Fascinating Facts About US Elections You Probably Didn’t Know
Here’s a look at 10 intriguing facts about US elections and the presidency, adding depth to one of the world’s most closely watched races
In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, was arrested in Washington, D.C., for speeding with his horse-drawn carriage. He was issued a $20 fine for the offense
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest U.S. president, standing at 6 feet 4 inches, while James Madison, the shortest, measured 5 feet 4 inches
George Washington was the only U.S. president who did not align with any political party, and he remains the only president to have been elected unanimously
In 1845, the U.S. Congress established a federal law designating the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as Election Day, chosen to follow the fall harvest and before winter conditions could complicate travel
In 1874, political cartoonist Thomas Nast introduced the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey in a satirical cartoon, and these symbols quickly became widely linked with their respective parties
The White House didn’t always have its current name. Before 1901, it was referred to as the President's Palace, the President's House, or the Executive Mansion. When Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901, he officially named it the White House
Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was the first sitting president to travel by car. His cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, was the first to take a flight in an airplane while in office
The 1920 presidential election marked the first time in U.S. history that women were granted the right to vote at the federal level
In 1997, the Texas Legislature enacted a law permitting NASA astronauts to cast their votes from space. That same year, astronaut David Wolf made history as the first American to vote while in orbit
Hillary Clinton became the first woman to secure a major party nomination for president. The first woman to campaign for the presidency was Victoria Woodhull, a prominent figure in the Suffragette movement, who ran in 1872