Tag: Monroe Doctrine

John Quincy Adams first president to be photographed

Golden Brodie fetches a gator and silks on #6

Published on by goldenbrodie4 Comments

#6…John Quincy Adams born 1767…first son of a former president to become POTUS…first president photographed… born in Braintree, Massachusetts…Harvard grad… traveled abroad assisting his father…who was a founding father… outstanding multilingual talents…Q spoke English,French and Russian fluently and got by with Greek, Italian and Spanish.  John Q’s life had him as a young boy witnessing the Revolutionary War practically in his MA backyard…he knew Thomas Jefferson well and hung out with Benjamin Franklin’s grandchildren…in his father’s footsteps…he dedicated his life to public service…architect of the Monroe Doctrine…after his presidency he served as U.S. Representative from Massachusetts in 1830, serving for the last 17 years of his life with greater acclaim than he had achieved as president.

Best golden digs…Q did not have a dog while in the White House…he did however, have an alligator gifted to him from the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette’s family.  In the absence of social media then…ha!… we don’t know how the lovely first lady Abigail Adams felt about the reptile…but the toothy jawed creature lived in a bathtub in the East Wing…constantly shocking people with its mere image…eventually finding a new home (unknown location.)  Abigail also raised silk-worms and the silks contributed in the making of her dresses.  How about that?!  Gator and silks…

Young alligator in the reeds
Alligator in the reeds…not in a bathtub
A silkworm eating a Mulberry leaf
Silkworm eating to make a dress
Standing statue of James Monroe

Brodie’s history nuggets about #5

Published on by goldenbrodie11 Comments

5th President of the United States…James Monroe…born in Virginia…graduate of the College of William and Mary…was instrumental and in the room as one of the founding fathers…there are so many “the only or the first to” regarding his presidency that my golden-self had to take a treat and grab a slurp of water. Example…Monroe was the first president to wear long pants…bye bye knee breeches…his daughter was the first bride in the White House…first president to ride in a steamboat and the last to wear a wig.  Man he was out there!

His contributions to the development of the United States were monumental.

Here’s the golden part.  He had sheep dogs and a black spaniel that enjoyed living in the White House.

Fireworks on the night sky
Fireworks on the night sky

This is amazing… this little nugget tugs at my patriotic heart…three of the first five U.S. Presidents died on the 4th of July… John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died in 1826 within hours of each other, while James Monroe, #5, died five years later in 1831 as the fireworks and celebration of our independence  rang through the skies and the streets. Golden amazing…Thanks be to these great men.