Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, and the plight of the poor

With Christmas fast approaching, many people will be dusting off their copies of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. While we know the classic tale to be about the Golden Rule and keeping Christmas traditions, few realize it was a biting and timely political piece meant to shed light on a serious problem in London society.

London of the 1840s was in the mist of the industrial revolution which had begun at the end of the 18^th century. Textile mills, steam engines, and other innovations allowed England to import and exports goods as never before, making business owners and enterprising inventors extremely rich. However, this same industrial age had created a vast poverty class, leaving thousands unemployed and with only the option of working in “poor houses” which were government run building where poor families would go to live and do manual labor. In his documentary series on Britain, Author Simon Schama explained, “Workhouses had always been deliberately designed to be as much like prisons as possible, to deter anyone with who had slightest chance at a job.” Thus, Scrooge, the old money-lender symbolizing the indifferent upper class, facetiously inquires in the first chapter of A Christmas Carol, “Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?”

If anything could have been worse than life in a poorhouse, it would be life in a factory. An American observer in the city of Manchester during this time wrote of the people “Wretched, defrauded, oppressed, crushed human nature lying in bleeding fragments.” Worse yet was the widespread use of child labor. Often the children would be told a retrieve pieces of cotton from underneath moving machinery where one brief slip could crush their arm.

Dickens himself, visited Manchester and elsewhere, and was shocked by the poverty he saw. Dickens’s father had been forced into a debtors prison, and as a young boy Charles had to work in a shoe polish factory. As Dickens remembered, wages were horribly low and the factory teemed with rats. The experience left Dickens with deep bitterness toward his parents and a great sympathy for the lower classes. Then in 1842, the Second Report of the Children's Employment Commission was published, which showed the growing problem of child labor in England. Dickens wanted to write a response to this in form of a political pamphlet, but put it off.

Finally in December 1843, he published  A Christmas Carol. In his story, Scrooge came to represent everyone in the upper class who blatantly ignored the conditions of the poor and only made money for themselves. Again and Again Scrooge is told how he should use his money for good, but the direct appeal to help the poor comes in form of a cold warning when the Spirit of Christmas Present lifts his robe to expose two poor children. “They are Man’s,” he says, “This boy is Ignorance. The girl is Want. Beware them both, and all their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that which is written is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it.” Dickens was saying that the poor and the problems they faced would continue to get worse unless addressed, and could lead to the overthrow the wealthy class. Dickens struck one last chord at the end of the story when Scrooge sees that his house has been ransacked and that he has died alone without friends. To every well bred Englishman, the thought that they would not be liked, or at very least respected at the time of their death, was a terrifying thought.

Ultimately, Dickens wanted greater attention for the poor, and for them to be provided with more opportunities through moral changes in society and greater financial support.  

Dickens would not be the last one to focus on the plight of the poor. Four years later Elizabeth Gaskell would once again plunge the British readers into the slums of England in her novel Mary Barton. The book focused on two poor families in Manchester who had to work in factories and watch their children starve. Gaskell brought into sharp contrast, and Schama believed even more so the Dickens, the great divide between the rich and poor. Gaskell’s main point was that poor people cared little about the luxuries of the upper class and only wanted to see their children fed. In one scene, she showed how a family’s life depended on what a wealthy character considered loose change. 

That same year German writer Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto and echoed what Dickens and Gaskell had said when he wrote, “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie [wealthy class] and Proletariat [lower class].” Marx also wrote, “Modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist. Masses of [laborers] crowded into the factory are [organized] like solders.” Here the worker became more a part of the machinery than a man. Up to this point Marx reflected the writing of the Dickens and Gaskell, but where Dickens and Gaskell believed that society should voluntarily take care of the poor by admitting their existence, Marx thought that compromise with upper class was pointless and that only true solution was to mount a violent overthrow of the government.

So while A Christmas Carol emphasizes a broad theme of Christian charity in keeping with Christmas traditions, it should be remembered that it was also part of a powerful series of books that, for the first time, brutally focused on the plight of the poor and demanded serious changes in how the privileged viewed their responsibilities to society.

Ten Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part V)

9.    “You could hear a pin drop”

In the first week of October 1968 the world descended on Mexico City to begin the Olympics. The year had been an especially traumatic one for the U.S. At the end of January, the North Vietnamese army had launched a major offensive that had led to weeks of fighting and many Americans no longer believed the war could be won. At the end of March, President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection. Four days later longtime Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King had been shot dead on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, causing riots across the country. Then on June 5, Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy had been gunned down in California. By the time the Democratic National Convention arrived in Chicago in August, tensions were extremely high. As delegates argued over the candidates inside, outside anti-war protesters shouted against the war and the establishment. On August 28, police suddenly charged into the crowd and began beating them. The violence took place over several minutes as cameras rolled and the footage was soon shown around the world. Inside, several delegates hearing the fighting began accusing Chicago Mayor Richard Daley of causing it and various groups on the convention floor looked about to fight each other. The Democratic Party was imploding.

By the time the Olympics began, most Americans were numb and wanted to forget about politics and troubles overseas. For the first few days all went well, as medals were handed out with so sign of trouble. Then on October 16, American Tommie Smith won the 200 meter run, with teammate John Carlos coming in third. As the medal ceremonies began, both men walked to podium with their shoes off, Smith wearing a black scarf and Carlos with his track coat unzipped. The two later explained that this was to show solidarity with the black poor. This in itself would have been controversial. But it was what they did next that got them in real trouble. As the “Star Spangled Banner” began to play, Smith raised his right fist while Carlos raised his left in a black power salute. Immediately, boos began to echo across the stadium. Smith and Carlos were ejected from the remaining events and ordered to leave immediately.

All eyes now turned to the remaining black athletes, as people wondered what they would do. Among those immediately swarmed by the press was 19 year old heavyweight boxer George Foreman.

Born in Houston, Texas, Foreman had grown up in the in 5^th Ward, reputed to be the poorest section of the city. Uninterested in school, he had dropped out and fallen in with a street gang. “I was a teenage thug really,” Foreman would remember years later. Foreman exhibited a fiery temper, broke into houses and got in fights.               

However, things began to change when Foreman decided to join the Job Corps. Soon he had his degree, but his anger continued to be problem. Nearing expulsion, Foreman was saved when local boxing coach Doc Broadus agreed to begin training him. Slowly Foreman began to show skill in the ring and started winning fights. Still he was not sure if he wanted to pursue boxing as a career. Finally, Broadus explained that Clay and Frazer had become national celebrities after winning their gold medals; if Foreman got serious, he could compete at that level and if he won, would be lifted out of poverty. For the next year Foreman trained hard, fighting 18 times, winning all but one match and also acquiring a reputation for a savage punch.

Easily making it onto the U.S. Olympic team, Foreman remembered, “When I got a chance to really go to the Olympics, I knew then that I was a prime representative of the American team.” He quickly defeated each of his opponents, making it to the gold medal fight. In his way stood Jonas Čepulis, an experienced fighter from the Soviet Union. At the time of high Cold War tensions, the fight took on special political as well as racial meaning. In the first round, Foreman came out hitting Čepulis with repeated right hooks and left jabs. Soon blood was spilling out of Čepulis’ nose. While the Russian landed several good blows, he could not match the damage the American was causing. After starting round two, the referee stopped the fight. Foreman had won, but what would he do? As he retired to his corner, a hush fell over the crowd. Broadus, who was on hand for the fight, remembered, “Everybody was sitting there tensed; you could hear a pin drop.” Foreman took off his gloves, grabbed something and headed back out the center of the ring. To the delight of the crowd, he held out a small American flag and bowed to each side of the ring.

