President Herbert Hoover is probably one of the most controversial presidents in the history of the United States. As the last Republican President before the four continuous administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hoover was blamed greatly for ineffective leadership at the beginning of the great depression. Here are seven things though that you don’t know about President Herbert Hoover.

1. Herbert Hoover was the first head of any host nation to not attend the Olympics being hosted in their home country. Hoover was President of the United States from 1929-1933 and didn’t attend the Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles in 1932.

2. Herbert Hoover was the first United States President born west of the Mississippi River.

3. Hoover was orphaned after his mother died when he was five and his father died when he was nine.

4. Herbert Hoover attended Stanford University (then known as Leland Stanford Junior University) in the first year of the school’s existence.

5. Less than a decade before being elected President of the United States as a Republican in 1928, Hoover was pursued by Democratic leaders to be their nominee.

6. When former President Hoover toured what would become West Germany following World War II to ascertain what the country’s food needs were, his mode of transportation was rail and his personal car was the former personal car of German Field Marshal Herman Goring.

7. More than twenty years after losing his bid for reelection to Franklin Roosevelt, President Hoover was offered the opportunity to become a Senator from New York to fill an unexpired term, but he turned the opportunity down.

No former President lived longer after leaving office than President Hoover. Through those many years a great deal was done to rehabilitate his image and in later life he was perceived much better than he was when the country was in the thick of the Great Depression. President Hoover led the country through one of its most difficult times, and paid the political price for it too.

Ronald Reagan is easily one of the most famous presidents in the history of the United States. During his time in office, especially his earlier years, he was one of the most respected men both inside his own country’s borders as well as around the world. He of course had his detractors, every politician does, but for an extended period of time he was one of the most widely recognized people in the world. Here are seven things you don’t know about Ronald Reagan.

1. When Ronald Reagan was first elected Governor of California in 1966 he had only been a Republican for four years, having switched from being a Democrat in 1962.

2. Ronald Reagan was the first, and so far only United States President to have been divorced.

3. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were married in 1952 at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley in California. Reagan’s best man was famous actor William Holden.

4. During Reagan’s two terms as Governor of California, one person was executed by the state.

5. Ronald Reagan was the first American President to open an Olympic Games that was held in the USA.

6. When the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated in 1991, it marked the first time in the history of the United States that five US Presidents were in one location (Reagan, Bush, Carter, Ford and Nixon).

7. Ronald Reagan is one of only four US Presidents to reach the age of 90, the others being John Adams, Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford.

Ronald Reagan is one of the most beloved presidents in the history of the United States. For many different reasons, the citizens by and large flocked to Reagan’s side of most issues while he was in power. The man himself led a fascinating life, from start to finish. He truly was one of the most interesting men ever to reach the position of President of the United States of America.

When it comes to the interesting lives that a President leads before they become President, George Herbert Walker Bush sits near the top of the list. The man has held many positions and accomplished many things, including raising a son who would also reach the office of the presidency, but here are 7 things you don’t know about George Herbert Walker Bush.

1. Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan In 1941, at the age of 18, George H.W. Bush became the youngest naval aviator in United States history.

2. The first President Bush played baseball on the Yale University baseball team and appeared in the first two College World Series ever played.

3. In 1988, while George H.W. Bush was running for President, his opponent Michael Dukakis’ running mate was Lloyd Bentsen. Bentsen had defeated Bush in 1970 in a race for the United States Senate.

4. George H.W. Bush won the first primary (Iowa) in the 1980 Republican Primary before eventually bowing out in the wake of Ronald Reagan’s successful candidacy for President.

5. The last Nimitz class supercarrier produced for the United States Navy was christened the USS George H.W. Bush.

6. When in 1966 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives representing the 7th District of Texas, in doing so he became the first Republican to represent the city of Houston.

7. George H.W. Bush was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993, he is the third President to have such an honor bestowed upon him after Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.

Only serving one term has led many to believe that George H.W. Bush was one of the least fascinating men to rise to the level of President of the United States of America. It is obvious looking at his history that this is far from the truth.

When John McCain announced that his vice-presidential running mate was the fresh faced Sarah Palin, he not only made headlines every where, but he also launched the entire country into a quest to answer the question “Who is Sarah Palin?” Sarah Palin grew up to become mayor of the same small town she graduated high school from and then went on to eventually become the Governor of Alaska. She is still relatively new to many Americans, but here are seven things you don’t know about Sarah Palin.

