#Diary of James K. Polk

[deadpresidents]

"I had learned this morning that Mr. Buchanan had taken exception to my remark on Saturday last that I should feel that I was deserted by my political family if the members of my Cabinet should call on the President-elect before he called on me. The remark was made because it might have happened that if my Cabinet called on General Taylor he might not afterwards have chosen to call on me at all. As General Taylor belongs to a different political party from myself, and as it was his duty to call on me, if he desired to exchange civilities, I thought it was due to their own self-respect as well as to me that my Cabinet should wait until General Taylor paid his respects to me before they paid their respects to him. In this view all the members of the Cabinet expressed their concurrence on Saturday, except Mr. Buchanan. I learned this morning that Mr. Buchanan had said to a member of the Cabinet that notwithstanding my remark on Saturday he had left the Cabinet-room resolved to call on General Taylor on that day, as General Shields by appointment had called at the State Department to accompany him. He did not, however, do so; but called on General Taylor yesterday, immediately after General Taylor had called on me. Mr. Buchanan is an able man, but is in small matters without judgment and sometimes acts like an old maid."

-- President James K. Polk, on his Secretary of State James Buchanan, shortly before the inauguration of Polk's successor, President-elect Zachary Taylor, in an entry in Polk's remarkable and often immensely petty personal diary (which he religiously updated throughout his Presidency), February 27, 1849.

[unanchored-ship]

obligatory Dallas post as I am annexed by Polk. I think I made him too sunshine. but compared to Polk anyone is 300% sunshine.

why he always look like he got a W(h)ig on

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🖤 Black History Month ❤️

💛 Queer Books by Black Authors 💚

[ List Under the Cut ]

🖤 Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender ❤️ Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta 💛 Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa 💚 I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz 🖤 Real Life by Brandon Taylor ❤️ Ruthless Pamela Jean by Carol Denise Mitchell 💛 The Unbroken by C.L. Clark 💚 Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova 🖤 Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi 💛 That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole 💚Work for It by Talia Hibbert

🖤 All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson ❤️ The Deep by Rivers Solomon 💛 How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters 💚 Running With Lions by Julian Winters 🖤 Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters ❤️ This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender 💛 The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum 💚 This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow 🖤 Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia 💛 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn 💚 The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

🖤 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson 💛 Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole 💚 Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron 🖤 Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann ❤️ A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney 💛 Power & Magic by Joamette Gil 💚 The Black Veins by Ashia Monet 🖤 Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow 💛 Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 💚 Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

🖤 The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ❤️ Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee 💛 A Phoenix First Must Burn (edited) by Patrice Caldwell 💚 Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson 🖤 Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles ❤️ Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad 💛 Darling by K. Ancrum 💚 The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode 🖤 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Off the Record by Camryn Garrett 💛 Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers 💚 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

🖤 How to Dispatch a Human by Stephanie Andrea Allen ❤️ Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans 💛 The Essential June Jordan (edited) by Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller 💚 A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark 🖤 A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney ❤️ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 💛 Dread Nation by Justina Ireland 💚 Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome 🖤 Masquerade by Anne Shade ❤️ One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite 💛 Soulstar by C.L. Polk 💚 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

🖤 Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender ❤️ Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby 💛 Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair 💚 The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi 🖤 If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann ❤️ Sweethand by N.G. Peltier 💛 This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron 💚 Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon 🖤 Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez 💛 Memorial by Bryan Washington 💚 Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

🖤 Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole 💛 Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackosn 💚 Mouths of Rain (edited) by Briona Simone Jones 🖤 Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia ❤️ Love's Divine by Ava Freeman 💛 The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr 💚 Odd One Out by Nic Stone 🖤 Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden ❤️ Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas 💛 The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons 💚 Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

🖤 Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert ❤️ My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson 💛 Pleasure and Spice by Fiona Zedde 💚 No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull 🖤 The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus ❤️ Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor 💛 The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin 💚 Peaces by Helen Oyeyem 🖤 The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk ❤️ Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh 💛 Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San 💚 The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera

🖤 King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender ❤️ By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery 💛 Busy Ain't the Half of It by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz 💚 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 🖤 Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell ❤️ Trumpet by Jackie Kay 💛 Remembrance by Rita Woods 💚 Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo 🖤 You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour ❤️ The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters 💛 Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi 💚 Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyem

[lil-als]

James K Polk’s diary contains an entry where he talks about not wanting to eat the food at a dinner and quietly asking someone to try and find his comfort food.

