Zachary Taylor: Drank milk, ate cherries, died shitting himself.
August 29, 2018 12:40 PM Subscribe
Twitterer @instantsunrise decided to drag every U.S. President, in order (and Grover Cleveland twice). It breaks after Madison ("Went to war with Canada and lost."), continuing here with Monroe ("Expansionist imperialist."). CW: genocide, slavery, and other evils; swearing (via Kottke.org)
She has also done a thread on American interventions in Latin America. (ThreadReader unroll)
She has also done a thread on American interventions in Latin America. (ThreadReader unroll)
Oof, is there a better transcription of these? They're cracking me up, but using twitter to read this is a headache.
posted by GoblinHoney at 1:00 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 1:00 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
this is such a god damn relief
it's like a real life elenour going HEY WE ARE IN THE BAD PLACE.gif
posted by skrozidile at 1:05 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
it's like a real life elenour going HEY WE ARE IN THE BAD PLACE.gif
posted by skrozidile at 1:05 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
JQA and Garfield escape censure!
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:06 PM on August 29, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:06 PM on August 29, 2018 [9 favorites]
> Although a President wasn't the most powerful man in the world back then, he certainly had the best food on offer and the best medical men. And what did that avail against food poisoning? Nothing.
Reading about the death of King Charles II freaked me out when I was a kid.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:09 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
Reading about the death of King Charles II freaked me out when I was a kid.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:09 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
This seems to be MUCH easier reading.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 1:10 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 1:10 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Andrew Jackson: Ohhhhhh my god. This absolute motherfucker garbage president.
Best. President. Summarizing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Best. President. Summarizing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Using Twitter for stuff like this should be considered a war crime.
posted by bonehead at 1:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 1:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
The Card Cheat: "Reading about the death of King Charles II freaked me out when I was a kid."
Charles I's death was no picnic, either.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:15 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Charles I's death was no picnic, either.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:15 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
I want Quincy Adams and Garfield superhero movies now.
posted by nicebookrack at 1:19 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nicebookrack at 1:19 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
After Charles I’s reign, what did you expect?
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:20 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:20 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
The first thing I did was skip to Lincoln, afraid I'd learn something heartbreaking.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:23 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:23 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm not going to defend Franklin Pierce - his pro-slavery sympathies were awful, and all the worse for having grown up in New Hampshire. But I do have feel a *little* bit empathy for him, because the guy suffered severe clinical depression, probably in part from having all three of his kids die young.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:32 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:32 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have loved President James Garfield ever since I opened my issue of 3-2-1 Contact 25+ years ago and saw a factoid claiming that he was ambidextrous and could write simultaneously in Latin and Greek with either hand. I have never seen verification of this factoid, but he remains one of my favorites.
(Upon researching I found this really interesting Wikipedia article on multilingual presidents. Herbert Hoover spoke Chinese!)
posted by Alison at 1:41 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
(Upon researching I found this really interesting Wikipedia article on multilingual presidents. Herbert Hoover spoke Chinese!)
posted by Alison at 1:41 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
I know Garfield's great-granddaughter!
posted by Chrysostom at 1:44 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:44 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
I had to do some research into US government sex scandals once for a play (God, that was a fun couple months). The scandals from Harding were the wildest:
* He had an affair with a "barely legal" daughter of a friend while he was in office (literally - they would sneak into the Oval Office coat closet). She had his kid, and he secretly was paying her child support, which she then appealed to his family to continue after he died. They didn't, and she wrote a tell-all book to raise money.
* Before all that, when he was governor of Ohio, he had another mistress - once when his mistress came to the house and his wife was there, his wife stood on the front porch throwing furniture at her to drive her off. Later, when he started his presidential campaign, his handlers paid her a huge bucket of money to move out of the country for four years - sending her to Japan.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:48 PM on August 29, 2018 [17 favorites]
* He had an affair with a "barely legal" daughter of a friend while he was in office (literally - they would sneak into the Oval Office coat closet). She had his kid, and he secretly was paying her child support, which she then appealed to his family to continue after he died. They didn't, and she wrote a tell-all book to raise money.
* Before all that, when he was governor of Ohio, he had another mistress - once when his mistress came to the house and his wife was there, his wife stood on the front porch throwing furniture at her to drive her off. Later, when he started his presidential campaign, his handlers paid her a huge bucket of money to move out of the country for four years - sending her to Japan.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:48 PM on August 29, 2018 [17 favorites]
Charles I's death was no picnic, either.
