Left-Handed U.S. Presidents

There have been eight left-handed presidents that we know of. However, this number is not necessarily accurate because in the past, left-handedness was actively discouraged. Many individuals who would have grown up left-handed were in fact forced  to learn how to write with their right hand. If recent history is any indication, left-handedness seems to be far more common among U.S. presidents than it is among the general population. Naturally, this apparent phenomenon has led to many speculations. Left-Handed Presidents James Garfield  (served from March–September 1881) is considered by many to be the first president who was  left-handed. Anecdotes indicate  that he was ambidextrous and  could write with both hands at the same time. Sadly, he served only six months before succumbing to gunshot wounds after Charles Guiteau shot him in July of his first term. Seven lefty presidents followed him:Herbert HooverHarry S. TrumanGerald FordRonald ReaganGeorge H.W. BushBill ClintonBarack Obama Getty Images for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights / Getty Images Beating the Odds What is perhaps most noteworthy about left-handed presidents is how many there have been in recent decades. Of the last 15 presidents, seven (about 47%) have been left-handed. That might not mean much until you consider that the global percentage of left-handed people is about 10%. So among the general population, only one in 10 people are left-handed, while in the modern-era White House, almost one in two have been left-handed. And theres every reason to believe that this trend will continue because its no longer standard practice to steer children away from natural left-handedness. Lefty Doesnt Mean  Left: But What Does It Mean? A quick count of political parties in the list above shows the Republicans slightly  ahead of the Democrats, with five of the eight lefties being Republican. If the numbers were reversed, perhaps someone would argue that left-handed people are more in line with left politics. After all, many people believe that left-handedness seems to correspond to creative, or at least out of the box thinking, pointing to famous lefty artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jimi Hendrix, and Leonardo Di Vinci. While this theory obviously wouldnt be supported by the history of left-handed presidents, the unusually high percentage of lefties in the White House may point to other characteristics that may give lefties an edge in leadership roles (or at least at winning elections): Language development: According to scientists Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt, authors of Welcome to Your Brain, one  in seven left-handed people use both hemispheres (left and right) of their brain to process language, while almost all right-handed people process language on only the left side of the brain (the left side controls the right hand, and vice versa). Its possible that this ambidextrous language processing gives lefties an advantage as orators.Creative thinking: Studies have shown a correlation between left-handedness and creative thinking, or more specifically, divergent thinking, or an aptitude for developing multiple solutions to problems. Chris McManus, the author of Right-Hand, Left-Hand, suggests that left-handedness may be associated with a more highly developed right hemisphere of the brain, the side thats better at creative thinking. This may also explain the over-representation of left-handed artists. So, if youre a lefty who gets annoyed with all the right-handed bias in the world, perhaps you can help change things  as our next president.

American Identity And Unity During The Colonial Period

Daniel Soto Mr. Sandoe AP US History Period I 21 September 2014 American Identity and Unity during the Colonial Period prior to the Revolution By the eve of the American Revolution, the colonists had unknowingly developed an identity that was neither English nor American but was instead a mixture of the two. The American side of this new identity can be seen in the religious freedom that was promoted in the colonies, their self-governance, and their quasi-independence from Britain when it came to trade. However, although there was this new identity forming, colonists still thought of themselves as English and asked people to address them as such. This led to complications during the events leading up to the American Revolution in which†¦show more content†¦The fundamentals of this agreement would permeate throughout the years to the other colonies and would stay with America up to present day. Other good representations of the growth of a self-governing American identity are the assemblies that governed each colony. They were ruled over by a royal governor that represented the Crown in the colony and they were then made up of an assembly of elected citizens that represented their town/county. Over time, the elected assemblies grew to be more powerful than the governors due to salutary neglect and this resulted in the colonies actually governing themselves and having a semblance of independence from Great Britain. While Great Britain knew about the undeclared policy of salutary neglect and about the colonies’ self-governance, they did not address it because it was also beneficial to them as well. It allowed them to not have to worry about governing the colonies so that

Overpopulation Earth’s Destruction Free Essays

Amanda Broxton Instructor Sabel Composition II Cause and Effect Essay May 28th, 2009 Overpopulation: Earth’s Destruction Can you picture it? On one side of the world, in the middle of nowhere, a potentially beautiful child is just skin and bones; on the other side, another animal that can not be replaced has gone extinct. Somewhere there is a woman washing her few belongings in a dirty, polluted river. These and many other events like them are taking place all over the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Overpopulation: Earth’s Destruction or any similar topic only for you Order Now The cause? Over popularization, on which has been the root of many problems and is caused by many others, but do not worry there might be some hope in fixing it. Due to over popularization, one of Earth’s potential destruction is caused by over-production of the land. From more and more animals going extinct that can not be replaced because there isn’t room for them to live on. Also because of this, there is not enough food and clean water for humans and animals alike. Plus, humans are not conserving resources as they should and are taking prime land to pile more and more people on. Environmentalists have long been concerned about the resources threatened by rapidly growing human populations, focusing on phenomenon such as deforestation, desertification, air pollution and global warming. But the worst-case scenario for people experiencing overpopulation, according to Lawrence Smith, president of the Population Institute, is a lack of fresh, clean water. â€Å"If the water goes, t he species goes,† he said. ’(Hoevel, 2008, para. 9). Equally important is the fact that this is all caused by us Homo sapiens looking for a better lifestyle. We now have new medicines and technologies to help us live longer by healing every little thing that might be wrong with us. Some of those things were introduced by Mother Nature to kill us off to keep everything equal. We also have higher birth rates produced by more people having healthier births and multiple births. Furthermore, these children are living through earlier childhood killing diseases with the aforementioned medicines and technologies. ‘Until recently, birth rates and death rates were about the same, keeping the population stable. People had many children, but a large number of them died before age five. During the Industrial Revolution, a period of history in Europe and North America where there were great advances in science and technology, the success in reducing death rates was attributable to several factors: (1) in-creases in food production and distribution, (2) improvement in public health (water and sanitation), and (3) medical technology (vaccines and antibiotics), along with gains in education and standards of living within many developing nations. Without these attributes present in many children’s lives, they could not have survived common diseases like measles or the flu. People were able to fight and cure deadly germs that once killed them. ’(Kinder, 2009, para. 10). Not to worry though, there are some ways that this inequality maybe reversed. They may not be what many people would approve of, but at least they are ideas of what we could do. That this one for instance, at the end of each month we would tally all the births. Then picking at random from those people that are on death-row or even in prison or jail for life for longer then ten years, would have the honor of helping with the equalization of the birth-to-death ratio. If nothing else, after a few years, this should deter hard crime. Each country and/or state would be responsible for The Equalization Program. There is also the idea of reinstating the two birth policy (China had this policy at one time) with a few ‘minor’ adjustments. One being that right after the second birth there would be a mandatory sterilization of the mother and father, and any other men over fifty years of age would also have to be sterilization. Those that wanted another child would then have to adopt those children that unfortunately don’t have a home. In conclusion, sure over popularization has many causes and it may cause many problems, but at least there are some solutions that can be looked at. I did not say that many people would like them but they’re there. In the end, I hope that things can be equaled out so that we do not have to put such a strain on our one and only earth. If we destroy it, there is not another one that we can start over on. Work cited How to cite Overpopulation: Earth’s Destruction, Papers