- There's no one I'd rather talk politics with
than Macey Hensley.
She's only five years old,
and even though I spent two weeks in college,
Macey knows way more about presidential history than I do.
Here she is, the future President of the United States.
So you know all about presidents.
When did you start learning about presidents?
- Oh, when I was about--
Oh...
Since I was four.
- Four.
And you're five now. So about a year now.
- Yeah.
- And what made you get interested in presidents?
- Oh, well, I started telling everybody
the presidents on money.
And I was asking for everybody's Jackson.
- Uh-huh. Oh. Very smart.
- Well, then after that
my grandma bought me some flashcards.
- Mm-hmm. - With the presidents.
- Right.
- And on the back, I started reading facts.
- Uh-huh.
- And so that's how. - That's how.
- And also books. - Yes.
You read books at five? - Yeah.
- Okay, um, and I heard you made up a song
so you could remember all the presidents.
- Yeah. - Can we hear the song?
- Sure. - Okay.
- [singing] Washington, Adams
Jefferson, Madison
Monroe, Adams, Jackson
Van Buren
Harrison, Tyler
Polk, Taylor, Fillmore
Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln
Johnson, Grant, Hayes
Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland
Harrison, McKinley
Roosevelt, Taft
Wilson, Harding
Coolidge, Hoover
Roosevelt, Truman
Eisenhower, Kennedy
Johnson, Nixon
Ford, Carter, Reagan
Bush, Clinton, Bush
Obama
- Wow. [cheers and applause]
Really good.
Oh.
That's amazing.
[cheers and applause]
Wow.
I'm not gonna be able to get that out of my head tonight.
That's-- [laughter]
Who's your favorite president?
- Zachary Taylor.
- And why is that?
- 'Cause he wears blue.
'Cause he was a general in the Mexican War,
and blue's my favorite color.
- Oh, blue's my favorite color too.
So he's my favorite president now too.
[chuckles]
And so you wanted a Zachary Taylor-themed birthday cake
and a whole party, right?
- Yeah, but I didn't get it.
My mom just got me a White House cake instead.
- Oh, well, that's nice, huh?
- Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
[cheers and applause]
Have you been to the White House?
- Nope. - Oh, you should go.
That would be nice, right? - Yeah.
- I think so too.
What do you want to do when you grow up?
- Become president.
- I want you to. [cheers and applause]
I love that.
And why do you want to become president?
- So I can eat all the candy I want.
- Ah. [laughter]
Oh, that's as good a reason as any.
So I'm gonna test you on your presidential knowledge, okay?
- Okay. - And so the first one is...
- Washington.
- And tell me what you know about George Washington.
- Um...
- Who was the first lady? - Martha.
- Mm-hmm. And the vice president?
- John Adams.
- Any fun fact?
- Um, the story of the cherry tree wasn't true.
A newspaper man just made it up
so people would like him.
- Wow.
They were making stuff up back then.
- Oh! - That's amazing.
- One more.
By the time of Washington's presidency,
he only had one real tooth left.
[laughter]
- I like that fun fact. Who's this?
- John Quincy Adams.
- And who was the first lady?
- Louisa.
- And the vice president was?
- John C. Calhoun.
- Okay, do you have any fun facts on him?
- He swam naked in the Potomac.
[laughter]
Oh, and he also had a pet alligator.
- A pet alligator?
That seems dangerous, doesn't it?
- Yeah. - I think you know who this is.
- Zachary Taylor. - That's too easy.
And there's a fun fact that doesn't seem so fun.
What's the fun fact here?
- Oh.
He wore a wool suit to the Fourth of July,
and he got too hot.
Then he drank two full glasses of milk
and some cherries, and that's how he died.
Some people thought that the cherries were poisonous.
[laughter]
[applause]
- Oh.
Well, I could just do this all day long.
Who's this?
- Rutherford B. Hayes. - Uh-huh.
And who was the vice president?
- Uh... William Wheeler.
- Yeah, sure. You remember that guy.
Fun fact?
He was the first president to have what?
- A telephone. - And what was his phone number?
- One. [laughter]
Oh, also his wife, they called her Lemonade Lucy
'cause she never served alcohol at the White House.
- Oh. [laughs]
Oh, this is fantastic.