We are all going. ...Oh, dear"

Admission to McKinley National Museum: $7.00 The election of 1896 pitted the fiery orator William Jennings Bryan against the genteel front-porch campaigner, William McKinley. The issue was money-and whether the U.S. currency would be backed by gold or silver. McKinley, supporting the gold standard and backed by the political organization and money of Ohio industrialist Mark Hanna, won a handy electoral college victory.

The 1898 explosion of the battleship Maine Maine in the Havana harbor became a major factor in McKinley's decision to fight the Spanish-American War. Among its outcomes was the transfer of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States; Hawaii was annexed and the Boxer Rebellion was quelled in China with U.S. involvement. in the Havana harbor became a major factor in McKinley's decision to fight the Spanish-American War. Among its outcomes was the transfer of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States; Hawaii was annexed and the Boxer Rebellion was quelled in China with U.S. involvement.

Against this foreign policy background, Bryan and McKinley faced off again in 1900. Republican party insiders, hoping to send New York's noisy governor Theodore Roosevelt off to the oblivion of the vice presidency, chose him to join McKinley on the ticket.

Roosevelt served as vice president for just six months. In September 1901 McKinley traveled to Buffalo, New York, for the Pan-American Exposition. The easygoing, gregarious president looked forward to the opportunity to get out among the populace. McKinley's personal secretary, George Cortelyou, was more cautious. Fearing that such an open, uncontrolled event could prove dangerous, he cancelled the president's appearance without his knowledge. When McKinley got wind of the change, he insisted that he would attend as scheduled, saying, "No one would want to hurt me."

McKinley's confidence proved fatally misplaced. On September 6 after a pleasant day trip to Niagara Falls, he returned to the fair for yet another round of handshakes. The receiving line stretched between a row of more than two dozen guards-extra security to appease the president's aides.

In the crowd was an unemployed, disaffected young man named Leon Czolgosz, who had been trailing the president for days. As McKinley stepped forward to greet him, Czolgosz raised his bandaged right hand. The handkerchief wrapped around his hand concealed a .32-caliber revolver. He quickly fired two shots at the president's midsection. The first ricocheted and missed its intended target. The second ripped through McKinley's stomach.

The wounded president's first thoughts were of others. As his secretary and security detail rushed to his aid, he begged them to protect the fragile health of his wife Ida, a chronic invalid. He feared that she would be unable to cope with the news of the shooting. The crowd tackled Czolgosz. McKinley pleaded with them not to injure the gunman.

McKinley was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Doctors operated to determine the bullet's trajectory. They deemed the president stable enough to recover at the home of his host, John Milburn, the Exposition's president. McKinley rested comfortably there and seemed to rally-so much that he requested solid food and a cigar.

Doctors allowed him the food, but after eating, the president took a turn for the worse. Doctors were unaware that gangrene had ravaged the president's wounded organs.

With his wife at his bedside, McKinley died at 2:15 a.m. on September 14, eight days after the shooting, becoming the third American president to die at the hands of an a.s.sa.s.sin. Theodore Roosevelt, on vacation in the Adirondacks, received a telegram with the news and raced to Buffalo. That afternoon, he was sworn in as the twenty-sixth president of the United States.

The funeral rites began with a private service at the Milburn home. The president's coffin lay in the drawing room, draped with an American flag and surrounded by floral arrangements. The new chief executive, Theodore Roosevelt, and various other dignitaries sat before the open casket. An impa.s.sive Ida McKinley listened from the top of the stairs.

At the service's end, the casket was placed onto a funeral carriage to the strains of the president's favorite hymn, "Nearer, My G.o.d, to Thee." The procession made its way through Buffalo, its streets lined with mourners. The president lay in state at the Buffalo City Hall, where more than two hundred thousand citizens lined up to pay their respects.

The next morning, the funeral train departed for Washington, D.C. Following the customs established by earlier presidential funerals, McKinley's body was returned to the White House before being taken down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. After lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, the president's coffin was carried back to the funeral train for its final journey to his hometown. Neighbors and friends of the slain president attended a public service in Canton, Ohio. McKinley's remains were temporarily interred in the receiving vault at Westlawn Cemetery.

An outraged public called for Leon Czolgosz to be lynched. The self-described anarchist and admitted a.s.sa.s.sin was held in prison under tight security. Czolgosz was tried, convicted, and executed for McKinley's murder in less than two months.

The William McKinley National Memorial was completed in 1907, and his coffin was moved to its final resting place and enclosed in a dark green granite sarcophagus. Ida McKinley, who had died earlier that year, was buried alongside him.

