Interesting and little-known facts from the life of Vladimir Putin. Five little-known facts about the presidents of the United States Interesting facts about the presidents of different countries

In the coming days, a two-part series, briefly titled "Putin", will be released on the Rossiya channel. This tape, which became an Internet hit last week, is a story about the newly elected both in the first person and through the lips of friends, associates, and relatives. ELLE chose ten interesting facts voiced in the film.

1. Putin admitted that in childhood, and then went in for sports. He started with boxing, where his nose was broken. “Hooligan, of course. They did not accept (to the pioneers) simply, and then they accepted. I began to engage in wrestling, sambo, judo, began to gradually change, it is better to study.”

“(In boxing) my nose was broken, and while it was healing, I refocused on wrestling.”

2. While working in St. Petersburg, the future head of state found himself in very tough situations that forced him to think about his safety. “I went to bed in my dacha with a pump-action shotgun, it’s true. But there were such times - God saves the safe.

3. After the defeat of Anatoly Sobchak in the mayoral elections in St. Petersburg in 1996, Putin, one of the main members of Sobchak's team, was left without a job and was thinking about becoming a taxi driver.

“I even thought about what to do, maybe work in a taxi? I'm not kidding where to go. small ones. Therefore, when they offered to move to Moscow and take up legal affairs in the presidential administration, I agreed and came.”

4. Recalling the tragedy at Dubrovka in 2002, when the theater center was seized during the musical Nord-Ost, Putin said that the terrorists were planning a demonstrative execution of hostages on. “The next morning, this tragic story was to take place with the removal of the hostages and their execution. It was impossible to wait,” the president said.

5. The President said that he treats his daughters fairly, but does not interfere in his personal life. “Being demanding is not the same as not loving. So I know that my parents loved me very much, I lived in an atmosphere of love, it was obvious to me, ”Putin said, and speaking about his daughters, he noted that“ how they will build their personal lives, they are already adults, it's already pretty much in their hands."

6. Vladimir Putin's grandfather worked as a cook for the leaders of the Soviet state. “He (grandfather) worked for him as a cook, first with Lenin, then with Stalin, in one of the dachas near Moscow, in Gorki,” the president said in the film.

7. Putin saw a picture of him riding a bear, but of course this is not true. “I saw a photo of me riding a bear. But I've never ridden a bear before. But there are such photographs.

8. Foreign partners, as it turned out, sometimes pamper the Russian president. For example, German Chancellor Angela Merkel "brings a few bottles of Radeberg beer from time to time," Putin said. And he admitted that he tries to drink it less. I love Radeberger, but I try to drink less of it. Because from him “bierbauch”, it is in German - a beer belly appears,” the head of state said.

9. Cornered rats are very dangerous, Putin said, telling a story from his own life: “I was just walking down the stairs, going down, I saw a rat, I started chasing it. He drove her into a corner. She turned around and ran after me. And she didn’t just run, she also went from ladder to ladder, from flight to flight. She tried to jump on my head."

10. Having already taken the presidency, Vladimir Putin found himself in stalemate situations. On the way to the place of death of the Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya, the helicopter, in which the head of state was, was fired upon by militants. “I decided that it was actually fireworks, because it was the New Year. It was the pilots who said: “What a salute, we are under fire,” Putin admitted.

Politicians are also people and nothing human, including strangeness, is alien to them.

George Washington loved horseback riding. However, he demanded that the horse on which he was to sit was perfectly clean. Washington even checked the cleanliness of the animal's teeth.

Thomas Jefferson independently designed his tombstone and wrote the text for it, which did not indicate that he was president.

John Quincy Adams often went skinny-dipping in the Potomac River at dawn. He practically did not change outfits and carried one suit for more than ten years.

Andrew Jackson was an inveterate duelist. During one of the duels, he received a bullet in the chest, the surgeons could not remove it, and Jackson lived with this piece of lead all his life.

Martin Van Buren, after leaving the White House, wrote an interesting memoir in which his wife was never mentioned.

The inauguration ceremony of William Harrison (1841) was held on an extremely cold day. The new president immediately caught a cold. Soon his cold developed into pneumonia, from which he died a month later. He led the United States for a record short time.

John Tyler is the largest president in US history. He had 8 children from his first wife and 7 from his second. His 15th child was born when the President was in his seventies.

Zachary Taylor chewed tobacco everywhere and always. During all official events, he held a snuffbox with tobacco in his fist.

Millard Fillmore refused to accept the mantle of an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. He explained this by saying that he did nothing for science.

