As we finish our trip to Grant’s tomb, it’s time to take you inside this massive mausoleum. Many disabled Civil War soldiers had to be carried up the stairs to the shrine, which became a popular pilgrimage for veterans on both sides of the conflict.

Many New York City tourists want to see the Empire State Building or Radio City, but history buffs may appreciate a trip to the Upper West Side to the final resting place of President Ulysses S. Grant.
The memorial is massive, rising 150 feet on a hill overlooking the Hudson.

“Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?” It’s a question that entered American pop culture thanks to Groucho Marx and the show “You Bet Your Life.” One contestant apparently shook things up with the reply that”no one” is buried in Grant’s tomb, which is technically correct and here’s why:

Even though you can visit Grant’s tomb in New York City and you can see the coffins (sarcophagi?) of President and Mrs. Grant, technically no one is buried there. And the whole argument hinges on the definition of the word “bury.”

He’s the man who followed Honest Abe, and let’s be honest, Andrew Johnson is one unpopular president. One book I have describes Johnson as a “hard-drinking, racist, self-made man from Tennessee who was snatched from obscurity by Abraham Lincoln only to become the first president in American history to be impeached.” Ouch.
However, after touring his boyhood home you may gain some respect for our 17th president – this guy went through a lot!

Happy Birthday to President Andrew Johnson, who became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Born on December 29, 1808, our 17th president is also well-known as the first president to be impeached (the impeachment failed by just one vote). Here are some random (and not-so random) facts about the first President Johnson

When planning a Lincoln trip, my first thoughts would be Illinois or Kentucky. But at a family reunion in Jasper, Indiana, a cousin changed all that when he asked, “Did you know that Lincoln grew up near here?” That launched my mom and me on a Bonus Nerd Trip to Lincoln’s Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana!

The Taft house in Cincinnati is big and it’s yellow. The Taft family moved to Ohio from Vermont in 1838. President Taft’s father, an attorney, moved his family to this Greek revival style home in 1851. The following year, Mr. Taft’s first wife Fanny died, leaving him with two small sons. He then married Massachusetts schoolteacher Louise Torrey, and they had four more children, including our future president, William Howard Taft, born September 15, 1857.