Who coined the nickname “Slick Willie”?
Arkansas newspaper columnist and long-time Clinton opponent Paul Greenberg was the first to apply the name “Slick Willie” to then-governor of Arkansas and future president Bill Clinton.
The first president to hold a doctorate was Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the 28th president. He received a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1886. His thesis was entitled “Congressional Government, a Study in American Politics.”
The first situation comedy on television was a live show called “Mary Kay and Johnny” (1947-50, Dumont). Forerunner to I Love Lucy, the live show concerned the adventurous life of New York newlyweds Johnny and Mary Kay Stearns. The couple’s real-life newborn son was worked into the show in 1948.
The series of trials in Massachusetts in 1692-93, known as the Salem witch trials, resulted in 27 convictions. Of those, 20 were executed: 19 were hanged, one was crushed to death. In 1693, Massachusetts governor William Phips created a new court, with stricter guidelines for evidence. Through it, remaining prisoners were either acquitted or set…
William Safire wrote the phrase “nattering nabobs of negativism” for Vice-President Spiro Agnew in 1970. Agnew speechwriter Pat Buchanan, came up with “pusillanimous pussyfooters”, also in 1970.
On March 4, 1841, President William Henry Harrison gave the longest address, at about 8,500 words. Harrison delivered the 100-minute speech outdoors without an overcoat in bitterly cold weather. He caught pneumonia and died on April 4, 1841, one month after taking office. What president gave the shortest inaugural address? At his second inaugural in…
The quote “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it” refers to the bombardment of the city of Ben Tre, South Vietnam, during the Tet Offensive in 1968. The army major who said it was unidentified.