1. In the 1999 political race for the position of Mayor of Wasilla which she had won, she received just 909 votes.

2. She graduated from Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska where she also won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest. Her talent in the competition was playing the flute.

3. She gave birth to her fifth child, son Trig, while serving as Governor of Alaska. She returned to the office for work three days after giving birth.

4. Although elected the Governor of Alaska, she was born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

5. She was chosen to be Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate after serving just a little over one year and eight months as Governor of the state of Alaska.

6. She holds the distinction of winning the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary against a sitting Governor before winning the general election as well.

7. While mayor of Wasilla, Alaska she was seen wearing a Pat Buchanan button during his 1996 presidential run.

To many, Sarah Palin seemed to have come out of nowhere when John McCain thrust her into the spotlight of the national political scene. She remained a controversial selection to many while others saw her as a distinctive and refreshing anti-Washington D.C. pick. No matter what her history is, there is no escaping the fact that Sarah Palin will be in the public eye for quite some time now.

Dick Cheney has been the Vice President under George W. Bush for all eight years of his Presidency. Cheney has served in government nearly his whole life in one capacity or another, except for brief breaks to serve occasionally as the head of a corporation or on a company’s board of directors. There are a number of stories about Dick Cheney, from how he was in charge of the search for a Vice President for George W. Bush before being named the Vice-Presidential candidate himself to how he accidentally shot a hunting companion in the face. But, here are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: Dick Cheney.

1. In Dick Cheney’s own words, he “flunked out” of Yale University.

2. When he left his position to run as George W. Bush’s Vice-President, Dick Cheney received a $20 million dollar retirement package from Halliburton after serving as the company’s CEO from 1995-2000.

3. Dick Cheney served in some capacity in the White House’s of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

4. In his early 20’s, Dick Cheney was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated on two different occasions.

5. Dick Cheney was not the first choice to be Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush, first choice Senator John Tower was rejected by the Senate.

6. Dick Cheney served the United States as “Acting President of the United States” on two different occasions when President George W. Bush was undergoing a medical procedure that required sedation.

7. Dick Cheney is the only Vice-President in the history of the United States to ever have the Articles of Impeachment introduced against them.

Dick Cheney will go down in history as one of the more hands-on Vice Presidents in America’s past. Many Vice-Presidents in history took a backseat role in their party and their administration, but the same cannot be said for Dick Cheney. He is truly one of the more interesting characters in recent history.

Ted Kennedy has been a longtime United States Senator from the state of Massachusetts for a great many years. He has been a champion of those in need, whether those without health care or those being treated unequal to others. With his recent diagnosis of having a brain tumor, lets take a look at 7 Things You Didn’t Know About: Ted Kennedy.

1. Senator Kennedy has written a children’s book titled “My Senator and Me: A Dog’s Eye View Of Washington, D.C.”.

2. Ted Kennedy ran for President in 1980 against a sitting President from his own party.

3. Ted Kennedy was initially expelled from Harvard for cheating, he then enlisted in the United State Army and would eventually re-enter Harvard, graduating in 1956.

4. Ted Kennedy was the sole survivor of a small plane crash in 1964 that left him with three crushed vertebrae.

5. In 2004, Senator Kennedy was stopped numerous times while trying to fly from Boston to Washington D.C. for questioning because his name was similar to that of a name that was on the Homeland Security list of names that needed additional screening.

6. In the 1955 Harvard vs. Yale football game which was won by Yale with a score of 21-7, Ted Kennedy caught the only Harvard touchdown pass.

7. Many TV and big screen movies have been made about the Kennedy family, Ted Kennedy has been portrayed on screen by Kevin Hare, Dylan Price, Craig T. Nelson, Jared Cook, Fraser McGregor, Patrick Labyorteaux, Matt Letscher, Jacob Richmond, Matthew Dundas, and Kevin Conroy among others.

No matter what the result of his illness, Ted Kennedy will go down as one of the most effective politicians of his era.

The United States Senate makes up one half of the legislative branch of the federal government. The Senate is made up of 100 Senators with each state in the union getting two senators apiece. But, here are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: The US Senate.

