Doug Wead's
Mothers and Fathers of our Nation's Leaders
They were First Ladies and First Mothers:
The Dark Side: The parents of the American presidents were not all saints. Some were neurotic and abusive. Sarah Delano did not let her son Franklin have a bath without her supervision until he was nine years old. Thomas Lincoln used his fists to knock his son Abe to the ground. He called the boy lazy saying that all he wanted to do was read books.
George H.W. Bush, Sr. Defends His Son ! |
The only couples to see their son's sworn in as President. Only three Presidents had both a living father and mother when they took office Grant, Kennedy and George W. Bush. Only two had both parents present at the inauguration, Kennedy and Bush.
Ulysses Simpson Grant was inaugurated on March 4, 1869; his father, Jesse Root Grant, who attended the ceremony, died on June 29, 1873; his mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, who did not attend, died on May 11, 1883. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20, 1961; his father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, and his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, both attended the ceremony. President Kennedy was assassinated on November 23, 1963; his father died on November 18, 1969; his mother died on January 22, 1995. George Walker Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 2001; his father George Herbert Walker Bush, and his mother, Barbara Pierce Bush, were both in attendance at the ceremony. Presidents are Mama's Boys Great Stories of Presidents and their families Michelle Obama, First Mom. Life in the White House. How a First Lady puts her children first. Malia and Sasha: Summer fun. What did you do last summer? Chelsea Clinton for president? The "fun boomlet." The Garbo of presidential children opens up. Caroline Kennedy? Compared to Robert Todd Lincoln. Should she be Ambassador to the Court of St. James? Jenna Bush, was she the most beautiful White House bride? Julie Nixon Eisenhower is interviewed about life in the White House and after. Jackie Kennedy's last note to JFK, Jr. "You, especially, have a place in history." Where are you Amy Carter? Where are all the first children now? And what are they up to? Royal weddings in America? Doris Kerns Goodwin reports on Chelsea Clinton's wedding. |