#21 Chester A. Arthur

Merry Christmas POTUS Fans from Madison Square Park at 26th & Madison Ave in New York City! We are celebrating our Saviors birth this year in the city with my sister and future BIL on the upper-east side. All love and best wishes to Mom, Dad, Grandma, the rest of the Chicago Dunns, the left behind NOVA Dunns,  the South-Side Dunns, and all the other friends and family we are missing today. There is no official response from my BIL on why the POTUS book summaries stopped. When asked for a comment on Chester here all I heard in response was "I have nothing interesting to say about Chester A. Arthur." There have been a lot of grinch-like attempts like this to psych me out to prevent POTUS PICS from finishing before the POTUS book project. I guess all the rest of the Whos in Whoville will just have to keep on taking POTUS pics even if it has gone out of style.

#35 John F. Kennedy

That look on my face is excitement mixed with disappointment as we got to the steps of the Massachusetts State House. As the close up reveals, that is JFK but the iron gate was as far as we got. No matter really, there's something great about getting a POTUS on his home turf and this was no exception. Even better was that this statue saved me a trip to the Ballet or symphony since there is a rather famous bust of JFK in the Kennedy Center in DC that is no longer needed. It's worth mentioning now that my BIL is taking a POTUS break and has ceased sending me the summaries of the books he has read when I post. He will get a chance to defend himself as early as today when we visit the New York Maznavis for the holidays. We'll have the POTUS PIC exclusive on our next post after the holiday! Merry Christmas everyone!

#1 George Washington

Since I started off the project with one of the country's most honored Presidents I thought it was fitting to start off the second half of the project with another. No other President can even come close to the number and variety of honors that Washington & Lincoln have been given in this country. I suppose it is well deserved since one is largely credited with creating the Union and the other is credited with preserving it. This particular GW equestrian is located in the gardens of Boston Commons and is just the third equestrian POTUS thus far. I think it's fitting that our 17th & 18th Century General Presidents be honored this way. It's not a long drive to Mt. Vernon from our house to get Martha but I'm rationing my POTUS trips so that my own first lady keeps her energy level up. There's just one more Boston POTUS Pic left to share.

Mid Term Stats

We're half way to our goal POTUS fans so I thought I'd take a little break from my work and share some statistics and file photos from our adventures.

Qualifying POTUS Pics taken so far: 24
Additional POTUS Pics taken that do not qualify: 10
Days since official POTUS Pic Launch: 91
States Visited: 3 (Virginia, Illinois, & Massachusetts)
Cities Visted: 6 (Washington DC, Charlottesville VA, Alexandria VA, Vienna VA, Chicago IL, Boston MA)
FLOTUS Count: 5
Chance Encounters: 5
"Live" Presidents: 2
Favorite Qualifying Pic: 4 Nixons waiting in line to go see Jon Stewart!
Favorite Wife and Loving Supporter: Carla!!!
Favorite Not Qualifying Pic from the POTUS adventure:

#2 John Adams

I truly married the most wonderful woman in the world! All doubt of her dedication to this project should be cast aside as my birthday present took us to Boston for the weekend where I have actually never been. We walked the freedom trail, dined at the "Top of the Hub", and toured Harvard Yard while scrounging for POTUS pics. Boston is truly a great city with great people, restaurants, and bars. I'm glad that we got to see this cradle of American History in the midst of the POTUS project. I'm standing there with John who is right off the "T" in Quincy which is just 30 minutes south of downtown Boston. Carla is standing with Abigail across the street for FLOTUS pic #5. **SPOILER ALERT** This small site was a POTUS bonanza and I could not wait to post the big reveal ....

#6 John Q. Adams

I'm doing a double-post today because I just could not leave all you POTUS fans with a cliffhanger of the identity of this young man. The good people of Quincy, MA honored Abigail and John Quincy with their own monument across the street from John Adams. They were honored separately because Abigail and John Quincy served their country in their own right and they spent so much time away from John when he served his country during the revolution. This wraps up both POTUS father-son teams in quick succession and also brings us to the half-way point on the entire project! Get ready for a more geographically diverse (and probably slower) second half.