Overnight, Foreman became a national hero as pictures of him were flashed around the world, and he was even invited to the White House to meet President Johnson. Foreman would go on to become heavyweight champion and later a very wealthy grill salesman. On the other hand, Smith and Carlos were largely shunned by advertisers and had only brief NFL careers before slipping mostly into obscurity. Sometimes it is not so much the odds or the prize, but the symbolism of the moment that makes a victory memorable.

10. Facing “Alexander the Great”

In 2000, the world’s athletes came to the continent of Australia, this time to the city of Sydney. While many expected the U.S. team to do well in track, basketball, baseball, and several swimming events, few contemplated the sport of wrestling. This was because beginning in 1987, then 20-year-old, six-foot-three, 286-pound Alexander Karelin had won every international event he had entered and defeated every opponent who stepped on his mat. Karelin had become a hero to the Russian people and gained a reputation as an unstoppable machine. Sydney would be Karelin’s fourth straight Olympics and as usual he expected to bring home another gold medal. 

Expectations for American Rulon Gardner were far different. Born in Afton, Wyoming, Gardner had been raised on dairy farm. Like everyone in the family, Gardner helped his parents with manual labor, often lifting heavy bales of hay. However, he had a hard time in school. In kindergarten, Gardner had been placed in special needs for time. Taunted for his inability to read as he got older, Gardner had sought an escape in sports, taken up wrestling and begun winning. By the time he graduated high school, Gardner could still only read at a 5^th grade level, and against his teachers’ advice applied and was accepted to Ricks College in Idaho on an athletic scholarship. He later transferred to the University of Nebraska to be on their wrestling team. To the surprise of many, he completed his studies and earned a degree in physical education; Gardner had done nothing to distinguish himself in sports, held no major wrestling titles and had placed only fifth at one major tournament. Undaunted, he tried out for the U.S. Olympic team and was accepted.

When he arrived in Sydney, Gardner made a splash when he announced to the press that after months of hard training he believed he was good enough to go up against Karelin. Few put any stock in his claims and called him cocky. As the wrestling competitions began, one by one Gardner beat each of his opponents until he found himself in the gold medal round with the man called “Alexander the Great.” Many spectators and analysts believed Karelin would make quick work of the American. They had good cause to think so; in 1997, Gardner had gone up against the Russian and lost 5-0. Not only had he lost, but he had been picked up three times, and at one point Karelin had thrown his entire body weight on Gardner’s neck.

Now, the gold medal match began. Karelin raced into and tried to lift Gardner again; but each time he did, Gardner refused to budge. Trying to find a better hold in the second round, Karelin’s hand slipped for brief second. It was enough; for the first time in six years, he had allowed an opponent to score a point. For the rest of the round, the Russian tried again and again to find some way to earn a tying point, but Gardner continued to stop him. Because only one point had been scored, the match went to overtime, one final chance for Karelin to win. But as the clock continued to tick down, Karelin became frustrated and clawed at Gardner’s face. Finally, with just seconds left, Karelin stood up and let the clock run out.

Wild chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” instantly filled the arena as Gardner grabbed an American flag and raced around the mat. Overnight, the victory hit newsstands like a bombshell and he became a celebrity and hero of the games.

After the match, Karelin announced his retirement from wrestling and went into Russian politics, where he continues to serve to this day. Gardner attended the games in 2004 and walked away with a bronze medal. Missing the 2008 games, he attempted a short lived comeback in 2012. Failing, he announced his retirement. Today the famous match has been largely forgotten by the public, but among wrestling enthusiasts it remains the biggest upset in the sport’s history.   

Ten Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part IV)

7. Showdown in Melbourne

For the first time in 1956, the Olympics were held in the southern hemisphere in Melbourne, Australia. Due to various political situations, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and China announced that they would not participate in the games. At the same time, Soviet tanks were rolling into Hungary to put down a revolt. Soon after the games began, the Australians were winning various swimming events. Over in water polo, a violent fight broke out between the Soviet Union and Hungary teams, and American Paul Anderson performed a little noticed victory.

23 year old Anderson had begun lifting weights to get in shape for football and had continued training after he finished school. He received international attention when he went to the Soviet Union and shocked an assembled crowd by lifting an incredible 402 pounds to defeat champion Alexey Medvedev, and became a national celebrity. Later that year, Anderson broke two world records at the World Championships in Munich, Germany, and easily won the competition.

However, in Melbourne he would be facing the world’s best weight lifters. As the games continued, he beat each of his opponents and through shear skill and grit made it to the finals against Argentine Humberto Selvetti. As the match started, the two went weight for weight. Finally, Selvetti lifted 315 pounds and Anderson responded by lifting 302 pounds. Because Anderson was lighter than Selvetti his lift counted for more points and he was announced the winner. Anderson’s victory marked one of the final times the U.S. won in weightlifting

8. “Look at Mills! Look at Mills!”

24 years after they were originally scheduled, the Olympic Games were finally held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1964, marking the first time that the events had taken place in Asia. The U.S. fielded great athletes like Joe Frazier, who went on to match Cassius Clay’s gold performance four years earlier. Runner Bob Hayes broke a world record by running 100 meters in just 10.6 seconds. In the pool, Don Schollander won four gold medals and set three world records.

However, few in the press followed the competition for the 10,000 meter race, and those who did pegged Australian Ron Clarke and Tunisian Mohammad Gammoudi as the clear favorites. Not even taken into consideration was American Billy Mills.

Born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and raised on a Sioux reservation, Mills had been orphaned by the time he was 12. Turning to running, Mills’ abilities had earned him a scholarship to the University of Kansas and he had helped his team win two national championships. After graduating, Mills did something surprising – rather than try out for the Olympics, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Mills had not forgotten about the sport. As the Olympic trials came around, he worked hard and qualified for the long marathon race by placing second. This was still little noted as he had run a full minute slower than Clark, who in addition to be the favorite, also held the world record.

Finally the day of the race arrived; sports analysts worked furiously trying to figure out who it would be: Clark or Gammoudi?  29 athletes from 17 countries lined up at the starting line and took off for the six mile run. At the start Clark took the lead, then lap after lap he and Gammoudi traded the lead. As the race continued and the miles piled up, the two runners pulled away from pack, leaving only three other runners including Mills close enough to catch them. In the final lap, as 75,000 fans looked on, the five runners came together with Mills ahead of Clark and Gammoudi. Boxed in momentary and on the final turn, Clark swung left past Mills. However, at the same moment Gammoudi shot through a narrow opening between both and raced for home. Running hard, Gammoudi held off Clark, who now made one last charge. Then out of nowhere, Mills came from the outside and began catching up. In the booth, announcer Bud Dick saw what was happening and screamed “Look at Mills! Look at Mills!” Passing Clark and a stunned Gammoudi, Mills suddenly pulled away. Hitting the finish line, Mills had done the impossible; he had beaten the world’s two best marathon runners, and become the first American in history to win the race. It turned out that Mills had run a full 50 seconds faster than his previous best time. No American has won the event since.

10 Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part III)

5.  Queen Helene

The world of 1932 was vastly changed from the 1924 Olympics. On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market had crashed, sending stocks plummeting from New York to Tokyo. Unlike previous recessions, this showed no signs of stopping. With his poll numbers falling, President Herbert Hoover looked less and less likely to win a second term. Thousands of Americans began to wander the country’s highways and cities like John Steinbeck’s fictional Joad family. Many simply gave up. Even the Olympics were not spared from the new economic realities. By January of 1932, organizers in Los Angeles were in a panic. Seats had been added to the massive Olympic Stadium and not a single country had said they would take part in the games. In desperation, actors Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, and Mary Pickford had announced they would perform at the games. Slowly other nations agreed to come, and ultimately 37 would participate.