The granite tombs of William and Ida McKinley Touring William McKinley's Tomb at the McKinley National Memorial and Museum The McKinley National Memorial and Museum is located in Canton, Ohio. It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Sat.u.r.day, and 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. The site is closed on major holidays and may be closed intermittently from December 1 to April 1. Visitors are advised to call for further information on hours of operation.

There is no admission fee to visit the McKinley Monument. Admission to the museum is $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for senior citizens, and $5.00 for children ages three to eighteen. Children under age three are admitted free.

From the north: Take I-77 South to exit 106 and follow the signs to the McKinley National Memorial and Museum.

From the south: Take I-77 North to exit 105 and follow the signs to the McKinley National Memorial and Museum.

For additional information McKinley National Memorial and Museum 800 McKinley Monument Drive, NW Canton, Ohio 44708 Phone: (330) 455-7043 www.mckinleymuseum.org "Elected on a staunchly protectionist platform, the last president of the nineteenth century came to antic.i.p.ate many trends of the twentieth."-Richard Norton Smith

Americans like to think that the presidential office fosters growth in its occupants. (Woodrow Wilson more puckishly, and perhaps more accurately, observed that public men tend either to grow or swell.) William McKinley refutes the cynics. Elected on a staunchly protectionist platform, the last president of the nineteenth century came to antic.i.p.ate many trends of the twentieth. A somewhat reluctant imperialist, McKinley saw the United States launched as a global power as a result of the Spanish-American War that brought the Philippines, Puerto Rico and (briefly) Cuba under American control.Reelected in 1900, McKinley let it be known that he intended in his second term to break with tradition and visit his country's newly added foreign outposts. In a still more radical departure from his own past, McKinley told a large crowd at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in September 1901 that "isolation is no longer possible or desirable...the period of exclusiveness is past." In practical terms, this meant freer trade in place of the high tariff barriers of the past. McKinley the protectionist was transforming himself, almost overnight, into McKinley the internationalist.His a.s.sociates, concerned about security risks in an age of anarchist violence, urged the president to cancel a planned public reception at the fair. Knowing how much the kind-hearted McKinley hated to disappoint anyone, his personal secretary George Cortelyou tried another tack, reminding his boss that he couldn't possibly shake hands with all the thousands a.s.sembled to see him."Well, they'll know I tried, anyhow," McKinley told Cortelyou.In the event, a group of uniformed soldiers, added as a precaution at the last minute, obstructed the view of the president's regular security staff, enabling Leon Czolgosz to get off two shots. "I didn't believe one man should have so much service, and another man should have none," explained the a.s.sa.s.sin. On the day of McKinley's funeral, the nation observed five minutes of silence. Secretary of State John Hay declared of the late president that he "showed in his life how a citizen should live, and in his last hour taught us how a great leader could die"-words that would echo over seventy years later in Walter Mondale's eulogy to his old friend Hubert Humphrey.Ironically, the invalid Ida McKinley would outlive her husband by six years, during which the First Lady, who had been chronically ill, never again experienced one of the seizures that had cast a shadow over her married life.--RNS

Theodore Roosevelt Buried: Young's Memorial Cemetery, Oyster Bay, New York Twenty-sixth President - 1901-1909 Born: October 27, 1858, in New York, New York Died: 4:00 a.m. on January 6, 1919, in Oyster Bay, New York Age at death: 60 Cause of death: Embolism Final words: "James, will you please put out the light?"

Admission to Young's Memorial Cemetery: Free Theodore Roosevelt, "Rough Rider," trust buster, n.o.bel Peace Prize winner, and champion of the Panama Ca.n.a.l, lived for ten years after leaving the White House and had one of the most active retirements of any president. Elected in his own right in 1904 after finishing McKinley's term, TR promised to retire after only a single full term in the White House. His hand-picked protege, William Howard Taft, easily won the election of 1908.

After his successor's inauguration, Roosevelt returned to his Long Island home. He soon left the relative peace of Sagamore Hill to explore Africa. With an entourage numbering in the hundreds, Roosevelt and his son Kermit took a twelve-month safari, collecting samples of African wildlife for the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution's collection.

Teddy Roosevelt's own words on a plaque near his grave Returning to the United States in 1910, Roosevelt became convinced that President Taft had shifted too far to the right. He decided to challenge the inc.u.mbent. Falling short of winning the Republican nomination for president in 1912, he created the Progressive, or Bull Moose party, which split the GOP vote and put Woodrow Wilson in the White House. During the campaign, Roosevelt was the target of an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt by a deranged gunman. Shot in the chest, Roosevelt proceeded to give his scheduled speech before going to the hospital.

