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Along with the likes of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Ulysses S. Grant is one of a handful of presidents who used a middle initial in his formal written name. But that distinguished "S" is actually an accident. As a young man, the story goes, Grant—whose given name was Hiram Ulysses Grant—was seeking admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. When his congressman nominated

The only thing more iconic than Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hat is his beard. But Honest Abe didn't always have that famous facial hair. When he was campaigning for president, he was clean-shaven. In fact, he'd always been clean-shaven. That changed, however, in October 1860, when Lincoln received a letter from an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bedell. "If you will let your whiskers grow I will try and get [my

Spouses and children are as familiar a factor in presidential politics as shaking hands and kissing babies on the campaign trail. But the country's 15th president, James Buchanan, was a rare lifelong bachelor in the White House—a soloist, save for his intimate friendship with fe

If John Tyler were alive today, he might make a a convincing candidate for starring in his own reality TV show. That's because he fathered 15 children—more than any other U.S. president. Tyler had eight children with his first wife, Letitia Christian, who died of a stroke in 1842, just one year into Tyler's first and only term. In 1844, he then married Julia Gardiner, with whom he had another seven ch

America's ninth president, William Henry Harrison, was long-winded—but sadly, his presidency was not long-lived. On March 4, 1841, Harrison gave what ended up being the longest-ever inaugural address by a U.S. president—an 8,445-word speech that took him nearly two h

In order to be president, the Constitution states, one must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for at least 14 years, and at least 35 years old. But here's a curious fact: Although they were all "natural born citizens" by virtue of being born within the territory that was

rguably, some of the most interesting occupants of the White House aren't the presidents themselves, but their pets—some of which have been downright peculiar. If the lore is true, one of the strangest was probably the pet alligator that John Quincy Adams is said to have kept for two m

What James Madison lacked in stature he made up for in intellect. One of three authors behind the famous Federalist Papers, he attended Princeton University—then known as the College of New Jersey—as an undergraduate in 1769. He earned his four-year degree in just two years,

At 6 feet 4 inches tall, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson were America's tallest presidents. But what about America's shortest president? T

Although he's often credited with doing so, one thing Thomas Jefferson didn't invent, according to Vice, was ice cream. He did, however, help import it to the United States. Jefferson discovered the frozen treat, the story goes, while he was a diplomat in France. He was hooked. When he returned to America, he brought with him molds and utensils designed especially for ice-cream making. As president, he subsequently served ice cream regularly at the White House, which h