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Long before Obama, Chester A. Arthur was the victim of spurious claims that he wasn’t born in America. Grover Cleveland remains the only president to serve nonconsecutive terms. Electricity was very new during Benjamin Harrison’s presidency. Harrison was skeptical of the new technology and refused to touch light switches as a result. Speaking of new technologies, William McKinley was the first president to take a ride in an automobile. Teddy Roosevelt used to hold impromptu boxingmatches with his aides, encouraging them to punch him as hard as possible. Due to his habit of dozing off during meetings, William Howard Taft was dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by his wife, Nellie. WoodrowWilson loved golf so much that he’d paint golf balls black so he could play during winter. He may be a footnote in presidential history, but Warren G. Harding wore size 19 shoes.
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Calvin Coolidge wins the award for weirdest presidential pets. He kept two raccoons named Reuben and Rebecca at the White House. Herbert Hoover and his wife often spoke in Mandarin to keep their conversations secret. FDR is America’s most famous philatelist. He collected stamps from the age of 8 onward. Harry Truman wanted to provide universal health insurance and double the minimum wage, two issues that are still discussed to this day. All of the boys in Dwight D. Eisenhower’s house were called“Ike,”a nickname which stuck with Eisenhower for the rest of his life. JFK won a Purple Heart and a Pulitzer Prize, and no other president has been awarded both honors before or since. In lieu of a meeting room, Lyndon B. Johnson would often give instructions to his staff from the toilet. Richard Nixon never learned to read music, but he could skillfully play five instruments.
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No president was a better athlete than Gerald Ford. He received offers to play for two different NFL teams. Jimmy Carter gave up a career in the military to run his family’s peanut farm. Joan Quigley, Ronald Reagan’s in-house astrologer, helped set the president’s schedule. George H.W. Bush celebrated many of his birthdays by skydiving. After hearing MLK’s “I have a dream” speech, a young Bill Clinton was moved to memorize it. George W. Bush holds the records for both the highest and lowest approval ratings in history. Despite his good looks, Barack Obama was denied a place in a Harvard calendar of campus hunks. In one of his less successful business ventures, Donald Trump attempted to brand bottled water with his name.
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THE GUARDIANWHO WOULD NOT LEAVE HIS WATCH ODIN LIVES UP TO HIS LEGENDARY NAME
Amid the devastation of the wildfires that tore through California in the fall of 2017, a few heroic tales rose up to give people hope. One such tale was of Odin, a loyal Great Pyrenees guard dog. Along with his sister, Tessa, and eight rescue goats, Odin is part of the Hendel family. It was mid-October when the Hendels were awoken by the smell of smoke, a fierce orange sky, and sounds of destruction — urgent warnings from Mother Nature. Gathering everyone as quickly as they could, the Hendels got their human family members and Tessa in the car, but Odin, seated proudly next to the eight goats, refused to get in. Try as they might, the Hendels could not get him to come with them, and there wasn’t enough room in the car for the eight goats. With the firestorm quickly approaching and the risk of losing even more family members increasing with each passing minute, the Hendels made the heart-wrenching decision to leave Odin and the goats behind.
several agonizing days, it was finally safe enough for them to return home and survey the destruction.
What did the Hendels find? Ashes, rubble, their barn and home burned to the ground — and Odin. There he was, still guarding his eight goats and some small deer that had sought shelter with the brave canine. Weakened, burned, and limping, but nevertheless steadfast, Odin had never left his goats, even as the fire raged around them. Odin wagged his tail as he saw his family, happy to see they were also safe. The Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue and the Goatlandia Animal Sanctuary provided temporary shelter for the goats and pups while the Hendels rebuilt their barn. Odin received all the care he needed, along with a lot of love and treats. Today, Odin and his goats are back with their family, rebuilding their lives after this devastating wildfire. But the Hendels, and anyone who’s heard the story, won’t soon forget the bravery of Odin, the amazing pup.
The family made it to safety with Tessa in tow, relieved to be together but heartbroken that Odin and the goats weren’t with them. After
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