In this post, I touch on the election (or reelection) of U.S. presidents who guided the country through two bloody, destructive global wars. November 5, 1912: Woodrow Wilson beats two ex presidents in a landslide victory Democrat Woodrow Wilson is elected the 28th president of the United States, with Thomas R. Marshall as vice president. In a landslide Democratic victory, Wilson secured 435 electoral votes against the eight won by Republican incumbent William Howard Taft and the 88 snagged by Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt. It remains the only election in American history where two former presidents were defeated by another candidate. During his two terms in office, Wilson oversaw U.S. entry into World War I; proposed the Fourteen Points, a statement of principles that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end the global war; and championed the League of Nations, an international organization formed to prevent future armed conflict. Because of opposi...

On this day in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. His inaugural address included what arguably became his most famous words: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He had defeated Republican candidate Herbert Hoover, whom many blamed for the Great Depression, handily. It would be the first of an unprecedented four terms in office for the charismatic Roosevelt. (He died before he could complete his fourth.) No president before him served more than two terms, and none would do so afterward following passage of the 22nd amendment to the Constitution. With his wide-ranging spate of "New Deal" legislation, Roosevelt guided the country through the worst economic downturn in the country's history. His leadership also helped the United States and the Allies achieve victory over the Axis powers in World War II. Franklin Roosevelt was the fifth cousin of Theodore Roo...

Next time you're in Virginia, The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs is one property you certainly don't want to miss. The charming property encompasses 2,300 acres with 483 guestrooms that boast elegant fabrics and furnishings, a slew of fine restaurants, an award-winning spa, a full-service fitness center, and more. It boasts over 45 acres of activities, including two hot springs. Guests take to the slopes for snowboarding and skiing in the winter and enjoy world-class golf, tennis, and horseback riding in the summer. But the main draw has to be the property's rich history. Ten years before the country was founded, The Homestead opened as an 18-room lodge in the mountains. George Washington awarded a land grant to Thomas Bullitt on which the first hotel was built. In 1818, Thomas Jefferson spent three weeks here, and, since then, over 20 other presidents have been guests at this lovely resort, from Teddy Roosevelt to George W. Bush. For more than 100 years, the ...

Surprisingly, many consumers say they would never stay at a haunted hotel. Whether it's bizarre ghost sightings, strange sounds (knocking, howling, talking, screaming, etc.), or unexplained lights, the thought of spending the night at a haunted property sends chills down people's backs. What draws me to haunted hotels in the first place is that they tend to be steeped in history. Hotels classified as haunted tend to be those that have been existence since the 18th-19th centuries, or earlier. In fact, the vast majority of them are listed in The National Register of Historic Places. The most renowned historic hotel in my area was converted into a hospital during World War II to treat the wounded. Many speculate that the hotel remains haunted to this day by the spirits of those who perished during the war. I think the history behind historic hotels certainly makes them worth visiting, even if it's only for a few hours. In fact, many of these properties offer guests histo...