On January 14, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) became the first president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the
Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying Boat dubbed
the Dixie Clipper (below) to a World War II strategy meeting with
Winston Churchill at Casablanca in North Africa.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) with Winston Churchill at the
Casablanca Conference, January 22, 1943.
Congress sets January 7, 1789 as the date by which states are
required to choose electors for the country’s first presidential
election. A month later, on February 4, George Washington was
elected president by state electors and sworn into office on
April 30, 1789.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) and lifelong friend and political advisor,
Basil O’Connor counting dimes sent in to the White House for the
March of Dimes, 1944. O’Connor helped establish the foundation.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an adult victim of polio, established the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which he later renamed
the March of Dimes Foundation, on January 3, 1938. A predominantly childhood disease in the early 20th century, polio wreaked havoc
among American children every summer. The virus, which affects
the central nervous system, flourished in contaminated food and
water and was easily transmitted. Those who survived the disease usually suffered from debilitating paralysis into their adult lives. In
1921, at the relatively advanced age of 39, Roosevelt contracted
polio and lost the use of his legs. With the help of the media, his
Secret Service and careful event planning, Roosevelt managed to
keep his disease out of the public eye, yet his personal experience inspired in him an empathy with the handicapped and prompted him
to the found the March of Dimes.
President Franklin Pierce placed the first Christmas Tree in
the White House in 1856. Pierce was elected the 14th U.S.
President, serving from 1853 – 1857.
Franklin Pierce
(November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869)
 
General George Washington at Valley Forge.
