Good 3rd Wednesday of the month morning to all of you arriving Good News seekers! Here at DailyKos there is a cadre of people who post a collection of uplifting, positive stories and links EVERY SINGLE DAY, and once a month they let me, WineRev, push all the buttons and ring all the bells in the Control Room, and so here you are and we are.
Now there is enough doom-and-gloom on the Internet and leaking out of the White House like a busted “black water” pipe on the third floor running down the ceilings and inside the frame walls for anyone and everyone these days. If you try to “keep up so I can keep informed”, know that the Brownshirts with Plastic Pocket Protectors are taking the Gish Gallop/ Flood the Zone approach to demoralize and exhaust you emotionally, spiritually, morally and even intellectually…..so that you despair.
But that’s why this corner of the Internet is here: yes, something of an escape, a re-charging station, a spot for deep breaths and long, slow exhaling. If Mr. Miyagi was right when he told the “Karate Kid” “All life balance, Daniel-san” he was on to something. And if the double pan scales of your life and health and relations are weighed and weighted down far too much on the dark and depressing side, well c’mon in! Read through this diary, cruise through the comments and you’ll find there is also relief….and re-charging…..and some relaxing…….even inspiration going on that will do you a lot of good for balancing your life for the living through and enduring of these days. There are plenty of blessings zinging around from all sorts of souls tip-tapping across their keyboards, and if you chip in, rec, comment, add a link, click a link, well then, your unique blessings go out to the rest of us, and we are grateful and better off than when we arrived.
Have a read, offer a reply, have a ponder to launch your day. As usual with my monthly assembly, you’ll also notice some nuggets from the History of February 19ths gone by, and I hope the Good ones and even the Goofy ones give you pause…..and consideration…...or even a chuckle. (When the foe is deadly serious and seriously, egotistically proud, humor and chuckling are powerful weapons.)
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SageHagRN & I chat about things political on a regular basis. As we have talked through various American political developments she has often found herself at sea when I make a reference to the Constitution. Lately she said, “Hey! When you do one of those Once-a-Month Wednesday Round Ups, you should skate over the Constitution for people like me. Not a whole course of course (we do inside jokes like that all the time) but a summary. Those Gnusies might find it good too.”
So, in response and reply, here is a quick run-down, in three easy to chew pieces as you go through today’s GNR, subject to your corrections, expansions, improvements, explanations and the odd quirk (because, hey, its the Round Up!)
Part the First: How we got Here
Prologue: Articles of Confederation
So…...having been bullied for a good 15 years by the British parliament AS A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT and going to war with them, and then a Revolution, the 13 colonies pasted together a working agreement among themselves: the Articles of Confederation. This set up the 13 as just that, a confederation of more-or-less similar states (a common language helped a lot) that were more-or-less the equal of every other state. (A central government would know its place…..smaller than us states…….)
Top hit #1 from the Confederation included a NAME:
“The United States of America.”
(nicely done!)
The Articles were drawn up during a war, so several articles related to this:
- An attack on 1 state was considered an attack on all (my wording)/
- Each state required to maintain a trained body of soldiers, and the states could name the officers/(you know, a “well-regulated militia”, trained, under officers)
- The new country would assume all the states’ current war debts/
- The states would raise money within their borders to send to the national government so it could declare war, make peace.
Otherwise,
- There would be free travel between the states (no toll booths/visas for those “Outsiders” from Maryland here in Rhode Island, for instance) except accused criminals could be extradited back to the state of the “scene of the crime”/
- Canada could join if it wanted to/ (That idea just will not go away….)
- The Congress would have representatives from each state (between 2 and 7 in number), each state would get ONE vote in this Congress, and all decisions needed to be unanimous (all 13 states agreeing.) (This last is why the whole thing was proposed in 1777 ……...and not ratified until 1781.)
That’s whole thing…….and because of local pride, war time pressures, general mutual suspicions (after all, some of THOSE STATES were the wrong religion…..or DIDN’T have slavery…….or did too much fishing……...!) it took 4 years to get it ratified. Fortunately, this WAS before 1783, so that there was a “United States” with a “national” body authorized to sign a Peace Treaty, so that the Revolutionary War could actually END.
