FAST FACTS: Politics

The source of this information is www.didyouknow.cd/fastfacts/politics.htm.

In keeping with this weeks theme of Presidents and Government, here are a few fast facts:

1. India is the world's largest democracy with more than 600 million voters.

2. The system of democracy was introduced 2,500 years ago in Athens, Greece.

3. The youngest active system of governance is communism, which was introduced in 1848 by Freidrich Engels and Karl Marx.

4. The oldest existing governing body operates in Althing, Iceland. It was established in 930 A.D.
5. Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) was the first woman to run for US President. She and her sister were the first women to run a Wallstreet brokerage (1870).

6. In 1975, Emil Matalik ran for US President. He advocated a maximum of one tree and one animal per household because he believed there were too many plants and animals on earth. Louis Abalofia also ran for President. His campaign poster featured a photo of him in the nude, with the slogan "I have nothing to hide." In the 1860's George Francis Train ran for office; his only promise was the introduction of a new calendar based on his birth date.

7. Thomas Jefferson ws the first to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C., and was the only President to walk to and from his inauguration.

8. William Henry Harrison had the shortest term of office as President; he served f0r 32 days.

9. Franklin D. Roosevelt had the longest term in office; he served for 12 years.

10. Fourteen of the Fourty-five Vice Presidents have become President: five were elected (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, Richard Nixon, and George Bush), four assummed responsibility after assassination (Andrew Johnson, Chester Authur, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson), four assumed responsibility after the President died of natural causes (John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman), Gerald Ford assummed responsibility after the resignation of Richard Nixon.

11. Only Richard Nixon served two terms as Vice President and also two terms as President.

12. The candidate with the highest popular vote was Ronald Reagan. In 1984 he secured 54,455,075 votes.

13. The candidate who ran the most often was Norman Thomas. He ran six times (1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.

14. George Washington was the first President to serve under the US Constitution of 1789. However, the US was an independent nation for 13 years before the Constitution was signed. For one uear during this time John Hanson served as "President of the US when Congress Assembled." Technically, Hanson was the first President of the United States.