Surprising Presidential Fathers

© Beverly Hubble Tauke, Author
Healing Your Family Tree
www.beverlytauke.com



Brain Teaser #2 From Prior Blog: As Father’s Day nears, what U.S. Presidents were raised without birth fathers? Which ones were raised by alcoholic father figures? Of numerous Presidents who fit this description, several appear below.
------------------------------------

Answers to questions above can be surprising—and perhaps encouraging to those lacking physical or emotional presence of a nurturing dad. Following are my observations from a 2005 newswire, presented here as Father’s Day approaches:

Some of our more remarkable presidents were shaped not by family success but by grim family pain. George Washington, for example, was fatherless by age 11 when his prosperous father Augustine died. Turning to older stepbrother Lawrence as a surrogate father, George mourned Lawrence's death a few years later as well.

Abraham Lincoln's father Thomas was impoverished and illiterate, physically and psychologically brutal. Thomas raised Abe and his sister Sarah in a forest shack and beat Abe for reading, violently opposing the ambitions of his young son to escape the squalor. Resenting such abuse, Abe refused to visit his father's deathbed, attend his funeral, or mark his grave with a tombstone.

Among recent Presidents, Ronald Reagan endured an alcoholic father who was "a cynic who tended to suspect the worst of people," reported Reagan. Dying before his son was even born, Bill Clinton's father left his young son to be traumatized later by an alcoholic, wife-battering stepfather, Roger Clinton.

How is it that young George, Abe, Ron and Bill not only survived severe family suffering, they seemed to pry triumph out of tragedy?

U.S. presidents who came from harsh family backgrounds had a nurturing presence in their lives that helped them to reach great heights. Abraham Lincoln's stepmother adored him and encouraged his studies; Ronald Reagan's mother was his rock and Bill Clinton's mother built him up during tough times.

The positive influence of one heart-warmer, whether a relative, friend or mentor, can spark a person to overcome a painful past. Research showing how surrogates can profoundly enrich and redirect lives suggests important actions we can all take on this issue:
1) Recall and savor the empowering impact of those who have enriched our lives as children or adults.
2) Thank those who have sweetened our journeys, blessing their lives in return and reinforcing their impact in our own hearts.
3) Thank God for allowing our paths to cross—often correcting or boosting our direction in life.
4) Assume that others who enter our lives--including our own and our kids’ friends--have invisible wounds we may never see. Surely, for some it is we who will be life sweeteners and boosters—if we’re willing.