July birthdays
Half were sons of presidents!
July brings another quartet of presidential birthdays.1
Here are they are:
July 4, 1872: Calvin Coolidge
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY!🇺🇸 🎈
(Three died on July 4th, but Coolidge is the only one with a July 4 bday!)July 6, 1946: George W. Bush
July 11, 1767: John Quincy Adams
July 14, 1913: Gerald Ford
If you prefer by birth order:
July 11, 1767: John Quincy Adams
July 4, 1872: Calvin Coolidge
July 14, 1913: Gerald Ford
July 6, 1946: George W. Bush
Dads
The most obvious observation about this grouping is that half of them were sons of presidents.
Calvin Coolidge’s dad administered the oath of office when Coolidge abruptly became president.
Gerald Ford’s dad was the worst of the bunch… his birth father was a monster who began violently abusing his wife on their honeymoon. I cannot even fathom the courage it took for her to bundle her 16-day-old baby and escape.
Names
They were all kinda sorta named after their dads and two of them changed their names:
John Quincy Adams’ dad was John Adams
George W. Bush’s dad was George H.W. Bush (you know this, I’m sure… but I’m getting at something)
Gerald Ford’s dad was Leslie King, Sr. Ford was originally named Leslie King, Jr., but his name was eventually changed to his stepfather’s name
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. dropped both the John and the Jr. to distinguish himself from his father (then went ahead and named his son Calvin Coolidge, Jr….?)
Political party
Democratic-Republican
John Quincy Adams
Republican
Calvin Coolidge
George W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Vice Presidents
Coolidge and Ford both had a vacant VP slot for a bit.
JQA’s VP:
John C. Calhoun
I’ve not been shy about saying I do not like Calhoun. I recently learned that JQA had a bunch of respect for him! What?! And then he didn’t. Calhoun did an about-face (politically-speaking; though I do wonder if the timing matches up with him morphing from a handsome man into the stuff of nightmares), after which JQA said that he “now expect(s) nothing from him but evil.”
Also, so weird — they knew Calhoun was veep-elect before they knew who was elected president!!
Coolidge’s VP:
vacant (after Warren G. Harding’s death)
Charles G. Dawes
One of only three VPs with a Nobel Peace Prize
He and Bob Dylan are the only ones with a #1 pop hit and a Nobel Prize
Ford’s VP:
vacant (for 4-ish months after Richard Nixon’s resignation)
Nelson Rockefeller
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
Terms … and loss
Ford served less than a term, finishing up Nixon’s presidency and not getting reelected
JQA served one term… and get this! He didn’t win the popular vote or electoral college!
Coolidge finished Harding’s term, then served a full term
Bush served two terms … he lost the popular vote for one of those elections in a very messy and memorable way
I was shocked to realize that two July birthday babies were in elections that made my list of 5 Reasons to Love the Electoral College.2
Children
There’s an overwhelming amount of heart-wrenching tragedy for the first half of the birthday boys… and tragedy that may not have happened if these guys hadn’t gone into politics…?
JQA & Louisa
Louisa suffered many miscarriages and ultimately they had four children:
A daughter who died at one year old
Three sons — two named after presidents
The two named after presidents (George Washington Adams and John Adams II) were also the two children they left behind when they were abroad for diplomatic posts — I just learned that Louisa wasn’t a part of that decision! It was made for her by her husband and mother-in-law and I cannot even wrap my head around that.
Those two ultimately suffered from alcoholism and met early deaths — George at 28-years-old, having gone overboard the steamship Benjamin Franklin … and John five years later at 31. JQA had to take the ship his older son had met his fate on … to say his goodbyes to his other son.
John Adams wrote “there is no medicine for this wound.”
Louisa was pissed when she found out — from a newspaper!! — soon after George’s death that JQA was running for Congress: “The grave of my lost child? The grasping ambition which is an insatiable passion swallowing and consuming all in it’s ever devouring maw.”
And Charles Francis Adams
Here’s more info, if you’re interested
Calvin & Grace Coolidge
Calvin, Jr. came “home” from college to the White House. He played tennis with his brother. Developed a blister. Within a week, he died from blood poisoning.
Gerald & Betty Ford
Four children
George W. & Laura Bush
The only president with twins! Finally — a fact that is in fact fun!
Coolidge was hit by a Ford
Cars made Coolidge nervous. A reporter wrote:
“it was as good as a show to watch him cross… he… glanced, birdlike, up and down the street, measuring the distance to the nearest car, and if he thought he could make it, he started to cross. If that car brushed his coat tails, he would not run. He had faith in his calculation.”
Too much faith, perhaps.
He was hit by a Ford while distractedly crossing the street.3
Professional sports
Ford was recruited by both the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions; he turned them both down
Bush was part-owner of the Texas Rangers
First Ladies
Louisa Adams
JQA complained about his mom’s impossible “requisites” for a wife, saying “I would certainly be doomed to perpetual celibacy.”
One of just two foreign-born first ladies
One of two London weddings (Edith and Theodore Roosevelt were the other)
Grace Coolidge
Loved kids and animals
Her mom wanted her to wait to get married — either until she had a year’s worth of work experience or learned to bake bread. “We will buy bread” was Calvin’s answer.
Betty Ford
Raised awareness and reduced the stigma for both breast cancer and addiction
Far more popular than her husband
Laura Bush
An only child
School librarian
Death
JQA: died at work on February 23.
Coolidge: died shaving on January 5. Grace found him. (The first time she ever laid eyes on him, he was also shaving)
Ford: died the day after Christmas; he’s one of two presidents to die during W’s presidency (the other was Ronald Reagan).
Other doodles were inspired by:
The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President, by Edward F. O’Keefe
First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, by Kate Andersen Brower
Decision Points, by George W. Bush
Hey, want to know more about John Quincy Adams?
I’m giving a virtual presentation about him on June 12, 2026! Full of doodles, tangents, trivia, and just a teensy bit of presidential skinnydipping.
Details & registration
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I know it’s not July yet; I just couldn’t wait.
In case you don’t click the 5 Reasons to Love the Electoral College link, you should know this is tongue-in-cheek. I still can’t find a single reason why the Electoral College makes any sort of sense. In fact, I just saw this.
I’m sure it could have gone without saying that the Ford that hit him was not Gerald. And at the time, Ford was only 10 years old or so and still legally named Leslie King. His name wasn’t officially changed until a decade or so after Coolidge was hit by the Ford, thus proving both conclusively and unnecessarily that Gerald had nothing to do with it.
I'm confused. It's April. And what the heck ... a blister????
"Charles G. Dawes and Bob Dylan are the only ones with a #1 pop hit and a Nobel Prize" is some high-quality trivia.