Over the next few years, TR continued to travel and write extensively. His lifelong pa.s.sion for physical activity was his counterbalance for poor health, but his exertions caught up with him. He was hospitalized for a month in February 1918, following complications after emergency surgery on his leg. He never fully regained his balance. By the time he reached age sixty, TR was deaf in one ear, blind in one eye, and half-crippled with rheumatism. The pain in his joints grew so bad that his doctor ordered bed rest. TR disobeyed and was hospitalized a few days later. He remained in the hospital for seven weeks with his wife Edith by his side.

A considerably weakened Roosevelt returned home to his Sagamore Hill estate late in 1918. Devastated by the death of his youngest son Quentin in World War I, he spent most of his days resting. On January 4, 1919, Roosevelt's White House valet, James Amos, came to the Roosevelt household to help his former employer. Amos was concerned by what he found: the formerly robust man appeared weak and tired. The next night, Roosevelt complained of shortness of breath. An attending doctor gave him something to help him sleep. As James Amos helped him to bed, Roosevelt asked him to turn out the light. Those were his last words. Teddy Roosevelt died in his sleep of a coronary embolism.

The nation was shocked by his sudden death, and telegrams poured in from around the world. Both houses of Congress adjourned, and a forty-two-member delegation left for New York on a special train for the funeral. Former President William Howard Taft and Henry Cabot Lodge were among the other dignitaries who traveled to Oyster Bay.

As snow fell outside, a private service for the family was held at Sagamore Hill two days after Roosevelt's death. That afternoon, five hundred invited guests a.s.sembled at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay for a simple funeral service conducted by the Reverend George Talmage. Roosevelt's flag-draped oak coffin, topped by a wreath and two banners from his beloved Rough Riders cavalry, lay at the front of the church. When the service concluded, Roosevelt's body was taken by six pallbearers to Young's Memorial Cemetery for burial. An estimated four thousand people, including many schoolchildren, lined the procession route. At 2:59 p.m., as the casket was lowered into the ground, New York City observed a moment of silence in Roosevelt's honor.

Roosevelt selected his gravesite on a knoll overlooking the water. His grave is marked by a granite headstone bearing the presidential seal. Twenty-six steps lead to the grave, signifying Roosevelt's service as the nation's twenty-sixth president. A plaque on a nearby rock bears his own words: "Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground." Twenty-four other members of the Roosevelt family are buried in this section, among them his second wife Edith and two of his children.

Touring Theodore Roosevelt's Tomb at Young's Memorial Cemetery Young's Memorial Cemetery is located in Oyster Bay, New York. It is open every day during daylight hours. Admission is free.

From New York City: Take the Long Island Expressway east to exit 41N. Turn left onto Route 106 and head north. Follow Route 106 to Oyster Bay. Turn right on East Main Street. Go two miles to Young's Memorial Cemetery, which is located on the right.

To find Theodore Roosevelt's grave, follow the signs on the cemetery walkway. Roosevelt's grave is located at the top of the staircase.

For additional information Sagamore Hill National Historical Site 20 Sagamore Hill Road Oyster Bay, New York 11771-1809 Phone: (516) 922-4788 Fax: (516) 922-4792 www.nps.gov/sahi The "Rough Rider's" final resting place "Today TR lies near a Long Island bird sanctuary, a fitting end for the great conservationist who had ruffled congressional feathers..."-Richard Norton Smith

On learning of the death of his youngest son, Quentin, shot down by German gunners in October 1918, Theodore Roosevelt had concealed his heartache behind characteristically belligerent prose. "Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die," he wrote defiantly, "and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are part of the same Great Adventure."On the night of January 5, 1919, an exhausted TR put down one of his ever-present volumes and remarked to his wife, Edith, "I wonder if you'll ever know how I love Sagamore Hill." Shortly afterward the old lion instructed his valet, "James, will you please put out the light?" They were his last words. Before dawn a blood clot stole into his lungs, carrying off the most lovable of presidents. Three thousand miles away, on a train streaking across the French countryside, Woodrow Wilson was informed of Roosevelt's death. Observant reporters noticed an expression of surprise on the president's face, soon replaced by something close to triumph. More gracious was Wilson's vice president, Thomas Marshall, who said of the fallen rival, "Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight."Vetoing any Washington services, the Roosevelt family instead planned a simple ceremony, without music or eulogy, in a nearby Episcopal chapel. Arriving late, William Howard Taft was put in a pew with family servants before Roosevelt's son, Archie, spied him. "You're a dear personal friend and you must come up further," the young man told Taft, who had more or less reconciled with Roosevelt following their bitter 1912 falling out. Afterwards, mourners made their way to a nearby hillside flecked with snow. Here Taft remained a long while as his friend's body was lowered into the ground. Some thought they saw tears streaming down his face. Perhaps; that night he attended a New York theater performance. Today TR lies near a Long Island bird sanctuary, a fitting end for the great conservationist who had ruffled congressional feathers by unilaterally preserving wetlands and other habitats filled with the creatures he had loved, and slaughtered, since childhood. "You're a dear personal friend and you must come up further," the young man told Taft, who had more or less reconciled with Roosevelt following their bitter 1912 falling out. Afterwards, mourners made their way to a nearby hillside flecked with snow. Here Taft remained a long while as his friend's body was lowered into the ground. Some thought they saw tears streaming down his face. Perhaps; that night he attended a New York theater performance. Today TR lies near a Long Island bird sanctuary, a fitting end for the great conservationist who had ruffled congressional feathers by unilaterally preserving wetlands and other habitats filled with the creatures he had loved, and slaughtered, since childhood.[image]The Roosevelt family plot at Young's Memorial Cemetery-RNS