After that, the 1780s showed how NOT to run a country. Yes, you could travel to another state, but did you have any of the local currency? Because those New Jersey coins and bills weren’t REAL money here in Delaware? And who here in North Carolina would trust any paper currency issued by a Massachusetts bank, right? If 2 or more states had a boundary dispute, did they each call out their well-regulated militia? (Since there were no national courts to mediate such a dispute; or a standing army to keep the two well-regulated militias apart. If you took the dispute to Congress, they had to agree 13-0 on a plan…..which was…..unlikely.)
Besides a National Name, perhaps the only other lasting thing (Top Hit #2) the Articles of Confederation Legislature created was to declare that a national currency (which, BTW, the national Congress was not authorized to issue) would be called the “dollar”, and would be a decimal system with 100 cents in 1 dollar. (Rescued us from farthings, ha-pennies, shillings, sous, pfennings, pesetas and guineas…..whew.)
We pause, quill pen in hand, to return to 2025 and today’s Good News Round Up….
Good News in Science and Engineering
>>>>>>>>>We’ve all heard a few things about AI, “artificial intelligence”, that idea that smart people have to create a machine that would be smarter than them, faster thinking than them, and self-aware/conscious. There are examples out there on line and people who are out there on the cutting edge AND who still have functioning consciences are damn worried. (These are people who have memorized the “Terminator” series and studied everything can about Star Trek’s “Borg” and they are damned scared for ALL OF US.)
Ummmm…...I, uh, used to know that…...beats me…...
And yet…...yet…...these coders who are impressing their own human engrams into their code (like the computer M-5 in Original Series Star Trek that nearly destroyed the Enterprise and the rest of Star Fleet) may have already gone a bit too far. THIS FRESH STORY seems to show that the first AI programs from about, what, 7 years ago….are already showing measurable signs of….OLD AGE! They are slower…..forgetting things…..not picking up on new stuff or know what to do with it. This is Good News-----the Terminator may loose most of his teeth and lean on a cane, and SkyNet might well retire to a virtual rocking chair and spend the next 2 centuries knitting a scarf…..(and leave the rest of us ALONE…..)
>>>>>>>>» It has been noted for centuries that human beings die. In addition to being painful and wrenching, there have long been rituals, religious acts, etc. on how to treat the body. Burial has been the most common, with a stone of remembrance of “Here lies...” After some time in the ground, the “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” finality takes over.
Lately people in many places have taken different approaches: cremation, for example. Then too, is that pine box or mahogany casket really worth it to put in the ground? It will also have its “ashes to ashes” process. NOW COMES THIS.....UNUSUAL STORY about coffins…..made of mushrooms. They crumble into humus in about 45 days. OK then……
>>>>>>>» I freely admit auto racing has never interested me. Other than learning the difference between dragsters, the Indy500 race, and what a road rally is, I ignore it. OTOH there millions of Americans, skewing strongly toward men, that live and breathe these sports, nearly always for the sake of a sound harking back to when they were 3 years old: “Vrooom, Vroom”----the Vroom-Vroom Boys. My car/truck/ATV is faster and LOUDER than yours, so its better.” These have all been various highly tuned forms of the internal combustion (IC) engine that a raft of inventors (Benz, Ford, Royce) worked out at the end of the 19th century. Aided by a fossil fuel industry to provide gas, personal transportation has defined a lot of the 20th century, and the IC has faced little or no competition…..until now.
Over the weekend was another annual Vroom-Vroom fest: the Daytona 500. But as THIS TELLING ARTICLE REPORTS the opening, ceremonial lap by all the competitors was led by a Pace Car…..that was all ELECTRIC! The Vroom-Vroom Boys had to look at the future coming at them. The EVs hardly make a sound (so much for 3-year-olds in adult sized clothing) and because of the mechanical properties of electric motors vs. IC, they are …..FAST! How fast? Typically 0-60mph in 3 seconds flat….and while they are at it, 60mph to 90 mph----in 3 more seconds.
Otherwise, smart, brainy people have been coming up with fresh scientific and engineering ideas for a LONG TIME:
Certainly a bit of whimsy on Copernicus’ face…..