[historypresent]

History Nugget #13: June 2019

History Nugget #13: June 2019

“Something was said which drew from General Taylor the expression of views which greatly surprised me. They were to the effect that California and Oregon were too distant to become members of the Union, and it would be better for them to be an independent government. He said that our people would inhabit them and repeated that it would be better for them to form an independent government for…

[plumbingferwe-blog]

Rally Hill Manor

Rally Hill Manor is a Historic Building situated in downtown Columbia TN. It is perched on 1.5 sections of land of land and incorporates nearby stopping. The property has 14'+ roofs, 15 rooms, 4 full and 1/2 washroom. The property was worked by the Brother-In-Law of President James K. Polk and is planned in Federal and Greek Revival. President Polk remained in the house for quite a while as noted in President Polk's Diary. The property has been redesigned throughout the years and is fit as a fiddle. This property can be utilized for Multi-Purpose Commercial uses including: Weddings and other Event Center, Restaurant, Office, Bed and Breakfast Inn and Retail to give some examples. Situated in Downtown Columbia.

Some Property History:

Rally Hill was worked by James Walker around 1848. He called it Rally Hill since troops had marshaled here before they walked to Louisiana amid the War of 1812. Walker started the principal paper in Columbia in 1810, the Western Chronicle. Afterward, James wedded Jane Maria Polk, little girl of Samuel and Jane Knox Polk, she being just 15 and he 21 years old. There were not many relational unions enlisted in Maury County in 1813, and his marriage was not among them, by and by they were hitched. Their association delivered 11 youngsters, six young men and five young ladies. Walker's business advantages included land, contracting for the War Department to outfit arrangements for the Chickasaws, co-owning of the main bank, an association in a steamboat, a chief of a phase mentor line and mail bearer, proprietor of a general store which got committals of tobacco and cotton to be delivered to New Orleans, and part proprietor of Marion Iron Furnace in Hardin County. He was additionally dynamic politically as verified by his being administrator of the quarterly court from 1824 to 1829; civic chairman of Columbia, 1830 to 1831; on the Board of Trustees of The Female Institute and a functioning supporter of James K. Polk.

Here is the map distance between Plumber in Columbia TN to Maury County Park.

View the map location https://goo.gl/maps/U33AFKF3NyCAKRkG8

[antebellumite]

The Washington Union walked a very thin line as the party standard-bearer, promoting Pierce as “The Man for the Times”—a man for all sections—singing his praises with vague generalities and countering Whig accusations. French did a good deal of singing and countering. Indeed, French played a key role throughout the campaign, even helping to secure Pierce’s nomination. As he explained in his diary, his “whole soul was in the matter.”... ...French’s last victory on that count was a vital one. In a remarkable twist of fate, he got Henry Wise, Pierce’s former drinking buddy, to commit the Virginia delegation. As mercurial in his politics as in his temperament, Wise had started his career as a Democrat, bucked his party and become a Whig in Congress, and now had returned to the states’ rights Democratic fold with the rise of the slavery crisis. To get Wise’s support, French had to confront the event that had kept Wise and Pierce at odds for fourteen years: the death of Jonathan Cilley. Pierce hadn’t exchanged a friendly word with Wise since 1838, refusing even to shake his hand. Did Wise bear a grudge? French asked. Wise didn’t; he understood Pierce’s feelings on losing his friend. In the final push, Virginia led the way to Pierce’s nomination. “I do as sincerely believe that I brought about that nomination as I believe I am alive!” French crowed. Wise gave French due credit in a letter to Pierce, adding that it was “singular” that in 1844 Wise had promoted another man for president who had previously given him the cold shoulder���James K. Polk. (Wise also told Pierce that in response to questions about Pierce’s drinking problem, he had regaled delegates with the story of their drunken romp in 1836, declaring it the one and only time that he had seen Pierce drunk. A few months later, while stump-speaking for Pierce, Wise got involved in a scuffle on the podium. Having Wise on your side was a mixed blessing.)

The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B Freeman

Henry Wise, at it again.

[ferretly]

my 2018 reading list/challenge:

beneath the cut it’s long

(these are all options in each section; i won’t read every book in each section. if anyone has recs for which book i should read tho that would be appreciated!!)

a book made into a movie you’ve already seen

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Misery by Stephen King

Holes by Lois Sachar

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

true crime

No Place Safe by Kim Reid

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

the next book in a series you started

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

Fearless by Cornelia Funke

Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

UnSouled by Neal Shusterman

a book involving a heist

White Cat by Holly Black

American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

nordic noir

October is the Coldest Month by Christoffer Carlsson

a novel based on a real person

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

a book set in a country that fascinates you

Ogniem i Mieczem by Henryk Sienkiewicz

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

a book with the time of day in the title

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

The Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

a book about a villain or antihero

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman

a book about death or grief

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

Sanctum by Sarah Fine

The Everafter by Amy Huntley

Ferryman by Claire McFall

Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters

a book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree

a book with an LGBT protagonist

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

a book that is also a stage play or musical

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Elliot

a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Black)

