Seven Different U.S. Presidents in Twelve Years - The Challenging Period of 1841-1853

[DonRocks]

This is only tangentially related to our "Unelected Presidents" thread.

Statistics can be made to lie, so let me do so here for dramatic effect:

1789-1841 (52 years) - The first seven U.S. Presidents
1841-1853 (12 years) - The second seven U.S. Presidents

This is why, when asked to name the U.S. Presidents, even reasonably well-educated people begin to stumble just after Andrew Jackson, the seventh President. We all know that Abraham Lincoln was #16, but knowing #8-15 is difficult because none were particularly famous (unless you consider Millard Fillmore famous).

In one month (the period from Mar 4, 1841 - Apr 4, 1841), *three* Presidents were in office, as William Henry Harrison died just one month into his term.

Not a whole hell-of-a-lot happened in the 1840s, with the exceptions being the annexation of Texas (1845), the Mexican-American war (1846), and the California gold rush (1849). Granted, those are three pretty big events, but considering the young, volatile nature of the nation, and what occurred both before and after this period, it was pretty tame in comparison, and nobody really stood out as a leader.

During the 1850s, there was Dred Scott (1857), the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858), and John Brown's raid (1859), all three of which were really leading up to the next decade.

So, if you're ever in the mood to memorize the U.S. Presidents, you might want to start with #8-15, because they're probably the most difficult to remember.

As an amateur student of history, I can promise you that learning about U.S. history is a *lot* easier if you know who the Presidents were, and when they were in office.