When the eleventh president of the United States, James Polk, was 17 years old, he had his gallbladder removed. Doctors performed anesthesia by giving the future president brandy to drink.

James Buchanan is the only US President who has not been married. He was once engaged, but his fiancee broke off the engagement and died soon after.

President Abraham Lincoln always wore a tall black top hat, inside which he kept letters, financial papers, bills, and notes.

Andrew Johnson never went to school. He was taught to read by his future wife Eliza McCardle, Eliza McCardle, at the age of 17. President Johnson wore only suits that he cut and sewed himself.

Throughout his life, Ulysses Grant smoked 20 cigars a day. He died of throat cancer.

President James Garfield was ambidextrous and a polyglot. He could simultaneously write with one hand in ancient Greek and with the other in Latin. He died as a result of a finger cut - blood poisoning occurred during treatment.

Chester Arthur had about 100 pairs of trousers in his wardrobe.

Grover Cleveland underwent a secret surgery during which a part of his jaw that was affected by cancer was removed.

Benjamin Garrison hated electric lights and demanded that during his stay in the White House, light bulbs be turned off and candles lit.

During a hunt, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to kill a bear with a cub. After that, a new toy appeared - teddy bears, which began to be called “teddy bears” teddy bears (“Teddy” is a diminutive form of the name “Theodore”).

William Taft weighed over 136 kilograms. In the White House, a special oversized bath was installed for him.

Warren Harding played poker at least twice a week. Once he even lost the entire Chinese porcelain service that belonged to the White House. His advisors were nicknamed "Poker Cabinet" as they were his main partners during this game of chance.

Calvin Coolidge had a very sick stomach. For treatment and prevention, he slept for 10-11 hours at night, and also rested during the day. Two tame raccoons lived with him in the White House.

Franklin Roosevelt was related to 11 of his predecessors in the White House.

Harry Truman had a pet goat that grazed on the lawn in front of the White House.

Military leader and President Dwight Eisenhower was a great lover and master of cooking. He even came up with a recipe for a vegetable soup that included nasturtium stems.

John F. Kennedy was the first Boy Scout in US history to become president.

Lyndon Johnson loved to give gifts to his employees and visitors. His favorite gift was electric toothbrushes. The author of Johnson's biography received 12 brushes from his hero in 10 years.

Richard Nixon always heated his office with a fireplace, refusing to use steam heating.

Gerald Ford was told by his parents at the age of 12 that they had adopted him.

Jimmy Carter became the first US President to publish a historical novel (The Hornet's Nest). True, Carter wrote the novel after leaving the White House.

Ronald Reagan became famous for overcoming the White House's "20-year curse" in which every president elected in a year ending in zero died or died before the end of his presidential term.

George Bush Sr. was distinguished by the fact that he adored Mexican and Chinese cuisine, but never ate broccoli.

Bill Clinton ordered the creation of a personal website for his cat Sox.

George Bush Jr. and his wife Laura got married just three months after they met.

The head of state carefully guards his private life, nevertheless, a certain number of facts are still known to the public. ELLE chose the most interesting of them.

Putin is a native of Leningrad, as a child he lived in a communal apartment in Baskov Lane. “The yard is a well, the fifth floor without an elevator. Before the war, my parents had half a house in Peterhof. They were very proud of the standard of living that they then achieved. But what level was that? But it seemed to them that this was almost the ultimate dream, ”the president said later.

At first, the future head of state did not do very well at school, but, according to teacher Vera Gurevich, energy and character were already felt in him then. After graduating from the eighth grade, he moved to a school with a chemical bias, while in exact subjects he still studied for triples, and in literature he did well.

In the summer of 1970, Vladimir Putin entered the law faculty of Leningrad State University with a competition of 40 people for a place. Being in his third year, he got his own car - the mother of the future president won the Zaporozhets lottery.

Putin's childhood dream, who adored films about intelligence officers, was to work in the authorities. As a result, in 1975, after graduating from Leningrad University, a certified lawyer by distribution ended up in the KGB.

Soon Putin became acquainted with domestic flight attendant Lyudmila Shkrebneva. “Somehow, when I was already working in the first division in St. Petersburg, a friend called and said that he was inviting me to the theater for Arkady Raikin. He has tickets, the girls will. We went. The girls really were. The next day we went back to the theater. I already got tickets. And the same for the third. I started dating one of them. We became friends,” the president recalled later.