William Howard Taft Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia Twenty-seventh President - 1909-1913 Born: September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio Died: March 8, 1930, in Washington, D.C.

Age at death: 72 Cause of death: Heart disease Final words: Unknown Admission to Arlington National Cemetery: Free William Howard Taft, our twenty-seventh president, is probably best remembered for two things: he was the only president to serve as Chief Justice and, at 6'2" and 332 lbs., he was our largest president-so large that he reportedly got stuck in a White House bathtub. An outsized tub was created specially for him.

He also had the distinction of having the first presidential funeral to be broadcast to the nation via radio.

Taft was not a particularly happy president. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt challenged his former protege for the Republican nomination. When that effort failed, Roosevelt waged a third-party challenge on the Bull Moose ticket, splitting the Republican vote. Defeated by Democrat Woodrow Wilson, Taft retired from the White House to a career in law.

In 1921, President Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

William Howard Taft's granite monument Taft spent nine vigorous years on the court, stepping down in February 1930 when the strain of his excess weight began to seriously affect his health. Diagnosed with heart disease and high blood pressure, Taft failed quickly. By March, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. With his wife Nellie at his side, he died in his sleep at their home on March 8. Taft was seventy-two.

President Hoover paid a condolence call to Taft's widow at the couple's home on Wyoming Avenue in Washington, D.C., and issued a proclamation honoring him. For burial, Nellie dressed her husband in his black judicial robe. A military procession escorted the body from the Taft home, past the White House and to the Capitol. Taft's body lay in state while thousands of mourners waited in torrential downpours to pay their respects.

A memorial service for the ex-president was held at All Soul's Unitarian Church on Sixteenth Street in Washington; a six-horse caisson carried the body to the church while an army band played Chopin's funeral march. President and Mrs. Hoover were among the guests for the simple service with no eulogy. A string quartet and an organist played hymns and the Reverend Ulysses Grant Pierce read some of Taft's favorite poems, including Wordsworth's "Character of the Happy Warrior." A radio microphone hidden among the flowers broadcast the tribute to listeners across the country.

Taft's funeral procession was as outsized as he. A hea.r.s.e carried Taft's flag-draped coffin to Arlington National Cemetery escorted by 120 cars. A large truck carried hundreds of flower arrangements. A thousand soldiers presented arms before a bugler sounded taps. A minister read the 23rd Psalm. Taft was laid to rest among white oak and chestnut trees, one of only two presidents (John Kennedy is the other) buried at Arlington. Nellie, the first lady responsible for Washington's famed cherry trees, was buried alongside him when she died in 1943.

Touring William Howard Taft's Tomb at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is open daily, 365 days a year. Hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from April through September and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from October through March. Admission to the cemetery is free.

Arlington National Cemetery is located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., at the north end of the Memorial Bridge. The bridge is accessible from Const.i.tution Avenue or Twenty-third Street N.W. near the Lincoln Memorial. The cemetery can also be reached by Metrorail, at the Arlington Cemetery stop on the blue line.

Cars are not allowed on the cemetery grounds except by special permission. There is ample paid parking available near the Visitors Center. Motorized tours of the cemetery are available for a fee through Tourmobile; however, the Taft gravesite is not one of the tour's scheduled stops.

Maps of the cemetery are available at the Visitors Center. To reach Taft's grave from the cemetery's main entrance (Memorial Drive), go right onto Schley Drive. Brown signs lead the way to the Taft gravesite.