1473 Torun, Poland Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer. Raised by a wealthy uncle who paid for his schooling, he was admitted to the University of Krakow where the hot major of his decade was a combination of mathematics and ‘natural philosophy’ (early science.) Nicolaus was an excellent student, and impressed classmates and faculty by being fluent in Latin, German, Polish, Greek and possibly Hebrew. In his mid-20s read through both Aristotle’s explanation of the planets and Ptolemy’s explanation of epicycles, both of which were trying to preserve the idea of the earth as the center of the universe (or at least the solar system.) In his 40s Copernicus developed his idea of “heliocentrism” (‘sun-centered’ solar system) and wrote a masterful and mathematically detailed defense of the idea. He kept this secret since it was in direct contradiction to Church teaching; he carefully arranged to have his work published at the time of his death. It was, and the ‘Copernican revolution’ in astronomy was on. (Copernicus’ grave was lost for centuries until a set of remains were rediscovered in 2008. SCIENCE proved the re-discovery genuine ---a DNA match between his skull and 2 strands of his hair he had left tucked in a book.)
Can you hear the crackle?
1906 Battle Creek, Michigan Business partners Charles Bolin and William Kellogg incorporate their company this day as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Mr. Kellogg spends 2/3 of the company’s first year budget on advertising their Corn Flakes. He traveled everywhere so that retailers would start ordering “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.” (And they did.)
1913 Chicago The Cracker Jack sweet popcorn company has been around almost 20 years and is making a go of it. (They cleverly named their product “crackerjack”, 1890’s slang for “high quality”, and a friend of the owners had a musical hit in 1907 with “Take Me out to the Ballgame” that gave them tons of free publicity by including their name in the lyrics.) This day, to keep sales going nicely, for the first time the company starts adding a small toy to every box (“A prize every time.”)
Part the Second: How Things Got Better
So, after the Pro-logue,
The Logue: The Constitution
By 1787, just 6 years into it, everyone agreed the Articles of Confederation are NOT working. So, let’s hold a Convention to figure out how to fix things. Several states, BTW, sent delegates under orders to ONLY change or amend the Articles (and Rhode Island was so jaded or suspicious they did not attend at all.) This was because there were rumors of a wholesale change---and these were true.
James Madison had been hard at work at home, in his library, and via letters to all sorts of friends, coming up with the idea of a Constitution that would amend the Confederation by replacing it wholesale.
Seven Articles:
- 1) A Legislative Branch of 2 Houses, with one based on the population of the states, and the other just on the basis of being states, equal to the others. This “Congress” has specifics for being elected, to impeach other officers in the government, will meet at least once a year………. Everyone will get paid for their work, and Congress can actually impose taxes, print & mint money (instead of begging the states for donations), impose tariffs (the #1 source of federal funds for decades), create federal courts under the Supreme Court, pay national debts and borrow money to create national debts, establish and fund a post office, determine American citizenship of all persons, promote inventions and industry via patents and trademarks, declare war, fund a navy and call out the militia of the states in case of war (like in the Confederation, great distrust of a standing army…...hence the “call out the militias” angle.)
- 2) An Executive Branch, headed by a President, a Veep, an Oath of Office for these, and various departments created to carry out laws enacted by Congress (and signed by the President.) ……….The President could sign bills into law, allow a passed bill to become law without signature, or veto a bill----which could be over-ridden by Congress……... Will be Commander in Chief of Navy and called-out militias in war time. President could arrange treaties but the Senate (by 2/3 vote) had to agree or No Sale. Impeachment by Congress is possible against Executive.
- 3) A Judiciary Branch, with a Supreme court and other federal courts to decide national questions (long list) and their relation to the Constitution, jurisdiction in both criminal and civil cases, definition of treason.
- 4) and 6) The powers of the states to run their own affairs and respect the laws of the other states----and yet (#6) if a federal law and a state law were in conflict, the national one had priority…..and ALL laws needed to conform to the Constitution.
- 5) The Constitution can be changed/amended, but carefully and with difficulty: 2/3 of a Convention of the states OR 2/3 approval by each house of Congress AND ratification by ¾ of the states (instead of unanimous.)
- 7) The New Constitution would be in effect when ¾ of the states had ratified it…...which took about 10 months, with New Hampshire being #9 to push it over the top.
We pause once more, quill pen still in hand, to return to 2025 and today’s Good News Round Up….
Good News in Music, Literature, Art and even Sports
>>>>>>» The charming city of Venice, Italy has long been renowned for its network of canals. (Originally built as a way of fending off various horse-mounted barbarians; the Venice folk could slip away on water, or reinforce their defenders the same way.) The gondolas are legendary, and romantic, with one chap in the stern with a long oar moving and steering their way. Yes, we all know these are not “practical” or “efficient” anymore but if you go to Venice, very few hire a motorboat for a tour.
