The Massachusetts Homes of US Presidents
In honor of Presidents Day, we remember some places around Massachusetts where presidents have lived.
1. John Adams
The John Adams Birthplace
The second president of the United States was born in Quincy on Hancock Street in 1735. His birthplace, a wooden “salt box’’-style house, is located just 75 feet away from the home where he would start a family with wife Abigail Smith Adams, of Weymouth. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and visitors can receive guided tours for $5 by the National Park Service (NPS).
John Adams served as president from 1797 to 1801, and he was the first president who was also a lawyer. After the Boston Massacre, he defended the British soldiers that killed five Americans. Adams was also the first president to live in the White House.
Fun Fact: John Adams was the only president of the first five U.S. presidents to not be a slaveholder, according to the John Adams Historical Society.
2. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams Birthplace
Abigail Adams gave birth to John Adams’s son, John Quincy Adams, in 1767. He would become the sixth president of the United States in 1825, and he served until 1829. Both John Quincy Adams and his father attended Harvard University in Cambridge.
John Adams started his career in politics and law in the new Hancock Street home, running a law office out of the house, and drafting the Massachusetts Constitution with Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin. According to the NPS, this document influenced the creation of the United States Constitution.
Fun Fact: John Quincy Adams kept a pet alligator in the White House while he was president.
3. Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge Pre-presidency Residence
Though Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth Notch, Vermont on July 4, 1872, he moved to Amherst, Massachusetts to attend Amherst College, where he graduated in 1895. Coolidge then studied law and passed the Massachusetts bar exam, opening a law office in Northampton, according to history.com.
Coolidge spent 20 years practicing law, but got involved in city politics in 1898, when he was elected to city council before going on to serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Coolidge was elected governor of the state in 1918, and was nationally recognized for his firm handling of Boston police force strikes and riots in 1919. He was elected vice president of the United States in 1920. He became the 30th U.S. president in 1923 when then president Warren Harding died unexpectedly. During his term, Coolidge was known for his no-nonsense demeanor and investigation into the corruption of the Harding administration.
Fun Fact: Coolidge announced that he would not run for re-election in 1928 with a note that said he did not have the energy for it, after which he retired to Northampton.
4. John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy Birthplace
Joe and Rose Kennedy lived in a modest two-story home at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, where John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. “We looked around…and found [a house] we both liked and decided would suit our needs…It would have blended perfectly into most of the main streets of America,’’ Rose Kennedy said in her memoir, “Times to Remember.’’
JFK was often sick as a child, and was said to have spent a large portion of his childhood reading adventure books. He would later attend Harvard University, where he got a degree in international affairs in 1940. JFK ran for president in 1960, and was the 35th U.S. president from 1961 to November 22, 1963, when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. During his time in office, JFK oversaw the creation of the Peace Corp and championed the Civil Rights Movement.
n 1969, Rose Kennedy donated the Beals Street home to the National Park Service as “a gift’’ to the American people. Over 500,000 people have visited.
Fun Fact: At age 43, JFK was the youngest president to take office.
5. George Herbert Walker Bush
George H.W. Bush Birthplace
The 41st president of the United States was born in Milton on June 12, 1924. George H.W. was born into a wealthy and political family. His father was an investment banker and senator, and Bush attended the elite Philips Academy in Andover. He later enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and while serving as a pilot in World War II, his plane was hit during a bombing run over the Pacific Ocean. A U.S. Navy submarine rescued him.
He later attended Yale University, where he got a degree in economics in 1948. H.W. Bush reached the White House in 1989, and served till 1993. During his time in office, he oversaw Operation Desert Storm (also known as the Gulf War), in which the U.S. and its Allies successfully liberated Kuwait in 1991 after Iraq’s invasion.
Fun Fact: His nickname from childhood was “Poppy,’’ and it was still used during his days at Yale.
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