Our 4th President, James Madison, was born here in Port Conway, Virginia in 1751. It is interesting that he was born here at Belle Grove Plantation instead of Orange County, where his parents lived. They were visiting Madison’s mother’s family at Belle Grove when she gave birth to him. The house Madison was born in no longer stands.Belle Grove Plantation is privately owned.The drive to Belle Grove.The rear entrance.The front (river facing) entrance.Rappahannock River looking upstream toward Fredericksburg.Out buildingOut building doorOut building undergoing restoration.Out buildingsThanksgiving dinner inside the house.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fifth cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, was our 32nd president. He was the only president to serve more than two terms. He was elected four times, but he died early in the first year of his fourth term, April 12, 1945. He served from 1933-1945.FDR’s Hyde Park homeFront viewThe view from his front yard.FDR Presidential Library and Museum.FDR’s Oval Office desk.The Bible FDR used all four times he took the presidential oath of office. Freedom sculpture on the grounds. At the base, the freedoms named are Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Fear.Displays in the FDR MuseumTypical 1930s kitchen where families listened to the radio, which FDR used skillfully with his “Fireside Chats”.FDR’s private studyThe memorandum President Roosevelt received on December 7, 1941, informing him of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.Fragment from the USS Arizona which was sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.Fala, FDR’s dogFDR’s deathFDR’s funeralFDR’s 1936 Ford Phaeton.One of the many model ships and boats from FDR’s collection.Bust of FDR outside of the Library and Museum.Posing with President Franklin and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.The graves of President Franklin and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Zoom in to see the etching.The museum had a special exhibit, The Art of War. This exhibit contains many posters that were used during World War II.This is the iconic Uncle Sam “I Want You” poster.Recruiting for nurses. (Another one for you, Kayla.)We could also identify our other primary enemy in World War II.We used to be able to identify our enemy clearly.
This is the site where Martin Van Buren, our 8th president, was born in 1782. This is located in Kinderhook, New York. President Martin Van Buren’s home, Lindenwald in Kinderhook. He was our 8th president, who was President Andrew Jackson’s hand-picked successor in 1837. He presided over the financial Panic of 1837 which was devastating to the economy. He was a failed president, and served only one term, 1837-1841, very similar to George H. W. Bush. Both presidents succeeded wildly popular presidents (Jackson, Reagan), then failed to win re-election after their first term. President Bush retired to private life. President Van Buren continued to run for president in several other election cycles, losing every time.Lindenwald, home of President Martin Van Buren. The architectural style is a combination of Georgian, Victorian and Italianate.LindenwaldRear of LindenwaldGrave of President Martin Van Buren, Kinderhook, New York
Grave of President Chester A. Arthur, our 21st president.Plate on President Arthur’s grave stone.Becoming president upon the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881, President Arthur served out the remainder of President Garfield’s term from 1881-1885, and did not secure the Republican nomination for the 1884 election. His signature issue was reforming the spoils system, and he signed into law the Pendleton Act, which required that government jobs be distributed according to merit, rather than cronyism. Arthur married a Culpeper, Virginia girl, Nell Herndon, She died when she was only 42 years old, almost two years before Arthur became president. Arthur’s sister served as First Lady during his term.Portrait of President Chester A. Arthur in the Vermont State Capitol. He was a Vermont native.
President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, Plymouth, Vermont. Coolidge is one of my favorite presidents. He was our 30th president, and was the only president to be born on the 4th of July (1872). Coolidge was faithful to the US Constitution during his term; he refused to use government intervention to “correct” a downturn in the economy, much to the displeasure of the progressives. He was a very straight arrow, no-nonsense person. He was especially known to use an economy of words. It was reported that while at a Washington social event during Coolidge’s presidency (1923-1929), a news reporter approached the president and told him that he had bet another reporter that he would be able to get the president to say more than two words, to which Coolidge replied “You lose”.The view from the village of Plymouth, VermontCalvin Coolidge was born here, in a back room of the General Store. This is the actual room where Calvin Coolidge was born.Room in Coolidge’s birthplaceKitchen in Coolidge’s birthplaceThe Coolidge Home in Plymouth. The entire village of Plymouth was a tour – the general store, old school house, Coolidge home, the cheese company, and a few others. It was actually a much better tour than I expected. The self-guided tour of the Coolidge home was really neat. It is a well preserved example of the simple American rural life back in the late 1800s.This was Calvin Coolidge’s bedroom. There are two pairs of his shoes next to the dresser on the far wall.Although he was a Vermont native, Coolidge went to college in Massachusetts and stayed there, eventually serving as Governor. He was President Warren Harding’s Vice President from 1921-1923, when Harding died. At the time Harding died, Coolidge was visiting his father here in Plymouth. His father, a notary public, administered the presidential oath of office to his son in this room, using the Bible on the table in the center of the room.President Coolidge used to relax on this front porch. Now, so have I!Carriage House at the Coolidge homesteadOfficial portrait of President Calvin Coolidge. Calvin’s father operated the Plymouth Cheese Corp. here. His father also was involved in just about every activity in this small village, which is mostly as it was when Calvin Coolidge was growing up here. General Store. Calvin Coolidge was born in a room in the rear of this building.Plymouth Post OfficeVillage streetUnion Christian ChurchChurch interiorSchoolhouse1923 Ford President Calvin Coolidge grave.Portrait of President Calvin Coolidge hanging in the Vermont state capitol.
