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The Most Significant US Presidential Firsts
Vote up the most interesting firsts among the American presidents.
Who was the first president to actually live in the White House? Who was the first bachelor president? Which president was the first to appear on TV? These questions and way more get answered on this list of USÂ presidential firsts. Delve into these presidential trivia facts that cover everything from the major bases (first president to be assassinated and the first president to resign) to the funnier and wilder famous firsts (who was the first to ride in a car, for instance?).
The presidents of the USAÂ are members of an elite club, but they all managed to stand out in one way or another. Many of them made history by being the "first" to do things, like President Grover Cleveland being the first president to get married at the White House or President Barack Obama being the first president to publicly support gay marriage. The United States trivia continues with fun facts about American presidents like Bill Clinton (the first to be live-streamed) and Ronald Reagan (the first to be divorced).
Whether you consider these firsts to be good or bad, it's undeniable that they're intriguing.
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- White House Photographic Office
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
1Ronald Reagan: First To Nominate A Female Justice
While Barack Obama made history with his number of female nominations to the Supreme Court, the trend started with President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan made history for women's rights when he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to the court.
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John Adams: First To Not Own Slaves
When George Washington was in charge, the precedent had been set that the presidents of the United States could and would own other human beings. In fact, of the first five presidents, four of them were slaveowners.
The trend, however, took a hiatus with the second president, John Adams, who did not own slaves.
Interesting first? - Photo:
- White House Press Office
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
3Lyndon B. Johnson: First To Appoint A Black Justice
While it wasn't until 2008 that America elected a Black president, the president first appointed a Black justice to the Supreme Court in 1967.
On August 30, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Justice Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court. He retired in 1991, two years before he passed at the age of 84.
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4Franklin D. Roosevelt: First Televised
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the biggest star on TV when he became the first Commander-in-Chief to appear on the new medium.
FDR, who was already a huge hit on the radio with his "fireside chats," appeared on a broadcast of the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
Interesting first?- Photo:
- White House
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
5Jimmy Carter: First Born In An Actual Hospital
On October 1, 1924, President Jimmy Carter's mother made history by birthing a future president at the Wise Clinic in Plains, Georgia.
Until that year, no single president (and Carter was the 39th) had been born in an actual hospital.
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Abraham Lincoln: First To Be Assassinated In Office
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln's passing was monumental for a wide variety of reasons.
Lincoln was the first president to ever be assassinated (John F. Kennedy became the fourth) but was actually the second president to experience an assassination attempt, as Andrew Jackson was nearly taken out exactly 30 years prior.
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