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PRESIDENTS

History Confidential

It’s common knowledge among Lincoln historians that Mary Todd had a “courting cake” that she baked for Abe while they were dating after buying the recipe from her favorite bakery in Lexington, Kentucky. He declared it “the best cake I ever ate.” Here's th

Stacy Conradt








Peter Keegan, Keystone/Getty Images

When the national press descended on Plains, GA, during the 1976 presidential campaign, the journalists were looking for some insight into Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter’s character. They found something even better: Carter’s hard-drinking younger b

Ethan Trex

In Rutherford B. Hayes' hometown of Delaware, Ohio, there's a memorial to the late U.S. president; it's a plaque that marks his birthplace, which is now a gas station. In Paraguay, people might find this fact horribly offensive.

Jenny Drapkin


Wikimedia Commons

We're in the throes of summer vacation season, but at least one American is still on the job. While it's rumored that President Obama will follow in the footsteps of President Clinton and vacation on Martha's Vineyard, he hasn't had a chance to break out

Ethan Trex


Ollie Atkins, White House photographer, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Presidents as far back as George Washington have waited until their final days in office to sign pardons. Let's take a look at some of history's more notable ones.

Ethan Trex




National Archives

Here, we're choosing to remember Lyndon B. Johnson not by the many political wheels he set into motion, but by the stuff he kept by his side—and close to his heart.

Jenny Drapkin