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FACTBOX-U.S. presidential firsts, past and present

04 Feb 2008 21:42:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Some 24 U.S. states hold nominating contests on a day dubbed Super Tuesday because it is the biggest date on the path to picking a U.S. presidential candidate from each political party.

Americans vote on Nov. 4, and here are some firsts that could result from this election:

* Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would be the first woman U.S. president.

* Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would be the first black president.

* Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would be the first Mormon president.

* Republican John McCain, who will be 72 in August, would be the oldest to be inaugurated. Ronald Reagan was 69 when he took office on Jan. 20, 1981.

Here are some presidential firsts from history:

* John Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first Roman Catholic president.

* Warren Harding was the first president to be voted for by women, in 1920.

* Franklin Roosevelt was the only president elected to a third term, in 1940. He was also elected to a fourth term in 1944. Later, in 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, limiting presidential terms to two.

* George Washington was the first president whose likeness appeared on a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued in 1847.

* John Adams was the first president to live in the White House. Adams and his wife Abigail moved in on Nov. 1, 1800. The White House was under construction during George Washington's administration.

* Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, on March 4, 1801. Adams took the oath of office in Philadelphia. George Washington was inaugurated in New York for his first term, and Philadelphia for his second.

* Andrew Jackson, born March 15, 1767, was the first president to be born in a log cabin.

* At a White House reception on July 4, 1801, Jefferson introduced the custom of having male guests shake hands. In previous administrations, men had bowed stiffly.

* James Madison, who served from 1809 to 1817, was the first president to regularly wear long trousers instead of knee breeches.

* Abraham Lincoln was the first president born outside the borders of the 13 original states. Lincoln was born in Kentucky on Feb. 12, 1809.

* In 1909, William Howard Taft, the 27th president, was the first to have a car at the White House.

* Woodrow Wilson was the first president to visit a foreign country while in office. Wilson sailed for France, on Dec. 4, 1918, to negotiate the peace treaty ending World War One.

Sources: Reuters/infoplease.com/scholastic.com

(Writing by Paul Grant, Washington Editorial Reference Unit)

(For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:/blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

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