#41 George H.W. Bush

So I guess George HW Bush was a fan of playing horseshoes and even taught Queen Elizabeth II how to do it at the White House. This sculpture was done by James Oliphant who is actually a famous Presidential caricaturist. It is located at the Smithsonian Portrait gallery along with several others including Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Benjamin Harrison. I chose to use this one primarily because I liked it the most and I think it really captures his essence. However, it also means that I have captured all the Texas Presidents without having to go to Texas. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

#33 Harry S. Truman

Despite protests to the contrary, busts do count out of necessity. The only Full size statues of Truman I could find are located near the Presidential Library in Lamar & Independence Missouri. With all due respect to the good people of Lamar, that's a long way to travel for nothing but a single shot with Mr. Truman. Instead, we only had to go to the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria VA for this shot so I included the spectacular Madame Tussaud's Truman for posterity. I have noticed during this project that Presidents have the most interesting and unusual middle names. Among them are: Milhous, Baines, Delano, Walker, Herbert Walker, Birchard, Knox, Gamaliel, and Hussein. All are great; however, none is more interesting to me than Harry's middle name which is just "S" and honors both of Harry's grandfathers. The "S" stands for nothing and Harry signed his name in the White House with and without a period at the end of it. Imagine my surprise to find out that the S. in Ulysses S. Grant's name stands for the same thing. Apparantly, this practice is quite common among the Scots-Irish.

#43 George W. Bush

We took this picture at a souvenir shop while walking through Old Town Alexandria. Score an extra point for a chance encounter and an extra $40 in my pocket since I was prepared to buy this piece of junk for the sake of the project. My favorite part is how you can clearly see the "No Pictures" label on Dubya. Fear not POTUS fans, I did some smooth talking and got the OK from the shopkeeper before taking the picture. Believe it or not, I actually did meet Mr. Bush after one of his speeches at the Economic Club of Chicago in 2003. All I can really say about it is he has really soft hands and a memorable handshake. I still had a decent amount of hair back then and someone actually told me that I resembled the President. I think I look more like Vin Diesel now ... I know, it's hard to tell with my shirt on.

#4 James Madison

Madison's Montpelier is not as impressive as Jefferson's Monticello but the steeplechase made up for that. We took these last weekend in Orange VA right after Monroe's house and that should keep us out of Charlottesville for a while. Dolley makes FLOTUS #4 which reminds me to recognize my own first lady for supporting me on this crusade. I couldn't even think about finishing this project without her support since this is literally the first POTUS PIC she did not take. She also fields all the trash talking text messages from my future BIL who I believe is becoming increasingly nervous about falling behind in the POTUS race.

#5 James Monroe

1 quick 2 hour drive south from DC near Charlottesville, VA will yield 3 Presidential Homes in very close proximity.4 of the first 5 Presidents of the United States were actually from Virginia.  Monroe's 6 room house at Ash-Lawn Highland was nice but also very humble for a POTUS. We learned today he was the founding father of the most modest means and died with about 70,000 in debt. Virginia claims a total of 8 Presidents born in the State which is not bad for the 10th state admitted into the Union. Oops, I'll have to use my deloreon to travel back to 2009 when doing POTUS stuff was cool.

#37 Richard M. Nixon

This is my new favorite POTUS Picture by far and a genuine chance encounter. Waiting in line at the Dunn-Loring Metro Stop we ran into these 4 Nixons in full character. Unfortunately, this is as close as we made it to the Jon Stewart - Steven Colbert rally to restore sanitry and/or Fear. DC really does not do a good job handling large crowds and events. The line to buy a ticket on the metro went out of the metro station and around the corner for a full 3 blocks. Once you got a ticket you had about an hour to wait to get on a train. We tried to buy pass the line by going back home and getting some old metro cards but they didn't work so we decided to watch it on TV instead. Getting this picture was better than the rally though and this made my day. Living in the suburbs sucks!!

#15 James Buchanan

As you climb the hill toward the national cathedral in northwest DC there is a beautiful Park called "Meridian Hill Park". On the southeast corner there is a dedication to our country's only bachelor POTUS, Mr. James Buchanan. In rankings by historians and journalists, Jimmy here usually finds himself near the bottom since he basically ushered the country into a civil war. However, the supreme court delivered their decision on the Dred-Scott case just two weeks into his Presidency which probably sealed the fate of war anyway. Rumor has it that he knew about the decision 2 weeks before the election anyway but really what could you do? I sure would be curious to hear what his Presidential biographer has to say on the matter.