At the games themselves, all round athlete Babe Didrikson would go on to win three medals, including two gold. Track runner Eddie Tolan would also get gold medals for both 100 and 200 meter races. But the greatest American performance would come not on the track or the gym, but in the pool.

If Johnny Weissmuller had been arguably the best Olympic male swimmer of his time, then 19 year old Helene Madison was definitely the best female swimmer games, or for that matter, the entire sport, had ever seen. Five years earlier, Madison had been playfully swimming in Seattle’s Green Lake when Ray Daughters happened to walk by. Daughters had been a champion west coast swimmer and though Madison had been swimming since she was 2, she still lacked natural skills. Daughters thought that beyond the rough edges, he saw the makings of a real star.  Daughters immediately offered to begin training her. She agreed.

After only a few weeks of training, Madison had won her first big race and several months later, she had set state records for the 50 and 100 meter freestyle and 100 meter backstroke. From there. she only got better. The next year, Madison set a new Pacific Coast record for the 100 meter freestyle which was only four seconds slower than the world record. In another race against two time gold medalist Albina Osipowich, Madison finished just behind her. Into 1929, Madison continued winning races, setting another Pacific Coast record in the 200 freestyle, and more records fell the next year. If there were any doubts about her stamina, Madison silenced these when she traveled to Miami and set a world record for a 500 meter race. By now Madison could beat anyone including other Olympians. In 1931 and 1932, she did not lose a single race.

When Madison arrived in New York for the Olympic trials, her qualifying was a forgone conclusion. She easily won the 100 and 400 meter races and made the team. When she came to L.A., her career statics were astonishing, before even setting foot in the water, she already held 117 U.S. and world records.  On August 6, she lined up for the 100 meter freestyle. Though she was at the Olympics and surrounded by the best swimmers in the world, she had no real competition and climbed out of the pool with a new Olympic record and her first gold medal. Six days later, Madison earned a second one in the 400 meter freestyle, this time with a world record. The next day she finished out her Olympic events with the 4×100 team relay. Going in the last leg she shot out the second the U.S swimmer touched the wall, rounded the final turn and flew home for her third gold medal and her second world record.

On August 26, Madison returned to Seattle. No local Washingtonian had ever won so many medals in a single Olympics and people were ecstatic. Nearly 200,000 waited at Boeing Field when she landed and the city held the biggest tickertape parade in its history. In a speech, Mayor John Dore proclaimed her “Queen of Fleet Week.” Madison, he said, “has done more in two years to give Seattle and the state the best kind of advertising than anyone who has ever lived here." He added, “The reception she receives today is greater than that received by anyone in the history of the city.” Finally Madison herself spoke. To stunned throng, she said, “I have entered my last race in amateur competition and will leave the field for good. My ambitions were realized when I scored in the Olympics.” She added, “I have nothing else to look forward to. The grind has been a hard one, a tremendous task, and I am glad to give it over to other girls.” Asked three decades later about this decision, Madison responded, “I don’t think I had peaked yet when I retired. But it was the Depression. I had to work.”

Madison swam in a few exhibitions were she was paid, but as money became increasingly tight, few people showed up. In taking the money, she could never race again on the armature circuit or the Olympics. Like Weissmuller, Madison moved to Hollywood and appeared in several films, one with Weissmuller himself. However, all of them did poorly and she soon returned to Seattle, forgotten.

In her brief athletic career, Madison won every national freestyle event in the county for three years in a row, won every freestyle Olympic event, and held 16 world records in addition to her over 100 U.S. records. To this day she remains the only athlete from Washington to bring home three gold medals. No one, not Megan Quann or even Apolo Ohno has matched her. In 1960, she was added to Washington State Hall of Fame and six year later to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Sadly, few remember her incredible life, and it is only sharp eyed locals who may notice that two Seattle swimming pools are named for her.  

6. “I'll start shaving, I guess."

In 1948, London was once again chosen to host the Olympics. However, things had vastly changed since 1908. Two world wars had occurred and had cost Britain dearly. Even as the games began, citizens were still working to fix the last visible scars on the city. Gone were the days when the sun never set on British Empire. Just the year before, India and Pakistan had declared independence. In May 1948, Israel also departed, and Ireland looked soon to follow. Britain was nearly broke. 

In a more important sense, the games were clear sign of a return to normalcy after the tension filled Berlin Games of 1936 and the cancelled games of 1940 and 1944. Because food rationing was in place, other countries brought supplies: Denmark shipped over eggs, New Zealand shipped over condensed milk, and the U.S. made the biggest splash when they brought in chocolate, something not many British children had ever seen.

Many would later remember the spirit of unity that characterized the games. Dorothy Whitley, a nurse with the American team, later wrote, “The customs men were courteous to the point of not looking in our bags, and redcaps refused to be tipped.” Whitley added, “During our whole stay people knocked themselves out to make us welcome. Bus passes and badges to take us inside Wembley arenas were given to everyone. When we saw and heard the enthusiasm of thousands at the Games, we changed our minds about the blasé English. They sweated out some of the hottest days on English record, and stood dripping wet later in the rain to see the greatest sportsmen of the world perform."

In the mist of the London hustle and bustle towered six-foot-two, 17 year old American Bob Mathias. Like Weissmuller before him, Mathias was a newcomer to his sport, the decathlon. Born in Tulare, California, Mathias had been a sickly boy and still suffered from Anemia. By the time he entered the Olympics, he had to take several sets of pills to compete and frequently fell asleep.

However, he had also shown great skill at hand eye coordination from a young age and been involved in high school sports, Mathias had been on the basketball, football, and track teams, proving an outstanding all round athlete winning one local completion after another. Then one day his track coach Virgil Jackson told him he thought Mathias was good enough to compete in the decathlon at the Southern Pacific AAU Games in Los Angeles only weeks away. Even though he had never thought about it, or done any serious training for the events, Mathias agreed.

To the shock of many, likely including Mathias himself, he won. After getting financial support from his hometown, Mathias next competed in the National AAU in New Jersey. Again he won, beating three-time national champion Irving "Moon" Mondschein and qualifying for the London Olympics. Though Mathias had won two major victories, he was still largely an unknown.

After the first day of events, Mathias was in third place. Despite making several serious mistakes in the shot put and long jump, he came back with a strong performance in the discus throws. The final event was the 1,500 meter run which took place as the darkness crept across the sky. As spectators looked on, an exhausted Mathias came across the finish line. “In rain, on a track covered with water ... in fading light, and finally under floodlights, it was an amazing achievement," wrote Allison Danzig in The New York Times. Mathias had just become the youngest man to ever win a gold metal. Asked what he would do to celebrate, Matthias responded, “I'll start shaving, I guess."

Four years later Mathias was back at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, and won the decathlon a second time, the first man to win back to back victories. After that, Mathias retired from sports and later served as a U.S. Congressman, from 1967to 1975

10 Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part II)

3.  "Street Fighters and Saloon Brawlers"

In 1924, the world turned its attention to the “The City of Light.” Only six years removed from the worst war in European history, French leaders were eager to show that their nation had not only been rebuilt, but was again the model for all of Europe.  They also expected their athletes to excel at the games. The French Rugby team in particular was not only looking to win, but to redeem itself after a humiliating 8-0 defeat to the armature U.S. team in 1920. To this end, the best French payers in the country had been assembled including Adolphe Jauréguy, said to be the fastest player in the world. By contrast, the American team held no stars and did not even begin to practice for the games until six months before, when they moved to England to begin sharpening their skills. But if their practice games were any indication – they’d lost four matches to local British teams – the French had nothing to fear.