For additional information Superintendent Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, VA 22211 Visitor Center Phone: (703) 607-8000.

www.arlingtoncemetery.org The Taft gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery "Taft made up in principle what he lacked in political dexterity. "-Richard Norton SmithWilliam Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy might seem, at first glance, a presidential odd couple. In truth, they share more than a common resting place. Long before he became the first American president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Taft was the victim of religious bias. During the 1908 campaign, a Presbyterian minister in his native Cincinnati urged his flock to vote for Taft's opponent, William Jennings Bryan. The man of the cloth accused Taft of being overly friendly to Roman Catholics, with whom he had negotiated a landmark sale of church properties as governor general of the Philippines.A more serious controversy involved Taft's less than orthodox beliefs. "I am a Unitarian," he wrote forthrightly. "I believe in G.o.d. I do not believe in the Divinity of Christ." Under the circ.u.mstances, Taft had felt it necessary to withdraw his name from consideration for the Yale presidency. The White House was a different story.A maladroit politician, Taft made things worse by playing golf on Sundays. Theodore Roosevelt advised him to be more discreet. Moreover, said TR, golf was viewed in many quarters as an elite pastime. Taft was confused. His friend the president played tennis-if anything a more rarified game. True enough, replied Roosevelt. But there was a difference: he didn't allow photographers to take his picture. him to be more discreet. Moreover, said TR, golf was viewed in many quarters as an elite pastime. Taft was confused. His friend the president played tennis-if anything a more rarified game. True enough, replied Roosevelt. But there was a difference: he didn't allow photographers to take his picture.[image]Taft made up in principle what he lacked in political dexterity. "Of course, I'm interested in the spread of Christian civilization," he wrote to one concerned voter in August 1908, "but to go into a dogmatic discussion of creed I will not do whether I am defeated or not...if the American electorate is so narrow as not to want a Unitarian, well and good. I can stand it."-RNS

Woodrow Wilson Buried: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

Twenty-eighth President - 1913-1921 Born: December 28, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia Died: 11:15 a.m. on February 3, 1924, in Washington, D.C.

Age at death: 67 Cause of death: Heart failure Final words: "The machinery is worn out.

I am ready.... Edith!..."

Admission to Washington National Cathedral: Free The only president with a Ph.D. (in political science), Woodrow Wilson earned a n.o.bel Peace Prize for his role in ending World War I and creating the League of Nations. His administration also saw the addition of three amendments to the Const.i.tution: the seventeenth, for direct election of U.S. Senators; the eighteenth, prohibiting the sale of alcohol; and the nineteenth, granting women the right to vote.

Wilson was a college professor and president of Princeton University before he entered the political arena. In his first attempt at public office, Wilson won the governorship of New Jersey in 1910. He had barely taken over the job when his name was thrown into the ring for the 1912 Democratic presidential nomination. A compelling speaker, he emerged from a fractious convention and went on to defeat William Howard Taft and Bull Moose candidate Theodore Roosevelt to win the White House. On a cold day in March 1913, Wilson took the oath of office with his wife Ellen at his side.

Woodrow Wilson was laid to rest in the nave of Washington National Cathedral Ellen would serve just a short time as first lady. She died in 1914 as the "guns of August" signaled the start of World War I. The president was so distraught that his depression lifted only after he met and married Edith Bolling Galt the following year. His physical health had begun to decline, largely due to overwork. He was consumed with efforts to keep the United States out of the growing world war.

Wilson suffered his first small stroke in 1906, which left him blind in one eye. He was plagued by headaches and high blood pressure, occasionally employing a stomach pump to relieve chronic stomach ailments. In 1919 while traveling to build public support for the Treaty of Versailles, Wilson suffered a more serious stroke. This one left him paralyzed on one side and barely able to speak.

Eventually Wilson was able to walk with a cane, but his health was so precarious that Mrs. Wilson began running interference for her husband. By her own account, she reviewed papers and meeting requests to decide which ones were important enough to go the president. Thus Edith Wilson became known as the "Secret President" and the "first woman to run the government."

When he retired in 1921 after serving two terms, Wilson rarely left his home on S Street in Washington. One of his last public appearances was at Warren Harding's funeral in August 1923. In the last weeks of his life, Wilson was virtually blind, barely able to move or speak. Edith Wilson, still working at her husband's side, knew the end was near.

On February 1, 1924, Wilson, lying on his large canopied bed, spoke his last sentences before losing consciousness: "The machinery is worn out. I am ready." Reporters and curiosity seekers gathered outside the home, waiting for bulletins from the dying man's doctors. Wilson regained consciousness just long enough to call out for his wife. On February 3, his heart stopped beating. His wife and daughter Margaret were at his side.

Five days later, thirty thousand people braved rain, snow, and bitter cold to line the funeral route. A small private service, attended by President and Mrs. Coolidge, was held in the music room of the house on S Street. Ministers read the 23rd Psalm while a grief stricken Edith Wilson watched the proceedings from the top of the stairs.

