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18 U.S Presidents Who Were Really Strange People

Throughout American's history, many of the men who ultimately served as president of the United States have had some pretty head-scratching facts attached to their biography. Here now are the very strangest.

1. Abraham Lincoln: Booze Slinger


Long before Abraham Lincoln became president or hunted any vampires, he briefly paid the bills by running a combination store and bar in partnership with his friend William F. Berry. There was only one problem with this scheme—Berry was a notorious alcoholic. After owning the store for several months, Berry applied for, and received, a "tavern permit" for their business—he may even have forged Lincoln's signature on the joint bond application.

It should be noted that Lincoln was not a fan of selling booze by the drink in their store, and this disagreement ultimately led to the end of their partnership. But for a period of about three weeks in 1833, you could have walked into "Berry & Lincoln" in New Salem to load up on gingham fabric and seeds for your farm, all while slamming down a peach brandy or Holland gin, possibly served up by the future president  himself.

After Berry started drinking up all the profits himself, Lincoln noped out of the situation—selling his share in the store to Berry, who died just a couple of years later—saddling Lincoln with all the store's accrued debts. Lincoln ended up taking a job as the New Salem postmaster to pay back all the debt. Apparently, Honest Abe had never heard the old adage, "never go into business with friends."


2. John Quincy Adams: Skinny Dipper


Now, here's something that could have only happened in the age before the Internet and smartphones. According to many reports, including one from the New Republic, John Quincy Adams — who, for those who did not pay attention in history class, was our sixth president – had a thing for skinny-dipping. Indeed, one of the 40-plus men to hold office in the White House loved to take off his clothes and go for a quiet dip in D.C.'s famous Potomac River.

According to the Huffington Post, Adams' daily ritual, which began at 5 a.m., had less to do with a weird sexual fetish, and more to help him deal with the stress of, you know, being president of the United States. Ironically, Adams' penchant for nude swimming was actually quite known among the press. Case in point: journalist Anne Royall was able to secure her history-making interview with Adams by hiding his clothes until he agreed to answer her questions. Strangely enough, Adams was not the only president who loved to take his clothes off and go for a dip. Among the others, according to the New Republic: Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and, perhaps less surprisingly, John F. Kennedy.


3. Grover Cleveland: Former Hangman


Way back in the day, the law stated that anyone found guilty of first-degree murder must be hanged by the neck, and that the execution must be carried out by the sheriff of that particular county. According to a New York Times article published all the way back in July 1912, Grover Cleveland actually had to carry out this law while he served as the Sheriff of Erie County back in 1872. At one point during his term, a young Irishman named "Jack" Morrissey was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his mother. The Times writes that Cleveland "surprised the community and his friends" by announcing that he would, in fact, go through with performing the execution. Much of Cleveland's motivation was fueled by the fact that he was sick of people passing off the "obnoxious and degrading" task of executing murderers to the office's Deputy Sheriff, Jacob Emerick, to whom the public had nicknamed "Hangman Jack."

"Jake and his family have as much right to enjoy public respect as I have," Cleveland was quoted as saying, "and I am not going to add the weight that has already brought him close to public execration." After performing Morrissey's execution, Cleveland was reported to have been sick for several days. "He was not so stolid and phlegmatic as very any persons have been led to believe," the Times wrote.


4. Jimmy Carter: UFO-Observer


Is the truth really out there? According to former President Jimmy Carter, maybe. Politico writes that in 1969, the then-Governor of Georgia claimed he saw an Unidentified Flying Object during a visit to the Lions Club in Leary.

"It was the darndest thing I've ever seen," Carter later said of the alleged sighting. Carter actually filed a report on the incident for years later, and made UFO research a big component of his successful presidential campaign in 1976. Carter ultimately backed off on said research by the time he got to the White House — releasing that information to the public, he thought, would have been a threat to national security, which only made him seem that much more paranoid. However, decades later, Carter stood by his alleged sighting, recounting his experience in a 2007 interview with CNN. By that point, though, Carter claimed it was "impossible" that the unidentified object was actually aliens. Which, yeah, crazy.


5. Thomas Jefferson: Extreme Stage Fright


He may be immortalized on Mount Rushmore, but when it came to public speaking, even a nervous first-grader could have wiped the floor with him. Who are we talking about? Oh, just Founding Father Thomas Jefferson.

That's right, while Jefferson was an excellent writer — as evidenced by the Declaration of Independence — he reportedly suffered from crippling stage fright. As a lawyer, he struggled to even present cases, and he never even spoke during the monumental Second Continental Congress. "I never heard him utter three Sentences together," claimed John Adams.

From what we can tell, Jefferson may have only delivered two speeches himself — his two presidential inaugural addresses. Today, these speeches are among America's most famous inaugural addresses, but anyone who actually attended these speeches would have had a hard time telling you what they were about. Jefferson spoke so quietly, the people in the audience had to strain to hear him. Duke University actually did a study, and found that Jefferson likely suffered from undiagnosed social phobia. So, for all you shy folks and shut-ins out there, you too can become president! If Jefferson could do it, so can you.


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18 U.S Presidents Who Were Really Strange People

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