.