Oaring, and its close cousins, mules pulling tow ropes, and poling by one or a few people, have been around a long time to move rafts, barges, gondolas and other craft in calm waters short distances over water. In our own Virginia, the Hatton Ferry across the James River has been poling people, freight, wagons, and even vehicles and pick up trucks, across the James in both directions for 155 years (since 1870). NOW COMES WISTFUL WORD that due to liability issues and insurance premiums, the Hatton Ferry will hang up its poles and no longer accept applicants for apprenticing in poling for dollars. Understandable, but still…….
Nonetheless, other moments and that stir the heart have seen February 19 in a kind light.
1743 Lucca, Italy, Birth of Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini, cellist and composer. Born into a talented family: his father played cello and double bass professionally, and an older brother was a dancer and a poet who wrote opera librettos for Salieri and Haydn. At age 13 his family moved to Vienna; a couple years later Luigi studied 2 years in Rome and then moved to Madrid. He had several successful years as a court composer and musician until he had an argument with royalty and was fired. He retreated with a friend to a little town in Avila where he composed furiously, and produced some of his most famous works, and over 100 concertos and chamber music pieces. His talent and fame brought him new patrons: the French ambassador to Spain, and the King of Prussia among others, both who sought him out in Avila.
Has become a Muzak standard….as well as my personal ringtone for incoming calls….but of course
1928 St. Moritz, Switzerland The 2nd ever WINTER Olympics end today, but there are a few final events that wind up today before the closing ceremonies. One of these is the gold medal game in men’s ice hockey. Canada (naturally) looks to beat Switzerland (so a home crowd in the stands, and happy their guys are going to get at least the silver). Canada wins…….going away…….final: 13-0. Yikes!
1928 Team Canada 1 goalie, 9 guys to skate, 5 on the ice at one time…..yeah, 9 is plenty.
1963 Across American bookstores Publication this day of Betty Friedan’s book, “The Feminine Mystique”. Watershed book in establishing modern feminism, the rise of women’s organizations and consciousness-raising groups. The echoes still ring….
You know that sweater, those sneaks
1968 Across American TV sets The National Education Television channel (forerunner to PBS) this day premiered a new children’s program. Local Pittsburgh children’s host Fred Rogers puts on his sweater and goes national as he welcomes everyone to Mister Rogers Neighborhood.
Part the Third and Last: Making the Good-er even Better
From Pro-Logue…….to Logue……
to Post-Logue: Amendments
You’ll note the Constitution’s 7 Articles are the soul of brevity…..almost to a fault. Better spell out some things explicitly. Indeed, in order to get to ¾ of the states ratifying, there were promises made of Amendments that would be added (using Article 5) almost immediately. The promise was kept, and a set of 10 Amendments was sent out and ratified as a package deal, nicknamed the “Bill of Rights.”
PROPOSING Amendments has proven popular. Since 1789 over 11,000 (NOT a typo) Amendments have been proposed in one way or another…...and only 27 have actually been approved. It is interesting to note that these 27 were added in roughly four clusters, with long stretches for 11,000 other ideas to get ignored.
Cluster 1: #1-12 (1791 to 1804) The Bill of Rights for individuals, and a re-affirmation of Article 4 about the rights of states (#9) and the People as whole (#10).
#11 Limited the right of citizens to sue states (only a few exceptions) and outlawed hereditary titles (maybe to discourage European aristocrats moving here and wanting clout/wealth and influence due the “duchess” of this or the “baron” of that.)
#12 noticed political parties had been invented and that a President and a Vice-President should be elected together, from the same party, rather than #1 vote-getter is President and #2 is Vice-President. (Which was why Federalist John Adams (1796) had Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) as Veep. For a contemporary take, imagine in 2016 Trump had won the Electoral College, but since Hillary was the runner up there, she would have been the Veep. Right…..)
Cluster 2: #13, 14 & 15 (1865-1870) In the fallout from the Civil War (“lets not go through THAT again!”), since slavery seemed to be the root cause of the war, let’s abolish slavery (13), grant legal standing to US persons (amplifying Article 1 of Constitution) regardless of prior legal status (slaves), or where your parents came from (birthright citizenship), or even on account of sex (you mean women? Yep. 14), and grant the right to vote to those (male) citizens regardless of their background (15).