Really? Then what’s in this baske—OH DEAR LORD
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on August 29, 2018 [23 favorites]
Really? Then what’s in this baske—OH DEAR LORD
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on August 29, 2018 [23 favorites]
and also he was really, really, ridiculously good-looking.
*clicks link to check*
.....daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang. yeah.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:59 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
*clicks link to check*
.....daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang. yeah.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:59 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
So I don't think I've ever encountered the word "drag" used in this way before... is this A Thing? I was expecting portraits of various presidents in women's clothing. (Which I still think could also be pretty good, if it was done right.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:13 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:13 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
More like Rutherford A+ Hayes, amirite?
posted by kirkaracha at 2:30 PM on August 29, 2018 [19 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 2:30 PM on August 29, 2018 [19 favorites]
Yes, “drag” as a verb is a thing the kids say. And by kids, I of course mean anyone younger than me.
posted by greermahoney at 2:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 2:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
I think a lot about the death of Zachary Taylor when I think about power in the nineteenth century. Although a President wasn't the most powerful man in the world back then, he certainly had the best food on offer and the best medical men. And what did that avail against food poisoning? Nothing.
I've heard about a theory that the reason Taylor and Harrison both died early and multiple other presidents in that era suffered severe illnesses when they moved to the White House is that it used to stand directly adjacent to an open pit for the city's sewage, so they were basically being sent to live in one of the best places on Earth to catch cholera.
I also can scarcely imagine the smell, but I guess people pre-indoor-plumbing and in places where horses were used by most people for daily transport were just used to everything smelling like shit all the time, forever.
posted by Copronymus at 2:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
I've heard about a theory that the reason Taylor and Harrison both died early and multiple other presidents in that era suffered severe illnesses when they moved to the White House is that it used to stand directly adjacent to an open pit for the city's sewage, so they were basically being sent to live in one of the best places on Earth to catch cholera.
I also can scarcely imagine the smell, but I guess people pre-indoor-plumbing and in places where horses were used by most people for daily transport were just used to everything smelling like shit all the time, forever.
posted by Copronymus at 2:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
Sometimes I wonder if, 100 years from now, every president post-Nixon will be looked at primarily in terms of how they handled climate change
posted by cricketcello at 2:40 PM on August 29, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by cricketcello at 2:40 PM on August 29, 2018 [16 favorites]
Oops, I guess it was enteric fever, not cholera, but the point remains that the White House was basically set up as a great way to die of poop-transmitted diseases until the 1850s.
posted by Copronymus at 2:47 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 2:47 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
I don't think I've ever encountered the word "drag" used in this way before.
"Drag through the mud" has been in use in this sense as far back as the 1800s. Shortened to just "drag" is I think fairly new, though.
posted by me3dia at 2:52 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
"Drag through the mud" has been in use in this sense as far back as the 1800s. Shortened to just "drag" is I think fairly new, though.
posted by me3dia at 2:52 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
I've heard about a theory that the reason Taylor and Harrison both died early and multiple other presidents in that era suffered severe illnesses when they moved to the White House is that it used to stand directly adjacent to an open pit for the city's sewage, so they were basically being sent to live in one of the best places on Earth to catch cholera.
When I visited Ford's Theatre, one of the first things mentioned by the docents/rangers was the staggering stank of the Washington City Canal, which was mostly along the route now taken by Constitution Avenue. It was basically an open sewer, and also used for getting rid of dead horses. The Lincolns would go to a cottage elsewhere in Washington to escape the miasma in the summer, when it was especially bad.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:55 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
When I visited Ford's Theatre, one of the first things mentioned by the docents/rangers was the staggering stank of the Washington City Canal, which was mostly along the route now taken by Constitution Avenue. It was basically an open sewer, and also used for getting rid of dead horses. The Lincolns would go to a cottage elsewhere in Washington to escape the miasma in the summer, when it was especially bad.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:55 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
This is literally impossible for me to read. It takes multiple loading attempts to get past Twitter's rate limiting, and then the tweets disappear into some kind of threading black hole after Madison and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to find the rest of them. Which is a damn shame, because the concept and the first few tweets are hilarious, and I wish I could access the rest of them. Frustrating.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
Try clicking the “here” link in the post, or Major Matt Mason Dixon’s link.
posted by Etrigan at 3:12 PM on August 29, 2018
posted by Etrigan at 3:12 PM on August 29, 2018
> and also he was really, really, ridiculously good-looking.