#34 Dwight D. Eisenhower

My wife and I visited the capital rotunda today where there are currently 6 POTUS statues: Washington, Jefferson, Garfield, Grant, Reagan, and Ike here. By the end of the month, they will also have Gerald Ford. Each state gets to have two statues located in the US capital and can swap them out at any time. POTUS statues wind up in the esteemed Rotunda while others are either in the old House of Representatives (now statutory hall) or the crypt. Mr. Eisenhower is also destined to get his own memorial on the national mall but it won't be completed for a few more years. By that time, the POTUS project will have long been completed. An interesting fact about the Reagan statue though: the base is made out of a piece of the Berlin wall.

#30 Calvin Coolidge

I met our finger-sized friend Calvin here on ebay. Apparently there was a line of toys in the 60s that commemorated POTUS 1-36 in tiny statue form. Imagine all the fun kids could have by convening a Presidential caucus and playing out a debate on domestic energy policy! I committed a geek cardinal sin by taking this out of its original packaging but I doubt highly that it will soon appreciate above it's $3.50 market clearing level on ebay. You can collect all 36 but I think I will stop at one. I chose Mr. Coolidge because I think he might be the least celebrated or denigrated POTUS in American history. While I do hope to one day visit his home and historical site in Plymouth Notch, VT, it doesn't even have a full size statue! (only a bust).

Vacation Time is Over!

 
4 Score and 7 days ago (approximately),  my future brother-in-law inspired a project to gather photos with the likeness of each President. The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts to achieve this goal. So Mr. Maznavi, tear down your doubt because I cannot live without POTUS PICS. Ask not when I will give up on this goal, ask when will this goal be completed. Do not misunderstimate my ability to not be fooled again and read my lips: Vacation Time is over and it's time to get more POTUS PICS. I am also not a crook.

#25 William McKinley

Greetings from McKinley Park in Chicago where we were ran into Mr. McKinley himself. It's actually very fitting that we run into him on our stop-over to Spain since he was President during the Spanish-American War. Spain thought they were going to walk all over us but the American Navy emerged victorious in the Pacific while Teddy Roosevelt's rough riders rode through Cuba. The US annexed Puerto Rico, Guam, the Phillipines, and Cuba through this war and signaled the final decline of the Spanish Empire. The lighting on this picture is quite bad but we will have to fix it when we get home. I am now already 25% finished with the project. Of course, it gets more difficult as we move on since we tend to see the same Presidents over and over.

#42 Bill Clinton

It is certainly a likeness, and not a bad one I might add. I put these pics next to the ones we took at Tussauds and they hold up pretty well. Of course these are representations of the brief period where Bill was still a pig farmer in Arkansas and Hillary was a belly dancer at a hookah bar in Park Ridge. Hillary is FLOTUS #3 by the way and each one has also been at a unique location. We were out shopping when we ran into these two so I am taking chance encounter points as well. I am very glad that I found these two as well since even I am not dedicated enough to travel to the new Clinton statue in Kosovo.

#44 Barack Obama

It doesn't matter that it's a bobble-head and it doesn't matter that the bobble-head is kind of yellow, this one still counts. I had this secret fantasy that White House people might spot my blog and offer up a photo-op with the President but that is too unlikely to hold onto. This early in the game, I have to just keep putting points up on the board. I'll also score FLOTUS #2 with a much better rendition of Michelle and Barry at Madame Tussauds. My wife was officially embarrassed for the first time (won't be the last) at the souvenir shop though because I made her feel like a tourist in our new city. I don't know how you can take pictures next to Presidential likenesses without feeling like a tourist though.

#7 Andrew Jackson

Old Hickory hangs out just north of the White House on H Street in Lafayette Square. This area was supposed to be part of the White House grounds but Jefferson separated it in 1804. In 1824 it was dedicated to General Lafayette of France and several other European generals who aided in the revolution. Prior to 9/11, you could drive down H Street but now it is only accessible to the public by foot, bike, and most popularly: SEGWAYS! If you are ever in this area, you should never feed the squirrels. It appears that many people sit on the benches and do so and it makes them fearless.

