Presidents before they were presidents

#JFK #Reagan #FDR #Obama #Clinton #LBJ

[youngpresidents]

Yeah, no. I'm good

[youngpresidents]

Hillary Clinton, a true gameboy

[todaysdocument]

Photograph of President Gerald R. Ford, National Park Ranger Emeritus Wayne Replogle, and a National Park Ranger at Yellowstone National Park, 8/29/1976

Series: Gerald R. Ford White House Photographs, 8/9/1974 - 1/20/1977.  Collection: White House Photographic Office Collection (Ford Administration), 12/6/1973 - 1/20/1977

President Ford had been a ranger at Yellowstone National Park himself, working as a seasonal park ranger during the summer of 1936. (Read more via @fordlibrarymuseum )

Photograph of Gerald R. Ford, Jr., as a Ranger at Yellowstone National Park

[youngpresidents]

[youngpresidents]

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

[youngpresidents]

Just curious, why does this blog exist? Is it to show that presidents are human? Or just because you're interested in history? What?

It’s more about my interest in American history more than anything (I’m a recent history grad, hoping to get into a PHD program soon). These are some of the most culturally recognizable faces, so I think people really like seeing a younger version of a face they are already familiar with. Celebrity baby pictures have the same popularity, but for me it’s even more fun with historical figures. Especially, since presidents have been, for the most part, ugly old white dudes. Whereas we’re used to seeing a severe faced LBJ, on here we can see a cute little kid in a cowboy outfit. 

Take what meaning you want. Tumblr is not a great platform for historical inquiry, but it’s great for visual content. People who might only be vaguely interested in history can hopefully find this blog accessible. 

Now, maybe I should update this blog since my main period of activity was in 2012....Would you guys like that?

[america-runs-on-kennedy]

[ourpresidents]

Was Herbert Hoover born on August 10, or August 11, 1874? We’ll never know for sure because nobody glanced at the clock. Was it a few minutes before midnight or a few minutes after? 

When Bert was old enough his father let him choose the date, and of course a young boy would choose the earlier date over having to wait an extra day.

-from the Hoover Library

[motherjones]

The first ever Clinton campaign started with an “Area Man” headline. 

[jimgandolfini]

3yr old FDR riding a donkey with his dog, Buddy

[msnbc]

25 years ago today, 28-year-old Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.

Get the latest on President Obama: http://on.msnbc.com/1C5l2Q4

Read the full story from the Feb. 6, 1990 edition of The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1FeeUpJ

[ourpresidents]

Ronald Reagan was born on this day, February 6, 1911.

Portrait of the future President at one year old with his older brother Neil Reagan. Circa 1912.

More - Childhood photos of Ronald Reagan from the Reagan Library

[obamawhitehouse]

No one stays young and invincible forever. Make sure you get covered by February 15.

[askhistorians]

The Alligators Eating Club at Princeton University, c. 1879. The young man holding his hat is future US president Woodrow Wilson.

(Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archive)

[youngpresidents]

Sadly, I don't think the Alligators still exist on our campus

[lexa-the-conqueror-deactivated2]

Can we just talk about young Gerald Ford for a sec? Hot damn

[ourpresidents]

Lady Bird and Lyndon “Commit Matrimony” — 80 Year Ago Today 

Lyndon and Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor met in early September 1934 in Austin. On their first date, Lyndon Johnson proposed, and for the next 2 ½ months the two exchanged approximately 90 letters.

On November 17, 1934, Johnson and Lady Bird drove to San Antonio to “commit matrimony,” as she would later describe it. 

LBJ didn’t have a wedding band and asked Dan Quill, friend and Postmaster of San Antonio, to get one. Quill bought a wedding band at the nearby Sears, Roebuck & Co. for $2.50.

Lyndon and Lady Bird married on November 17, 1934, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio. They honeymooned in Mexico and remained married for 39 years. 

To celebrate what would have been LBJ and Lady Bird’s 80th wedding anniversary, the LBJ Presidential Library is serving cake all day (as long as it lasts!) today in the Great Hall starting with a 10:30 a.m. cake cutting by their granddaughter, Nicole Covert.

The Driskill Hotel, the site of LBJ and Lady Bird’s first date, will be preparing the cake. Come and join in on the wedding celebration!

Photo: 

Newlyweds Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson posing in a boat on the Floating Gardens.  Honeymoon in Mexico after Nov. 17, 1934 Wedding in San Antonio, Texas.

-from the LBJ Library 

[fuck-yeahbillclinton]

Oh hey there Bill

[ourpresidents]

President George H.W. Bush played soccer while attending Phillips Academy in Andover, MA from 1937 to 1942.

-from the George Bush Library