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Time in Office: January 1961 to November 1963
Terms: Less than one – assassinated
Birthday: May 29, 1917
Birth Place: Brookline, Massachusetts
Date of Death: November 22, 1963
Place of Death: Dallas, Texas
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

Notes:
~ First Boy Scout to become President
~ Was so ill, he once received “last rites”
~ Appeared with Nixon on the first televised Presidential debate
~ Youngest man elected President
~ Created the Peace Corp
~ Kennedy and Taft – Only 2 Presidents buried at Arlington
~ First of 6 Presidents to have served in the US Navy

What hasn’t already been written or said about America’s 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy?

That he was a rather sickly child? That he lived in the shadow of a near paragon of an older brother? No matter what has been said about JFK – he was certainly never boring!

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Massachusetts but raised mainly in New York. His prominent, wealthy, and politically active family provided a private school education and vacation homes in Hyannisport, Massachusetts and Palm Beach, Florida. He attended first Canterbury School in Milford, Connecticut and then the Choate School in Wallingford where he graduated high school in 1935.

Kennedy made his first trip abroad in September 1935 – to London with his family. It was planned for him to attend school there, but by October he was back in the US instead and enrolling late at Princeton University. He spent only 6 weeks there until becoming ill. He recuperated at his family’s home in Palm Beach and then spent the Spring of 1936 working on a ranch in Benson, Arizona. In September 1936 he enrolled at Harvard.

“Jack” as he was called, led an envious college existence in between extended trips abroad – to France and Europe in 1937, to London with his father and to Cannes in 1938, and to the Soviet Union, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Czechoslovakia and Germany – heading back to London – all before September 1939. After starting as a somewhat indifferent college student, Kennedy made the Dean’s List at Harvard in his junior year, and by 1940, his thesis had been published as “Why England Slept.” In 1941 he spent some time auditing classes at Stanford University and later in the year, traveled to South America. This is a lot of travel for someone still under the age of 25. Kennedy was published again in 1955. His second book, “Profiles in Courage” won a Pulitzer Prize.

Joining the Navy in 1941, Kennedy served with distinction and honor in Panama, the Pacific Theater, and the Solomons Islands. On August 12, 1944, Kennedy’s older brother Joe was killed in action flying a mission over England. The family’s political expectations for Joe now fell on JFK. He was elected US Representative in 1946 and in 1951, as a Massachusetts congressman, Kennedy, his brother Robert, and his sister Patricia traveled for seven weeks in India, Japan, Vietnam, and Israel. Elected Senator in 1952, Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, and was on the Democratic ticket for Vice President in 1956. He was nominated and then elected President, November 1960. Kennedy – along with his wife Jacqueline and other family members, traveled nearly non-stop across the US during these campaigning years.

Trips, accompanied by his wife Jackie, to Paris and Vienna in 1961 involved political issues surrounding Nikita Khrushchev which continued with the botched Cuba invasion, (Bay of Pigs) and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also looming as an issue during Kennedy’s brief administration was the growing political unrest in Laos which, despite Kennedy’s calls for peace and after his assassination, developed into the Vietnam War.

Kennedy visited West Berlin in June 1963 where he gave this (now) famous speech at the Berlin Wall:

Kennedy's Berlin Speech

He also made a visit in 1963 to the home of his ancestors when he visited the Republic of Ireland. For a man who suffered chronic back pain, was diagnosed in with Addison’s disease in 1947, and who had other endocrine-related health issues, Kennedy refused to let pain control him.

Presidential Travels – John F. Kennedy

Anyone alive and old enough to remember November 22nd, 1963 can probably tell you where they were when they heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot while in Dallas, Texas. Thirty minutes later came the televised announcement that he had died.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery – his grave lit with an Eternal Flame. In only the first 3 years, an estimated 16 million people visited Kennedy’s grave. His two deceased minor children and later, his wife Jacqueline (May 1994), were buried there with him.

Links:
Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy International Airport
Visitor info – Arlington National Cemetery

Next, The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson

America’s 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Traveling with American Presidents Series

More on US Presidents, their homes, and their Presidential Libraries:

The Ideals Guide to Presidential Homes and Libraries

Time in Office: January 1953 to January 1961
Terms: Two
Birthday: October 14, 1890
Birth Place: Denison, Texas
Date of Death: March 28, 1969
Place of Death: Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, DC
Buried: Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas

Notes:
~ Ranked as one of the top 10 US Presidents
~ A 5-Star General in the US Army
~ Began NASA
~ Signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956
~ Enthusiastic golfer
~ Camp David is named for his son
~ Only General to serve as President in the 20th century
~ Never held elected office before the Presidency
~ Alaska and Hawaii admitted as States during his terms in office

By the time “Ike” Eisenhower’s family moved to Abilene, Kansas in 1892 from Texas, America’s 34th President, Dwight David Eisenhower was only two years old. During his lifetime, he always considered Kansas his home.