Relations developed quite rapidly. “After three or four months, I already decided that he was exactly the person I needed,” admitted Lyudmila Putina.

In this marriage, which was registered in 1983, Lyudmila and Vladimir Putin had two daughters named after their grandmothers, Maria Putina and Ekaterina Shkrebneva.

The official end of family life came a few years ago. At least the public learned about the divorce in 2013. The spouses themselves announced their decision to leave in an interview with one of the TV channels. Recently, during a direct line with the Russians, answering a question about relations with his ex-wife, the president said: "I do not communicate with Lyudmila Alexandrovna as often as before, but I can say that she is doing well, she is happy with everything." According to Putin, he had a “good” relationship with his ex-wife, “maybe even better than before.”

Putin also became the hero of dozens of films. 12 documentaries are dedicated to him - "Unknown Putin", "Comrade of the President", "Putin's System", "55", "The Wall", "Putin, Russia, the West", "Bridge over the Abyss", "Dans la peau de Vladimir Poutine / “In the Skin of Vladimir Putin”, “The Real Putin”, “Paper Coronation”, “Putin's Kiss”, “I, Putin. Portrait".

President Putin's rating is a record - for many years he has kept within 80%. The enormous support of the Russians, despite the controversial attitude towards the president in the international arena, allowed him to be considered more often than other leaders of states in the world according to polls of authoritative international publications.

There is also a feature film “A Kiss Not for the Press”, which officially has nothing to do with Putin. The main characters of the film are Tatyana (Daria Mikhailova), a former stewardess, and official Alexander (Andrey Panin), the right hand of the St. Petersburg governor, who eventually became president. The picture was filmed back in 2002, but was released six years later.

The creators did not directly draw parallels between the characters and the Putin couple, although Alexander Belyavsky, who played the role of the governor, called "A Kiss Not for the Press" "a film about Putin's young years." The picture received the attention of the Western media: an article in Time magazine devoted to the film was called "A Valentine's Movie for Putin."

The President of Russia is a big fan of sports, his main and long-standing passion is judo. Putin has the champion title of Leningrad, he is also the winner of the USSR Cup, often became the winner of the championships of various universities.

He only wears a watch on his right hand. He himself explained this by the fact that it was on his right hand that the crown of the watch did not rub his brush. Putin loves animals very much. The President's most famous pet is Connie, a black Labrador who passed away in late 2014. The dog became the hero of comics, an entire book was even written on her behalf. In addition to Connie, Putin has two poodles, a goat and a miniature horse.

Today, the book “In the title role. Putin in Contemporary Culture, which tells how the image of the Russian president, the Putin brand, influences artists.

Many authoritative publications, such as Forbes, have repeatedly called Russian President Vladimir Putin the most influential person in the world. Newspapers often write about his wit, quote his funny anecdotes, but few people know that the life of Vladimir Vladimirovich is full of interesting events. Below are the most interesting facts about Putin, including little-known incidents from the life of the head of state.

Family of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich was born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad. His father, Vladimir Spiridonovich, after serving in the Navy, went to war. There he was wounded, but for his courage he was awarded a medal. The president's mother, Maria Ivanovna Shelomova, also went to work at the plant after the war. Vladimir's grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin, was a good cook. Then he prepared dishes for the highest party and state officials. He was Lenin's chef and cooked for Stalin a couple of times.

Few people know that there were two more children in the family of the head of state, one of whom died before the war, it was a boy named Albert, and the second child named Victor was born during the Great Patriotic War, but died of diphtheria. The child was buried in his hometown at the Piskarevsky cemetery.

Facts about the education of the president and the first steps in a career

As for the choice of profession, it is little known that Putin has dreamed of becoming an intelligence officer since childhood. He knew history well, was interested in politics and had an excellent memory. Moreover, he has always been a secretive child, which is rarely seen even in children's school photographs. A childhood dream led the future president to KGB School No. 1 in St. Petersburg. But there he was refused admission to school, explaining that for this it is necessary either to serve in the army or to get an education at the military department at the university.

In 1970, Vladimir Vladimirovich entered the Faculty of Law at Leningrad State University. Five years later, with a diploma in hand, Putin again came to the KGB school, but this time he was enrolled. After completing his studies, he was sent to work for the State Security Committee for Distribution. Putin ended up in the Office's secretariat. In the same year, he received the rank of Senior Lieutenant of Justice. And in 1977 he moved to work in the Leningrad Department of the KGB - the counterintelligence department, where Putin worked for half a year. Thanks to his efforts, the young man quickly attracted the attention of foreign intelligence officers. Putin was sent to the capital for special training. After training, he returned to his hometown and worked in the "first department", that is, the intelligence department for another four years. Already as an intelligence major, Putin was again sent to the capital to the Red Banner Institute, where he was preparing for a special assignment in Germany. For six months he intensively studied German. An interesting fact is that the first pseudonym of Vladimir Putin was the fictitious surname Platov. At that time, many students who studied at the intelligence institute had to keep their real names secret. The fictional nickname was supposed to be short, sonorous and begin with the first letter of the real name: Putin - Platov.

Putin's first trip abroad: how his career developed after serving in Germany

Before the trip to the GDR, great changes took place in the life of Vladimir Vladimirovich. He met his future wife. During the performances of Arkady Raikin in the theater, the future president met his future wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva, who then worked as a flight attendant on domestic airlines. On July 23, 1983, the wedding of Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva took place. Two years later, the first child appeared in the family, a daughter, Maria.

In 1985, Putin and his family went on a mission to Germany, where he would spend another five years. In the same place in Germany, in 1986, the second daughter of the future president, Catherine, was born.

In 1990, Putin and his family returned from service in Dresden. He received the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in 1989 he was awarded the bronze medal "For Merit to the National People's Army of the GDR." As the president himself later commented: “Then it was considered normal if you were promoted after foreign business trips.” Vladimir Putin was promoted twice.

After arriving from Germany, Vladimir Vladimirovich was offered a job in the central office of the KGB, but he refused. In 1990, Putin got a job at Leningrad State University as an assistant to the rector. There he met the future mayor of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak. Putin became his adviser.

In 1991, Vladimir Putin leaves the KGB. A little-known fact is that Putin left the KGB when the State Committee for the State of Emergency, which Anatoly Sobchak opposed, wanted to get power. Some experts believe that the departure of the future head of state from the KGB is connected with this event.

Since 1993, during business trips abroad, Anatoly Sobchak, who became the mayor of St. Petersburg, was replaced by Vladimir Putin. In 1994, Putin became the first deputy chairman of the government of St. Petersburg. A year later, he is appointed head of the regional branch of the PDR party.

Facts from Putin's political career

In 1996, Vladimir Putin moved with his family to Moscow, where his political career began. The first position in Moscow is the position of Deputy Presidential Affairs Manager. Here, Putin was to control the legal administration and management of Russian foreign property. During his time in this post, Putin diligently and honestly did his job, thanks to which he quickly climbed the career ladder. It is a well-known fact that Putin ordered a large-scale inspection of the effectiveness of fishing in Russia, as a result of which sockeye salmon was discovered by Japanese vessels using a prohibited method. As a result of this operation, in the next ten years, the catch of sockeye salmon by Russian vessels increased.

In parallel, Putin managed to do scientific work at Leningrad University. In 1997, he defended his thesis at the Mining Institute on the topic: "Strategic planning for the reproduction of the mineral resource base of the region in the conditions of the formation of market relations."

In 1998, Putin received the post of head of the Russian Federal Security Service. The rapid growth up the career ladder was well deserved, because the future president tried not to ignore the problems in the unit. So he carried out a reorganization in the FSB of the Russian Federation: he abolished the managerial staff for economic counterintelligence, created six new departments of the FSB, and so on.

In 1999, Putin received the post of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, but he did not leave the post of head of the FSB. At the same time, Russian President Boris Yeltsin invited Putin to become the country's prime minister. After taking office, Putin conducted a major operation against militants in Dagestan who had invaded the republic. Having led this operation, Putin organized all the assigned tasks and did an excellent job.

The result of the work was the complete expulsion of militants from Dagestan after a short time. In the same year, a series of terrorist attacks took place across the country, including in Buynaksk, Volgodonsk, and Moscow. More than three hundred people suffered, as it turned out later, at the hands of the Dagestan and Karachai Wahhabis. Vladimir Vladimirovich took control of this incident as well.

One of the most memorable events in the life of Vladimir Putin was the fact that Boris Yeltsin, when leaving the presidency, offered Vladimir Vladimirovich to take this position.

Presidency of Vladimir Putin

In 2000, Vladimir Vladimirovich became the President of Russia, having won the elections. Putin was elected three times as president: in 2000, in 2004 and in 2012.

Success also accompanied Putin's new political movement, Unity, which won 23.3% of the vote in the State Duma elections. The second place awarded was proof of the growing popularity of Vladimir Vladimirovich.

