Someone Has To Remember the Presidents. It Might As Well Be You.

By TRB

Quick, tell me who was President James Polk's vice president. Don't know? Well, neither do I - so don't feel bad. We know they were all mad as hatters back then anyway, their racist economies making the bulk of the argument for which territory could be a state and under what conditions. I think the situation with Texas had just about driven them crazy. The early Presidents bent over back wards to acquire territory. They would accept just about anyone who wanted to join the U.S. That's more obvious all the time, but that is not the reason for this article. This little piece of writing has to do with your memory and just how many of these presidents you can remember. Yes, you can remember Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelt's, and Jack Kennedy. You can probably even remember Slick Willie Clinton, but what about Rutherford Hayes, the 19th President?

I bet you can't remember him? Hell, why would you even want to?

I was checking up on a few things the other day and realized, not for the first time, that I was born during the Truman administration. That's right. Here I am, only 61 years old (you know what I mean by "only" if you're still reading this), and I have lived through twelve presidential administrations. That's not impressive unless you consider that Obama included, we've only had 44 presidential administrations - which means I have lived through 25 percent of them. It demonstrates how young this nation is, while at the same time showing how time flies, i.e. you might be walking stoned through a crowd at the Woodstock Music Festival one day listening to Janis wail, and before you catch up with yourself you are writing this blog in what seems like just a few months later.

Wherever you are, it is always a good idea to bring your brain with you. I don't care if you have to bring it in a bowling bag. When you get into your 60s you find yourself using your brain more and more to access your memory. That's right; you've been with us six decades; you must have some memory in there. Maybe you even learned something. Of course you did.

I have a lot of memory. And I credit it, in part, to our 44 presidents, who, let's face it, might as well be good for something. I use them as a mental exercise. It's simple, remember their names and the order in which they were president. You don't have to remember their VPs too, or what years they were in office - that's for "advanced members." (only kidding) But it could be. In fact, I don't even bother remembering their first names. But, if pressed, I can usually come up with them. I have been doing this for more than 20 years.

I believe these exercises help keep me sharper, but they're also fun, once you get the hang of it. For example. Several years ago I bumped my head into the corner of an open closet door in the dark and had to be checked out for a concussion. They did all the tests, including the one where they ask you the name of the current president and the date. But then the unexpected occurred. This doctor, about 28 - younger than my kids - asked me to go back as far as I could and count the presidents forward. I asked him where he wanted me to start. He smirked and replied that I could start anywhere I pleased. He probably figured I could name five or six presidents in the order he requested.

You should have seen his face when I started at Washington. Seriously, he stopped me at Van Buren because he knew I was showing off - and, no doubt, because he didn't know the correct order himself.

Knowing the presidents - all of them - is a good bar room trick. And it probably makes for a good bet if you need a few bucks. But it can be fun, too. And of course it is educational. Once you know their names and the order in which they served you might find yourself gaining just a bit more interest in American history. And I also believe that it's a good memory exercise. I am no head doctor so I can't tell you anything other then my own experience. I don't know for sure if it has helped my memory, but I believe it hasn't hurt.

I tend to remember presidents in threes, partly because of the rhythm you develop when you reduce anything to beats. A simple knowledge of history helps, too. For example. It is very easy to remember Washington, Adams, Jefferson, the first three. Washington was a federalist, so was his VP Adams. These were like the Democrats of colonial life. Both wanted the government to have more control over the states, Washington, mostly because he wanted to be able to raise an army to fight off invaders whenever he needed to and he wanted the states to share in the expense. Adams, I'm afraid just wanted more power for the sake of having more power. Jefferson, on the other hand, was an anti-Federalist, but not a republican by today's standards. Jefferson was also a financial deadbeat, who died owing everyone. He was a womanizer. He was known to rape slaves. One slave, with whom he apparently had a real relationship , got pregnant, and Jefferson sold her baby (his too) on the slave market.

So Washington, Adams and Jefferson, mostly memorable because they helped to form the nation's first political parties. And Jefferson of course for helping to better define the term "dishonorable behavior." Then we've got Madison, Monroe and the other Adams, son of the first, who of course was the second - president, that is. So let's take it from here. So far we've got Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams. We've already past the War of 1812, which happened during Madison's time (You might remember reading about Madison's beautiful wife, Dolly, running from the White House as British troops set fire to it. She is carrying the Stewart portrait of George Washington. Brave lady.) .

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams. So, taking it three at a time and keeping my history notes to myself:

Washington, Adams, Jefferson

Madison, Monroe, Adams

Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison

Tyler, Polk, Taylor

Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan

Lincoln, Johnson, Grant

Hayes, Garfield, Arthur

Cleveland Harrison, Cleveland

McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft

Wilson, Harding, Coolidge

Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman

Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson

Nixon, Ford, Carter

Reagan, Bush, Clinton

Bush, Obama

The list almost seems too short, doesn't it? You should be able to learn this in no time. How do you begin? The simple way. Go out and get a lined note tablet. Write the presidents names down in threes or fours. And remember three or four every two or three days until you can string all 44 of them together. But you can't stop there. Once you have learned to do this, you should write all the president's names- all 44 of them - in the lined tablet maybe once or twice a week. This is the brain exercise part. If you stop doing it for long periods of time you will "unlearn" it.

One of the things you can do to keep yourself interested is read up on American history as it concerns this cast of characters. Find out what the Monroe Doctrine was. Take a look at Grever Cleveland and notice that he was the only president to get elected, lose the next term, and then come back and get elected again the next term.

Look at Lincoln and Kennedy, both assassinated by Southerners, both followed by presidents named Johnson from the South. Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Lincoln was elected president in 1860. Kennedy was elected president in 1960. Both were shot on a Friday. Lincoln's secretary, Mrs. Kennedy advised him not to go to the theater that night. Kennedy's secretary, Mrs. Lincoln warned him not to go to Dallas. There are other even creepier connections, but we won't go into them here. Did you know, though, that Pres. Ford, who was a V.P. and a president was not elected to either office? Nixon appointed him V.P. when V.P. Spiro Agnew was indicted, and as V.P. he took over after Nixon resigned. Ford is the only V.P. and President who can say he was not elected to either position.

Your can look at the number of presidents who were actually related in some way or other, distant or close, you can check out the ones who were involved in war compared to the ones who were not. You can look at the number of presidents without spouses or whose spouses died while they were in the White House. How many presidential spouses gave birth in the White House, or at a hospital while their husbands served in the White House?

There are hundreds of different ways you can pull this off. Just get it done, don't give up if it takes some time; you will get there.

Seriously, feed your head.