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
Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.
259
The system of democracy was introduced 2,500 years ago in Athens, Greece.
32
In ancient Athens, the worlds first democracy, they had a process called ostracism, where once a year the people could vote on the politician they thought was most destructive to the democratic process. The “winner” was banished from Athens for 10 years.
3
In 1789, the total U.S. federal government debt was $190,000.
3
J. Edgar Hoover liked to fire FBI agents whose palms were sweaty when shaking hands.
26