Did you know that for over 150 years, U.S. presidents had no term limits? Essentially, this means that someone could serve for life, which many people equated with monarchical rule. Beginning with George Washington and lasting through Harry S. Truman, presidents could serve as many terms as they could win. It wasn’t until after Franklin D. Roosevelt won four consecutive presidential elections, leaving office only because of his death, that the government warmed up to the idea of having term limits. Let's travel back in time to the founding era. Back then, the U.S. had no presidential term limits because under the Articles of Confederation, there was no such thing as a president. (There was a president of the Continental Congress in the 1780s, but it was not a chief executive position.) The Articles’ framers in the Second Continental Congress deliberately left out a head-of-state because they fretted over creating another king in the mold of King George III of Great Britai...

As my readers well know, even though this blog centers primarily on how people think, every now and then I like to throw in a tidbit or two concerning key figures and events in American History. Not only is history my second biggest passion after psychology, but at the end of the day, both subjects are more entwined than most people realize. Historians aim to understand the rationale behind the decisions that Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., and other figures have made, dissecting everything from their upbringing and social relationships to their innermost fears and aspirations. And while historians delve into these men and women's personalities, psychologists -- for their part -- cannot paint a full picture of the individuals without essential historical facts like when they were born, the places they lived throughout their lives, etc. The month of February has witnessed countless important events over the past 200 or so years, two of which occurred 37 years apa...

On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of "such books as may be necessary for the use of congress." The books, purchased for what we know today as the Library of Congress, were ordered from London and arrived in 1801. The collection of 740 volumes and three maps was stored in the U.S. Capitol, which served as the Library's first home. On January 26, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson approved the first legislation that specified the role and functions of the library. In an interesting coincidence, Jefferson later sold the bulk of his book collection to Congress for $23,950 after the British set the Capitol ablaze in 1814. The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It aims to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the public, as well as to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge for future generati...

Many of us have a tendency to see people through rose-colored glasses rather than judging them for who they really are. In other words, we're idealistic rather than realistic . We know what people are capable of -- they've done us wrong before -- yet still we decide to give them the benefit of the doubt. We really exclusively on what our heart tells us, to the exclusion of any alarms your mind may be sounding. Unfortunately, this is how people end up in disastrous relationships. When dealing with people, it's imperative that we not solely rely on our emotions. The brain should also play a role. We can compare this to something in politics of all things: the system of checks and balances, where each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch becomes too powerful. Each branch “checks” the power of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them. It's precisely because of this system that the ...

The Thanksgiving tradition stretches all the way back to the early days of the republic, when George Washington was at the helm of the fledgling nation. Following a resolution of Congress, President Washington proclaimed Thursday the 26th of November 1789 a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” Reflecting American religious practice, Presidents and Congresses regularly designated days of fasting and thanksgiving through the the mid-1800s. But the Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate every November was formally established by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and made into law by Congress in 1941, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office. I think everyone should be thankful for their blessings each day of the year, not just on the fourth Thursday of November. We often get so caught up in work and other responsibilities that we neglect to focus ...