November 25, 2013 (Monday)
In our Sunday School class yesterday, the teacher, Bob Moncrief, asked, “How many presidents can you name?” On this anniversary of the John F. Kennedy funeral service 50 years ago, try to remember with me the names of the presidents during our lifetime and before. I will attempt to name them, starting with the present and going backwards to the times in which I was born.
Of course, we know who is president now: Number 44, Barack Obama. Number 43 was George W. Bush; 42, Bill Clinton; 41, George H.W. Bush; 40, Ronald Reagan; 39, Jimmy Carter; 38, Gerald Ford; 37, Richard Nixon; 36, Lyndon Johnson, 35, John Kennedy; 34, Dwight Eisenhower; 33, Harry Truman; 32, Franklin Roosevelt; 31, Herbert Hoover (president when I was born). I remember all of these men except one, Herbert Hoover. Of the fourteen presidents during my lifetime, five are still living, and we have seen state funerals for nine of them.
One of them, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was elected to four terms. He died early in the fourth term, however. A constitutional amendment now limits presidents to two successive terms.. John Kennedy was the other president in this group who died while still in office.
I can readily recite the list above, but I have to look up the list of the next 14, still looking backwards. The 14 presidents before Hoover were: 30-Coolidge, 29-Harding, 28-Wilson, 27-Taft, 26- T. Roosevelt, 25-McKinley, 24-Cleveland, 23-Harrison, 22-Cleveland, 21-Arthur, 20-Garfield, 19-Hayes, 18-Grant, 17- A. Johnson.
Next in the list, looking backwards, would be No. 16, Abraham Lincoln. Can you name the 15 presidents before Lincoln?
Click here for a list of all presidents, including some interesting facts.