As always, there is clamor about JU for the rational liberals to come out and denounce the radical wing of the party. If only it was as simple as many wish it was. Because, like my title states, the price of rationality is eternal timidity. What do I mean, you ask? Well, it's quite simple, really. In order to maintain a rational mindset, one must always remain timid. If one was not timid while rational, they would lash out against those who are radical. It seems like a good thing, no? Sadl...

Reaching the milestone 10th article, it is time for John Tyler. Tyler was the first Vice President to succeed to the presidency. Tyler was never elected in his own right, as his opposition to Whig policies, despite being a Whig, cost him the presidential nomination in 1844. He was the first president to serve without a Vice President. Tyler served April 6, 1841 to March 3, 1845. As the first Vice President to become president because of the death of a president, Tyler began his term a...

Settling in for a long write, the series now reaches William Henry Harrison. Harrison's election is considered the first modern election, complete with songs, themes, and hoopla. Harrison was portrayed as a simple frontiersman, despite being from a grand manor on a plantation in Virginia. In order to convey this appearance, he gave a long Inaugural in the cold without a jacket, which later proved to be his downfall. He was the first president to die in office, and the first president und...

Leaving behind my favorite president, I now type of Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the handpicked successor of Andrew Jackson. He was the first president to run against the Whig party. The third president to serve only one term, he was defeated by William Henry Harrison in 1840. He was the first former-president to run under a third-party, running under the Free-Soil Party in 1848. Van Buren served March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1841. Two months after the inauguration of Van Buren, banks ...

Going forward with the series, we now approach Andrew Jackson. Jackson was the founder of the Democratic Party, and the first Democratic president. He was the first president from the West, and is often considered the first president of the people. His election was one of the fiercest and bitterest of all time; in fact, attacks on her character even contributed to the death of Rachel Jackson, the president's wife. After Jackson, no president again served 2 full terms until Grant. He serv...

Starting earlier than usual, it is time for John Quincy Adams. Adams was technically elected under no party, because the destruction of the Federalists also meant the dismantling of the Democrat-Republicans. However, his election marked the rebirth of the two-party system, as charges that he and Henry Clay struck a corrupt bargain to win the presidency coalesced around Andrew Jackson and formed the Democratic party. He was the only president to be elected without a majority of the electo...

I was watching Win Ben Stein's Money today, and I noticed a discrepancy. This is usually a pretty good game show, the poor man's Jeopardy, but with wit and humor. Anyway, it was the final thing, where they ask the finalist and Ben questions separately. A rare occasion occured in which I knew the answer to a question. It was "Who was the last Whig president who served in 1848." Their answer was Zachary Taylor. And that is just wrong on so many levels First of all, Zachary Taylor was NOT the...

While running out of different ways to say the series is continuing, we go to James Monroe. Washington was the only president to be elected unanimously, but Monroe came pretty close running for his second term. He got all but 1 electoral vote because an elector cast his vote for John Quincy Adams. He was the last Revolutionary War Officer to become president. Monroe's election marked the end of the Federalist party. A Boston newspaper coined the term for Monroe's presidency, "The Era of Go...

James Madison is up next in my continuing series. Madison was the first president to not be nominated unanimously by his party's caucus. He was also the least physically impressive president of all time. He stood at only 5 ft. 4 in., and weighed a scant 100 pounds. He was the first president to declare a war. He served March 4, 1809 to March 3, 1817. Shortly before leaving office, Jefferson approved the Non-Intercourse Act, but it was left to Madison to enforce it. The Non-Intercourse Act ...

Marching forward with the series, we move on to president number 3, Thomas Jefferson. He was the first president elected under the Democrat-Republican party. He was also the very first Secretary of State, but resigned after numerous clashes with future Federalist Alexander Hamilton. Ironically, it was Hamilton who rallied Federalists to Jefferson in the House when Burr refused to concede the election. He served March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1809. Jefferson's election is often referred to as th...

With the very, very long article on George Washington out of the way, it is time to move on to John Adams. The only president to ever be elected under the Federalist party, Adams served March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801. He was the first president to be denied reelection. When Adams took office, relations with France had deteriorated badly due to Washington's pro-British foreign policy. Despite the popular calls for war, Adams sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerr...

All right! It's time to start my new series of presidential reviews! Inspired by my recent article, Andrew Johnson: Worst President or Victim of Circumstance? Link , I will be reviewing the presidencies of everyone from Washington to Hoover (to go any further would be too heavy a workload, and might spark a controversy, which is not my goal). And, of course, we start with the very first president of our little United States, George Washington. The biggest thing about Washington's presid...

Andrew Johnson is often considered the worst president ever. On top of being impeached, some are against his veto of various Civil Rights bills. While not going so far as to say he was good, I don't think Johnson is deserving of the title "Worst President Ever." Johnson attempted very hard to continue the lenient terms of Reconstruction started by Abraham Lincoln. His plan was given very little chance, though, as the Radical Republican-controlled Congress wouldn't let him. Despite his best...

Apparently, I'm funny. I can conjure up some big laughs whilst at school. My day in laughs begins in homeroom, or in the past few days GEPA homeroom (GEPA is a standardized test; ugh). When we finish, we can pretty much talk until lunch. There is a bloc of 4 people in the top right-hand corner from the back of the room that talks in homeroom and after GEPA which I am a part of. Besides me, it consists of (I'm just going to use the first letter here) T, C, and K. Here's a snippet of conversat...

Grrrr. This is some of the earliest I've ever been up. Also some of the earliest I ever fell asleep. Kind of funny how whenever I fall asleep so early it's always an accident. The question is, now what do I do for 3 hours? So after much stretching, adjusting to the light, and other post-sleep activities, I decide to see what everyone on JU is up to. I log on, I read, nothing much new, stuff I read before, one or two new articles, one or two people getting "outraged" by an article in humor ...