“Someone once called Lincoln two-faced. “If I am two-faced, would I wear the face that I have now?” Lincoln asked.”
The gray sky has returned. After the beautiful day yesterday, I was hoping for more, but I guess one sunny, warm day will have to do for the meanwhile.
When I was a kid, we didn’t have President’s Day. We celebrated Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays. Well, we actually didn’t do any celebrating. It was always the first day of February vacation which was a celebration in itself.
My first president was Truman, but I was too young to notice. President Eisenhower, however, I knew because he got a toast from me every day. I watched Big Brother Bob Emery on TV, and we all lifted our glasses of milk and toasted President Eisenhower while Hail to the Chief played. I have to think I was a bit fuzzy as to the connection between President Eisenhower and me.
The politics or the political parties of these presidents didn’t matter to me as I didn’t even know what a political party was. I just knew some neat stories about the presidents. George Washington cut down the cherry tree and told the truth when confronted. I always pictured him as a little kid wearing his general’s uniform and tri-corner hat and standing by a cut-down tree with an ax in his hand. To me, Lincoln always wore his top hat making him even taller than his contemporaries. I always liked Teddy Roosevelt. I saw him with sword in front as he and his horse charged up San Juan Hill.
When I first got to Ghana, the country was in the middle of a campaign to replace the military government, formed after a coup, with a civilian government to be called the Second Republic. It was exciting. Women wore dresses made from cloth covered in party symbols. I saw Busia, one of the candidates, speak at a rally in Bawku. He spoke English which was translated to Hausa. The crowd went wild listening to the Hausa. In my town, there were impromptu rallies with singing and drumming. On election day, the lines were long. You couldn’t see the end of the line from the beginning. People voted the symbols of each party, not the names, so literacy wasn’t a prerequisite for voter registration. Busia was elected. Later, he would be deposed in a peaceful coup.
If given a choice, I’d pick drums and dancing. I’ve had enough rhetoric.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Big Brother, Bob Emery, Eisenhower, George Washington, gray sky, Lincoln, President's Day, Teddy Roosevelt, toasting the presidents, top hat, vacation, warm day
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February 20, 2017 at 7:17 pm
We got a new president about a week ago, he was elected by the parliament and some hundred people chosen by the political parties. Neither drums nor dancing and the outcome was no surprise. Some people demand that we all should elect the president but our president doesn’t have any power anyway, it’s like a temporary Queen but cheaper.
Tonight I saw a nice concert in a small pub in the neighbor town organized by the local folk music club. This time Steve Turner, a British folk singer I hadn’t heard before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVt8aZgixJM
February 20, 2017 at 7:36 pm
http://68.media.tumblr.com/06aea3a268a732da413478af72c25e8a/tumblr_ol9lh2eYx01u5csu0o1_500.jpg
February 20, 2017 at 7:44 pm
Birgit,
I love it!
February 20, 2017 at 7:43 pm
Birgit,
I’d prefer the popular vote instead of the electoral college. This has been a problem in two elections: Gore and Clinton were the losers who were winners.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of him. He has the perfect voice for the old folk songs.
February 20, 2017 at 8:31 pm
Happy Presidents Day! Our’s played golf six days of his first month on the job. At least he can’t do too much damage on the golf course. 🙂
Like you I remember going to the poll with my father to vote for Adli Stevenson in his first run against Ike. My father was involved in labor organizing for the CIO in the 1930s and for him voting for a Republican would be like voting for Hitler. 🙂
While attending public school in the South we never celebrated Lincoln’s birthday and the Civil War was referred to as the War Between the States. Texas segregated and was solidly Democratic until President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 when the solid south went Republican. I remember my father refusing to vote in the 1950s because he refused to pay the $2 poll tax. I come from a line of progressives.
Unfortunately, I had to work today or I would have found an Anti President Day March. In college I marched against the Vietnam war and cheered when Nixon resigned. We’ve come a long way in my life from Jackie Robinson to Barak Obama and to see us marching backwards under Trump is so disheartening.
It rained last night and drizzled this morning but the sun came out with 65 degree temperatures.
February 20, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Bob,
Back in the day, Eisenhower spent a lot of time golfing. Those were the quiet years.
My Dad was a democrat for a long time. He switched to republican for Nixon’s second election, and he never went back.
We always had this week off from school so today wasn’t like its own celebration. I do remember things were closed on Washington’s Birthday. Now, other than schools, the post office, town libraries and the like, everything is open.
I marched against Wallace when he came to Boston, for the grape workers at the wholesale fruit center, and against the war. We were all connected to one another back then. I see some of that returning with the latest marches.
Cold was predicted for today but it was 44˚, not cold at all for this time of year.
February 20, 2017 at 11:37 pm
Also born under the sign of Harry Truman, I spent my childhood thinking “PresidentEisenhower” was one word. As northeast, Irish-Catholics, my parents assured me that saying President Kennedy would be OK. Cheers to Bob and you and all my friends who will keep up the fight!
73* in Annapolis yesterday. Crayzeeee!!
February 20, 2017 at 11:53 pm
Jay,
It was the Kennedy campaign which caught my attention. He was from my state and was a Catholic.
I remember Election night and trying to stay awake and failing. I was thrilled the next morning to find he had won the election.
My first time voting was 1968. I was so excited at finally being able to vote. My candidate lost.
Yikes, we were at 59˚ which I thought a miracle.
February 22, 2017 at 11:43 pm
’68 was my first voting year too; Humphrey got Nixon’ed. My parents were severely bi-polar: McGovern in ’64; Wallace in ’68; Humphrey in ’72.
1971 was the first election for 18-year-old voting. “Old enough to kill, but not for voting” (Barry McGuire) Hard to believe.
February 23, 2017 at 12:46 pm
Jay,
My parents were life long democrats until Nixon-McGovern. I remember my father making fun of the McGovern vote and he was unkind. He never voted democrat again. My brother and I used to tell people he made 6 figures a year and turned republican. We didn’t even know we each were telling the same tale of our dad and voting until many years later.
February 21, 2017 at 2:01 am
I’m so old that Churchill was Prime Minister when I was born.
February 21, 2017 at 12:42 pm
MDH,
I’m so old I was in high school when he died.
February 21, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Sunny and warm here today,too bad it so rareky happens during the weekends.
WEW have our Kings and Queens here and we always heard some jolly histories about them and how kind they actually were, when in fact most of them were horrible and didn’t care about anything but themselves.
To be honest, the electorial system You have, shouldn’t it had done its job and refuse to chose Trump as President? Wasn’t that the reason the system You have was made as it is? To stop anyone too insane to reach that post? As it is You could just as well have changed to popular vote instead and gotten a sane and very competent president Instead.
Our sustem has problems too of course and with a royal family who we all like it’s hard to change anything 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
February 21, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Christer,
That’s true about weekends never as nice as work days.
George Washington could have been king, but he refused and said no to any king here. Sometimes, though, the elected presidents think they are above the law and that they can say anything. It’s tough being here right now.
The electoral college members are bound to the candidate who won their primaries. Trump won larger states than Clinton did do he was elected by the electoral college. There is no history of defiance in any elections by the college members. I wish they would dump the electoral college and go by the number of votes as this is the second time recently that the vote winner lost (Gore, Bush). Trump had 3 million fewer votes than Hilary.
I doubt it will change, but it should.