If the Americans expected the French to be gracious hosts, they were vastly mistaken.  When the U.S. team finally arrived in the port of Boulogne on April 27, immigration officials refused to let them off until the Americans simply pushed past them. Things only got worse from there. Paris cancelled the rest the team’s practice games and barred them from even setting foot in Colombes Stadium, saying the team could only practice in a dirty field next to their hotel. Coach Charlie Austin responded by marching his team down to stadium and having them climb the fence. "If they wanted to push us around, then we damn well pushed back." remembered Vice-captain Charlie Doe. French journalists openly called the team "street fighters and saloon brawlers" and said they fully expected them to be crushed. "They were looking for a punching bag," remembered American player Norman Cleaveland bitterly. In response to the disobedience at the stadium as well as other ongoing disputes, the Americans were banned from any practice field and had to go to a city park. Finally, French officials refused to even let Americans film the Olympics. At this, tempers snapped, and the American team said that they would withdraw from the games if the French did not concede on this point, which they ultimately did. Still, things did not improve; one afternoon after a team practice, the players returned to find $4,000 and most of their personal possessions and clothes gone, despite the fact that the room had been under guard.  

On May 11, the U.S. team confronted Romania, the only other team present besides France. Any time the Americans touched the ball they were booed, and anytime Romanian team touched it they were wildly cheered. Still, the game turned into a lopsided route as the Americans stopped their opponents from even scoring a single point and went on to win 37-0.

Two days after their victory, the U.S. team was unceremoniously thrown out of their hotel for "a little college cheering and rollicking". By this time, the team was openly spit on and cursed at by French citizens and avoided by American expatriots.

On May 17, the Americans entered Colombes stadium for the second and deciding game against France. Paris bookies had set the odds against them as 20-1. Just before the game started, the American team made an interesting choice in asking that the playing periods be extended to 45 minutes, which was granted over French protests. They were betting they could outlast their more powerful opponents. Finally, all the arguments, the snubs, and the repeated public humiliations came to a head as 50,000 raucous French fans looked on as the opening whistle blew. Seconds later, French star Adolphe Jauréguy was handed the ball and raced down the field. With one sudden violent movement, American William “Lefty” Rogers threw his full weight into a sharp tackle that sent Jauréguy flying through air. Moments later, Jauréguy was handed the ball again only to be hit hard a second time by Rogers. Given the ball a third time, Jauréguy broke into the open field again to  thundering cheers when the unthinkable happened. American Alan Valentine caught up to him, leading to a third, even more violent collision which left Jauréguy sprawled on the ground, unconscious. With blood streaming from his face, Jauréguy was carried off the field and out of the game. From then on one continuous wave of boos flowed over the field.

By the end of the first half, the French crowd looked at the scoreboard in shock; not only were the Americans standing up to the French, but they were beating them 3-0! The French team came out for the second half now conscious of the hard American hits. Still, the Americans continued to hammer them, tackling them hard each time they got the ball, leaving them groggy and exhausted. It was as if all the bottled up American frustration was coming out on the French players.  French reporter Andre Glarner wrote afterward, "Our men, too frail and hesitant, too fragile, could not hold up before the admirable athletes before them."  Five times the Americans scored; the supposedly unbeatable French could only score once. As the Americans began to pull away, the boos of the French spectators swelled to an angry roar and attacks on Americans unfortunate enough to be seated nearby began. Several American spectators were knocked to the ground unconscious and were passed down to the field for medical treatment. By the end of the game, Cleaveland remembered the French “were throwing bottles and rocks and clawing at us through the fence.” As the game ended, American player Gideon Nelson was knocked out when a heavy cane hit him in the face. The final score was 17-3.

A French band began playing the “Star Spangled Banner” as the players were given their medals. However, the boos and hisses were so loud that the music could not be heard and there was fear that fans would riot and harm the players.  Finally, police surrounded the Americans and escorted them off the field. Over the following days tempers cooled and the team suddenly became celebrities. The French press even began calling them heroes. Doe recalled, “All we had to do was walk in to a bar or restaurant and there would be free drinks all around.” 

After the games, the Americans boarded a ship, sailed back across the Atlantic and eventually arrived in San Francisco. No victory parade or official plaudits from American politicians awaited them. With radio only beginning to become popular and with nowhere near today’s wall to wall television coverage, many athletes from all nations won medals then went back to their ordinary lives. The American players understood and accepted this at the time, but as the years passed and the Olympics became more popular, many players felt like they had been forgotten. "Our victory in '24 made the hockey win against the Soviets look like an everyday occurrence," Doe recalled seven decades later. "If we had that kind of coverage rugby might be the great American pastime today.”

The 1924 victory marked the last time Rugby was an Olympic sport. In 1928, the International Olympic Committee removed rugby from the list of accepted sports in order to make room for others. Requests in 1980s by the Soviet Union and South Korea to bring it back were also turned down. Then in 2005, the IOC removed baseball and softball and announced they would include rugby in the 2016 games. So when that first game begins, the U.S will be the defending champions after 92 years.         

4. Weissmuller vs. Kahanamoku

While the rugby players fought their private battle against the Paris fans in 1924, over at the pool at Piscine des Tourelles, 19 year old Johnny Weissmuller was making his own place in Olympic history.

Born in modern day Romania, Weissmuller’s family had soon taken him to the U.S., eventually settling in Pennsylvania. After a sudden attack of polio, 9 year old Weissmuller had gone into swimming after a doctor said it was a good way to fight the disease. Soon after dropping out of high school, he came to the attention of swim coach William Bachrach, who believed the young man could compete at an international level. After a year of Bachrach’s tutelage Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record in the 100 meters freestyle. He also went on to win several other championships. With such talent, Weissmuller was a shoe in for the Olympic team in 1924. However, despite the fact that he had spent nearly his entire life in America, Weissmuller’s foreign birth officially bared him from the games. So he lied and wrote in all his official documents that he was born in Pennsylvania and even had his father sign an affidavit so he could compete.

Safely at the Olympics, Weissmuller came up against his biggest challenge. Fellow American Kahanamoku, whose record Weissmuller had broken, already had three previous gold medals and seemed more than match for the newcomer. The 100 meter freestyle was an event that Kahanamoku and many others looked for him to win. However, Weissmuller swam hard and finished just ahead of Kahanamoku. Ironically, Kahanamoku’s younger brother Sam finished third, giving America all three medals.

Not only did Weissmuller win the 100 meter, he also won the longer 400 meter freestyle and the 4 x 200 meter relay, giving him three gold medals for the games. Weissmuller, as a member of the water polo team, even got to tack on a bronze.

Weissmuller would go on to become arguably the best swimmer of his era. Four years after his stunning victories he would repeat his performance by again taking home a gold medal in the 100 meter and 4 x 200 meter relay. All told, over a career, he won 52 United States National Championships, and set sixty-seven world records. Afterward he retired, having never lost a race.

After the 1924 Olympics, both Weissmuller and Kahanamoku went on to enjoy great successes in vastly different fields. In 1932, Weissmuller signed a contract with the movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to play the fictional hero Tarzan. The movie proved so successful that Weissmuller reprised his role for 11 sequels, earning him the astounding sum of $2 million. Meanwhile, Kahanamoku returned to Hawaii and went on to become a national symbol for his expertise with a surfboard, and eventually the sport became a popular pastime largely because of him.

