MAY 17 -1827 Happy Anniversary Andrew and First Lady Eliza Johnson; 1978 Governor Jerry Brown and Rock Queen Linda Ronstadt appear on U.S. Magazine…together; Happy Birthday Tony Parker; 1995 Chuck Berry, Fats & Little Richard jam together
MAY 17
17 1827 Happy Anniversary Andrew and Eliza Johnson.
The Tailor of Tennessee was 18 and his beautiful bride was 16 when they got hitched, making them the youngest couple in presidential history. They both came from humble beginnings.
Eliza was born October 4 1810 in Leesburg, TN. Her dad was a shoe cobbler and innkeeper and passed away when she was about 16. But she helped her mom make a living by sewing and selling blankets and sandals. She and Andrew were practically kids when they met as he tried unsuccessfully to find work as a tailor in Greenville, but it was love at first sight.
Ironically he’d soon become the mayor of the town so he didn’t need to tailor anymore, but Eliza’s credited for grooming Andrew for politics in the first place. He was a little educated, a ND she was a little educated. It worked out. Later on he would become the Father of the Homestead Act, but for now, he was just the Tennessee Tailor, and when Tennessee became a Confederate State, he remained loyal to the Union, which naturally made him a target, along with his family.
Speaking of his family, they had five kids. Martha was the first, and would stand in for her mom at most White House events when dad was president. Charles, born in 1830, died 33 years later, was a surgeon/pharmacist, maybe a boozer according to history.com, but ultimately killed in a horse accident. Mary was born in 1832 and lived her life with her husband who was a Colonel for the Union Cavalry, and two more sons who grew up to be boozers and died young from alcohol poisoning, Robert at age 35 and Andrew Jr. at 26. During the Civil War, Eliza was forced to surrender her house to the Confederate Army in Greenville.
She and the kids tried to leave by train but were arrested and detained for two days, and then finally they settled in Nashville. Shortly after the war ended, her husband took over the presidency upon Lincoln’s assassination, but Eliza had come down with a nasty case of tuberculosis and couldn’t function as first lady. Daughter Martha took over most of the first lady role, though Eliza was able to attend many of the functions while her husband was president. Despite her condition growing worse, she was able to be there for Andrew, especially during his 1868 impeachment, for which of course he was acquitted as I cover in detail on my May 16th ep.
This would be Johnson’s only term; General Ulysses Grant would win the 1968 election. So the two retired back to Tennessee. When alcoholic son Robert committed suicide that proved to be a bit much for Eliza and her health went downhill fast. Andrew would become reelected to the Senate in 1875, but died of a stroke in July that same year.
Eliza would spend the holidays without him, and then succumb to her illness on January 15, 1876. Happy anniversary Andrew and Eliza!
1974 – LAPD catches up to the Symbionese Liberation Army.
…Possibly the only reason this group ever got famous was because they kidnapped Patty Hearst, daughter of William Randolph Hearst, who ran America’s largest newspaper chain. The symbol was a seven headed cobra, hydra style, and their slogan was Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people.
And moving along to something else that doesn’t make any sense is why Patti went along and defended her captors. Some believe it was a case of Stockholm syndrome, where the captured mistakenly believes her captors were actually her heroes. Another thought is that she was simply brainwashed, and yet another was that she liked to flirt with radical terrorists.
The SLA basically grew out of a prison system in Vacaville, CA by a black prisoner named Donald DeFreeze, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery. DeFreeze escaped from prison in March 1973 and formed the SLA had the intention of ending racism, monogamy, the prison system and all other institutions that have made and sustained capitalism. Only in America.
On November 6 the SlA killed a black school superintendent in Oakland for supporting an identification system four students. The SLA went into hiding for a couple months but two members got pulled over and the police found a car full of weapons and propaganda. While they were taken in for questioning, another member tried to burn down their safehouse in the East Bay Area but neglected to burn any of the evidence.
I’m not sure if I should laugh at these people or feel sorry for them.
In February 1974 they kidnapped Patti Hearst. The ransom was not money, but rather feeding the poor, so on February 19 Hearst senior announced the creation of People In Need, which was a food distribution program that would feed 100,000 people for 12 months with $2M.But when riots over the food began, it was realized the operations of People In Need was could’ve come up with a more organized plan. Patty publicly citied her parents by not trying hard enough.
