Chapter 7: Silly Stories

Presidential Calendar Mnemonic (PDF coming soon)
Chapter 1: A Simpler Method
Chapter 2: Mod7 Magic
Chapter 3: The Recipe
Chapter 4: Ten Months
Chapter 5: Zanuary and Zebruary
Chapter 6: US Presidential Elections
Chapter 7: Silly Stories
Chapter 8: Mastery

This is the seventh post in a series describing the Presidential Calendar Mnemonic. Our goal is to calculate the day of the week, given any date in any century.

You made flash cards in the previous chapter. This chapter will help you master them.

Chunking is a technique of memorizing things in groups called chunks. Why? Let’s say I forget Truman’s number. I remember the Killer Rabbit story (below), I will know he’s a cohort with Carter and Harding, who are in the 0 group. So Truman’s number is 0. That’s the power of chunking. Some of these silly stories yield a couple dozen year codes or more, so they are quite powerful as a memory aid.

Year Code 0: The Killer Rabbit [3 elections, 12 years]
Pull out the flash cards for 1920, 1948, and 1976.
1920. Harding ➜ Teapot ➜ 0
1948. Truman ➜ Atomic Bomb ➜ 0
1976. Carter ