Every American should know the names of the Presidents. First we list the Presidents and find substitute words for their names. Beside each president write words of similar sound. The degree of similarity in sound is an individual matter. For the person who relies greatly on the aid of sound, the substituted word must be very like that of the word to be memorized.



Then we make up a little story which includes these substituted words in 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

Use this small story, and you will know the Presidents of the United States.

When 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?

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 mypurse By cannonand gun Polk Taylor Fillmore Pearce BuchananLincoln John's son groaned to haze our field. Are they Johnson Grant HayesGaineldArthur Gleefuland merry, son?Cleve and Mack when they rose felt Cleveland HarrisonCleveland McKinley Roosevelt

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