he's alright but he's no young stalin
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:18 PM on August 29, 2018 [12 favorites]
he's alright but he's no young stalin
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:18 PM on August 29, 2018 [12 favorites]
the White House is that it used to stand directly adjacent to an open pit for the city's sewage
Can we do this again? Tomorrow? The White House is currently a metaphorical cess pit, might as well make it a literal one. Because history.
posted by ryoshu at 3:45 PM on August 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
Can we do this again? Tomorrow? The White House is currently a metaphorical cess pit, might as well make it a literal one. Because history.
posted by ryoshu at 3:45 PM on August 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
One of my favorite facts about John Quincy Adams is that he swore his oath on a book of law rather than the bible. I had thought he was the only one to purposefully use a book other than the bible, but I see on the wikipedia page just now that he's just the only one we definitely know did, a few presidents we're not sure what book they used.
Of course now I hear rumors that Trump wanted to use The Art of the Deal, which would've made me super pissed.
posted by ckape at 3:48 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
Of course now I hear rumors that Trump wanted to use The Art of the Deal, which would've made me super pissed.
posted by ckape at 3:48 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt who swore on a piece of paper on which the oath he was swearing was written. Finding out about this made me realize that if I ever find myself in a position to be sworn into any office, I'm going to try to swear on a piece of paper on which the negation of the oath I'm swearing is written.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Now, I'm an atheist, but whenever I've heard people, in law school or wherever, talk about how they should swear on the constitution, well, it just goes to show that "swearing upon" something doesn't mean anything anymore. Because swearing on the constitution is like swearing on your child's life to protect your child's life. It's tautological and meaningless.
In the classic sense, I mean. Nowadays TR's view might make the more symbolic sense.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:44 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
In the classic sense, I mean. Nowadays TR's view might make the more symbolic sense.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:44 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
This sentence is false?
posted by notsnot at 5:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by notsnot at 5:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Sometimes I wonder if, 100 years from now, every president post-Nixon will be looked at primarily in terms of how they handled climate change
Why would the corporate oligarchy that steps in and formally seizes power after the Trump monarchy collapses judge their predecessors that way?
posted by Sangermaine at 5:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Why would the corporate oligarchy that steps in and formally seizes power after the Trump monarchy collapses judge their predecessors that way?
posted by Sangermaine at 5:12 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Using Twitter for stuff like this should be considered a war crime.
JESUS H. MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST I MISS BLOGGING. WHY DID BLOGGING HAVE TO BE REPLACED BY A FEW SENTENCES AT A TIME READ IN REVERSE ORDER FOREVER THIS IS A GARBAGE WORLD.
That said, the thread is really funny. But needs to be in all one place.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:32 PM on August 29, 2018 [15 favorites]
JESUS H. MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST I MISS BLOGGING. WHY DID BLOGGING HAVE TO BE REPLACED BY A FEW SENTENCES AT A TIME READ IN REVERSE ORDER FOREVER THIS IS A GARBAGE WORLD.
That said, the thread is really funny. But needs to be in all one place.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:32 PM on August 29, 2018 [15 favorites]
I do like the point that Guiteau was an incel. He went to a free love hippie commune and still nobody wanted to sleep with him, for good reason.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
> Sangermaine:
"Sometimes I wonder if, 100 years from now, every president post-Nixon will be looked at primarily in terms of how they handled climate change
Why would the corporate oligarchy that steps in and formally seizes power after the Trump monarchy collapses judge their predecessors that way?"
Why would the cockroaches and deep sea cucumbers that are the only living beings in 100 years care about the humans' 'presidents'?
posted by signal at 7:02 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Sometimes I wonder if, 100 years from now, every president post-Nixon will be looked at primarily in terms of how they handled climate change
Why would the corporate oligarchy that steps in and formally seizes power after the Trump monarchy collapses judge their predecessors that way?"
Why would the cockroaches and deep sea cucumbers that are the only living beings in 100 years care about the humans' 'presidents'?
posted by signal at 7:02 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, Twitter is not the right platform for anything, please stop using it.
posted by signal at 7:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by signal at 7:03 PM on August 29, 2018 [9 favorites]
Thanks for that article, Copronymus! I honestly thought that Taylor died from listeriosis from the raw milk or fruit, but that's a compelling case. I wonder if the bad water had anything to do with the death of Lincoln's little son Willie.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:21 PM on August 29, 2018
posted by Countess Elena at 7:21 PM on August 29, 2018
I *believe* that Rutherford B. Hayes' legacy was a bit more nuanced than it's made out to be in this thread, and also he was really, really, ridiculously good-looking.
He definitely started parting his hair the wrong way in middle age. And that beard was a mess. But between him and Robert Cornelius (aka the "first selfie" guy), though, the 1840s in the US were like daaaaamn!
Jackson. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr... If only I could kick his fucking ass repeatedly... I had to learn about him for a project in high school, and I finally knew what it felt like in my hands to want to wring someone's neck like a wet towel.
posted by droplet at 8:21 PM on August 29, 2018
He definitely started parting his hair the wrong way in middle age. And that beard was a mess. But between him and Robert Cornelius (aka the "first selfie" guy), though, the 1840s in the US were like daaaaamn!
Jackson. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr... If only I could kick his fucking ass repeatedly... I had to learn about him for a project in high school, and I finally knew what it felt like in my hands to want to wring someone's neck like a wet towel.
posted by droplet at 8:21 PM on August 29, 2018
I've always thought the guy who shot McKinley was pretty handsome.
posted by Grandysaur at 9:41 PM on August 29, 2018
posted by Grandysaur at 9:41 PM on August 29, 2018
I have learned from this thread yet again that "handsome" is oh so incredibly subjective. To me, Hayes looks like a spoiled twit, Stalin looks like a spoiled, cruel twit, and the guy who shot McKinley looks like a poxty prematurely balding wannabe Clive Owen.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:57 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 9:57 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Needless to say I wouldn't consider schtupping any of them based on cutes.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by aspersioncast at 9:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So laugh and shit 'til you're dead.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:47 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
So laugh and shit 'til you're dead.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:47 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
tbf tho "spoiled twit" is basically just what dudes look like in their 20s.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 10:52 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 10:52 PM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]
Copronymus> Oops, I guess it was enteric fever, not cholera, but the point remains that the White House was basically set up as a great way to die of poop-transmitted diseases until the 1850s.Eponysterical.
posted by runcifex at 12:33 AM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
They missed one. "Josiah Bartlett. Wow, he got Sorkin-y real fast."
Also, that's not Stalin. With that ascot, that has to be Prince.
posted by zaixfeep at 4:38 AM on August 30, 2018
Also, that's not Stalin. With that ascot, that has to be Prince.
posted by zaixfeep at 4:38 AM on August 30, 2018
Say what you will about Teddy Roosevelt, but the man was shot in the chest in a botched assassination attempt (his life being saved by the bullet passing thru a steel eyeglass case and a folded copy of the 50-page speech he was about to deliver), and then not only did he stop the crowd from lynching his assailant, insist on the police taking protective custody of the would-be assassin, and assured the crowd he was all right, but he also proceeded to deliver said speech with the bullet lodged in his chest, seeking medical attention only after.
posted by Gelatin at 5:38 AM on August 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 5:38 AM on August 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
Also, If we're going to talk about presidents who were hot when they were young men...
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:17 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:17 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Lincoln was great! But choosing Johnson and dying too soon are not the only bad things he did. He had the army close down opposition newspapers and suspended habeas corpus, and he was really terrible at choosing generals for a long time.
posted by goatdog at 6:39 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by goatdog at 6:39 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
"In fairness though, he didn’t own slaves, this is going to be a rarity going forward."
posted by tobascodagama at 7:08 AM on August 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 7:08 AM on August 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
It's good (in a strange way) to see that the belief in the Invisible Hand of the Free Market to fix everything isn't new and has never, ever, actually fucking worked.
posted by tommasz at 7:21 AM on August 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 7:21 AM on August 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
I was amazed how many times the Army was brought in to quell domestic troubles. For some reason I thought that sort of thing was illegal in the US (but then I remembered Kent State so I guess not).
posted by Mitheral at 7:23 AM on August 30, 2018
posted by Mitheral at 7:23 AM on August 30, 2018
I'll be fair to Lincoln: he wasn't a military guy and knew he didn't necessarily know enough about general-ing. It took him quite a while to figure it out. What I never got is why all those Big Shot Generals were basically refusing to do anything. And McClellan was a fucking turd in particular. (Compare him to General Charles Lee and George Washington and there's very similar attiturds.) As for his being racist, he got to know more people of color and got over it as far as I can tell.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:24 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:24 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
> (Compare him to General Charles Lee and George Washington and there's very similar attiturds.)