Cluster 3: #16-19, and 20 & 21 (1913-1920/ 1932-3) The Gilded Age of the Robber Barons ignited a national backlash (the Grange/Populists---the real ones/ workers’ organizations/). So, a federal tax on incomes (#16; over-ruled several times as UN-Constitutional until now by the Supreme Court, so this makes it part of the Constitution, et voila!), direct election of Senators (#17 instead of by state legislatures----which were easier/cheaper to buy off by the 1%), Prohibition (#18 to show how pure and moral we could be), and the vote for women #19. #20 was housekeeping (moving Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20) and the Celebrated #21 (“I’ll drink to that!”), repealing #18, admitting that had gone too far only 13 years later.
Cluster 4…..(A slower motion cluster) #22-27 (1951-1971/1992). #22, (1951) after FDR got elected 4 times (breaking a tradition of 2 terms going back to Washington) there was strong feeling that a 2 term limit out to be spelled out. #23 (1961) The District of Columbia is directly administered by Congress, and yet can’t have any say in national affairs…….so now they are awarded Electoral college votes. #24 (1964) Abolishing a “poll tax,” a charge to cast your vote (think that discriminated against the poor, especially THOSE people? Not any more.) #25 (1967) What if the President goes into a coma or becomes demented in office? How to replace her/him between elections? Powers described and outlined for a process. #26 (1971) A uniform national voting age of 18 on up. (Old enough to get drafted, old enough to vote!) #27 (1992) Congress can NOT give itself a pay raise that goes into effect until an election happens (so the voters get a chance to say, “Not for you!” or, “Yeah, OK.”)
Fun fact: who was the author of this 27th Amendment? James Madison! THE Madison. It was proposed (along with 10 other Amendments (see 1791 above) but dropped from the package. Nonetheless went to the States, and, in 1992 (!) after 38 states (¾ majority in ‘92) had ratified, it was added to the Constitution.
Here endeth the run down and the re-cap. Hope this helps everyone and gets you curious enough to “do your own research”.
Good News in Society & Politics
>>>>>» Tom Homan is the Deportation Czar for the Mal-Administration. He is finding the job harder than he expected because he is quite short on StormTroopers to do round ups, and fewer and fewer states and towns are offering any help. Also, he is getting publicly ripped about every third day by AOC of the US House and is not taking it well. (AOC, a former Manhattan bartender, has professionally dealt with loud, pushy, drunken, bullying white pricks in No-Kidding New York style, and I love every round of it.) The other day Homan played his high card: “Since you keep quoting the Constitution and using social media to inform immigrants of their rights and how to assert them, what if I call up my fellow henchmen and wenchwomen pretending to the be the DOJ and have them investigate you, AOC!”
Let the cheering begin….AOC HAS ANSWERED BACK, “Bring it on, you ugly Cue Ball prick punk.” (My translation of Manhattan-ese, although I admit I’m rusty…..)
>>>>>>>> Those women! Not staying barefoot, pregnant and chained to the stove! The Xtian Nationalists and their TV (nearly all) white, male “preachers” wake up every morning with these words in mind and thinking up new ways to make sure women know they are the “weaker sex.” Well, about that, especially the sex part. Just make a few public points, 2 members of the Ohio House (in the minority), Anita Somani (D) and Tristan Rader (D) have just co-sponsored a bill (STORY AT THIS LINK) that would make it illegal for men to have unprotected sex (“Discharge genetic material”) …..unless they INTEND to create a baby. There are exceptions for….. discharge….if the male in question uses protection, or…..is part of the LGBTQ+ community, or…. if the male….discharges…..by his own hand. No, it’s not going to pass, but it will make a mockery and a squirming among the boys dressed up as men pretending to be righteous, religious, and/or pure.
Having come out of the Ohio Legislature with a sidelong look at….the Goofy, here are some other February 19th moments, most of them ALSO Goofy in different ways.
1674 London England and the Netherlands this day sign a peace treaty to end the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Treaty of Westminster. There are various provisions and re-drawings of territories. One of these formally transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam at the mouth of the Hudson River in North America to British rule. The British rename the colony and the town New York (which the Dutch probably considered Goofy….)
The Only NON-rectangular US state flag...of my home state (17 stars!)
