President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was big news all over the world and is still the first thing that comes to mind when his name comes up. At first, he denied having a relationship with the young intern but in the end, he came clean simply saying, “even presidents have private lives.”
Impeachment proceedings began in December 1998 and after a five-week trial, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate.
McKinley’s Assassination
Shortly after his second inauguration, McKinley embarked on a tour of the western states which led him to the Pan-American exhibition in Buffalo, New York to deliver a speech for 50,000 people. The following day, on September 6th, 1901, he was shot twice in the chest by unemployed mill worker and anarchist Leon Czolgosz.
The president was hospitalized, and his prognosis was initially good, but there were complications and he passed away 8 days after the attack.
Bill Clinton
The 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, served two terms from 1993 to 2001. While he was in office, America enjoyed an unprecedented time of economic expansion, record job creation, and a decline in poverty. White House reporter Helen Thomas says of Clinton, “he has brought on the greatest prosperity we have ever known and he doesn’t get the credit for it and that’s too bad.”
Clinton also had one of the highest approval ratings of any president since World War II, which stood at 60%.
James K. Polk
James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was in office between 1845 to 1849. His inauguration was the first in American history to be broadcast on the news using a telegraph! Folk is also remembered as the president who led the nation to victory in the US-Mexican War and was responsible for the territorial expansion of the United States through the Texas Annexation in 1845 and the Mexican Cession in 1848.
Polk also has some financial accomplishments; he reestablished an independent treasury system and reduced tariffs.
Polk’s Strict Rules
Being president is no joke, but James K. Polk may have gone a little overboard. His wife was religious, and they were intent on keeping the White House a fun-free zone.
They went so far as to ban alcohol, dancing, and card playing at all White House receptions. In order to respect their wishes, dancing at the inaugural ball only began once the president and his wife left.