In 2008, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev became president. Shortly before his election, Vladimir Vladimirovich announced Medvedev as his successor. Putin himself became Russia's prime minister in 2008.

In 2010, the authoritative publishing house Forbes included Vladimir Putin in the list of the most influential people in the world. Putin occupies the fourth position in the Forbes rating. In 2011, the magazine raised the name of the Russian president to the second line.

Little-known facts from the life of Vladimir Putin

The life of the Russian president is oversaturated with interesting events. Some stories are known even to those people who have never been interested in the President of Russia and politics in general, but you simply never knew about other facts from the life of Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president is very fond of reading spy novels. Putin once remarked: “What amazes me most is how one person can achieve more than entire armies.” The President is fluent in German, speaks good English, and one of his daughters is fluent in Chinese.

The president has been collecting maps and postage stamps with images of prominent personalities for many years.

Vladimir Vladimirovich is fond of hunting and fishing. In the summer of 2013, while on vacation in Southern Siberia, the head of state managed to catch a 20-kilogram pike. This was a surprise not only for the president, but also for the local huntsman who accompanied the head of state in the taiga.

Putin loves animals very much, especially. Many politicians prefer to give the president a dog or some other animal for his birthday. Now Putin has three dogs. The fourth dog, the most famous named Connie, recently died of old age. It was a gift from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. An interesting story is connected with her: during an informal meeting between German Chancellor Merkel and Vladimir Putin in a country residence, a black labrador Connie unexpectedly entered the hall, which greatly frightened the guest. Merkel pulled herself together with difficulty, and Putin asked: “Does the dog scare you?” In addition to dogs, horses, a leopard, a goat, and a tiger cub were presented to Putin as a gift. Of course, the president did not leave two leopards and a tiger cub in the house, wild animals went to the zoo, where they are given the best care.

One of the features of the president: when Vladimir Vladimirovich changes his office, he never starts a reshuffle. This is very unusual. As a rule, officials first of all seek to get rid of everything that was left after their predecessors, and try to adapt the workspace for themselves. Putin has never even changed the furniture in his office.

The head of state is only on the right hand. He explains this by the fact that the crown of the watch does not rub the brush. After this statement, some well-known brands even began to produce watches with a crown on the opposite side.

Once upon a time, the expression "Putin-crab" was very popular. This is another nickname for the president, which appeared after his statement that he “plowed like a galley slave” for eight years of the presidency. Then the expression was simplified even more and only “Putin-crab” remained.

Few people know that one unpleasant event happened in the life of the country's leader even before Putin became president. His dacha was completely burned down with all the things and savings that were there, and family members barely managed to escape. On the ashes, Putin accidentally discovered his cross. He lay on the ashes and glowed brightly from the falling rays of the sun. The cross was not damaged at all. After this incident, Putin and his family moved to the capital, where he began to build his political career. The president himself considers this event symbolic. He even shared this story with US President George W. Bush during one of his informal meetings.

13 films have been shot about the head of state, 12 of which are documentaries:

1. "Unknown Putin",
2. "Comrade of the President"
3. "Putin's system"
4. "55",
5. "Wall",
6. "Putin, Russia, West",
7. "Bridge over the abyss"
8. "In the body of Vladimir Putin",
9. "The Real Putin"
10. "Paper Coronation"
11. "Putin's Kiss"
12. “I am Putin. Portrait".

Another film is artistic - "Kiss is not for the press."

In 1999, a book was written about the president. Its authors are Vasily Shestakov and Alexey Levitsky. The book is called Learning Judo with Vladimir Putin.

The list includes state awards: Order of Honor, Order of Merit for the Republic of Dagestan, foreign awards: Bronze Medal of the National People's Army of the GDR "For Merit", Order of Ho Chi Minh, Gold Medal of the Greek Parliament, Order of the Golden Eagle, Order of the Legion of Honor, Gold Medal of the Senate and Congress of the Cortes Generales, Order of King Abdelaziz, Order of Ismoili Somoni, Order of Zaid, Order of "Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun", Saxon "Order of Gratitude", Order of the Precious Rod with Pearl, Order of the Liberator, Grand Chain of the Order of the Republic of Serbia, Order of Friendship of Peoples, Orders St. Charles, the Order of "Jose Marti", a commemorative medal in honor of the 75th anniversary of the victory at Khalkhin Gol, departmental awards: the medal "For Impeccable Service" of the KGB of the USSR II and III degrees, the medal "Participant of the march on June 12, 1999. Bosnia - Kosovo" made of silver, medal of A.M. Gorchakov, as well as many religious, community, sports, and academic awards. Among other things, Vladimir Vladimirovich bears the title of honorary citizen of 12 cities, and in two more cities streets are named after the Russian president.