1803 Washington DC (We bring you the Goofy!) The Country is growing you know, and now that area west of Pittsburgh and between Lake Erie and the Ohio River takes the next step. On this day Congress approves the boundary lines and state constitution for the new state of Ohio, making my home state #17 on the list. BUT….somehow Congress forgets to formally ratify the act (like it has done and will do for other states.) Somebody unearthed this and in 1953 (the 150th anniversary) Congress FINALLY does so, and makes the ratification retroactive, so Ohio remains #17….
1859 New York City (We bring you the Goofy…..in spades.) The History Corner notes this city has had its share of high-profile criminal and civil court cases. On this day the verdict is read in the case of New York Congressman Daniel Sickles. He is accused of shooting to death his wife’s adulterous lover, a lawyer named Philip Barton Key (the son of Francis Scott Key, composer of the “Star Spangled Banner”). Sickles’ defense was built around “defending the sanctity of the home” (a weighty consideration, but not enough for “reasonable doubt”) but this day Sickles is acquitted on grounds of “temporary insanity”, the first successful use in the US of such a defense.
Dan Sickles, all smiles after his trek in Spain…….
Sickles went on to become a Union General, a bad one, and he was wounded by a cannon ball at Gettysburg. He survived, but his wounded leg was amputated.
And how “temporary” was Sickles’ “insanity”? Well--- despite the “sanctity of his home” he went on a postwar tour of Europe….without his wife. While there he spent several weeks in the company of the Queen of Spain in Madrid. She found him (and his missing leg) passionately, even scandalously/talk of European gossip, attractive and acted on her impulses. (The Queen was later diagnosed as a nymphomaniac.) Later on, back in the States, Sickles had arranged to donate his severed leg (bones) mounted and delivered to a museum. Every year for the rest of his life (and he lived to age 94 in 1914) he would visit the museum a few times each year, sitting for hours in front of the display in silence.
1913 Mexico City (We bring you the Goofy!) These are revolutionary times in Mexico, with political factions using their own armies to take out opponents
Just long enough for
the Official Portrait
of President Lascurain….
and seize power. In the back and forth of all this today Pedro Lascurain becomes President of Mexico……for 45 minutes. He is remembered because, to this date, this is the shortest term of any person as president of any country.
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It has been a year since I posted a couple profiles of the US First Ladies, and a good number of you have cheered me on and asked for more each month. Well this GNR is rather long already, so I’m just posting one this month. In your perusal of the Constitution and in your memories of American History, James Madison (4th President) appears often. And the man was married…..to a remarkable woman.
Most source material drawn from National First Ladies Library of Canton, Ohio
Dolley (Payne Todd) Madison was born May 20, 1768 in New Garden, North Carolina. Her father, John Payne, and mother Mary, had married in 1761 and had produced 3 boys in the next 3 years. He was a Virginia planter who moved to North Carolina in 1766. Dolley was born there, the same year her father (and likely her mother) became a Quaker. In 1769 the family moved back to Virginia. After the American Revolution, in observance of his new faith, John (now with 4 more mouths to feed, born 1777-1782: three more girls and a son) nonetheless freed all his slaves and moved the family to Philadelphia (Quaker central.) There he tried to make a business out of starch-making and doing laundry, but failed. His wife took in boarders to help earn some sort of income (including, for several months, New York Congressman Aaron Burr, attending Congress in Philadelphia.)
By now Dolley had had a fair education (before her father fell on hard times). She was literate, well-mannered and in general rather well-educated for a woman of her times, although no records exist as to how she acquired this. (Tutors? Local school? Female boarding school? The record is silent.)
In 1790, when Dolley was 21 she married John Todd, a local Washington lawyer. They had two children, both boys, John and William. Tragically, in 1793 both infant son William and husband John died on the same day in a yellow fever epidemic. Widowed mother and young son (John Payne) lived off of John’s estate, and then in 1794 (Dolley age 25) in Charles Town (later West), Virginia, married planter James Madison (age 43). They lived in this town for 3 years, and then James retired (at age 46) and moved back to the family plantation in Orange, Virginia (named “Montpelier”, less than 20 miles from good friend Thomas Jefferson at “Monticello.”)