Atop the closed black casket lay a spray of orchids from the dead man's widow. Wilson's body was borne across the city by a military escort to the unfinished Washington National Cathedral for an Episcopal funeral service that was broadcast on the radio. The organist, who had also served as Wilson's confidential stenographer for thirteen years, played some of his favorite hymns.

After all of the guests departed, Wilson's casket was lowered into a crypt; it was later moved to the nave. Edith Wilson remained at their home on S Street until her death in 1961. She is buried next to her husband at the National Cathedral.

Touring Woodrow Wilson's Tomb at Washington National Cathedral Washington National Cathedral is located at the intersection of Ma.s.sachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in Washington, D.C. Free parking is available but limited on the north and south sides of the Cathedral grounds. The Cathedral is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sat.u.r.day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The nave level, where Wilson's tomb is located, remains open until 9:00 p.m. from May 1 through Labor Day. The nave is often closed on Sat.u.r.days throughout the year for special events. Admission is free.

From downtown Washington: Take Ma.s.sachusetts Avenue north and follow to Wisconsin Avenue. Turn right onto Wisconsin Avenue. The Cathedral will be on your immediate right.

From Maryland and the north: Take I-95 to I-495 West, the Capital Beltway. Exit south on Wisconsin Avenue. The Cathedral is approximately 6.5 miles ahead on the left.

From Virginia and the south: Take I-495 over the American Legion Bridge into Maryland and take the Wisconsin Avenue/Bethesda exit. The Cathedral is approximately 6.5 miles on the left. Or, take the Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, bearing right onto Rock Creek Parkway. (Note: Rock Creek Parkway is one way southbound during morning rush hour; buses cannot exit on Ma.s.sachusetts Avenue.) Follow the parkway to Ma.s.sachusetts Avenue, turning left onto Ma.s.sachusetts Avenue. Follow Ma.s.sachusetts Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue, and turn right. The Cathedral is on the immediate right.

The Cathedral is also accessible via Metrorail and Metrobus. On Metrorail, take the red line to the Tenleytown/AU station. Be sure to get a free bus transfer at the station. Exit on the west side of Wisconsin Avenue. Take any "30" series bus (#31, #32, #36, or #37) going south on Wisconsin Avenue. Ride approximately one and a half miles south on Wisconsin Avenue to the Cathedral.

To find Wilson's tomb once inside the Cathedral, look for the Woodrow Wilson Bay at the center of the nave on the south side.

For additional information Washington National Cathedral Ma.s.sachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW Washington, D.C. 20016-5098 Phone: (202) 537-6200 Fax: (202) 364-6600 www.cathedral.org/cathedral "...an ailing Wilson insisted there would be no American entry into the League of Nations except on his terms."-Richard Norton SmithIf Theodore Roosevelt died too soon, Woodrow Wilson may have lived too long, in the process recalling Oscar Wilde's lament that "each man kills the thing he loves." Following a stroke in October 1919, an ailing Wilson insisted there would be no American entry into the League of Nations except on his terms.In February 1924 when the ex-president "went west"-to use the euphemism popularized by World War I soldiers-he was buried under the floor of Bethlehem Chapel in Washington's uncompleted Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. Despite the presence of Admiral George Dewey, Cordell Hall, and Helen Keller, the National Cathedral never realized its planners' original intent as a kind of American Westminister Abbey. But it attracts thousands of pilgrims each year, many of whom pause in the cool stone bay off the main nave where today the preacher's son from Staunton, Virginia rests beneath a crusader's cross.-RNS[image]Wilson's second wife, Edith, survived him by thirty-seven years. She is buried with him at the Cathedral.

Warren G. Harding Buried: Harding Tomb, Marion, Ohio Twenty-ninth President - 1921-1923 Born: November 2, 1865, in Corsica, Ohio Died: 7:30 p.m. on August 2, 1923, in San Francisco, California Age at death: 57 Cause of death: Heart attack Final words: "That's good. Go on, read some more."

Admission to Harding Tomb: Free Warren Harding's administration lasted just over two years. His election to the presidency was the first in which women were allowed to vote nationwide. He was also the first president to ride in a car to his inauguration. A popular chief executive, he and his wife Florence hosted frequent parties at the White House, complete with alcohol then forbidden by the eighteenth amendment.

The couple was on a tour of the western states in the summer of 1923 when the president, already suffering from exhaustion, fell ill. Mrs. Harding stayed at his bedside in San Francisco's Palace Hotel. She read him an article from the Sat.u.r.day Evening Post Sat.u.r.day Evening Post that portrayed him in a favorable light. President Harding, deeply concerned over several brewing scandals involving members of his administration, must have been surprised. Pleased to hear some good publicity, he asked her to read on. It was his last request. Moments later, he died of a heart attack. that portrayed him in a favorable light. President Harding, deeply concerned over several brewing scandals involving members of his administration, must have been surprised. Pleased to hear some good publicity, he asked her to read on. It was his last request. Moments later, he died of a heart attack.

