Worst VP Picks

I stumbled upon a fascinating online article by Elana Schor from Guardian.co.uk that appeared on August 23, 2008, which focused on the best and worst vice president picks of all time. It's difficult to argue with her picks. Here's her worst five:
1. Aaron Burr: Pictured right, Burr was chosen by Thomas Jefferson but dropped from the ticket in 1804. He killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
2. Spiro Agnew: Nixon's first vice president, tax evasion forced from office.
3. Dan Quayle: Chosen by George H.W. Bush to appease conservatives...but he couldn't spell well.
4. John Tyler: He ascended to the presidency when William Henry Harrison died. Often referred to as "His Accidency."
5. Hannibal Hamlin: Lincoln chose him as his first-term running mate, but saw him as a mistake and dropped him for another loser: Andrew Johnson.
Read Schor's excellent analysis, and her top five picks, here.

Lincoln's Biggest Mistake

What was Abraham Lincoln's biggest mistake? Cyberspace is filled with diverging views on this topic. Here's a few of them.

• Many people claim that Lincoln's biggest error was the selection of Andrew Johnson as his running mate. You can read about this on A. Lincoln Blog, Civil War Memory, and Civil Warriors.
• OEsheepdog's Blog takes the unique viewpoint that Lincoln was proven terribly wrong when he said that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here" in his Gettysburg Address.
• Philip Schoenberg says Lincoln's biggest blunder was playing a practical joke that could have cost him his life. Lincoln in a duel?
  
• Many people have the opinion that Lincoln's biggest blunder was his appointment of George B. McClellan as general in chief. Jame's McPherson holds this opinion.

The video below claims to feature every known photograph of Lincoln. (Photo by Alexander Gardner. Colorization by Bryan Eaton.)

Work on Those Final Words

Most people would agree that a president's last words should be memorable and inspiring. But it hasn't always worked out that way. Millard Fillmore, after eating some soup, said, "The nourishment is palatable" and then expired. Ulysses S. Grant reportedly uttered "Water!" before he died. Lyndon Johnson's "Send Mike immediately!" is memorable for having been uttered into his bedroom telephone upon feeling ill. Some presidential final phrases reflect that they weren't aware of their impending doom. Just before Oswald's bullet hit him, John F. Kennedy answered, "That's obvious," to Mrs. Connolly's question: "Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you." Moments before Booth put a bullet in his head, Abraham Lincoln said, "It doesn't matter," when his wife refused to hold his hand. Other presidents had the opportunity to be rather eloquent, such as Dwight Eisenhower's, "I've always loved my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and I've always loved my country. I want to go. I'm ready to go. God, take me." Grover Cleveland's, "I have tried so hard to do right," is rather touching. Theodore Roosevelt's final words, "Please put out the light," seem inadvertently perfect. But the award for the lamest final words goes to Andrew Johnson, who said, "I need no doctor. I can overcome my troubles." (Photo of Andrew Johnson, Library of Congress)

The Patent President

Many historians rank Abraham Lincoln as the best president. Despite the almost universal acclaim for having held the country together through the Civil War, Lincoln's failures and mistakes are well known: failing in business, suffering nervous breakdowns, and losing many elections. But one of his failures is famously obscure and, perhaps, the most interesting. Lincoln is the only president to successfully obtain a U.S. Patent. On March 10, 1849, Lincoln filed a patent application for his invention designed to help raise boats off sand bars and shoals through the use of inflatable horizontal floats. In addition to a detailed description, Lincoln's patent application included a drawing of his invention and a wooden model with his signature. On May 22, 1849, Lincoln's ambitious invention was awarded U.S. Patent 6,469. To Lincoln's disappointment, his contraption was never built, but he visited the Patent Office during his presidency to view his original model. Here's two fascinating links relating to Lincoln's failed invention:

• Original patent drawing and application
  
• Photograph of Lincoln's wooden model