#36 Lyndon B. Johnson

Oh Madame Tussauds, you give some much and yet I have restricted myself from using you to your full potential. I am somewhat comforted though by the 55% off coupons we redeemed on Groupon. The great state of Texas has honored LBJ at least 3 times in statue form and Lady Bird at least once. Unfortunately, I have never been to Texas and do not really have other cause to travel there. I do reserve the right to to swap this out if I run into with Mr. Johnson again and perhaps I will supplement other entries with some funnier pics from today. A rumor has surfaced that I might be slowing down or losing energy with respect to this project. Nothing can be farther from the truth! I do need to be a bit more strategic though because my wife will only accompany me on 1 POTUS hunt per week. All that means is that the yields will be greater on those hunts. Get ready for a good week ...

#32 Franklin D. Roosevelt

There truly are a lot of memorials in DC and many more in the works. This one was completed in 1997 on the Western edge of the tidal basin and has 4 separate spaces dedicated to each term FDR had in office. The tidal basin is all lit up at night and you can see the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial reflecting in the water. The weather was great and it's a good excuse to get out of the burbs. I don't think I could finish this project if we didn't live in DC but we had actually never seen this one before so it made the trip that much better. I'm giving myself bonus points on this one for adding a picture of Carla with my first FLOTUS.

#18 Ulysses S. Grant

In case you haven't noticed already, I have been attempting to re-create the pose of the POTUS in each statue. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to do in this case without a horse. This particular Grant is at the official memorial site on the National Mall and is the largest equestrian statue in the United States (second largest in the world). I am going to make an attempt to upgrade or supplement this picture with Grant Park in Chicago or Appomattox. This will have to do for now though since there is still a long way to go and these are definitely the easy guys.

#26 Theodore Roosevelt

There's the original Teddy Bear himself in giant form on Roosevelt Island in DC. There is not a chance in the world this is a chance encounter but I wanted to see the Island anyway and this was motivation enough. I have to note that even though Roosevelt Island is open until 10PM, it's pretty useless after dark. This is a nice homage to the man who saved so much of our National Parks but we'll have to come back when we can actually see something.

#20 James Garfield

I found little and big options for James Garfield yesterday. Little Garfield was located inside the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery and was actually a model for big Garfield which is located right outside the capital. My wife and I were on our way to see the Normal Rockwell exhibit at the portrait gallery so Little Garfield was definitely a chance encounter. I had plotted to see big Garfield at the capital though and was ecstatic to grab a POTUS with a bit more obscurity. According to the plaque on little Garfield, he was only President for 200 days and was assassinated by a "religious fanatic". He served Ohio in congress for 18 years before becoming President.

#3 Thomas Jefferson

This picture was actually taken at TJ's home in Monticello. My wife will vouch for me that we had wanted to go to Monticello long before I had even conceived of my POTUS project but I can hardly call this a chance encounter. Monticello is an absolutely gorgeous location though and it was well worth the drive from DC. TJ and I also share a lot of interests including: gardening, wine & beer consumption, intellectualizing, and of course ... women of color.

#16 Abraham Lincoln

Here is the picture that started the whole idea. At the Nationals game a few weeks ago, I had a chance encounter with #16-Abraham Lincoln. You can see Mr. Washington in the background there but since I can take only one Pres per venue, I will take the thumbs-up Lincoln. My hometown cubs destroyed the Nationals at this game so it was truly a great night.

Why POTUS PICS

About 2 years ago, my sister's boyfriend started the original project POTUS. The quixotic goal of this project was to read the prevailing biography (not autobiography) of each President of the United States. I believe he had made it through Eisenhower before deciding to go back to the founding fathers and read another biography on them. His ground rules were simple: if you bought him a biography as a gift, he would write you a summary of the book after he was finished.

9/15/2010: To Date, my future BIL, has read 18,737 pages from 38 books on 34 Presidents.

Now that my sister's boyfriend has proposed and will soon be my brother-in-law I have an equally quixotic goal. I have decided to welcome him to the family by dedicating this blog to him. I pledge to take a photo with a likeness of every President of the United States with the following ground rules:

* No books, pictures, or paintings
* Only one POTUS per building, monument, or museum
* Busts & heads of Presidents will count
* Bonus points for chance encounters
* Super Bonus points for a picture with a live President

Welcome to the family!