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Article: There's Nothing Trivial About the U.S. Presidency
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- July 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Society for Advancement of Education Jul 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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"The more we delve into the lives of our American presidents, the more we see patterns that connect their feats, fates, families, and foibles."
WHAT TWO presidents died on the very same day? Our second and third commanders in chief, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, political rivals, then friends, both died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
As Jefferson lay weak in his home in Monticello, Va., on the evening of July 3, he whispered, "Is this the Fourth?" To quiet the former president, his young lawyer-friend, Nicholas Trist, answered, "Yes." Jefferson fell asleep with a smile. His heart continued to beat until the bells and fireworks of ...