2.12.10
Now That’s an Order!

Presidents’ Day weekend is here boys and girls!  So we’ve got some Did you know? facts headed your way. In case you happen to be out and about this weekend, we want to make sure you know why you have the day off.  Now everyone knows that Presidents” Day is held in February because it marks the birthday of our first president and founding father, George Washington. But we’ve gathered a bit more gossip about the Commanders-in-Chief that have famously toured our cobblestone streets!

1. George Washington visited Newport in 1790 as a hoo-rah! celebratory tour of the adoption of the national Constitution.  More importantly, he penned a famous letter to the Jewish community of Newport that set the precedent that the new US Government would give “to persecution no assistance,” explaining that the Jewish community were good citizens who deserved to be treated equally.

2. Abraham Lincoln turns 201 today (February 12th).  In fact, there was a bicentennial birthday thrown by the state of Rhode Island last year to honor the big 2-0-0. And Rhode Islander’s love this Pres - during the Civil War, 23,699 Rhode Islanders enter service in the Union Army and Navy, more proportionately than any other state. Talk about Rhody Pride!

3.  The Eisenhower House.  Why did Ike like the Fort Adams spot so much? One word - Fore! Ike loved to golf and must’ve cried out over a stray ball once or twice. Seems appropriate - yelling “fore” seems to be military in origin:  ”In the 17th and 18th centuries, infantry advanced in formation while artillery batteries fired from behind, over their heads. An artilleryman about to fire would yell “beware before,” alerting nearby infantrymen to drop to the ground to avoid the shells screaming overhead. So when golfers misfired and send their missiles - golf balls - screaming off target, “beware before” became shortened to “fore.”

4. Can’t talk about one Summer White House without the other. Everyone knows that JFK married his sweetheart Jackie at St. Mary’s on the corner of Spring and Memorial. But why did he keep coming back to Hammersmith Farm?  Seems like his speech to America’s Cup Crews in 1962 best summed it up: “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.”

5. Kennedy also seems to have undergone naval training in Rhode Island in 1942.  Which other future president was nearby in basic officer training in Quonset? Richard Nixon.  Fate would have them meet further down the road at the first televised Presidential Debate in 1960.

Now you are fully equipped with President trivia to impress guests over the long weekend.  But there’s only five…what else will you do to occupy your time? We recommend skating seaside - consider it a Presidential order!