George Washington

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Bush More Popular Than Obama: Poll

Plus: Guess who's the most popular president ever?

(Newser) - In honor of Presidents' Day, pollsters have ranked the most popular presidents ever—and it turns out George W. Bush is slightly more popular than our current leader, at least by one measure. Some 46% of Americans see President Obama favorably, and 49% have a negative view of him, marking...

Misquoting Founders Is a Political Epidemic

You can't believe all you read online

(Newser) - Between the current interest in America’s founders and a “willingness to believe” the Internet, political misquotes are flying these days, writes David A. Fahrenthold in the Washington Post . A look over the past two years of C-SPAN and the Congressional Record shows that politicians—including congressmen, senators, and...

Colbert Catches Palin in History Gaffe

George Washington had a little help keeping his farm going

(Newser) - A new, stubble-sporting Stephen Colbert turned his wit on Sarah Palin’s bus tour last night, getting in some barbs in a short segment, the Huffington Post reports. After running a clip of the media questions surrounding the trip, Colbert quipped, “That’s the power of Sarah Palin. No...

Trump Operatives Probing Obama's Birth in Hawaii

Investigators can't believe what they're finding, GOP maybe-contender claims

(Newser) - Donald Trump has operatives working on an important political mission. He has people in Hawaii probing President Obama's birth, "and they cannot believe what they're finding," The Donald notes ominously. Obama's family "doesn't know which hospital he was born in," and "in the hospital itself,...

How 'Washington' Became America's 'Blackest Name'

Were former slaves honoring George, embracing America?

(Newser) - George Washington’s name is synonymous with America—and of the people who bear his surname today, 90% of them are African-American, according to the 2000 census. How did “Washington” become, as Jesse Washington, writing for the AP calls it, the “blackest name" in America? It could be...

Sorry, Tea Partiers, You Don't Get All the Founders

Washington, Hamilton would have hated you

(Newser) - The Tea Party loves to claim solidarity with the founding fathers, as though they’d all endorse the current Republican agenda. (Remember this craziness ?) Well, not so fast, says historian Ron Chernow. “The truth is that the disputatious founders—who were revolutionaries, not choir boys—seldom agreed about...

Tea Partier's Trippy Ad Calls for Revolution

'Gather your armies,' Washington declares

(Newser) - Think the Tea Party rhetoric is getting a little overwrought? Then get a load of this video from Alabama House candidate Rick Barber, in which he has a kind of war council with various founding fathers. Barber calls for President Obama’s impeachment, then launches a mostly nonsensical rant about...

Larry Flynt Writing Book on Presidential Sex

 Larry Flynt 
 Writing Book on 
 Presidential Sex 

our founding fornicators
Mar 18, 2010 8:12 AM CDT

Larry Flynt Writing Book on Presidential Sex

Hustler publisher will delve into affairs of state

(Newser) - Porn king Larry Flynt is turning to a slightly more academic topic: presidents. Well, the sex lives of presidents, to be exact. The Hustler publisher is writing One Nation Under Sex, an “academically sourced” history of White House seductions. Gawker got a look at the proposal, and it includes...

Glenn Beck Calls 'Bullcrap' on Sarah Palin

He doesn't let her equivocate while naming her favorite founding father

(Newser) - Glenn Beck called "Bullcrap" on Sarah Palin's first answer when he asked her to name her favorite founding father. He interjected with the comment when she responded, "Well, all of them, because they came collectively together with so much,” notes Talking Points Memo . She eventually settled on...

Washington Was Good With a Buck, Accounts Show

Long-ignored financial records a 'treasure trove,' historians say

(Newser) - Fitting enough for the guy who ended up on the dollar bill, George Washington seems to have tracked every buck that crossed his path. The first president not only left scores of diaries and letters reflecting his views, but also assiduously documented his financial transactions. The result? A treasure trove...

3 of 4 Oklahoma Students Can't Name First President

Only 3% would pass US citizenship test

(Newser) - Are you smarter about American history than a recent immigrant? Most of the students in Oklahoma’s public high schools aren’t. A conservative think tank asked thousands of high school kids to answer 10 questions drawn from the citizenship test given to recent immigrants. Would-be citizens have to answer...

Who Killed Dignity? Ask Sanford, Jacko, Palin ...

Today's celebs would make George Washington blush

(Newser) - Carrying himself with honor and restraint was of utmost importance to George Washington and Americans for generations afterward—but for today’s public figures, the premium on dignity has faded, says David Brooks in the New York Times. Washington’s conduct “during times of temptation” made him “a...

Washington Descendant Sentenced to Prison

Vodka bottle assault left victim in five-day coma

(Newser) - George Washington would not be proud: John Augustin Washington V, a descendant of our first president, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for smashing a vodka bottle over the head of an English banker, the New York Post reports. George’s descendant and the banker reportedly fought over...

First First Lady Was No Frump
First First Lady Was No Frump
Feb 2, 2009 9:27 AM CST

First First Lady Was No Frump

Forget the unflattering paintings; Martha Washington was quite the fox

(Newser) - Chances are when you think of Martha Washington, you imagine a frumpy old fat lady smothered in lace. Not so, say those who study her and her husband. If you ignore the unflattering images painted years after her death, and instead focus on tailors' records and letters from Martha's youth,...

10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits
 10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits 
Jan 18, 2009 12:48 PM CST

10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits

Which president was forgotten at his successor's ceremony?

(Newser) - Ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration, the Chicago Tribune compiles a list of the 10 best little known facts about ceremonies past.
  • George Washington had to borrow money to attend his own inauguration.
  • No, William Henry Harrison’s long-winded, “fatal” speech on a chilly morning in 1841 didn’t kill
...

Inaugural Bibles: Past Presidential Picks

Lincoln provided the Bible, but Obama must turn to others for verse ideas

(Newser) - As Barack Obama prepares to take the oath of office Tuesday with his hand on the Lincoln Bible, the Wall Street Journal offers a sample of the Bibles other presidents have chosen—and the passages they've chosen to open them to. Eisenhower, Carter, and Bush Sr. took their oaths on...

Most Memorable Presidential Goodbyes

(Newser) - Since the days of George Washington, outgoing presidents have found saying goodbye to the nation to be cathartic—and sometimes used the speech to warn of worries to come. Ahead of tomorrow's Bush address, the Houston Chronicle looks at some favorites.
  1. Washington: Set the tone, paying tribute to the “
...

Obama, Bush Agree: Remember the Delaware

Bush invokes same historical image as both issue Christmas messages

(Newser) - In a strange presidential mind-meld, George Bush and Barack Obama each invoked George Washington’s surprise Christmas attack of 1776—you’ll remember this as the one after he crossed the Delaware—to inspire Americans in facing their current troubles, the Hill reports. In his Christmas address, President Bush called...

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy
'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy
OPINION
Oct 18, 2008 11:50 AM CDT

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy

Founding fathers quickly figured out people couldn't be trusted to be selfless

(Newser) - If those who ignore history repeat it, Alan Greenspan must have slept through a few Constitutional history classes. In promoting the risky derivatives market, the former Federal Reserve chairman was depending on individuals' restraint and care for the greater good. But Americans just aren't that altruistic, as the Founding Fathers...

Dig Finds Washington's Home (No Cherry Tree)

Archaeologists excavate boyhood home of founding father

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found the childhood home of George Washington, the New York Times reports—and despite the popular legend, there's no cherry tree anywhere on the premises. Researchers describe the founding father's Virginia digs as “a very nice gentry house” sporting eight rooms—not the simple cottage pictured in...

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