Presidents are Just People -- Right?

We must never put the President of the United States on a pedestal. They are all, first and foremost, people, people with odd habits and strange ways. They are not divinely anointed, as a king might claim to be, nor dictators. They are, at least up until the present, just men who ran for the office and won. But many of them had their own quirks and kinds. Let's explore, shall we?

Contrary to the fable, George Washington's false teeth were not made of wood. They were made of animal bone, his own teeth, and teeth purchased from his slaves and extracted. Hmmm. Maybe he should have flossed more often.

John Quincy Adams skinny dipped in the Potomac each morning.

Andrew Jackson hated paper money, having lost money in a speculation backed by same. It seems strange that he has appeared on more U.S. currency, then, than any other Chief Executive; having appeared on the $5, $10, $50, and $10,000 bills, as well as the $1,000 Confederate bill.

Martin Van Buren spoke Dutch as his native language, despite being the first President born in the "United States', meaning after the ratification of the Constitution.

John Tyler fathered 15 children by two wives.

Franklin Pierce was arrested while in office … for running down an old woman with his horse. The case was dropped for lack of evidence.

James Buchanan may have been the only bachelor and the only homosexual, ever to hold the office although there is no direct evidence to prove the latter.

Andrew Johnson kept a family of mice as pets in his bedroom in the White House.

The Teddy Bear is named for Theodore Roosevelt. He hated the name 'Teddy'. He insisted on being called Colonel Roosevelt.

Richard Nixon could play five different musical instruments. Take that, President Clinton.

Gerald Ford was a model before WWII. In 1941, after joining the Navy, he appeared in uniform, unattributed, on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

Four presidents were cheerleaders: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Rah, rah, sis boom bah!

I lost track of the number of presidents who had mistresses, both in an out of the White House. Something to do with the Type A personality, I suppose.

So, it seems that our presidents had their individual idiosyncrasies.

But publishing personal digital trading cards? Seriously? Not even LBJ parading around the White House drunk and naked, except for wearing only a girdle, can come close to that.