When President John Adams and his family moved to Washington to live in the White House, they got lost in the woods north of the city for several hours. There was no GPS back then or traffic jams. However, it took days to travel relatively short distances. Traveling from Red Bluff to Rolling Hills Casino would have taken hours instead of minutes.
It’s almost inspirational knowing that a President can get lost just like you and I. We all get lost sometimes; it’s the ability to find our way that’s important. Ending up at the right place often takes persistence — and sometimes guts and timing.
Persistence and timing definitely paid off for the first American woman journalist, Anne Royall. She knew President John Quincy Adams regularly swam nude in the Potomac River at 5am. After being refused interviews with Adams many times, she went to the river, gathered his clothes and sat on them until she had her interview. Before this, no female had interviewed a president.
I think it would cause quite an uproar if a President today went skinny dipping in the Potomac. Today’s president would also look silly dressed like George Washington. James Madison was the first president to wear trousers rather than knee breeches. Thanks to Madison, we all look Presidential when we go to the Casino.
James Madison, who is known as the “Father of our Constitution,” proved you don’t need to be big to be mighty. He was the shortest and lightest president at 5 feet, 4 inches and about 100 pounds. You also don’t need to be big to be lucky.
If you are President, a little luck doesn’t hurt. Andrew Jackson was probably the luckiest president when a house painter fired a gun at him. When the gun misfired, the painter drew a second gun and it misfired as well.
You don’t have to be lucky or successful to be Presidential material. President Abraham Lincoln failed as a business man, failed as a farmer, failed in his first attempt to obtain political office, failed when he sought the office of speaker, failed in his first attempt to go to Congress, failed when he sought the appointment to the United States Land Office, failed when he ran for the United States Senate, and he failed when friends sought for him the nomination for the vice-presidency in 1856. The day he was assassinated definitely was not his lucky day.
As unlucky and unsuccessful as President Lincoln was at so many things, he teaches us we don’t have to be successful at everything to achieve greatness. The important thing is to keep trying.
It’s also important to keep learning, and not let what we don’t know now stop us from achieving great things. Andrew Johnson learned to read and write when he was an adult. His wife taught him.
Presidents weren’t always Presidents. President Ford once worked as a fashion model, Ronald Reagan acted in 53 films, and Jimmy Carter studied nuclear physicist. They made career path decisions that changed not only their lives, but also history.
Career isn’t everything. Harry Truman use to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to practice the piano for two hours, even while he was President. Many of our Presidents are avid golfers, and would love to play at Sevillano Links at Rolling Hills. It’s Ok to have fun.
Did you know that OK is a presidential word? President Van Buren who was raised in Kinderhook, New York. After he went into politics, Van Buren became known as "Old Kinderhook." Soon people were using the term O.K. referring to Van Buren and the word "okay" was derived.
It’s not an easy job to be President of the United States. They make tough decisions every day to protect our personal and economic freedoms and keep our nation strong. From Washington to Obama, we owe them a day of tribute. Perhaps the biggest tribute is celebrating freedoms by doing things we love to do, such as playing golf, shopping, or visiting Rolling Hills Casino.
