Every American should know the names of the Presidents, but our task becomes more involved when we attempt to remember names in a definite, unchangeable order. The. little stories in the preceding chapter illustrated how much easier the task of memorizing is when we are completely free in using our substituting words in a composition. In learning the Presidents of the United States we have no such freedom, for in this case a serial order is the most important factor. While this restriction makes composition of the story a little more difficult, it does not affect the system itself.

First we list the Presidents and find substitute words for their names, a process which need not be explained again. Then we work out a story embodying these substitute words just as we did in the case of the states, except that in this instance we must use them in historical order. The story might run somewhat like this:

In Washington Adam was jeopardized by a mad monster. Adam and Jack ran to the bureau, but in their hurry they broke a tile or poked a tailor. They filmed more buildings, pierced by a cannon which was linked by John to a grand tree.

The haze over garden and field sheltered Arthur, who cleaved his way in a hurry. He cleaved mockingly as he cried: "A rose taffeta dress will hardly be the right thing in a college; but whoever desires rose veils may truly wear them?

The underlined words mean:

Washington                              Washington
Adam                                       Adams
jeopardized                              Jefferson
mad                                          Madison
monster                                    Monroe
Adam                                       Adams
Jack                                         Jackson
bureau                                      Van Buren
hurry                                        Harrison
tile                                            Tyler
poked                                      Polk
tailor                                         Taylor
filmed more                              Fillmore
pierced                                     Pierce
by a cannon                              Buchanan
linked                                       Lincoln
John                                         Johnson
grand                                        Grant
haze                                         Hayes
garden and field                        Garfield
Arthur                                      Arthur
cleaved                                     Cleveland
hurry                                        Harrison
cleaved                                     Cleveland
mockingly                                 McKinley
rose                                          Roosevelt
taffeta                                       Taft
will                                           Wilson
hardly                                       Harding
college                                      Coolidge
whoever                                   Hoover
rose veils                                  Roosevelt

This story is somewhat harder to learn than the one about the states, because of its prescribed order. Nevertheless, one can learn this list without special effort in half an hour, while to learn the Presidents without such aid takes much longer.

Every American is expected to know not only the names of the Presidents in chronological order but also the dates of their terms. The latter, too, is considerably lightened by mnemonics, but before we attempt it we need further preparation. We will return to its solution in a later chapter.

The following interesting version of the list of Presidents was worked out by Mr. Edwin C. Silvey. It is excellent in that it avoids many connecting words. This series, a masterpiece in phonetics, is also easy to learn:

Washing done, a dame gave her son medicine. We know Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe at times that son, a wine bum, had his son dial (telephone) her: Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler

broke;     tell her        fill my            purse          By cannon        and gun
Polk        Taylor        Fillmore         Pearce        Buchanan         Lincoln

John's son                  groaned         to haze       our field.          Are they
Johnson   Grant          Hayes            Gaiñeld       Arthur

Gleeful     and merry, son?               Cleve and Mack        when they rose felt
Cleveland                  Harrison        Cleveland McKinley           Roosevelt

tough.      Well, son, Hearty!           College over. Who's fooled. Taft
Wilson     Harding      Coolidge       Hoover       Roosevelt

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