1. Up until 1913, US Senators were selected by their individual state’s legislatures.

2. The US Senate convenes in the north wing of the capitol building.

3. While each state has two Senators, elections are staggered so that no state’s two Senators will be up for election in the same year.

4. In the United States Senate’s history, 15 Senators have been expelled from membership. All but one of those suspensions was due to those Senators’ states seceding from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War. No US Senator has been expelled since then.

5. Two of the qualifications for a person to be allowed to be a Senator are that they must be at least 30 years old and must have been a US citizen for the previous nine years.

6. Three Senators have been elected to office and served before reaching the mandatory age of 30; Henry Clay (1806), Armistead Mason (1816), and John Eaton (1818). This was allowed to happen because the Senate polices itself and not enough scrutiny was given during those early days of operation.

7. The longest filibuster ever was done by Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957 when he spoke for over 24 hours in an attempt to stop Civil Rights legislation.

The US Senate is half of one of the three branches of government. Many of the more prominent people in public life have been senators and holding these positions comes with a great deal of responsibility. Making sure they live up to these expectations is part of the publics job.

John McCain is without question a national hero for his service to his country and his years of enduring torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. But, here are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: John McCain.

1. John McCain was a wrestler in high school and a boxer while at the United States Naval Academy.
2. John McCain served the State of Arizona in the United State House of Representatives from the 1st District. The man that immediately preceded him in that seat was John Jacob Rhodes Jr. The man that served in that seat immediately following him was John Jacob Rhodes III.
3. John McCain’s release from captivity in North Vietnam came as part of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords.
4. John McCain has been awarded the Profiles In Courage Award signifying traits similar to John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. He has also won the Eisenhower Leadership Award signifying traits similar to Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican.
5. The military awards won by John McCain include: The Silver Star, The Legion of Merit, The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Bronze Star, The Purple Heart, and The Prisoner of War Medal.
6. John McCain shares his birthday (August 29th) with the following famous people: Ingrid Bergman, Isabel Sanford, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Richard Attenborough, Elliot Gould, Robin Leach, and Michael Jackson.
7. John McCain’s father and grandfather are the only father-son combination to both serve as Admirals in the United States Navy.

Win or lose during this presidential election season, John McCain will remain a national hero and someone who has dedicated a large part of his life to the betterment of his country.

When you run for President of the United States, there are very few secrets left uncovered by the media. Barack Obama seemed to burst on the political scene from out of nowhere a couple of years ago, but here are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: Barack Obama.

1. Many know that he is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, but his college career began at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.
2. Barack and Michelle Obama met in 1988.
3. Famous people who share Barack Obama’s birthday (August 4th): Elizabeth (Queen Mother), Louis Armstrong, Billy Bob Thornton, Roger Clemens, and Jeff Gordon.
4. Barack Obama has claimed that if he had to choose an alternate career it would’ve been that of an architect.
5. In his first three years in the United States Senate, Barack Obama received honorary degrees from: Knox College, University of Massachusetts Boston, Northwestern University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Southern New Hampshire University, and Howard University.
6. Barack Obama’s first book, “Dreams Of My Father”, was written and published before his first run for public office.
7. Barack Obama’s father is from Kenya where after a 2006 Congressional visit, a school was renamed the Senator Barack Obama Primary School.

Barack Obama, win or lose, will go down in history as one of the more interesting political personalities and stories of our time.

In light of this election year, we’ll start with some of the names in the news as far as politics goes. Hillary Clinton is a former first lady, US Senator, and presidential hopeful, but her are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: Hillary Clinton.

1. During her freshman year at Wellesley College, Hillary Clinton served as president of the Young Republicans.
2. Though known as Hillary Rodham Clinton, her given middle name is Diane.
3. The summer after graduating from college, she worked washing dishes at Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska.
4. Hillary Clinton was the first student ever to give the commencement address at Wellesley College.
5. Hillary Clinton’s wedding to Bill Clinton was a Methodist ceremony that took place in the living room of the house they had just purchased in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
6. In 1988 and 1991, Hillary Clinton was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.
7. From 1978 through 1992, Hillary Clinton’s salary was larger than her husband’s.

Whether you like her or not, Hillary Clinton will go down in history as one of the more interesting public figures.