Word: calvinism
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...fumbled exchange with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ’76 has been relegated to a historical footnote and their subsequent reenactment assigned to the annals of White House lore. As a nation, we seem ready to both trivially group Barack Obama with Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge—predecessors who gave the oath another go—and direct future visitors to the White House Map Room to admire the fireplace before which history was made. This is political travesty of the first order...
...history. "What a great change can come to a man in a matter of moments," the departing Harry Truman told a friend after Dwight Eisenhower's swearing in. Adjusting to a sudden power outage can be a remarkable challenge. Eisenhower had to be taught how to dial the phone. Calvin Coolidge was frustrated that people didn't always realize he was no longer God. "People seem to think the presidential machinery should keep on running," he commented, "even after the power has been turned...
Some Presidents were content to retire from public life by the end of their terms. Millard Fillmore spent the rest of his days in quiet anonymity (as he had spent his time in the White House, detractors say). Calvin Coolidge did little better. Eisenhower golfed (hole-in-one at the age of 77!) and LBJ hung out with his grandchildren. Others, however, found the strain of high office to be too much. James K. Polk died three months after leaving the White House. Franklin Pierce, whose 11-year-old son had been killed in a train accident just weeks before...
...easily reminded of the greats that have passed through. But it's only at the signature round bar that customers can truly get a feel for history. Veteran bartender Jim Hewes is the creative force behind the presidential drink menu, appropriately pairing different drinks with past presidents. For Calvin Coolidge, it's cranberry juice and soda, a rather gentle, Puritan tonic. There's the Tanqueray martini for Roosevelt, a Beefeater martini for Kennedy, Madeira wine for founding father George Washington, and now, the Obama Shake for the President-elect. Colored the palest of pinks, this refreshing and frothy drink...
While most presidential oaths have been administered by the Chief Justice--Roger Taney swore in seven Commanders in Chief, a record--it's not required. Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, presided over one of his son's two oaths, in 1923. Presidents can choose to affirm instead of swear (although only one has: the devout Franklin Pierce). And most have added "So help me God" at the end, as George Washington is believed to have done, though historians now dispute it. Several Presidents, including George W. Bush, were sworn in on the Washington Bible, a 10-lb. volume...