Interesting little test

I was perplexed this morning about the order of the 44 presidents and it occurred to me that I ought to take a piece of paper and try to write them down without looking at anything and also to assign dates to their terms of office. That way I would have a clear indication of what I actually carry in knowledge and what I only pretend to carry.

Quite amazing results. Very clear on everything back to my own birth. Pretty clear back to my parents' birth, vaguely clear back to my grandparents' birth. At the other end, the beginning was clear with a few small glitches all the way through Andrew Jackson. Horrible blanks from Jackson to Teddy Roosevelt except for the Civil War period with Lincoln/Johnson & Grant. Spent an hour this morning exploring those two blurry areas and I have decided I will understand this country a lot better when I get the rest. It was illuminating to discover what I don't know and kind of a thrill to shine a light into the darkness. I realized in the process that most of us are familiar with the modern age and the age of the founders, but not very clear about the industrial revolution period. It will pay dividends to go back after all these years and fill it in, I am certain of that. Especially in light of what is going on right now with the economy. Garfield/Arthur were very interesting to learn about as was the twelve year period with Cleveland/Harrison/Cleveland.

Where we started from, where we've been, where we are now, and where we're going. Quite a ride and not always very pretty.>>>

When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher taught us a ditty to help remember the first 13 presidents. Using either the name or first letter in the name to trigger memory:

Washington And Jefferson Made Many A Joke. Van Buren Had Trouble Plenty To Find. Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe Adams Jackson VanBuren Harriston Tyler Polk Taylor Filmore

Seems like yesterday that I learned that!>>>

the years of term not included, i was good from fdr up to present.>>>