Accidental Presidents

You know how on Cheers, Cliff Clavin is a know-it-all mailman? That's me, after reading this book. Except the mailman part. Accidental Presidents has me walking around trying to spark conversations about little-known vice presidential history and I couldn't be happier about it!

(Note: for you youngsters, get a taste of Clavin)

This is totally not a book I would have expected to read. I'm not a huge reader of historical non-fiction and who cares about vice presidents anyway? That changed when I heard the author Jared Cohen on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast (which you should totally be listening to, by the way.) Cohen was incredibly enthusiastic and entertaining when sharing tidbits from his book - and that's even before he got to the part about he collects locks of presidential hair! That last part is not in the book, but it's amazing and you should listen to the podcast just for that.

Anyway, once I heard that podcast, I immediately put this book on hold at the library. It was intimidatingly large at first (that's NOT what she said...) - but, a good chunk of the book is footnotes and an index, so don't be afraid.

Guys. This book. OUR COUNTRY! The next time someone tells you "politics has never been more corrupt" call me and I'll Cliff Clavin them straight.

This book is about the accidental presidents. Those are the guys who never wanted to be president but became president when the other guy on the ticket died in office. You know about some of them, but you probably don't know much. And, I'm guessing you probably didn't know that America had no real plan for succession until the 25th Amendment in 1967!!! All the guys before, they were just kind of winging it. And, that's the least crazy thing you learn in this book.

A couple of factoids, if I may:
-William Henry Harrison probably died because of a buildup of human excrement in a marsh near the White House
-Zachary Taylor died because he was really hot the day he laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument and he ate a bunch of cherries and green apples and ice milk. Again, the open sewers played a role here.
-Teddy Roosevelt was once shot in the chest during a speech in Milwaukee and finished the speech!
-Warren G Harding's whole cabinet was a hot mess
-29 years before he shot Abe Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth's dad wrote letters threatening to kill Andrew Jackson!

That's just a tip of the iceberg! I could Clavin you ALL DAY on this.

As you probably noticed, I loved this book. Not just for those factoids, but for a broader sense of the strangeness of the American presidency. Most of these guys didn't like each other. Some barely KNEW each other. For most of history, the VP candidate was chosen by the party, so he was often at the far other end of the political spectrum in order to appeal to more voters. Harry Truman was completely shut out until the day FDR died and somehow, they had to just "catch him up" on our involvement in a world war!

It's fascinating, entertaining and wonderfully written. I'm also convinced that I'm going to tear it up next time there's a "Vice Presidents" category on Jeopardy. Pair that with my Women in the Bible knowledge from my sophomore college theology class, I might give Ken Jennings a run for his money!

Probably couldn't beat this guy, though.