10 Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part I)

1. The First Olympic Champion

On April 6, 1896, 80,000 people including King George I of Greece crammed into the stands at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens to watch the event of a lifetime. For the first time in over 1,500 years, the Olympic Games would be held, but would appropriately occur in their birthplace. As anticipation built and athletes lined the infield, the king stood up and declared the games open.

Among those waiting to begin was 27 year old American James Connolly. Raised in Boston, Connolly had quit Harvard to become part of the first ever U.S. Olympic team. At the time, the U.S. had no Olympic committee or even a way to try out for the team. Those wishing to go to Athens had to pay their own way across the Atlantic and get to games in time to compete.

Connolly was among the first athletes to compete in games that same day. He and six others would be doing the triple run event, where they would run down a prepared track, then hop, skip and finally jump for distance.

Connolly was the last up that day, and had to wait as France's Alexandre Tuffèri and Greece's Ioannis Persakis took the top two spots. It was all up to Connolly. Running down the track, he hopped twice on right foot and jumped with all his might. It was enough. In front of the stunned crowd, he shot to first place and earned the first winning medal in modern times (the medal was sliver as no gold medals existed at the time). Connolly’s victory signaled the beginning of an amazing performance by the small American team as they went on to win 20 medals, including 11 for first place.

 2. “This flag dips to no earthly king.”

By 1908, the Olympics were fast becoming a regular tradition as more speculators and athletes became involved. This year the games were held for the first time in London, making expectations especially high for the British, who looked to dominate the games. As the American team arrived, many locals were upset by the fact that most of the U.S. competitors were of Irish decent, and made no secret of their dislike of continued British occupation of their old homeland.

Almost immediately, things got off on the wrong foot. On opening day, British officials pointedly flew an American flag at half mast, as an insult; in response, the American team refused to dip the flag as they passed King Edward VII.  According to legend, U.S. athlete and Irish native Martin Sheridan, when asked about it, responded, “This flag dips to no earthly king.” Despite the insult, English fans fully expected to win all the events. These expectations were soon shattered as one event after another went to the haughty Americans. In all, the U.S. won a total of 15 gold medals, including top three finishes in several races. Even the one British  gold medal in the 400 meter run rang hollow after all three Americans withdrew from the race when British officials ordered it rerun because they claimed that the Americans had blocked the British runner, leaving Wyndham Halswelle the only man present to run the race. To further salt British wounds, American fans shouted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” over the British fans’ objections.

All of the tensions climaxed with the final 26 mile marathon from Windsor Castle to Shepherd's Bush Stadium. All hopes for a big British victory now turned to five runners. Initially, things went well as these men either held the lead or stayed close by. However, at about the half-way point they began to tire and fall far behind. Now anyone in the race was acceptable over the Americans. As the spectators eagerly waited, their prayers appeared to be answered as Italian Dorando Pietri entered the stadium first and began to close on finish line. Sweating heavily, he was clearly exhausted, but looked assured for first place. Then disaster struck with just yards to go. Pietri collapsed on the track and could not move another step. All eyes turned to entrance to see who would enter next. To the horror of British fans and officials, American Johnny Hayes came into view. This was too much. Several people from the sidelines ran out to Pietri and half dragged, half pushed him across the finish line. James Sullivan, head of the American team, immediately filed a fiery protest, and upon further review Pietri was disqualified and the gold medal went to Hayes. In fact, not only did Americans win gold, they also won bronze and had a third runner finish in fourth place.

The Deal That Made Modern Ireland

In 1166 a meeting took place between two very dissimilar kings in Anjou France. One was petty lord who had just fled in terror from his homeland; the other was at the height of his power, ruling over an empire which stretched from the Pyrenees Mountains in the south to Anjou in the east and England in the north. However, despite the clear difference between them, what these men decided at their meeting would affect Ireland for the next 800 years and ultimately create the modern state.

Dermot MacMurrough was born around 1110 in Leinster in the southeast corner of Ireland where his father, Donnchad, was king. Ireland at this time was divided into several kingdoms, all battling for control. MacMurrough learned a pointed lesson about the brutal times when he was only five years old and his father was killed in battle, then buried with a dead dog, which was considered a serious insult.

The young boy was shaped by a cruel childhood into a man with his own brand of cruelty.  In 1126, his older brother died unexpectedly and MacMurrough became the new king of Leinster. Soon afterward MacMurrough began silencing any option to his rule in an attempt to seize other territories. In one act in 1141, he had 17 people blinded and saw to it that they could never have children again. With a growing reputation for unnecessary violence, MacMurrough invariably began to make a large number of enemies. One was another Irish king named Tiernan O'Ruark, who went to war with MacMurrough and defeated him in 1166. If events had stopped here, MacMurrough and O’Ruark would have been yet another pair of feuding kings in the distant past. However, MacMurrough’s next decision would eventually shift the entire political dynamic of Ireland and lead to eight centuries of conflict with neighboring Britain.

Unable to defeat O’Ruark on battlefield, MacMurrough next tried the bedroom, seducing O’Ruark’s wife, or possibly kidnapping her, and fleeing to Leinster. MacMurrough knew that what he had done was so far outside the accepted norms of the day that it would be a death sentence if he was caught. When word reached the other Irish kings, they united against him and marched toward his capital. When they arrived, MacMurrough was nowhere to be found.

In a desperate bid to save his kingdom, MacMurrough had boarded a ship to Britain, which at the time was under the control of Normans who had ruled since their successful invasion by William the Conquer a century before. MacMurrough then sailed France and met with the Norman king Henry II.  The two made an odd pair, to say the least – Henry, the regal and fiery-tempered great grandson of William, controlled a full half of France as well as half of England and was looking to expand his power. MacMurrough, by contrast, was graceless and unsophisticated and held little power.

Still, MacMurrough made his request to Henry. If he would give MacMurrough an army and help him reclaim his throne in Ireland, MacMurrough would recognize Henry as his ruler. Henry agreed; in one stroke, he would enlarge his empire and could claim he was saving Christendom in Ireland from wild barbarians – he had, in fact, been thinking about invading Ireland for a decade. In preparation, he had secured a written blessing from Pope Adrian IV, who was worried the island was becoming too independent of the Catholic Church. Henry had promised the Church he would send them .83 cents for each Christian family in Ireland.

After Henry and MacMurrough struck their bargain, Norman lords approved a new invasion plan and MacMurrough selected Richard de Clare, known as “Strongbow,” to lead the army and promised him his own daughter in return.

Three years later, in 1169, the powerful Norman army landed in Leinster and many Irish nobles rallied to fight. Lacking armor, the Irish forces charged into battle naked and were quickly hacked down. Strongbow’s army proved unstoppable, storming the town of Waterford, then taking Dublin. MacMurrough was formally returned to his throne but died soon afterward, and Strongbow, now married to MacMurrough’s daughter, became the king of Leinster in 1170.

Back in Anjou, Henry II was restless. He had never liked Strongbow and now feared that he would try to establish his own kingdom. To prevent this, Henry took the incredible step of forming a new army to invade Ireland a second time. Strongbow, meanwhile, was struggling to put down the remaining Irish nobles, who had driven him into the city of Dublin. Strongbow was only saved by a daring attack on the Irish forces which drove them back, and he agreed to surrender his claims to Ireland to King Henry, who landed there in 1171 and gained the backing of the Irish nobles and clergy.