The president's doctor first suspected food poisoning. Others blamed "apoplexy," the term then used to describe a stroke. One journalist even accused Florence Harding of poisoning her husband as punishment for his extramarital affairs. Nothing sinister was ever proven.

Vice President Calvin Coolidge was vacationing at his father's home in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, when he got the news in the middle of the night. Coolidge's father, a notary public, swore in his son as the thirtieth president of the United States in the sitting room of the family home.

The nation was stunned. Special edition newspapers were s.n.a.t.c.hed up while the ink was still wet. Thousands turned out to see the funeral train that brought Harding's body back to the East Room of the White House. Public mourning continued at the Capitol, where thirty thousand citizens pa.s.sed by his coffin, resting on the same catafalque used for Abraham Lincoln.

The third president from Ohio to die in office was taken back to his father's home in Marion, Ohio. Nearly all of the town's residents paid their respects. Harding's body was placed in a temporary vault at Marion Cemetery while public funds were raised to construct a monument in his honor. His wife lived just one year more.

School children donated their pennies to fund construction of the Harding Memorial Warren and Florence Harding are buried together at the Harding Tomb In 1927, the bodies of Warren and Florence Harding were moved to the newly constructed Harding Memorial. It was dedicated in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover.

Touring Warren G. Harding's Tomb at the Harding Memorial The Harding Memorial is located in a ten-acre landscaped park in Marion, Ohio, on State Route 423. The Harding Tomb is at the corner of State Route 423 and Vernon Heights Boulevard in Marion. Vernon Heights is about 1.5 miles west of U.S. Route 23 off of State Route 95 in Marion County.

The Harding Tomb is open year-round during daylight hours. Admission is free.

For additional information Harding Tomb Vernon Heights Boulevard Marion, OH 43302 Phone: (740) 387-9630 www.ohiohistory.org/places/hardtomb "Unfortunately, he received the worst possible "Unfortunately, he received the worst possible treatment from a quack named Charles Sawyer..."-Richard Norton SmithOn June 20, 1923, Harding and his party of sixty-five left Washington's party of sixty-five left Washington's Union Station for what the Union Station for what the beleaguered president called a beleaguered president called a "Voyage of Understanding." "Voyage of Understanding." Traveling through the isolationist Traveling through the isolationist Midwest, Harding showed genuine Midwest, Harding showed genuine courage in advocating U.S. courage in advocating U.S. membership in the World Court. membership in the World Court. "I want America to play her part in "I want America to play her part in helping to abolish war," he told an helping to abolish war," he told an audience in Salt Lake City. audience in Salt Lake City.But the trip had a somber subtext, one invisible to the large subtext, one invisible to the large and enthusiastic crowds that turned and enthusiastic crowds that turned out to greet the popular chief out to greet the popular chief executive. Secretary of Commerce executive. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover never forgot the Herbert Hoover never forgot the round-the-clock bridge games round-the-clock bridge games with which the president with which the president distracted himself. distracted himself."If you knew of a great scandal in our administration," Harding asked in our administration," Harding asked Hoover, "would you for the good of Hoover, "would you for the good of the country and the party expose it the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?" publicly or would you bury it?""Publish it," said Hoover, "and at least get credit for integrity on at least get credit for integrity on your side." your side."Pressing for details, Hoover heard vague talk of "irregularities" in heard vague talk of "irregularities" in the Justice Department, where a the Justice Department, where a close a.s.sociate of Attorney General close a.s.sociate of Attorney General Henry Daugherty had recently Henry Daugherty had recently committed suicide. As the grueling committed suicide. As the grueling trip proceeded, Harding's health trip proceeded, Harding's health visibly deteriorated. Unfortunately, he visibly deteriorated. Unfortunately, he received the worst possible received the worst possible treatment from a quack named treatment from a quack named Charles Sawyer, an old Marion Charles Sawyer, an old Marion acquaintance favored by the First acquaintance favored by the First Lady. It was "Doc" Sawyer, for Lady. It was "Doc" Sawyer, for example, who blamed the example, who blamed the president's collapse in Alaska on president's collapse in Alaska on some tainted crabmeat. some tainted crabmeat.By the time he arrived in San Francisco on July 29, Harding was Francisco on July 29, Harding was at death's door, his enlarged heart, at death's door, his enlarged heart, already taxed by pneumonia, put already taxed by pneumonia, put under intolerable strain by a deadly under intolerable strain by a deadly combination of stimulants and combination of stimulants and purgatives prescribed by Doc Sawyer. purgatives prescribed by Doc Sawyer.[image]The Harding Tomb, one of five presidential gravesites in Ohio, contains exhibits detailing Harding's lifeAugust 2, a sultry Thursday in the nation's capital. A few minutes the nation's capital. A few minutes after 10 p.m., Mrs. Harding's favorite after 10 p.m., Mrs. Harding's favorite astrologer, a former vaudevillian and astrologer, a former vaudevillian and Coney Island palm reader reborn as Coney Island palm reader reborn as Madame Marsha, held court in a Madame Marsha, held court in a Dupont Circle townhouse. Asked by Dupont Circle townhouse. Asked by newspapermen about reports that newspapermen about reports that Harding was suffering from food Harding was suffering from food poisoning, Madame Marsha quietly poisoning, Madame Marsha quietly replied, "The president is dead." replied, "The president is dead."And so he was, having succ.u.mbed to a ma.s.sive coronary a succ.u.mbed to a ma.s.sive coronary a few minutes earlier in his San few minutes earlier in his San Francisco hotel room. Returning to Francisco hotel room. Returning to the White House, Florence Harding the White House, Florence Harding sat by her husband's open casket for sat by her husband's open casket for a post-midnight monologue with the a post-midnight monologue with the rouged corpse. "No one can hurt you rouged corpse. "No one can hurt you now, Warren," she told him, thereby now, Warren," she told him, thereby putting the seal on the creepiest putting the seal on the creepiest administration in American history. administration in American history.-RNS