Graduating from Abilene High School in 1909, Ike was a natural-born leader who entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1911 – graduating in 1915.

His outstanding military career has been well-documented elsewhere. In his early career, Ike was in Texas, Georgia, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Camp Meade, Maryland, and the Panama Canal zone. He met his wife, Mamie Doud while stationed in Texas. The two later married in Denver – July 1916. A first son Doud, died at age 3 of scarlet fever. Eisenhower’s second son, John, born in 1922, later became a Brigadier General of the Army and served as the US Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971.

Eisenhower, once committed to his military career, never wavered – even though many in the peacetime Army of the late 1920s were leaving the military for civilian careers. Dwight was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, attended Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and until 1939 was on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur in the Phillipines.

After a series of staff positions in Washington, DC, California and Texas and by the start of World War II, Eisenhower was serving as a staff officer at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. His years of training and his own studies of historic military battles and strategies would serve the country well during World War II.

During the war, the now Brigadier General Eisenhower traveled extensively as part of his military assignments and duties. To London and Europe, where he was instrumental in planning the “D-Day” operation in June 1944. To Frankfurt at the war’s end where he was Military Governor of the US Occupation Zone. Eisenhower also toured Nazi Concentration Camps – ensuring that the devastating sites were filmed and documented to guarantee exposure and prosecution of Naza atrocities.

He returned to Washington, DC in 1945 – charged with the demobilization of the US Army.

In 1948 Eisenhower was chosen to be President of Columbia University in New York while also serving as the informal chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He traveled the US constantly during this time frame – including a well-earned rest and health stop at the Augusta National Golf Club. His memiors, “Crusades in Europe” had by now also been published to critical acclaim. In December 1950, Dwight became the Supreme Commander of NATO, Brussels, Belgium – then returning to his Columbia University position which he resigned in 1952.

Presidential Travel – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“I Like Ike” became his Presidential campaign slogan and with his outstanding military record, private and financial support, and public recognition, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as the Republican President of the United States in the November 1952 elections. In November 1956, he was re-elected. His terms in office were often labeled as being “peaceful and productive.” Read specific info on Eisenhower’s many travels as President.

Dwight and his wife Mamie had purchased a 200-year old farm adjacent to the Gettysburg battlefield. The home was completely restored and post-war and post Presidency, he and his family spent much of their time there. Health problems had plagued President Eisenhower starting with a serious heart attack in 1955. In retirement, Dwight remained involved in politics, speaking at the 1964 Republican National Convention.

Dwight Eisenhower died of congestive heart failure in March, 1969. After brief stops at Washington National Cathedral and the United States Capitol, his body was placed on a train, returning him to his final resting place in Abilene, Kansas.

Links:
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

America’s 33rd President, Harry S. Truman
Next: America’s 35th President, John F. Kennedy

Traveling with American Presidents Series

Let’s face it, we could all use a little help sometimes. Maybe a “break” in the routine would help – and a trip to a spa for a 1 hour, 1 day, or long weekend getaway might be just the thing!

Time in Office: April 1945- January 1953
Terms: Less than 2 – assumed office after Roosevelt’s death
Birthday: May 8, 1884
Birth Place: Lamar, Missouri
Date of Death: December 26, 1972
Place of Death: Kansas City, Missouri
Buried: Truman Library – Independence, Missouri

Notes:
~ Middle initial “S” but no middle name
~ Was legally blind in one eye
~ A member of the Freemasons
~ Had several business failures
~ Inaguration was the first televised nationally
~ Only President who served after 1897 without a college degree
~ “Time” magazine’s “Man of the Year” – 1945 and 1948
~ Created and organized the Department of Defense
~ Approved the Berlin Airlift
~ Received the first ever Medicare card

Photo Credit: Young Harry S. Truman
Trumanlibrary.org

Born into a farming family, Harry S. Truman, America’s 33rd President, spent most of his formative years in Independence, Missouri. Harry didn’t attend a traditional school until the age of 8 but he loved to read – having been taught by his college-educated mother, and he loved both history and music.

Harry would get up at 5am to practice piano for two hours each morning before heading off to school. A somewhat quiet and bookish young man, Harry served as a page at the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, graduated from Independence High School in 1901, and began looking for ways to earn a living – working various clerical positions in the Independence and Kansas City areas. In 1906, his father called him home to help work the farm which Harry did without complaint.

