September 14, 2005

Political trivia

This is the sort of stuff I eat up. Sure, you'll never be asked any of this, but it's still interesting. (well, I guess I should speak for myself.)

In 1917, Jeanette Rankin, of Montana, became the first United States Congresswoman.

Victoria Woodhull was the first woman nominated for president. She was nominated by the People's Party, in 1872.

In 1812, George Clinton became the first U.S. vice president to die while in office.

In 1870, Joseph H. Rainey, of South Carolina, became the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Patricia Harris was the first black woman to be appointed to a cabinet position.

Kay Orr, of Nebraska, inaugurated in 1987, was the first female republican governor.

Margaret Chase Smith, of Maine, was the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

Cartoonist Thomas Nast created the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party.

The first black person to attend a meeting of a U.S. president's cabinet was James E. Wilkins, assistant secretary of labor, in 1954.

The first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office in recall voting was Lynn Frazier of North Dakota in 1921.

The first female governor of a state was Nellie Taylor Ross, of Wyoming, in 1925.

The first vice president of the United States was John Adams.

The only United States senator elected by write-in votes was Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1954.

Only two people served as U.S. vice president for more than one president. George Clinton under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. John C. Calhoun under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

The first woman to serve in the United States Senate was Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia in 1922.

The first black governor in the United States was Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback of Louisiana in 1872.

The first U.S. vice president to resign was John C. Calhoun in 1832.

The Democratic Party was represented as a donkey for the first time on January 15, 1870, in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

In 1966, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Robert C. Weaver became the first black Cabinet member.

The first woman elected to the United States Senate was Hattie W. Caraway, of Arkansas, in 1932.

In 1967, Alan S. Boyd became the first secretary of transportation.

The first elected black governor in the United States was L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia in 1990.

In 1887, Susanna Medora Salter, of Argonia, Kansas became the first female mayor elected in the United States.

The first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare was Oveta Culp Hobby, in 1953.

OK, no lying now. Did anyone already know any of these?

2 Comments:

At 9/15/2005 11:35 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

I realize your question is rhetorical, but first you'd have to have concrete reasons for calling for his recall beyond observing that he's worthless. After all, we've had that for many years now in Moline. Beyond that, I have no idea of how it would be done or if it's even possible.

 
At 9/15/2005 11:37 AM, Blogger The Inside Dope said...

And good catch! This list definitely should have included Moseley-Braun as the first black woman in the senate.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home