In the coming years, Norman law was firmly established and left an indelible mark on the land that few realize today. Professor Sean Duffy said in an interview later:

“If you look around Ireland today, the most characteristically Irish traits are English. Our Parliamentary system was brought to Ireland by the Anglo-Normans, the system of law that we have is the English Common Law System and of course the language that has produced most of the great writers of Ireland through [James] Joyce and [William] Yeats is the English language.” He continued “When we look around the countryside of Ireland we think of fields and hedges, almost none existented before the 12^th century. Your classical image of rural Ireland is actually a product of the arrival of the English in the 12^th century.” 

Over time, British rulers found they could only completely hold the northern counties around Belfast and Dublin. This area became known as “the pale” and later, Northern Ireland. MacMurrough has gone down in history as the man who sold out Ireland; but recent research has suggested it is absurd to assume that the English would not otherwise have invaded the divided state in a time when territorial acquisition was the norm. With the influence of Henry II, England actually helped create modern Ireland.

Prohibition and the city of Seattle

Today whenever someone mentions Prohibition most people will probably think of cities like New York where thousands of illegal bars called “speakeasies” opened seemingly overnight and where Congressman Fiorello La Guardia openly flaunted the law by having a beer in public. Or, people will think of Chicago where criminal organizations like the Southside Gang lead by Al Capone battled for control of the liquor supplies leaving hundreds dead. But probably no one will think of the serene city of Seattle Washington. Far removed from the powerful east coast and Midwest cities and in one of the last states to be officially settled, Seattle has more often than not been both figuratively and literately on the far periphery of the rest of the country. Yet, the effects of Prohibition were just as dramatic here as anywhere else. It disgraced two mayors and lead to the rise of a third. Helped cause a gangland shootout and made two ordinary men local legends. This is that story.

Washington had considered the idea of prohibition since the 1850s and by the 1880s the Territorial Legislature had passed a local option law. This meant that city councils could decide for themselves whether or not to grant licensees to sell liquor. However, most towns were still not officially part of the territory, making the real decision makers county commissioners.  Later, this was changed to give power to the residents of the town. As the years went by, organizations like the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League gained prominence both locally and nationally and began pushing for far less compromising laws. Intense campaigning by these groups lead to the passage of Initiative Measure Number Three in 1914, the new law flatly outlawed the making and selling of alcohol within the state. But, the law allowed those with permits to import beer on a limited basis and also allowed it to be sold for medical purposes. The law went into full effect in 1916. Interesting that same year, Washington voters defeated two initiative measures that would have weakened the law. Seattle’s Mayor Hiram Gill quickly moved to make a show of good enforcement, leading several busts in the city. However, Gill’s zealousness which often left extensive property damage angered even those who favored the law.

 Gill had already been under a dark cloud when he entered the mayor’s office. He had been a force on the Seattle City Council in the early 1900s and had used his political connections to get elected mayor in 1910. Soon after it became apparent that the new police chief that Gill had appointed was openly taking protection money from prostitutes and criminals, while Gill himself hindered any effort to remove him. Finally voters had had enough. Newly enfranchised women voters and newspaper editors led a successful effort to recall the mayor in 1911 and Gill left office. In 1914, Gill ran mayor again, saying that he had learned from his mistakes and would be an enemy of vice in the city. In an election that shocked the nation Gill had won.

Despite Gill’s stated good intentions and the raids, there were soon new charges of corruption. His mishandling of several labor strikes did nothing to help his image. News spread that police and Gill were taking bribes from bootleggers. Seattle was as it turned out more crime ridden than ever. By 1917, the U.S. Army forbid its solders from even entering the city. The following year Gill lost badly in his reelection bid and left office for the last time. He would be dead a year later.

In January 1920, the 18th Amendment which outlawed nearly every alcoholic substance in the U.S. became law, overriding the flexibility of the original state measure. Two gangs immediately looked to establish themselves as the dominate liquor suppliers in the city one was led by Jack Marquett   a former Seattle Police Officer, while the other was headed by two Oklahoma brothers Fred and Logan Billingsley. The two organizations fought with each other until a huge gun battle lead to all three going to jail. The time was ripe for a new man to seize the liquor trade.

Into this vacuum stepped another police officer named Roy Olmstead. Considered a rising star in the department, he had become the youngest Lieutenant on the force and was thought of the one of the best investigators in the city and the man to see for tough questions. He had also been friends with city leaders like Gill and had worked on combatting bootleggers since 1916, with his sharp mind Olmstead had quickly learned the ins and outs of the criminal underworld and came to believe he could do better.

Unlike Marquett and the Billingsley brothers he thought more could be done with a smart bribe than with a gun. He once said “I would rather lose a whole damned shipment than lose a life” and neither he nor his men carried them. At first, everything went smoothly and Olmstead’s activities stayed below the notice of his fellow officers. Then, in the early morning hours of March 22, 1920, as Olmstead and his men pulled into Brown’s Bay, prohibition agents surprised them and began shooting. Men ran in all directions and Olmstead jumped into his car and raced through a roadblock escaping down the road. As he passed one of the agents, they recognized him immediately and he was arrested within hours. Olmstead was quickly fired from the police force, but rather than regret the lost career he threw himself at his new one.

As Olmstead began organizing a new bootlegging empire, Johnny Schnarr found himself merely trying to deliver his first shipment. 25 year old Schnarr was not a criminal, but a logger and fisherman by trade. Soon after Prohibition went into effect, he had been asked to take a boat laden with liquor from Victoria B.C. to San Francisco. Everything went well, until Schnarr’s partner became confused and accidentally turned the boat back to Canada. Schnarr had corrected course, but as they were off the Oregon coast, the boat had run aground twice. The second time it could not be dislodged and eventually sank. Schnarr and is partner managed to swim to shore and even saved half their shipment, but they had failed to deliver it. Four months later, Schnarr with a new boat and a new partner, had better luck with his next shipment and soon taking 70 then 110 cases a shipment and was making a $1,000 a month. His boats, with specially designed engines could easily out run the Coast Guard and could hide out in the Sound as Daryl McClary would later write "Enforcement of prohibition in the Pacific Northwest was virtually impossible. There was too much border, too much water, and too many islands and remote locations to patrol effectively" Though, one night Schnarr decided to dock in Port Angeles and soon found out that he was next to the very Coast Guard ship that had been chasing him for months. Schnarr left before dawn.

By 1924, Roy Olmstead had become king of the bootleggers in Seattle and was making over $200,000 a month. Soon after his dismissal from the police force, he had gone into businesses with eleven other men. Olmstead had also hired other men who were bookkeepers, dispatchers and organizers. He also brought in many of his old police force buddies. Eventually, he became one of the largest employers in the city.  With everyone in place he had bought several boats and began sending them to Vancouver B.C where they would be loaded with liquor and to avoid the export fee they would say they were headed to Mexico. Within days the boats would be unloaded on D’Arcy Island in Puget Sound, where they were watched by the overseer of a leopard colony and then taken into various points in Washington. Olmstead demanded only the best alcohol from suppliers and even sold it cheaper than anyone else. All of this, and his smiling easy going manner had made him personal friends of Edwin “Doc” Brown the Mayor of Seattle and the Boeing brothers who supported him. Olmstead became so confident in his business that his men began unloading their boats in broad daylight on Washington wharfs and moving the beer into trucks marked “fish” or “milk”. 

Finally, Prohibition agents in the state made arresting Olmstead their top priority. Very soon Olmstead had fewer reasons to smile and more reasons to be tense. On June 25, 1924 two men walked into the Henry Building in downtown Seattle where Olmstead had his office. There, they quietly placed several electronic bugs. At the time Mayor Brown was out of town, leaving Bertha Landes the head of the Seattle City Council in charge. Landes was a stanch proponent of Prohibition and quickly approved the placement of the bugs. It should be noted here; that the men while having her permission did not have any other form of legal approval and wiretapping was illegal in Washington State.

