Since 1800, presidents have made the White House their home base. But there have been a few times when new presidents took office unexpectedly and the world's most powerful address wasn’t yet available to them. For Gerald Ford in 1974, that meant he spent the first 10 days of his presidency living at his family home in Alexandria, Virginia.
For years, on New Year’s Day, Americans could go the White House and shake hands with the president. It's a tradition that went back to John Adams and the early days of the Executive Mansion. Plus: starting the new year by ending an old relationship? Meet the Breakup Lightbulb!
Today in 1800 President John Adams moved into the White House, the first chief executive to live in what was then called the President’s Mansion. One of the house's most adorable stories - though possibly an apocryphal one - is the time in 1862 that Abraham Lincoln supposedly helped a couple elope. Plus: the New England WizardFest gets underway this weekend in Massachusetts. Mischief managed!
We've got a little bit of everything today.
Some excellent links from the past week.
If you could have a beer with any US president from any time in history, who would it be? - Trish
I'm sure someone has asked you this before, however, out of all the presidents that you studied for your book who was the most fascinating president and why? - Christine
My friends in New Hampshire brought me in for a special episode of their podcast Civics 101 - on who can and can't run for President.
What was the biggest surprising thing you learned while writing Dead Presidents?
If you were to write a book about a living president, who would you pick and why?
