His actions helped turn the tide of the 1898 Spanish-American War in favor of the U.S., and it was this war that eventually liberated Cuba from Spanish rule. He was awarded the medal posthumously in 2001, in recognition of his charge up San Juan Heights, alongside his Rough Riders, in Cuba. president to have received the Medal of Honor. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, for example, is the only U.S. Some presidents were recognized for their commendable actions during service. Presidents Who Went Above and Beyond While Serving Eisenhower led the Allied forces to victory in World War II. Eisenhower is the only president, besides Washington, to have become a five-star general. While President James Buchanan is the only president who served and never became an officer, President Dwight D. Yes, although he stood on all four paws, Fala – FDR’s beloved and famous Scottish terrier – served as an honorary Army private during World War II. Roosevelt, who called for the founding of the USO, is pictured here beside his faithful and beloved dog, Fala, who was made an honorary Army private during World War II.

Bush, would go on to serve in the Texas Air National Guard and would later also become president of the United States. He would be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Citation for his efforts. He floated there for several hours, avoiding further Japanese gunfire, swallowing saltwater and suffering from jellyfish stings before being rescued by an American submarine. Both of his fellow crew members were killed, but Bush managed to parachute out of the plane and land in the water, injured but alive. Unfortunately, Bush’s plane was badly damaged and it plummeted into the ocean. During a bombing run on the Japanese island of Chichi Jima, Bush’s plane came under enemy fire, but Bush and his crew pressed on, still managing to hit their target. Bush enlisted as a naval aviator on his 18th birthday, becoming one of the youngest aviators in Navy history, and was soon sent to the front lines of World War II. Bush seated in a Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft in 1944. Although some of these presidents served in other conflicts as well, seven presidents fought in the American Civil War:Īnd eight American presidents served in World War II: presidents to serve: the American Civil War and World War II. Two conflicts in American history have particularly inspired several U.S. On July 4, 1976, a joint resolution was passed to posthumously promote Washington to the title of “General of the Armies of the United States,” effectively ensuring that no other member of the military can ever outrank him. In addition to being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a talented military general – he is also the U.S.’ only six-star general. MilitaryĪmerica’s first president, George Washington, led the charge both on the battlefield and as a statesman in the founding of this country. George Washington: Army Soldier, Founding Father and Currently the Highest-Ranking General in the U.S. Photo credit Charles Willson Peale/Brooklyn Museumġ. In 1973, President Richard Nixon and First Lady Thelma “Pat” Nixon, both avid bowlers, had a one-lane bowling alley built in an underground workspace below the North Portico driveway of the White House.George Washington, painted by Charles Willson Peale, while in uniform as the Commander of the Continental Army.She was the daughter of Strelka, a Russian dog sent to space by the soviets. As a good will gesture toward the United States, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev gave First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy a dog named Pushinka, which means 'fluffy' in Russian.A White House staff member, Charles Reeder, once snuck Algonquin, a pony that belonged to Theodore Roosevelt’s children, up the White House elevator to visit Archie Roosevelt while he was sick in bed with the measles.Hayes was the first president to have a telephone and a typewriter in the White House – the telephone was installed in May 1879 and the typewriter arrived in February 1880. Mary Todd Lincoln held seances in the Red Room of the White House to communicate with the spirits of loved ones who had died.The exceptions to these were Andrew Johnson and William McKinley. Nearly every president from Abraham Lincoln to William Howard Taft sported some form of facial hair.

It is also the birthday of one president: Calvin Coolidge in 1872. The Fourth of July is a date on which three presidents died – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (both in 1826) and James Monroe (1831).

Fun facts about us presidents