The wiretaps lead to several raids including at Olmstead’s farm where thousands of bottles were seized. Under pressure from Federal agents Canadian costume agents took one of his boats holding nearly 800 cases of liquor. Other Federal agents burst into his attorney’s office and took away evidence. Finally on November 17, it all came crashing down. Sixteen Federal agents arrived at Olmstead’s home and arrested him. One agent then calmly sat down at a desk and posing as Olmstead called his associates and asked them to bring booze to the house. Eight other men were taken into custody including the King County Sheriff. In all, ninety people were charged. Olmstead paid out is bond and went back to work, but he was arrested again on Thanksgiving.

In the trial that followed in 1925, Federal agents, some police and other informants all fingered Olmstead as the undisputed king of the liquor trade in Seattle. One funny moment came when Olmstead said the assistant attorney prosecuting him had been one of his best costumers. The whole case hinged on the wiretaps. But here there were major problems, on top of being illegal in first place, no exact transcript or recording existed, only notes. Later one of the transcribers said they had been given names to put with written quotes. Though part of this evidence was thrown out, the majority of it was allowed to stand. Olmstead was convicted, and sentenced to four years on McNeil Island, which he began serving in 1927. He continued to appeal his case on the stance that the main evidence against him had been illegal. In 1928, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and in a 5-4 decision upheld the conviction

As Olmstead fought his conviction and broke rocks at McNeil, Johnny Schnarr continued running liquor through the Puget Sound. By 1927 he had become one of the best bootleggers in the state. Schnarr had managed to avoid capture though, one time Prohibition agents surprised his men as they unloaded liquor on a beach. A running gunfight ensued and one agent was wounded, the rest of the men escaped. Another time when Scharr was off Discovery Bay, he spotted a Coast Guard boat that was only a hundred yards out and closing fast. Bullets began hitting the ship’s haul and in desperation, he turned the boat around and raced past the Coast Guard ship. The massive spray that resulted left both decks a slippery mess, but also hit the gunman on Coast Guard ship preventing accurate fire. Five other boats tried to catch Schnarr that night, but he outran them all. As Canada became stricter about not allowing liquor to come from Canadian ports, Schnarr found himself having to meet ships further out to sea, making it more expensive to do a proper delivery. On top of this, other bootleggers were operating in the Puget Sound and were flooding the market. This served to make alcohol cheaper to buy. All of it was beginning to cut into Schnarr’s bottom line.

While the times were changing for Schnarr, the city of Seattle was going through political and social changes of its own. In 1926, Bertha Landes who had brought down Olmstead, ran for mayor and defeated the corrupt Doc Brown, by 6,000 votes becoming the first woman mayor of any large city.  She then went after bootleggers with a vengeance and worked to clean up the city government. By most accounts Landes succeeded in her efforts to make a better city and had high approval rating going into her reelection in 1928. Shockingly however, she lost to Frank Edwards. Edwards was later recalled in 1931, after he fired a popular city worker. By now, there was also a growing sense in Washington and the rest of country that prohibition just wasn’t working. Liquor was coming in from the Puget Sound and Eastern Washington. People were still getting drunk and crime was up. This was mirrored elsewhere. Boats now sat in international waters off the coast of Florida and unloaded booze in full view. Other boats were in the in the Great Lakes and in winter time the liquor could be moved over the frozen water. In New York and Chicago brutal gang wars had broken out for control of supply routes leaving hundreds dead.

In January 1932 the Washington Legislature introduced Initiative Measure No. 61, which would repeal Prohibition statewide. It passed overwhelming in November. Congress was not far behind, by December of 1933 Prohibition was repealed with approval of the 21^st Amendment. Roy Olmstead and Johnny Schnarr were among those that now enjoyed a legal drink but were out of a job. Olmstead had been released from prison but continued to fight his conviction. In 1935, he was pardoned by President Franklin Roosevelt. Olmstead became a Christian Scientist and lived quietly until his death in 1966. The following year the Supreme Court overturned its original ruling that upheld the wiretaps. Schnarr returned to logging, but soon became of full time fisherman until his retirement in 1966.  

While the city of Seattle had not been as violent as Chicago or as openly corrupt as New York, Prohibition had affected it just as much. It had ended political careers and propelled others and made everyday men into local heroes. In the end it showed that even in the most serene of cities, long term enforcement could not keep people from a drink.

Top Ten Best and Worst Presidents in U.S. History

In honor of President’s Day, my personal list of best and worst American presidents.

Top 10 Best (Most Effective) Presidents

10. James Madison (Democratic-Republican, 1809-1817)

Arguably the smartest man to ever hold the office of President, Madison was president at the time of the War of 1812, during which the British army captured and burned Washington as well as the White House. Through it all, Madison held the government together and immediately began to rebuild the city. Unlike John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Madison did not try to shut down the opposing Federalist Party but allowed total free speech throughout his time in office.

9. Chester A. Arthur (Republican, 1881-1885)

No one really expected Arthur to become president and few remember him today. Yet, Arthur turned out to be a fairly effective leader for the time. Coming to office after the assassination of James Garfield, Arthur used the opportunity to try and remake himself. Originally the product of a corrupt New York political machine, Arthur surprised everyone by pushing for Civil Service reform. This eventually resulted in the Pendleton Act, which required those seeking government jobs to pass written exams before they could take office, rather than simply being appointed. Under Arthur, the U.S. also began to modernize its Navy which had not had much attention since the Civil War. Because of this, America was able to have a new fleet by the time of the Spanish American War and win several quick victories over the Spanish navy.

8. George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican, 1989-1992)

Often overshadowed by the larger than life personalities of his predecessor Ronald Reagan and successor Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush was still one of the more effective presidents the U.S. has had. Bringing to the office a wealth of political experience, Bush presided over the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and received praise from other foreign leaders for his business like demeanor. Bush also expertly managed the Gulf War in 1991, bringing it to an end after only three weeks with all political objectives met and minimal casualties. Finally, in terms of domestic policy, Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 allowing for increased rights and educational opportunities that many continue to benefit from to this day. Despite the fact that he broke his campaign pledge not to raise taxes, historians now believe that the 1990 budget deal actually set up the economic boom of the later enjoyed during the Clinton Administration.

7. John F. Kennedy (Democrat, 1961-1963)

Although he had been rather open about wanting to be president and campaigned for it continuously from 1953 until he won it in 1960, Kennedy turned out to be a fairly decent leader. Early in his term he called for a vast expansion of NASA and for Americans to go to the Moon before the end of the decade. While he did have political failures like the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, under Kennedy, America still projected an image of strength in other nations. Most importantly, Kennedy was the first president to come out in favor of Civil Rights legislation which was later passed under Lyndon Johnson.

6. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat, 1933-1945)

One of the most controversial men on this list, Roosevelt came to office at a time when the nation was in the midst of an economic depression. While historians still debate the impact of Roosevelt's New Deal, it cannot be argued that whatever their failings, his programs gave millions of Americans jobs and led to the improvement of the nation's infrastructure with construction of new roads, forest trails, bridges and hydroelectric dams that brought power to even the most remote parts of the country. While a plan to add new justices to the Supreme Court badly backfired, Roosevelt still remained a powerful political force throughout the 1930s. Even before America entered World War II, Roosevelt was already supporting England and China with arms and supplies. Roosevelt also made a point of appointing experienced politicians to important posts in the Navy and War Departments, even if they were members of the Republican Party. When the war began, he carefully oversaw economic and war policies and stayed in constant communication with other foreign leaders, ensuring that America would be seen as major player on the world stage

5. George Washington (Federalist, 1789-1797)

As President, Washington set up the financial system we have today, thereby ensuring that all states in the Union would be forever committed to investing in the Federal government. More importantly, Washington spent his term in office defining the power and tradition of the American President – and setting important limits for that office.

4. Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865)

The country was in a state of war from his first day in office to his last, but Lincoln, with little formal education, used guile and political pressure, often at the expense of civil liberties, to get through the war and make everyone from local farmers to Union generals do exactly what he wanted. As a result, he accomplished the nearly impossible task of keeping the nation together through the most divisive event in American history. 

3. Harry Truman (Democrat, 1945-1953)

Truman made some of the most momentous decisions of our time, from dropping the bomb, to confronting hostile unions, to proactively integrating the U.S. military, to containing Soviet and Chinese communists. A high school graduate who couldn’t afford college, Truman presided adeptly during radically changing times – all the while remaining, by all accounts, modest and well-grounded.

2. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican, 1901-1909)

Roosevelt went after corporate monopolies, sought equal rights for major unions, and passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. Overseas, he helped finish the Panama Canal, and sent the Great White Fleet around the world to solidify the image of American strength. All of this made him the first modern president to set America on course to be a superpower.

1. James K. Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849)

To this day, Polk remains the only president to accomplish all of his foreign and domestic goals in a single term. He also led the U.S. through a war with Mexico which added thousands of miles to the country, and helped settle boundary disputes which allowed settlement in the Pacific Northwest.

Top 10 Worst (Most Detrimental) Presidents

10. Andrew Jackson (Democrat, 1829-1837)

One of the most powerful political leaders of the era, Jackson was the first president to appeal to newly enfranchised poor and middle class white voters, winning election by a wide margin in 1828. Though Jackson had proven himself a charismatic military leader, he was a poor day to day manager once he became president, relying more on an unofficial “kitchen cabinet” of political friends than on his real cabinet. In addition to his horrible treatment of Indians and support of the Indian Removal Act which lead to the Trail of Tears, Jackson spent much of his first term pointlessly defending his Secretary of War against overwhelming public criticism for having an affair. Jackson even angrily fired his entire cabinet over the issue. While this heavy handed approach worked later on when South Carolina threatened to secede in 1832, it also lead to the resignation of his Vice President John C. Calhoun. Jackson was reelected largely on the promise of crushing the too-powerful Bank of the United States. He did manage to close the bank by the end of his term, but in doing so, senselessly laid the groundwork for the economic downturn of 1837. 

9. John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican, 1825-1829)

 Although an intelligent man and veteran politician, Adams won the presidency under a cloud of controversy. Failing to win the popular vote, getting a majority  of the Electoral College by a razor thin margin in the House of Representatives. Adams supporters also appear to have made an agreement, later called the "Corrupt Bargain," with Speaker of the House Henry Clay, who was immediately appointed Secretary of State. Considering himself to be above petty politics, Adams rejected the support of either party and this coupled with his unfriendly nature prevented him from any major accomplishments by the end of his single term in 1828.

8. Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-1857) 

Pierce’s presidency was doomed from the start. Just weeks after being elected president, his 11 year old son was killed in a train wreck and Pierce sank into a depression and lost interest in the office. Pierce’s Vice President William King died several weeks later from an illness. Pierce was a weak administrator, hiring inexperienced men for his cabinet and allowing himself to be bullied. After pressure from Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed for slavery to  be voted on in the individual territories and open the floodgates for widespread violence and social upheaval between opposing extremists in the slavery issue for years. Pierce did open Japan to trade, but bet most of his political capital on buying Spanish held Cuba in secret, and when the scheme came to light it led to embarrassment and a loss of what little credibility he had left.

7. Warren G. Harding (Republican, 1921-1923)

Harding never seemed to embrace the office of the president, and often actually did as little as possible. He rarely put in a full day’s work, often complained about dissatisfaction with his job, and, during Prohibition, drank bootlegger whiskey in the back room of the White House. After his death in 1923, the emergence of the Teapot Dome Scandal forever tarnished his presidency.

6. Lyndon Johnson (Democrat, 1963-1969)

While Johnson was successful in helping pass Civil Rights legislation, most of his potentially productive days were consumed with the confusing and intricate machinations of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Johnson’s failure to assert a clear policy of management for Vietnam actually lengthened the conflict, costing thousands of additional American lives and preventing Johnson from any further significant achievements.

5. Ulysses S Grant (Republican, 1869-1877)

One of America’s best generals, Grant proved himself one of its worst presidents. Without Lincoln’s gifts for guile and keen perception in maintaining order among his advisors, Grant unwittingly allowed corruption and incompetence to overwhelm his presidency for eight long years. While Grant himself was never charged or officially connected to any scandal, indictments of members of his cabinet caused a financial panic, and several other scandals that led to the near crippling of his administration.

4. Jimmy Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981)

Elected to office in the aftershock of the Watergate Scandal, Carter ran on a platform as a candidate who would be open and honest with the American people. However, his presidency was soon damaged by a slow economy and gasoline crisis. While Carter laid off White House employees and added solar panels, he seemed powerless to fix the larger ongoing problems. In a televised address to the country he said that the American people had lost faith in themselves and were in the midst of a “crisis of confidence.” The speech was meant to reassure, but was received as a petty scolding by the majority of viewers and Carter’s popularity plummeted. In foreign affairs Carter did manage to have some success. He returned the Panama Canal to Panama and got Israel and Egypt to sign the Camp David Accords. However, these victories were more than offset by the seizing of the American Embassy and taking 52 American hostages in 1979 in Iran. As negotiations lengthened to months and then a full year, Carter’s unwillingness to use military force to free the hostages made him appear weak and indecisive. Carter’s political fate was sealed when a poorly planned helicopter rescue operation was finally approved only to fail when two choppers and transport plane collided an crashed in a sandstorm before ever reaching the embassy. Because of these well publicized failures, Carter lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980.    

 

3. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat, 1912-1921)

An inflexible academic at heart, Wilson got several domestic bills passed but proved incapable of working productively with others. Because of his complete alienation of all political opposition, his major push for U.S. membership in the League of Nations failed. Wilson’s attitudes on race did not help either - during his presidency, Wilson segregated government offices that had previously been integrated, and set racial equality back by decades.

2. Andrew Johnson (Democrat, 1865-1869)

Likely no man could have easily followed Abraham Lincoln as president, but Johnson proved particularly ill-suited for the job. Only made Vice President in the election of 1864 to draw southern Democrats to the Republican Party, Johnson cared little for making political friends. On coming to office, Johnson believed he would be doing what Lincoln wanted in allowing former Confederate states to return to the Union as quickly as possible. However, this went against a small but powerful minority of "Radical" Republicans in Congress who wanted to punish the South for the war. Johnson repeatedly vetoed Reconstruction laws including the 14^th Amendment granting blacks citizenship and the 15^th Amendment granting blacks the right to vote. These became law anyway when Congress passed them with enough votes to not need his approval. Things finally came to a head when Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, after Congress had passed a law expressly forbidding the firing of any cabinet officials without their approval. This so enraged Republicans that Johnson became the first president in the nation’s history to be impeached.  He was eventually spared removal from office by one single vote and was forced to sit out the rest of his term unproductively.

1. James Buchannan (Democrat, 1856-1861)

Despite his extensive government service, Buchannan did nothing to stop the deteriorating situation between North and South. Instead, he watched helplessly as state after state left the Union in 1860-1861, and seemed only to want to hand the situation off to his successor.