Alice Sanger (1864 – 1941)

President Benjamin Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as the first
female White House staffer on January 2, 1890.

President Benjamin Harrison (1833 – 1901)

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, collectively
known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified following vigorous
national debate on this day in history, Dec. 15, 1791.

The passage came three-and-a-half years after the Constitution
was enacted to become the framework of the government on
June 21, 1788. 

Washington on his Deathbed, an 1851 portrait by Junius
Brutus Stearns.

George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and
first president of the United States, died at his estate in Mount
Vernon, Virginia. He was 67 years old. His last words were
"’Tis well."

The diagnosis of Washington’s illness and the immediate
cause of his death have been subjects of much debate.       

     
Modern medical authors have concluded that he likely died
from  severe epiglottitis, an inflammation in the throat,
complicated by various treatments which included extensive bloodletting.      
 


        
        
        
        
       

The sarcophagi of George (right) and Martha Washington at
the entrance to their tomb in Mount Vernon.

Marble Statue of George Washington by Jean-Antoine
Houdon, circa 1794 State Capital, Commonwealth of
Virginia, Library of Virginia.

Henry Alfred Kissinger  (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023)

Henry Kissinger, the influential former U.S. Secretary of State
who earned a reputation as a sagacious diplomat but drew
international condemnation and accusations of war crimes
for his key role in widening the American presence in Vietnam
and the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, died Wednesday.

He served as Secretary of State and national security adviser
under two Republican presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald
Ford, and advised powerful leaders in both American political
parties for decades.

Henry Kissinger President Richard Nixon.

Kissinger and President Gerald Ford.

President Abraham Lincoln, amid the most turbulent administration
and deadliest conflict in American history, defeated bitter personal
rival and former Civil War Gen. George McClellan to win re-election
on this day in history, Nov. 8, 1864. 

1864 National Union Party ticket

       
President Abraham      Vice President   
Lincoln                          Andrew Johnson