Fledgeling by Octavia E. Butler (Black)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Black)

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (Black)

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu (Chinese-American)

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older (Afro-Latino)

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Japanese-American)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alaire Saenz (Latino)

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (Latino)

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Silvera (Latina)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Black)

a book about feminism

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

a book about mental health

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

a book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift

Accessible Gardening for People with Disabilities: A Guide to Methods, Tools, and Plants by Janeen R. Adil

Women of Valor: Polish Resisters to the Third Reich by Joanne D. Gilbert

Tarot: Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Poles in Wisconsin by Susan Gibson Mikos

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks

a book by two authors:

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

a book about or involving a sport

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Openly Straight by Bill Koningsberg

Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice by Karen Chen

a book by a local author

The Girl who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

a book with your favorite color in the title

The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen

Redheart by Jackie Gamber

Silvered by Tanya Huff

Green by Jay Larke

Red Branch by Morgan Llywelyn

Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga

The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky

The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring by Ruth Sanderson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

a book with alliteration in the title

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Tiger Burning Bright by Marion Zimmer Bradley

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman

Stray Souls by Kate Griffin

Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

a book about time travel

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

The False Princess by Ellis O’Neal

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox

a book with a weather element in the title

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

a book set at sea

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

Above World by Jenn Reese

a book with an animal in the title

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Tiger Burning Bright by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Lions of Al-Rasson by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Shark God by Charles Montgomery

Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

The Bees by Laline Paull

Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

Dov Arising by Karen Bao

White Cat by Holly Black

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring by Ruth Sanderson

Ferrets (Barron’s Complete Pet Owner’s Manuals) by E. Lynn Fox Morton

The Ferret: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet by Mary R. Shefferman

Black Canary #1 by Brennden Fletcher

Lumberjanes, Vol.1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson

a book set on a different planet

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald

Coyote by Alan Steele

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

Dove Arising by Karen Bao

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

a book with song lyrics in the title

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin

a book about or set on Halloween

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

a book with characters who are twins

Nightfall by Jake Halpern

Affinity by Sarah Waters

a book mentioned in another book

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

a book from a celebrity book club

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

He, She, and It by Marge Piercy

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

a childhood classic you’ve never read

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan

a book that’s published in 2018

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

Reign of the Fallen by Sara Glenn Marsh

The Apocalypse Guard by Brandon Sanderson

The Diminished by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthurst

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

a past Goodreads Choice Awards winner

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

A Work in Progress by Connor Franta

a book set in the decade you were born

The Miseducation of Cameron post by Emily M. Danforth

A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

a book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

a book with an ugly cover

Poison by Chris Wooding

Starters by Lissa Price

a book that involves a bookstore or library

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 reading challenges

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes by Kazu Kibuishi

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Lumberjanes, Vol.1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson

Habibi by Craig Thompson

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Fearless by Cornelia Funke

Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra

The Boy at the End of the World by Greg Van Eekhout

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Advanced:

a bestseller from the year you graduated high school

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Dewey: the Small-town Library Cat who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

a cyberpunk book

Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Vurt by Jeff Noon

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress

a book that was being read by a stranger in a public place

lol i don’t like ... even go to public places; if anyone’s reading this do u wanna help me out

a book tied to your ancestry

Polish Roots by Rosemary A. Chorzempa

Women of Valor: Polish Resisters to the Third Reich by Joanne D. Gilbert

Poles in Wisconsin by Susan Gibson Mikos

a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

an allegory

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Carcia Marquez

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

a book by an author with the same first or last name as you

A Dirty Rose by Nannah Marnie-Claire

[censored] sorry

a microhistory

Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Dorris Pilkington

Earth Then and Now: Amazing Images of our Changing World by Fred Pearce

Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexualty by Hanne Blank

a book about a problem facing society today

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

UnDivided by Neal Shusterman

a book recommended by someone else taking the reading challenge

anyone wanna help me out???

[duaneodavila]

Trusts And Estates, Presidents’ Day Edition

Dated July 9, 1799, President George Washington’s last will and testament reads: “In the name of God amen I George Washington of Mount Vernon—a citizen of the United States, and lately President of the same, do make, ordain and declare this Instrument; which is written with my own hand and every page thereof subscribed with my name, to be my Last Will & Testament, revoking all others.”

Presidents die with the same concerns as regular citizens. In the trusts and estates world, this means they pass with or without a will, testate or intestate. Besides real property, monetary assets, and general tchotchkes, presidents, in establishing an estate plan, must decide how their legacy will be managed and to whom their presidential papers and diaries will be distributed . Often, they are bequeathed to presidential libraries and foundations. Their beneficiaries are spouses, children, and even fellow presidential buddies.

