Presidents’ Day Trivia: NY, Sports & Music
Today, February 16, is Presidents Day, when the country celebrates the 45 men (they’ve all been men so far) who have held the land’s highest office. You may not have known this, but your resident Insurance Geek is also a History Geek. In honor of the holiday, I’ve assembled some trivial information about our former chief executives that many of you may not know.
Native New Yorkers
Five presidents were born in the Empire State:
- Martin Van Buren (Kinderhook, Columbia County 1782)
- Millard Fillmore (Moravia, Cayuga County 1800
- Theodore Roosevelt (New York, New York County, 1858)
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Hyde Park, Dutchess County 1882)
- Donald Trump, (Queens, Queens County 1946)
Lived in New York
Eleven others lived in New York before or during their presidencies for periods of time ranging from a few months to many years :
- George Washington (1789 – 1791)
- James Monroe (1786, 1830 – 1831)
- Ulysses S. Grant (1839 – 1843, 1848, 1881- 1885)
- Chester Arthur (off and on from 1832 – 1886)
- Grover Cleveland (1841 – 1885, 1889 -1893)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1911 – 1915, 1948 – 1953)
- John F. Kennedy (1927 – 1935)
- Richard Nixon (1963 – 1969)
- Jimmy Carter (1953)
- Barack Obama (1981 -1985)
- Joseph R. Biden (1965 – 1968)
Sadly, one president died in New York while in office. William McKinley was shot while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on September 6, 1901. He died eight days later.
Presidential Athletes
On a happier note, a lot of presidents were amateur athletes in high school, college, or in amateur leagues:
- George Washington (horseback riding)
- Abraham Lincoln (amateur wrestling)
- Ulysses S. Grant (college wrestling)
- Theodore Roosevelt (boxing)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (college football, golf)
- John F. Kennedy (high school football, college swimming, crew, golf)
- Richard Nixon was a second-string college football player, but he designed a play for the Washington football team to use in Super Bowl VII
- Gerald Ford won two national championships as a member of the University of Michigan football team and rejected offers to play in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers
- Jimmy Carter (American Legion baseball, college cross country)
- Ronald Reagan (baseball, horseback riding)
- George H.W. Bush (high school basketball, college baseball, crew, golf)
- George W. Bush (marathon running)
- Barack Obama (high school basketball, golf)
- Donald Trump (golf)
Musicians in Chief
Lastly, several of our commanders in chief had a musical bent:
- John Adams (flute)
- Thomas Jefferson (piano, violin)
- James Madison (violin)
- John Quincy Adams (piano, flute)
- Andrew Jackson (fiddle)
- John Tyler (violin)
- Abraham Lincoln (violin)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (violin)
- James Garfield (multiple instruments including violin and banjo)
- Chester A. Arthur (piano)
- Woodrow Wilson (piano, violin)
- Warren G. Harding (multiple band instruments)
- Calvin Coolidge (harmonica)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (banjo)
- Harry Truman (piano)
- Richard Nixon (piano, saxophone, clarinet, violin, accordion)
- Jimmy Carter (piano)
- Ronald Reagan (harmonica)
- Bill Clinton (saxophone, piano)
- Barack Obama famously sang the hymn Amazing Grace to honor victims of a mass shooting in South Carolina.
Before You Hit the Presidents’ Day Sales
Two things I want you to remember:
- Teddy Roosevelt used to beat people up for fun.
- Presidents don’t make change by themselves. Change is made by groups of committed people working toward their goals. People like independent insurance agents who respond to our calls to action, attend legislative days in Albany and Washington, meet with lawmakers in their district offices, donate to insurance political action committees, vote, and otherwise join in on the public policy playing field.
We want your involvement and energy in our efforts to create a better insurance industry for the people who need our products. Visit our Advocacy page or contact Travis Wattie, AVP of Government Relations, to learn how you can get involved.
Decisions are made by the people who show up. We hope you will decide to be one of them.
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