Our Presidents Up-Close
John Burke Jovich
Presidential Historian
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Programs
In this captivating program, John divulges what made our presidents tick. Who sported the most engaging personality . . . the worst demeanor . . . the utmost charisma? Which president instigated a fistfight inside a Washington theater? Whose conduct was so cold, he became known as the “human iceberg”? Who were practical jokers? Who was the temperamental and retaliatory “give-one-a-dose-of-his-own medicine” culprit? Which president proved the most innately compassionate man to occupy the White House? Which president's father told his son it was good thing he was born a boy; otherwise he would always be "in the family way" due to his inability to say no? Who was the ultimate cajoler, habitually jabbing his finger into one's chest to drive home a point of view.
Bedside manners are tossed aside as John provides his audience a thorough going-over of our chief executives’ medical maladies and physical peculiarities. Which teen-aged future president underwent gallstone surgery that left him permanently impotent? Who was in more dire need of exercise than any president in White House history? Which president’s sexual escapades made the infidelities of Warren Harding and Bill Clinton resemble puppy love? Who soaked his feet in cold water upon rising each morning during his final years? Which corpulent president became wedged in the White House bathtub? Which president suffered more health issues than any other? Who among them were cupped (bled) to death by well-meaning physicians? What were our presidents’ last words? Which president was found to have possessed a fantastic smile -- as determined by pathologists 140 years after his death!
Unlike any other speaker regarding the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, John enthralls one and all with fascinating, seldom-ever-published episodes from that tragic weekend, when a pall of sadness settled across the entire nation. Here are the scarce facts you've not heard on countless documentaries. As the published expert regarding the whereabouts of over 250 famous Americans on November 22, 1963, John details the surprising number among them, men and women alike, who wept without shame upon hearing the stunning news that Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Learn the truth about the malcontented sociopath named Lee Harvey Oswald. Hear the heartrending story of how William Greer, a Secret Service agent who dearly loved his president, woefully hesitated behind the wheel of JFK's Lincoln Continental as shots rang out. And discover how, in addition to slaying JFK and J. D. Tippit, Oswald ultimately took the life of Governor John Connally, as well. A stirring remembrance of the most shocking event of the latter half of the twentieth century.
A totally absorbing program! Who among the first ladies was never once in the company of her husband, personally or publicly, during the period he served as President of the United States? Which first lady is strongly rumored to have adopted a lesbian lifestyle? Who served, unofficially, as the only woman President of the United States for a year and a half? Which future first lady taught her husband to read and write? Which presidential couple suffered the most contentious marriage in White House history? Which couple purposely spoke Mandarin to one another in the presence of White House staffers as a means of camouflaging the content of their conversations?
From personal and public perplexities to clinical depression, John compellingly relates how several of our nation’s chief executives conquered distress and deprivation. How did one future president overcome suicidal tendencies following the death of his first sweetheart? Which president frequently suffered nervous breakdowns? And how did one of our greatest presidents overcome the heartrending dilemma of witnessing his wife and mother die on the same day?
John's exhaustive research illustrates the human element of how the momentous War Between the States affected incumbent President Abraham Lincoln and several of his White House predecessors and successors. Although only Lincoln would pay the ultimate sacrifice just days following the Confederates’ surrender, six then-future presidents served in the Union Army during the war. Who among the six was severely wounded? Which former president was elected to the Confederate Congress? And can you name the future president who, when drafted during the Civil War, took advantage of the Conscription Act and paid a Polish immigrant $150 as his substitute-in-arms?
If you are seeking a speaker with the mastery to simultaneously entertain and captivate your audience, John will work with you to custom-tailor a program which intertwines engaging stories about the presidents and first ladies to the core message/theme of your event. Let his one-of-a-kind presentation galvanize the audience’s attention!
Personalities of the Presidents
Presidential Health & Physical Characteristics
The Kennedy Assassination: Myth vs. Reality
First Ladies and Their Influence in the White House
How Our Presidents Overcame Adversity
Presidents and the Civil War
Customized Programs for Your Event
Presidential Faith & Spiritual Beliefs
Here is the divine story of our presidents’ true convictions about God and religion, based on the most reliable sources. Who among our presidents never formally joined a church? Which presidents made a compelling, cover-to-cover study of the Scriptures? Was Thomas Jefferson an atheist? Who was browbeaten into being baptized on his deathbed by an insolent minister? And which president, while walking from his pew to the church exit, slightly knelt behind his Secret Service agents and jokingly whispered to them, “If there’s a sniper up in that choir loft, he’ll have to get you before he gets me!”
