Latest news with #Dolley
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Presidents' Day is Feb. 17. Do you know your presidential history? Take this quiz.
As Americans gear up to celebrate Presidents' Day on Monday, Feb. 17, they will be participating in a tradition that has lasted nearly 150 years. Presidents' Day traces its roots to an 1879 Act of Congress honoring the birthday of America's first Commander-in-Chief, George Washington. Ironically, what became Presidents' Day was first celebrated under the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, a one-term president who refused to seek reelection to the office. If you knew that, consider yourself a pro at presidential trivia. Ready to test yourself some more? Try this six-question quiz about America's presidents, developed by the Bill of Rights Institute. Editor's note: Take the survey below and the answers are below the quiz. The questions about best and worst presidents and the request for reader input were developed by The Tennessean. If the quiz below does not immediately appear, find it at this link. Now let's see your results – and learn some interesting facts about America's presidents. Answer 1: When George Washington was first inaugurated in 1789, he delivered an address that set a precedent for future presidents. While that speech was more than 1,400 words long, Washington was feeling less loquacious the second time around. His 135-word speech in 1793 is still the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history. Answer 2: James Madison was on the field of battle when British troops routed American forces at Bladensburg, Maryland, in 1814, during the War of 1812. The British subsequently set several federal buildings in Washington, D.C. ablaze, including the White House. Madison and his wife, Dolley, fled – but Dolley ordered the portrait of George Washington saved, and it still hangs in the White House today. Answer 3: Abraham Lincoln spent time working on boats in his youth, and was later inspired to develop a device that would use inflatable bladders to lift boats over shoals and other obstacles. Lincoln applied for and was granted a U.S. patent in 1849 – Patent No. 6469. Answer 4: President Franklin D. Roosevelt initially named the presidential retreat in Maryland Shangri-La. But Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David after his grandson. David Eisenhower would unite two powerful political families when he married Julie Nixon in 1968. Answer 5: Lyndon Johnson had a lifelong interest in education, and called it 'the only valid passport from poverty.' He enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1927, and spent a year teaching at a segregated Mexican-American school in Cotulla, Texas. Answer 6: One of President George H.W. Bush's 58 combat missions during World War II included an attack on Japanese military installations in 1944. Despite his aircraft being hit and his engine catching fire, Bush completed the bombing run before bailing out of the aircraft. He was the only survivor from his plane. Kirk Higgins is vice president, content, for the Bill of Rights Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization teaching civics and history. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Presidents' Day quiz: Test your knowledge of U.S. history | Opinion
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
County approves VA 28E agreement, more to come
OTTUMWA — The Wapello County Board of Supervisors approved a 28E agreement that will allow the county to share a Veterans Affairs director on an interim basis, but more agreements are likely to follow. During Tuesday's meeting at the courthouse, the county and Jefferson County made official a sharing agreement for Raymond Chambers, the Jefferson County Veterans Affairs Director. Under the agreement, Chambers will still be fully employed by his home county, but receive hourly pay from Wapello County for work solely on Friday. But, four more days will need to be filled Monday through Thursday, and that help will likely come from four separate counties. "The other counties will come in to try to get the office back in order," said veterans affairs commissioner Rick Hindsley. "Jefferson County will be here on Fridays to set up appointments with veterans and work on their claims. The other counties will be coming in to get the pile straightened out and getting the office organized." Nothing has been made official as of yet as 28E agreements must still be approved between Wapello County and boards in Cedar, Davis, Lee and Monroe counties. "This is just temporary until we get somebody to fill the position," board chair Darren Batterson said. "I know we've had several applicants." The veterans affairs commission has been scrambling to fill the role since it fired veterans services officer Rachel Dolley last month for what it called "incompetency and misconduct," claiming there were boxes of files on veterans stuff in a box under Dolley's desk. Three veterans spoke out in Dolley's defense at a recent supervisors' meeting, saying Dolley worked in a hostile work environment, but the board was not allowed to reverse the commission's decision. In other business: — The supervisors approved a resolution to make an intrafund loan of $1,701 to the county conservation campground development fund. The loan is part of a series of transfers the county has made toward the project, which received a $600,000 Destination Iowa grant. Essentially the county has loaned money to the campground fund because cash flow from the grant has been slow. The first transfer was made in October, with others in November and December. "Destination Iowa actually sent one of their refund checks, and it was $162,000 over. We'd deposited that, but had to refund it because they gave us too much," Batterson said. "They (the campground) had to spend another $10,000 for what they were registered for for the grant," Batterson said. "So they had to come up with some things to buy, but stuff they could buy at Menards is a no-go. They have to take bids on stuff instead of buying it themselves. "It's been kind of a tedious process because (Destination Iowa) has asked for different stuff than what they originally asked for, so we're having to constantly go back and change things," he said.