So on the one hand Charles Lee’s place in history is forevermore going to be as the “I’m a general, whee!” guy, but on the other hand was he really that bad a general? I thought the main reason the continental congress went with Washington over Lee was because Lee (being a professional soldier rather than a slaveowning pseudoaristocrat) expected to get paid for his work.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:06 AM on August 30, 2018
So on the one hand Charles Lee’s place in history is forevermore going to be as the “I’m a general, whee!” guy, but on the other hand was he really that bad a general? I thought the main reason the continental congress went with Washington over Lee was because Lee (being a professional soldier rather than a slaveowning pseudoaristocrat) expected to get paid for his work.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:06 AM on August 30, 2018
The Posse Comitatus Act limits "the federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies" unless authorized by Congress. (And it's another Constitutional sop to the Confederates; it was instituted by southern Democrats when they regained power after the ex-Confederate states were occupied by federal troops during Reconstruction.)
The Kent State shootings was the Ohio National Guard.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
The Kent State shootings was the Ohio National Guard.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
The Posse Comitatus Act is a lot more limited than I think many people perceive it to be. There are (at least) three ways that the military can be deployed domestically: first, state Guard units can be deployed directly by the state governor within that state, assuming the state foots the entire bill—the Posse Comitatus Act doesn't come into play at all since it's entirely intrastate; second, a governor can request assistance from the Federal government and the President can agree, this generally results in Guard resources being used, but the Federal government pays under Title 32—this is okay under the PCA because the state governor made the request and is normally what happens after big natural disasters. Third, and more rarely, the President can deploy soldiers domestically under Title 10 using the ("expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress") exception that the PCA has written into it.
The most famous example of the third situation is when Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to escort the "Little Rock Nine" into school. Although they had been requested by the mayor of Little Rock (I believe), they certainly hadn't been by the governor, and thus they were operating under Title 10. Basically, the Federal government invaded Arkansas.
Intriguingly, Eisenhower didn't go to Congress for specific permission; he used the 1870s Enforcement Acts as the Congressional authorization. I don't know if that was a considered legal opinion that would have held up to a challenge, or just a expeditious figleaf to get the job done and make it a fait accompli. Either way, baller move.
I think there are also soldiers operating under Title 10 on US soil as part of the GWOT, e.g. the guys standing around with M-4s in the former WTC PATH station, although that's not being done against the wishes of the Governor of New York, as far as I know. Might be Title 32 now.
If you wanted to write a dystopian movie plot, there are lots of opportunities if the President and Congress were on the same page, and decided to twist the Enforcement Acts and use the Army to "protect" voting locations or something... perhaps best not to think that too loud...
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:37 PM on August 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
The most famous example of the third situation is when Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to escort the "Little Rock Nine" into school. Although they had been requested by the mayor of Little Rock (I believe), they certainly hadn't been by the governor, and thus they were operating under Title 10. Basically, the Federal government invaded Arkansas.
Intriguingly, Eisenhower didn't go to Congress for specific permission; he used the 1870s Enforcement Acts as the Congressional authorization. I don't know if that was a considered legal opinion that would have held up to a challenge, or just a expeditious figleaf to get the job done and make it a fait accompli. Either way, baller move.
I think there are also soldiers operating under Title 10 on US soil as part of the GWOT, e.g. the guys standing around with M-4s in the former WTC PATH station, although that's not being done against the wishes of the Governor of New York, as far as I know. Might be Title 32 now.
If you wanted to write a dystopian movie plot, there are lots of opportunities if the President and Congress were on the same page, and decided to twist the Enforcement Acts and use the Army to "protect" voting locations or something... perhaps best not to think that too loud...
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:37 PM on August 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
So on the one hand Charles Lee’s place in history is forevermore going to be as the “I’m a general, whee!” guy, but on the other hand was he really that bad a general? I thought the main reason the continental congress went with Washington over Lee was because Lee (being a professional soldier rather than a slaveowning pseudoaristocrat) expected to get paid for his work.
I don't recall on the getting paid bit (I thought Lafayette was the one who said he'd work for free because he was loaded, though), but I read Charles Lee: Self Before Country (what a title) and "I'm a general, whee!" was actually uh, not accurate. He was old and experienced. He was notorious for not actually fighting at Monmouth, though. He claimed something about how he wasn't able to scout the territory beforehand, something like that. Mostly Lee was really popular before Monmouth for being a former British soldier who went around saying, "Oh, you can lick the British, easy!" Then he got captured and basically hung around for something like 18 months waiting for a trade, and he secretly wrote a plan to defeat the colonists and gave it to the British, who ignored it for....whatever reason. Luckily for Lee, his treasonous behavior wasn't discovered until long after he was dead.