In 1801 that friend Jefferson was elected President, and asked Madison to serve as Secretary of State. The Madisons and stepson John Payne moved to Washington City for the next 8 years (and then 8 more after that.) The Madisons had no children of their own, but James tried his best to be a father to “Payne” (which he always went by). He sent and paid for Payne to attend an academy, but after several months Payne flunked out. Meanwhile Jefferson’s wife died early in his Presidency, and he frequently asked Dolley to function as White House hostess for various events, dinners and dances. This gave her a good deal of “on the job” experience and also established her as a public figure in her own right.
First Lady Dolley Madison in a signature turban….
In 1808, Madison won the Presidency. The night before his Inauguration in March, 1809, Dolley arranged for a dinner and dance for 400 at a Washington hotel, which is noted as the first-ever “Inaugural Ball.” Because of her familiarity as hostess during the Jefferson years, her public appearances were well-received, and, un-like both Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, Dolley relished and enjoyed chances to meet the public. Her frequent White House events were celebrated occasions, and she usually appeared at these wearing a turban (and she had several of these.) This was very exotic for the time but she openly noted this gave guests a light topic for opening conversations. Foreign guests found these conversations lively and rather political, as Dolley did her best to promote the new country and its position on issues of the day.
Dolley Madison was the first First Lady to take on her own personal project (a Washington girl’s orphanage), giving it publicity and doing fund-raising to support it. More famously, during the War of 1812 the British Army attacked and sacked Washington. All the leading officials fled, including the President, but Dolley would not leave until the servants had knocked a life-sized painting of George Washington (by Gilbert Stuart) out of its frame so it could be rolled up in the Presidential carriage. (When the White House was reconstructed after the War, the painting was remounted…..and still hangs there today.)
After James’ second term ended (1816) the Madisons retired to his plantation in Virginia. In 1815 Madison had sent an American delegation to Ghent to negotiate a peace treaty to end the War of 1812. He sent along his stepson with the delegation, John Payne (Dolley’s son from her first marriage) on the idea that the young man (about 20 at this point) might learn something about diplomacy and that a change of scene to Europe might improve him. Instead, John left the delegation after a few weeks and spent years roaming around Europe, gambling and drinking. Madison covered the debts Payne ran up, but kept this from Dolley.
The debts were substantial, so that in 1836, when James died, Dolley discovered the scale of those debts. Over a couple years she was forced to sell off the entire plantation, including the mansion, leaving her nearly destitute.
She moved back to Washington and in the 1840s was able to strike up friendly relations with several members of Congress as well as First Ladies like Julia Taylor and Sarah Polk. Dolley managed to assemble a sheaf of James’ work, his notes and drafts that led to the writing of the Constitution. While Congress did not provide First Lady pensions in those days, for this “living link” to the fading Founding Fathers, they bought these papers for a pretty sum, allowing her to live more comfortably the rest of her life. In an amazing honor, the US House also voted her an honorary chair on the House floor, so that she could be present for debates—-the first woman ever on the floor of the House.
The venerable Dolley Madison….via photograph
Other notable events in her later years included the public display (1844) by Samuel Morse on the steps of the US Capitol as he demonstrated his invention of the telegraph—-sending and receiving a message from Baltimore. (He was (successfully) lobbying Congress to back his idea so it could “go national”.) As the excitement of the demonstration subsided, Mr. Morse asked “Lady Madison” if she knew someone in Baltimore who she wrote to regularly. She did, and Morse invited her to use his invention for a message——the world’s first private citizen to send a telegram. Living through most of the 1840s she had another encounter with high-tech and became the first First Lady to be photographed.
When she died (age 81) in 1849 in Washington, President Zachary Taylor delivered one of the eulogies. No text has survived, but several diarists noted President Taylor called her the “First Lady”—-the first known public use of that term. (Until now, the President’s wife had been “Lady Washington” or “Lady Monroe”, etc.)
A cuddle, a blank-y, my paw and your glass…..
Well, thank you for reading/scanning/ scrolling/skimming through the Wednesday Round Up of Good News. Now comes the best part: YOU! Yes, now it’s YOUR TURN to add a story, rec a comment, leave a comment, start a thread, digress closely or far away in a thread on a thread on a thread.
Post something, rec someone, clarify something, add some background, foreground, sidelights, back lights of your knowledge, wisdom and bonhomie (bonhomie! I say) so that you and everyone who stops by today goes away satisfied, even glad, they did.
May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.
