10 strange facts about our presidents   july 25, 2015 subscribe 




they may well be some of the most recognizable men on the face of the earth: our presidents. think you know all there is to know from history about these men? think again and take a look at these strange facts: presidential alligators 









two different presidents had pet alligators: john quincy adams and herbert hoover. 




adams received his pet alligator as a gift from a french general, and it lived in an unfinished bathroom of the white house. hoover<u+2019>s son had two alligators that frequently roamed the white house grounds. bet that kept the secret service on their toes. greek and latin 









james garfield, our 20th president, could write well with each hand, but he also could write greek with one hand and latin with the other at the same time! try that sometime! cool coolidge 




calvin coolidge was fond of pranking the white house staff by pressing all the buttons in the oval office just to watch everyone run in frantically, unsure of what was wrong. the rough rider roosevelt 




during a speech in milwaukee, a failed assassin shot teddy roosevelt in the chest. his next words were, <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t know whether you fully understand that i have just been shot.<u+201d> when everyone attempted to take him to the hospital, he waved them off and finished his 90 minute speech with the bullet still lodged in his chest! now that<u+2019>s toughness! dueling jackson 




president andrew jackson was involved in over 100 duels, most to protect the reputation of his wife. in one, jackson offered his opponent the first shot. the man shot jackson, but jackson merely shook it off, like it was a bee sting, then shot and killed the unlucky opponent. fashion model before gerald ford was president, he worked as a fashion model in new york city. he even made it to the cover of cosmopolitan with phyllis brown in 1942. out-of-this-world carter 




before he became president, jimmy carter was making a speech in georgia when he saw a ufo. he filed a report of the incident with the international ufo bureau stating that it was a self-illuminating, bright white object hovering in the sky. bartender-in-chief 




before abraham lincoln was the president, he was a lawyer. but before that he was he was a bartender. he owned a saloon, berry and lincoln, with his friend william berry. bushusuru 




poppy bush was in asia for a trade conference. at a state event held by the japanese prime minister, bush fainted after vomiting all over the banquet host. the japanese later coined the term <u+201c>bushusuru<u+201d> meaning <u+201c>to do the bush thing<u+201d> or <u+201c>to vomit.<u+201d> gambling harding 




warren harding loved to play poker, and during one game he bet a set of priceless white house china, which he promptly lost. 




h/t and all images: brainjet
comment on 10 strange facts about our presidents by tania de saram
tania de saram