Anyway: still a turd.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:30 PM on August 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
I don't recall on the getting paid bit (I thought Lafayette was the one who said he'd work for free because he was loaded, though), but I read Charles Lee: Self Before Country (what a title) and "I'm a general, whee!" was actually uh, not accurate. He was old and experienced. He was notorious for not actually fighting at Monmouth, though. He claimed something about how he wasn't able to scout the territory beforehand, something like that. Mostly Lee was really popular before Monmouth for being a former British soldier who went around saying, "Oh, you can lick the British, easy!" Then he got captured and basically hung around for something like 18 months waiting for a trade, and he secretly wrote a plan to defeat the colonists and gave it to the British, who ignored it for....whatever reason. Luckily for Lee, his treasonous behavior wasn't discovered until long after he was dead.
Anyway: still a turd.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:30 PM on August 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
Quite surprisingly pleased my only presidential familial connection "did a lot of good."
posted by DarlingBri at 2:19 PM on August 30, 2018
posted by DarlingBri at 2:19 PM on August 30, 2018
I believe I'm a relative of John Tyler. It's not hard to believe; the man has living grandsons. But it's no matter of great pride. I am interested in the leather trunk that someone in the family supposedly had with an inscription that confirms it. Artifacts are cool and do not need to be hung to a sour-apple tree.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:26 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:26 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
He had an affair with a "barely legal" daughter of a friend while he was in office (literally - they would sneak into the Oval Office coat closet).
Wait, is this where Shonda got the idea for Scandal?
I also can scarcely imagine the smell, but I guess people pre-indoor-plumbing and in places where horses were used by most people for daily transport were just used to everything smelling like shit all the time, forever.
I can't wait to hear how future generations talk about our current smog-filled hell, TBH.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:42 PM on August 30, 2018
Wait, is this where Shonda got the idea for Scandal?
I also can scarcely imagine the smell, but I guess people pre-indoor-plumbing and in places where horses were used by most people for daily transport were just used to everything smelling like shit all the time, forever.
I can't wait to hear how future generations talk about our current smog-filled hell, TBH.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:42 PM on August 30, 2018
Previously: the Senate Bathing Room, installed in the malarial swamp days.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:44 PM on August 30, 2018
posted by Countess Elena at 2:44 PM on August 30, 2018
Ronald Reagan: This absolute motherfucker.
Tbf, she could have just stopped there with the Reagan one.
posted by triggerfinger at 5:35 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tbf, she could have just stopped there with the Reagan one.
posted by triggerfinger at 5:35 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also with Charles Lee: one source had his capture by the British due to his search for professional female companionship.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:11 PM on August 30, 2018
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:11 PM on August 30, 2018
I was deeply disappointed that the author of Self Before Country refused to confirm the dirty hooker story.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:26 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:26 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Using Twitter for stuff like this should be considered a war crime.
JESUS H. MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST I MISS BLOGGING. WHY DID BLOGGING HAVE TO BE REPLACED BY A FEW SENTENCES AT A TIME READ IN REVERSE ORDER FOREVER THIS IS A GARBAGE WORLD.
Actually, that's how blogging worked too, except the entries were longer. I've always wished that blogging platforms had a "historical mode" that showed entries in chronological order, in case you wanted to read a bunch of entries in the order they were written.
I find that nothing enhances my life like not reading tweeter.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:07 PM on September 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
JESUS H. MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST I MISS BLOGGING. WHY DID BLOGGING HAVE TO BE REPLACED BY A FEW SENTENCES AT A TIME READ IN REVERSE ORDER FOREVER THIS IS A GARBAGE WORLD.
Actually, that's how blogging worked too, except the entries were longer. I've always wished that blogging platforms had a "historical mode" that showed entries in chronological order, in case you wanted to read a bunch of entries in the order they were written.
I find that nothing enhances my life like not reading tweeter.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:07 PM on September 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
« Older New Atlas of (Map) Designs; Vintage City Maps | "My partner and I are of equal education and... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
I don't think that laws about the death, debility, and incapacity of leaders in general have kept up with advances in medical science. Our politicians get older and older, and it grows increasingly difficult to tell whether they are hateful, lazy, careless, or suffering real cognitive decline. I've got no solutions, though. I just think about it a lot.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:55 PM on August 29, 2018 [22 favorites]