SANDY KOZEL

Conservative icon Ronald Reagan, the former Hollywood leading
man and California governor who outwitted the American political
elite to reach the Oval Office, was elected president of the United
States on this day in history, Nov. 4, 1980. 

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004)

In one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history,
Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by just
over two million popular votes. In the days preceding the vote,
political analysts and polls were so behind Dewey that on
election night, long before all the votes were counted, the
Chicago Tribune published an early edition with the banner
headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”(above). 

Thomas Edmund Dewey
(March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971)

John Adams, the Founding Father whose intellect, passion and
political philosophy fueled American independence and gave
shape to constitutional governments now found around the
world, became the first president to live in the White House on
this day in history, Nov. 1, 1800.

"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House
and all that shall hereafter inhabit it," Adams wrote to first lady
Abigail, who had yet to arrive, on his second night in the new
executive mansion.

Paintings of former U.S. President John Adams, right, and
his wife Abigail Adams, are displayed at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

SANDY KOZEL