It is told that immediately prior to his December 14, 1799, death at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, the first president summoned his wife, Martha Washington, for two versions of his last will and testament. Seriously ill, he reviewed both and threw one in the fire. Having appropriately destroyed one will, the remaining document became his last will and testament which was later probated in the local Virginia court.

President Washington, a wealthy landowner, bequeathed his entire estate to his wife, Martha Washington.  Charitably inclined, Washington left money to establish a school to educate the disadvantaged in addition to bequeathing stock to create a university.  He also requested that all of their slaves (numbered in the hundreds) be freed. Similarly, President Thomas Jefferson freed his slaves under his last will and testament. Jefferson, in a codicil, also left his friend, President James Madison, his gold-mounted walking staff.

The last will and testament of President James K. Polk greatly focused on his bequests to his wife, Sarah, in addition to his Tennessee home, Polk Place. The Polks and their estates have been the subject of much litigation in the State of Tennessee and the president’s will was even submitted as an exhibit in the civil case John Doe ex. Demise Sarah Polk v. William Best upon the First Lady’s passing.  President Polk and his wife have been interred in three different places since their deaths as a result of various lawsuits.

President John F. Kennedy, despite his demise at a young age, was well prepared with a revocable living trust and “pour over” last will and testament. Given the Kennedy family’s wealth and fame, it is unsurprising that he would choose a trust as his primary vehicle for transferring his assets upon his passing. This kind of trust is not filed in the probate courts, thus preserving a quietness for the family as to the inventory of his assets.  As is the case with any  revocable trust, all assets not held in the trust were transferred via the pour over will into the trust following JFK’s passing.

Only four presidents have died intestate, without a will. Abraham Lincoln was only 56 years old when he was assassinated and he did not have a will. At his family’s behest, Supreme Court Justice David Davis was appointed administrator of President Lincoln’s estate by the judge of the Sangamon County Court, in Illinois. The estate was reportedly worth about $85,000 at the time and his next-of-kin, the beneficiaries by law, included his wife, Mary, and his two living sons, Robert and Thomas. Lincoln was an attorney, making his lack of estate planning less excusable, but unfortunately not uncommon. Other presidents who died intestate include Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and James A. Garfield.

The shortest presidential will is attributed to President Calvin Coolidge who in one line manages to distribute his entire estate and disinherit his son. It reads:  “Not unmindful of my son John, I give all my estate both real and personal to my wife Grace Coolidge, in fee.” With all due respect to the presidential testator, it is likely advisable to flesh out one’s final requests a bit more, maybe by writing at least a paragraph to ensure that all concerns are addressed and at a minimum that an executor of your choosing is appointed.

Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com. 

Trusts And Estates, Presidents’ Day Edition republished via Above the Law

[deadpresidents]

Have you ever seen the diaries of Rutherford B. Hayes? There's so many of them

Yes, well, he kept a diary for nearly 60 years. I'm so appreciative of the Presidents who kept diaries during their lives because they are priceless historical resources, particularly those of John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk (who kept a fascinating, often bitchy diary throughout all four years of his Presidency), and Hayes. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan kept diaries during their Presidencies, too, and Reagan's is surprisingly good because he was a much better writer than most people would think.

The Hayes diaries are a valuable resource, but not as easy to read as those of JQA or Polk without the help of annotations from a good editor.

[deadpresidents]

It is perfectly manifest that General Taylor is very hostile to the administration and seeks a cause to quarrel with it. This he shall not have unless he places himself wholly in the wrong, as indeed he has already done. He is evidently a weak man and has been made giddy with the idea of the Presidency. He is most ungrateful, for I have promoted him, as I now think beyond his deserts, and without reference to his politics. I am now satisfied that he is a narrow-minded, bigoted partisan without resources and wholly unqualified for the command he holds...I am now satisfied that anybody would do better than Taylor. Taylor is no doubt brave and will fight, but is not fit for a higher command than that of a Regiment. I have no prejudice against him, but think he has acted with great weakness and folly.

-- President James K. Polk, on General Zachary Taylor, commander of U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War, in a personal diary entry, November 21, 1846.

General Taylor's military success in Mexico had raised his profile nationally and made him a popular potential candidate for political office, which bothered President Polk, despite the fact that Polk only intended to serve a single, four-year term in the White House. As Taylor became more popular, President Polk worked to sideline him and eventually replaced him as commander with General Winfield Scott (who had political ambitions of his own). Much to Polk's chagrin, Taylor was easily elected President in 1848 and succeeded the retiring Polk, who died just over 100 days later in June 1849. President Taylor barely outlasted Polk, and died in office in July 1850.