President of the United States

Remembering FDR: A Look Back at the Funeral Procession of April 12th, 1945

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April 12th, 1945 was a sad day for our nation. Our president, who had led us through the depths of the Depression and was a force for good during World War II, died at 3:35 pm. He had just been inaugurated for a record fourth term and was guiding our country through the closing months of the greatest war the planet had ever seen.

This is a somber video of his funeral procession through the nation’s capital. The only other recent presidents to have a funeral on this scale were Kennedy and Reagan.

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A Night Out in Washington D.C. – From Dinner with President Taft to a Local Engagement Party in 1912

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An interesting society section article in the Washington Post from January 5th, 1912 (I know I’m a day late. I started this last night and set it to post today) mentions that President William Howard Taft — the heaviest president we’ve ever had the pleasure of electing — had dinner the night before at his Secretary of State’s home. Secretary Philander C. Knox and his wife hosted the first couple in the annual winter dinner of cabinet officers, honoring the President and Mrs. Taft (clearly not a tradition that survived across administrations). Below is the excerpt from the Post.

The President and Mrs. Taft were guests at dinner last night of the Secretary of State and Mrs. Knox at their home on K street. The dinner was the first in the series given every winter by cabinet officers in honor of the President and Mrs. Taft. The home of the Secretary and Mrs. Knox, which is one of the handsomest official residences in Washington, was decorated last night with orchids.

The other guests were the British Ambassador and Mrs. Bryce, the German Ambassador and Countess von Bernstorff, the Italian Ambassador and Marchioness Cusani, the Russian Ambassador and Mme. Bakhmeteff, Mr. Justice McKenna and Mrs. McKenna, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Senator and Mrs. Bailey, Mrs. Garrison McClintock, Mr. Horace Taft, and Mr. and Mrs. Hugh S. Knox.

That is an impressive guest list. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at that dinner. I added photos of some of the guests below.

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Remembering JFK: A Powerful Video of the Kennedy Family Leaving the White House

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The country was in mourning, having just lost our President a few weeks earlier in Dallas. This is a pretty somber, powerful and moving video of the Kennedy family leaving the White House and moving into their new Georgetown home at 3038 N St NW. There’s another shot of Jackie visiting JFK’s grave in Arlington Cemetery.