In 1905-1911 Harry was also a member of the Missouri Army National Guard. His eyesight was so poor in one eye that Harry passed the physical exam only by memorizing the eye chart in advance. In 1911 Harry also made his first proposal to Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace – a girl he had loved since he’d first met her at Sunday School at the age of 5. She rejected him and in Harry’s practical mind, she should have since he was, according to himself, a rather useless farm boy!

Prior to leaving for the war Harry was sent to Camp Doniphan in Oklahoma and then on to France. Rising to the rank of Colonel, Harry first exhibited leadership qualities and his successful war record would, in future, help him politically. At war’s end, Harry was in a bit of a hurry to get back to Missouri. His second proposal to Bess had been accepted and in June 1919 they married.

After a haberdashery business failure Truman, with the aide of a wealthy but shady local political bigwig, was elected county commisioner for Jackson County, Missouri. He became popular due to his diligence and willingness to work hard for the good of the county and it’s citizens but the connection to his benefactor who had connections to organized crime, constantly plagued him. Backed by the same benefactor, (Thomas Pendergast) in a run for the Senate in 1934, Truman would win the election, but arrive in Washington with a reputation as having bought or stolen his election. Truman would spend the next several years earning the respect of his senatorial peers.

Harry moved his wife Bess and his daughter Margaret to a rented apartment in Washington, but Bess was not pleased to be there. Having spent her entire adult life living – even after marriage – with her mother in what was her mother’s home, Bess returned to Independence, Missouri though she and Harry communicated by letter almost daily. Harry took his job as Senator very seriously and began the committee that exposed fraud and waste in military contracting during World War II.

Presidential Travel – Harry S. Truman

His honesty and willingness to dig for the details brought him to national notice and when the party was looking for an acceptable Vice Presidential nominee to Franklin’s Presidential election in 1944 – Harry was selected. Party members knew that Roosevelt’s health was deteriorating and Truman’s eventual win as Roosevelt’s VP almost guaranteed he would one day be President.

After only 82 days as Vice President, Truman learned that Roosevelt had died. His panic and feelings of being unprepared and unworthy to serve as President were summed up in his quote,”…I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” (More quotes from Harry)

With no time to waste Harry immediately learned about underway plans for an atomic bomb, and was soon attending the Potsdam Conference in Europe. By august, with the Japanese unwilling to surrender, Truman authorized use of the atomic bomb:

In 1950 he would approve development of the hydrogen bomb – 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic version.

Truman’s re-election would prove an arduous and seemingly impossible task. The US transition from war-time to peace-time had not gone smoothly and Truman was held responsbile. His efforts to win re-election took him over 21,000 miles across the United States in 1948. While supportive crowds continued to grow as news of Truman’s “Whistlestop” train tour spread, political pollsters predicted Truman would lose the election to his rival, Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman won the election – photographed proudly waving newspapers with headlines predicting his loss.

Not long after his inauguration, the Truman family was moved to Blair House in Washington, DC while extensive renovations were done at the White House. On November 1, 1950 an assassination attempt was made against Truman while he was still living there. Although it would have been allowed, despite the new 22nd amendment against third-term Presidents, by 1952, Truman decided not to run for re-election.

In 1956 Truman traveled to Europe and, after accepting an offer to give a speech in Philadelphia, drove himself and his wife, turning down “official” transport. In 1972 Truman was admitted to a Kansas City hospital suffering from pnuemonia. On December 26, 1972, at the age of 88, he died. He was buried at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. His wife Bess joined him there in 1982.

Links:
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman National Historic Site

Former President, #32 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Up next, America’s 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Series: “Traveling with American Presidents“

Time in Office: March 1933 – April 1945
Terms: 4 (died in office – fourth term)
Birthday: January 30, 1882
Birth Place: Hyde Park New York
Date of Death: April 12, 1945
Place of Death: Warm Springs, Georgia, The “Little White House.”
Buried: Springwood Estate, Roosevelt’s family home in Hyde Park, NY

Notes:
~ Only American President elected to more than two terms
~ Only physically disabled US President
~ Was an avid sailor
~ Roosevelt’s dog “Fala” was the most photographed dog in the world
~ Won his third election with a 55% popular vote
~ Honorary President of the Boy Scouts of America

Although America’s 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a privileged and somehat isolated start in life, he would be known as an advocate for the “common man” and one of the most politically savvy of all the US Presidents.

Born in 1882 to a wealthy and socially prominent family in Hyde Park, New York, young Franklin had, before he reached the age of 10, had traveled with his parents to Europe several times. His father taught him to sail, he could converse in German and French, but when it came time to board at the exclusive Groton School in Massachusetts, Franklin’s social skills with boys his own age was lacking.

Roosevelt graduated Harvard in 1903. While he was there, his fifth cousin, Theodore, became President of the United States. It was at a White House reception he attended in 1902 where Franklin became reacquainted with the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, also a distant relation of Franklin.