They were caught on camera robbing a bank in San Francisco, and Patty publicly released a tape announcing her devotion to the SLA, her new family. In May 1974 SLA members were busted trying to rob a sports goods store, a move that led the FBI to the new SLA safehouse in Compton, Big shootout ensued involving tear gas, but the SLA wouldn’t surrender, choosing instead to die as martyrs. Patti wasn’t there at the time, but she did get sent to prison, and pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2001. A year later, the SLA’s short-lived, dangerous and idiotic dream, whatever that was, was over.
1978 – The Governor and the Rock Queen: Linda Ronstadt and Jerry Brown appear on U.S. Magazine.
Together.
From 1971-1983, the rock star and the politician dated. I was a little young when this was going on; in fact I was a six year old staying at a house on Lake Tahoe when they were dating.
Jerry Brown, born in San Francisco in 1938, became Secretary of State of Cali and lobbied as a politician against the oil industry in California, followed Ronald Regan and became governor of California from 1967-1975.
From Tucson AZ, Linda Ronstadt, born in 1946 to the father of a successful hardware business and granddaughter to Lloyd Groff Copeman, a successful inventor who contributed to the microwave oven and flexible ice tray. Linda broke out with a trio at age 18, and later on hit the bigtime with Long Long Time in 1971, followed by the album Heart Like a wheel which launched her career. In 1976,
Brown tried to run for President, but Jimmy Carter would take over the Democratic National Convention and eventually president. Linda continued writing and recording what Rolling Stone mag would call Torch Rock, and released Hasten down the Wind, which spawned her second Grammy Award. She actually played for President Carter during his inauguration while Jerry stood by.
Then the Torch Rocker showed up in magazines wearing sexy lingerie, and progressive Jerry didn’t have the capacity in those days to deal with a male-dominated music industry. She released her 8th album, Simple Dreams, knocking Fleetwood Mac’s long standing record Rumors from the #1 spot at that time.
In 1977 she sang the National Anthem at the Dodgers Vs Yankees World Series. Jerry and Linda publicly appeared to be dating, and finally on this day in 1978 wound up on US mag together. Kinda together. His picture was separate from hers, but it was on the same cover. In the 1978 California elections, Brown would win reelection by a landslide, despite opposition to Prop 13, which reduced property taxes and the way they were assessed.
Oooh Baby Baby!
Linda released Living in the USA, yet another album and tour that cemented her legacy above top female performers. Jerry was late in campaigning again for the 1980 presidential elections because he took Linda on a date to Africa. Newsweek said: “were the singer with a heart like a wheel and the governor with a soul set on the White House getting it all together at last?” For the 1980 presidential campaign, Jerry unsuccessfully went up against Edward Kennedy, and Kennedy would in turn lose to Ronald Reagan.
While Frank Sinatra was playing for President Reagan, Linda was still playing for Jerry, somewhat reluctantly at this point, according to Rolling Stone. Jerry Brown would explore the world and its cultures while Linda enjoyed another successful decade of the 1980s, teaming up with Emmy Lou Harris and Dolly Parton in addition to her successful solo albums.
Upon reflection in subsequent years, Linda Ronstadt called Jerry Brown smart, funny, disciplined, and cheap, recalling a time where she was getting ready to go to singer Rosemary Clooney’s house for dinner, when Jerry showed up wanted to tag along.
He found a box of roses on her doorstep from someone, he tossed the card that accompanied the roses and chose to bring them to Rosemary’s, saving himself a buck or two.
Yes, Jerry. As in Brown.
Moving on to WWII news….
1943 – Memphis Belle flies its 25 mission in Europe.
…This incredible Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress was one of the first B=17 American heavy bombers to complete 25 combat missions with her crew in intact. The aircraft and crew then returned to the US to sell war bonds.
For extra credit, class, two movies were made about Memphis Bell, one was a 1944 documentary called A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 movie simply called Memphis Belle. Last I checked the aircraft is undergoing extensive restorations at the National Museum of the United States air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.
1982 – Happy birthday Tony Parker!
…He started in a French basketball league, and since no one cares, let’s talk about what he did for the San Antonio Spurs. How about helping the team get four NBA championships in 2003, 05, 07, and 14.
1995 – After all these years, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard played together for the first time at a concert in England.