In 1974, according to one of the former, Putin won the Zaporozhets lottery. Then it was quite a respected car.

Vladimir Vladimirovich was baptized in November 1952, on Mikhailov's Day in St. Petersburg in the Transfiguration Cathedral.

Many different stories have been made up about Putin many times. So, after the president’s divorce from his wife Lyudmila, journalists attributed him an affair with former gymnast Alina Kabaeva, spoke in colors about their wedding, about a joint vacation, about wedding rings allegedly seen on the fingers of both participants in the novel, and various fictional facts were cited as evidence. . Today, the Internet is full of wedding pictures and videos, but many of these evidence are obviously fake. Some time later, there were rumors that she first gave birth to one child, then a second, and more recently, a third child. The gymnast herself and the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, of course, denied these gossip. As it turned out later, the child in the photo with Kabaeva is her nephew, and the rest of the children are simply attributed to the couple in order to stir up the interest of readers.

Today, as you know, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is running for president again. More than half of the country's population is ready to vote for Vladimir Putin, according to polls by the sociological company Levada Center, and those who oppose the president's policies turned out to be in the minority. However, who will win the vote will be known only after March 18, 2018.

Theodore Roosevelt (26th President of the United States) loved hunting and was a very brave soldier. His exploits during the war with Spain earned him the glory of a hero. However, nothing human was alien to him. So, one day a story happened to him that had very peculiar consequences. Already being president, Theodore Roosevelt one day went hunting, accompanied by subordinates and friends. But having met a bear cub in the forest, he did not shoot at him and let the cub hide in the thickets. This case quickly became the property of the whole country, passed from mouth to mouth and from newspaper to newspaper. And if ordinary Americans became even more proud of their president, then toy manufacturers decided to take advantage of such a good opportunity as a commercial idea. They launched a production line for the "Teddy Bear", which immediately became mega-popular and sold out instantly. As we all know, more than a hundred years have passed, and this bear cub is still known and loved. And not only by Americans.

ten thousand cigars

This is, of course, a rather sad story. But it is very instructive. Ulysses Simpson Grant (18th President of the United States) was a heavy smoker. Perhaps today he would have been diagnosed with nicotine addiction, since he smoked at least 20 cigars daily! Documented is the fact that after the end of the Civil War in 1865. the president was presented with a gift - a collection of 10,000 cigars! Whether he managed to smoke them out is not known for certain, but in 1985, U.S. Grant died, moreover, the cause of his death was cancer of the esophagus.

Ulysses Grant in Harper's Weekly.

President for a month

This is also not the most cheerful fact, but it is a story that is already recorded in the chronicles of the United States of America. So, William Henry Harrison (9th President of the United States) had the shortest presidential term. It amounted to only one month. And it all happened like that. W. G. Garrison made a long, penetrating speech as he came into his own. This performance, by the way, is recognized as the longest speech in the history of inaugurations – the performance lasted almost two hours! Unfortunately, this March day was wet and cool weather. As a result, the president caught a cold and went to bed with pneumonia. The doctors could not cure him, and exactly one month after he was elected, William Harrison died.

William Henry Harrison. Author: Albert Sands Southworth (American, 1811–1894) and Josiah Johnson Hawes (American, 1808–1901). Edited by: Fallschirmjäger - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession number: 37.14.44. Search for "William Henry Harrison" on the museum's site.

Golf in the snow

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (28th President of the United States) was a big fan of golf. Moreover, his doctor once prescribed him golf as a medicine after the most honorable patient felt some discomfort. As a result, Woodrow Wilson began almost every day with a game of golf (by the way, he was usually accompanied by the same doctor). No longer imagining his life without this game, Wilson ordered the ball to be painted in order to continue playing even in winter, when it snowed and the usual white ball could not be seen. By the way, it was painted with black paint.

Woodrow Wilson with his wife.

humble guy

Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States) can probably be called the most modest of all presidents. Judge for yourself: sensing an imminent death, Jefferson dictated a memorable text that was to be carved on his tombstone. He ordered to be sure to indicate the fact that he was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and also founded a university in Virginia. And the fact that he was at the helm of the state for 8 years, out of modesty (or forgetfulness, or for some other reason), he decided not to mention.

Thomas Jefferson.