March 17, 1905, during the time Franklin was working on Wall Street, he and Eleanor married and moved into Springwood. Many summers were spent swimming and sailing from their house at Campobello, Canada. By 1916, the couple had six children but a marriage that was less than perfect – Franklin being social and outgoing while Eleanor was more quiet and introspective.

Two terms in the Senate led to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913. Taking an active role during World War I, Franklin visited Britain and France in 1918 where he first met Winston Churchill. Nominated as the Democratic Vice-President in 1920, but defeated by Republicans, Roosevelt returned to his New York law practice.

In August 1921 at the age of 39 and while vacationing at Campobello, Roosevelt became ill – leaving him partially paralyzed. Polio was the diagnosis although later opinions suggest Guillian-Barr Syndrome.

Never believing his paralysis was permanent, Roosevelt bought a boat and for most of the next seven years, was at least physically absent from politics – instead spending his time fishing and sailing in south Florida and the Caribbean. It was during this time frame that Franklin first visited Warm Springs, Georgia – believing the thermal pools there would benefit his physical condition.

Eleanor was instrumental in keeping FDR’s name in the political forum during this time and by the 1928 election, Franklin was Governor of New York. By March 4, 1933, he was inaugurated President of the United States. In the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin worked tirelessly to re-start the economy and develop systems to create jobs for the high number of unemployed and economically devastated Americans. He was re-elected in 1936 and again in 1940 – facing continuing if lessening economic issues, and the growing threat of war in Europe, and US involvement.

Presidential Travel Map – FDR

As expected in over a decade in office, Franklin Roosevelt traveled extensively: a secret meeting with Churchill aboard the HMS Prince of Wales in the North Atlantic in 1942, the Casablanca Conference in early 1943, in Cairo at another conference in December 1943, and the Yalta Conference in 1945.

By 1944 at the age of 62, Franklin was in declining health and returned frequently to his ‘Little White House” Warm Springs, Georgia to rest.

On April 12, 1945, just 82 days into his 4th Presidential term and one month prior to the end of World War II, Roosevelt collapsed at Warm Springs and died.

His body was placed onboard the Presidential train headed for a White House funeral on April 14th and then his final journey to his burial at his boyhood home in Hyde Park, New York.

Thousands of people lined the train’s route to pay tribute to FDR, the People’s President.

Links:

Roosevelt Memorial
Roosevelt Campobello International Park
Home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

Former President #31, Herbert Hoover.

Next President #33, Harry S. Truman

This 3 bedroom seaside Irish Cottage in Howth is situated just 10 miles north of Dublin city center and only 5 miles from Dublin airport.

The Howth Peninsula with its picturesque harbour and lighthouses, beaches, golf courses,walks, martello towers and portal tomb possesses some of the finest scenery in Ireland with magnificent panoramas over Dublin Bay.

Renovations to the cottage were completed in June 2011 and this “all new” but quaint cottage in the picturesque harbor village is ready for guests!

More about Howth.

…according to Concierge.com. Well actually they picked the Top 10, but this morning I’m looking for one, great vacation rental in one of the Top Five Labor Day holiday destinations.

1. New York

This 3br – Adirondack Whiteface Chalet, located on almost two acres of secluded area, is perfect for all seasons. Located seven miles from Whiteface Mountain and 15 miles from Lake Placid.

Spacious living and dining area with cathedral ceilings and lots of natural light….

2. Las Vegas

This 5 bedroom Las Vegas Villa is close to the Strip and the airport and has its own pool AND spa!

I love the style of this vacation rental – in warm earth tone colors and beautifully furnished. This home is new, with a spacious 3100 sq ft floor-plan, on corner lot, in a nice residential neighborhood.

3. Chicago

WOW – Check the view!

Walk to Everything Downtown from this 3 bedroom/2.5 bath condo in the heart of downtown! Enjoy Stunning Views of the City Skyline and Grant Park!

4. Denver

Good news here! You can use the pool through September!

5 bedrooms – Luxury Home Master has a fireplace AND a jetted tub!

3-car garage, new decorator accent painting, 4500 finished square feet…bring your family or some friends…

5. Seattle

A stunning retreat from the city in amazing central location in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle.

The 4 bedroom in-city forest retreat boasts 3000 square feet of private living spaces, 4 bedrooms -1 of which is it’s own suite with private entrance, makes it ideal for your large traveling group.

And the other 5 Top destinations for Labor Day?

6. San Francisco
7. Orlando
8. Boston
9. Los Angeles
10. Atlanta

Find vacation rentals in any one of these or hundreds of other areas for your Labor Day weekend!