Calvin Coolidge Buried: Plymouth Cemetery, Plymouth, Vermont Thirtieth President - 1923-1929 Born: July 4, 1872, in Plymouth, Vermont Died: 12:45 p.m. on January 5, 1933, in Northampton, Ma.s.sachusetts Age at death: 60 Cause of death: Heart failure Final words: Unknown Admission to Plymouth Cemetery: Free The cla.s.sic ill.u.s.tration of "Silent Cal" Coolidge's personality involved a woman who bet she could make him say more than two words. He responded simply, "You lose."

The shy, frugal Coolidge married his perfect match: vivacious, outgoing Grace Goodhue. The two settled in Northampton, Ma.s.sachusetts, where he began a career in public service that spanned three decades. He worked his way up through Republican ranks in his home state until he was elected governor in 1918. Coolidge's handling of a Boston police strike brought him national attention, earning him the vice presidential nomination in 1920.

Calvin Coolidge spent just two years as Warren Harding's vice president. When the president died on August 2, 1923, the vacationing Coolidge was roused from his bed at his father's Vermont home to take the oath of office. His father, a notary public, swore in his son with a form he found on the shelves of his library.

"Silent Cal" Coolidge's simple headstone The new president returned to Washington and tried to make the transition as smooth as possible. Grace Coolidge became a popular White House hostess. A healthy economy helped him win election in his own right the following year. Despite prosperity and political success, 1924 was a tragic year for the Coolidges. While playing tennis, sixteen-year-old Calvin Coolidge, Jr. got a blister on his toe that caused a fatal blood infection. His parents never got over their grief.

The couple sought privacy at their Northampton estate, The Beeches, after Coolidge's retirement in 1929. The former president wrote his autobiography and a daily newspaper column. On January 5, 1933, Grace Coolidge returned from a shopping trip to find her beloved husband dead of a heart attack.

Calvin Coolidge's funeral reflected his simple tastes in life. Funeral services were held at the Edwards Congregational Church in Northampton. Mourners, including President Herbert Hoover and Eleanor Roosevelt, paid their respects. Finally, his widow made a hundred mile trip by car to see the former president returned to his Vermont roots. He was buried on a steep hillside in the Coolidge family plot after a five-minute ceremony. Grace Coolidge was buried at his side when she died in 1957.

Each year on the Fourth of July, a wreath is laid at his grave in honor of the only president born on Independence Day.

Touring Calvin Coolidge's Tomb at Plymouth Cemetery Plymouth Cemetery is open daily from dawn until dusk. Six generations of Coolidges are buried there. Admission is free.

From New York and New Jersey: Take I-87 through Albany to the Northway. Continue north on I-87 to exit 20/Fort Ann and Whitehall. Follow Route 149 East into Fort Ann. Turn left onto Route 4 and follow through Whitehall, New York and Rutland, Vermont.

From Rutland, Vermont: Make a right turn onto Route 7 South; travel approximately three miles and turn left onto Route 103. Go sixteen miles, then turn left onto Route 100 North. Travel approximately nine miles to Plymouth, and turn right onto Route 100A. Travel one mile and you will see a sign for the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site on the left.