For the past four days, we've been hearing about the historic nature of President-Elect Obama's election (I still can't get over saying that; it's so awesome). And yet I continue to hear the most ridiculous historical fallacy that we all hear every four years. "Barack Obama is the 44th President." That is no the truth.
Follow me over the flip...
There have been only fourty-two people who were president. It's not that hard to figure out. All you have to do is count them:
- George Washington (1789-1797)
- John Adams (1797-1801)
- Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
- James Madison (1809-1817)
- James Monroe (1817-1825)
- John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
- Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
- Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
- William Henry Harrison (1841)
- John Tyler (1841-1845)
- James K. Polk (1845-1849)
- Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
- Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
- Franklin Pierce (1853-1857; (a Bush relative through his mother and the third worst president ever. The Bush family has first and third worst presidents ever. A sad, sad legacy).
- James Buchanan (1857-1861)
- Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
- Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
- Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
- James Garfield (1881)
- Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)
- Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
Here is where history and popular culture diverge. Grover Cleveland was elected twice. But he is our only non-consecutively reelected president. He was elected in 1885. He lost in 1889 to Benjamin Harrison. And then he was reelected in 1893. Historically, he's the 22nd president. But in the popular culture. He is the 22nd and the 24th president. It makes absolutely no sense to count him twice. I show you what I mean by continuing the count:
Historical succession Popular Culture Succession
- Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) 23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) 24. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
- William McKinley (1897-1901) 25. William McKinley (1897-1901)
- Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) 26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
- William H. Taft (1909-1913) 27. William H. Taft (1909-1913)
- Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) 28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
- Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) 29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
- Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) 30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
- Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) 31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
- FDR (1933-1945) 32. FDR (1933-1945)
- Harry Truman (1945-1953) 33. Harry Truman (1945-1953)
- Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) 34. Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961)
- John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) 35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) 36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
- Richard Nixon (1969-1974) 37. Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
- Gerald Ford (1974-1977) 38. Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
- James E. Carter (1977-1981) 39. James E. Carter (1977-1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) 40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
- George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) 41. George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
- William J. Clinton (1993-2001) 42. William J. Clinton (1993-2001)
- George W. Bush (2001-today) 43. George W. Bush (2001-today)
(And soon Thank G-d!)
- Barack Obama (2009-2017) 44. Barack Obama (2009-2017)
So why do we count Grover Cleveland twice? He's not that great a president. He did give us the Sherman Anti-Trust, lower tariffs and reassert the Monroe Doctrine. But he took the country off silver and attacked labor union strikers at the 1894 Pullman Strike (during the Gilded Age when Corporations were buying Senators, like today). He was an average president. He didn't unite the Union or take us out of the Great Depression or begin our Union with a strength unmatched by other people.
Why does he deserve to be counted twice? We've had dozens of two term presidents; we don't count them twice. Wouldn't it seem weird to say that George Washington was our 1st and 2nd president? The only reason we do it in the popular culture is b/c we're used to it. But it doesn't make any sense.
Let's not be stereotypical and show that Americans are ignorant of our own history.