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This Presidents' Day: Meet All 44


Meet all 44 presidents this President's Day weekend at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in our Nation's Capital.

It seems that former DC Mayor, Adrian Fenty, was partly responsible for the $2M exhibit which will open February 17, 2011.  DC is the only place in the world to feature the exhibit.

From the Madam Tussaud web site:

Mayor Fenty helped unveil artist renderings of the new gallery and spoke briefly while attendees admired the nine new wax figures of U.S. presidents that were on display: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, Chester Alan Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Gerald Ford. Additionally, 30 first grade students were on-hand from D.C. Public School Cleveland Elementary to “meet” the new wax figure of the U.S. president for whom their school is named, Grover Cleveland.

“Among the many museums and entertainment options in Washington, Madame Tussauds uniquely combines art, popular culture and entertainment,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “The presidential gallery now adds the important component of education while celebrating the unique heritage of our city.”

Patrons can also test their 'presidential knowledge' by taking part in the Madam Tussauds US Presidential Trivia Poll.

U.S. First Ladies

While the nation celebrates Presidents' Day, the U.S. First Ladies aren't to be exempt from the celebration.

A new book, out this month by Betty Boyd Caroli, titled First Ladies: From Martha Washington To Michelle Obama, provides an account of all forty First Ladies.  (Trivia: Four U.S. presidents were not married.  Can you guess which ones?)

In Chapter 10, titled A New Generation in the White House (p. 295), Boyd discusses former First Ladies Hilliary Clinton and Michelle Obama, giving particular attention to the nation's first African American First Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama (p.335), focusing on her own unique, and impecable style.

On the book's cover Boyd writes a brief synopsis of all of America's First Ladies:

Presidents' wives have ranged in age from the earlty twenties to late sixties; some received superb educatons for their time, while others had little or no schooling.  they include the courages and adventurous, the emotionally unstable, the ambitious, and the reserved - and often they did not fit the traditional expectations of a presidential helpmate.

Boyd is also the author of The Roosevelt Women.

Other
President Lincoln: Great American Historians On Our Sixteenth President
Showing His Ignorance: Hannity on The First Lady's Let's Move!
The Recovery Act: A New Way of Doing Business

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