J. Edgar Hoover liked to fire FBI agents whose palms were sweaty when shaking hands.
26
There was a pre-WWII movement called Technocracy, which held that scientists and engineers should take over the government and economy from politicians and economists. The leader of the movement was known as the Great Engineer.
6
In 1789, the total U.S. federal government debt was $190,000.
3
No president of the United States was an only child for his parents.
51
Former U.S. President Franklin Pierce was arrested during his term as President for running over an old lady with his horse, but the charges were later dropped.
35
Richard Nixon was so good at poker that most of his first campaign for the House of Representatives was funded by poker winnings from his time in the navy.
8
Theodore Roosevelt read at least one book every day.
23
Daniel Webster, who ran for president and lost three times, declined the Vice Presidency twice, thinking it a worthless office. Both presidents who offered it later died in office, meaning that if he had accepted, he would’ve become president after all.
10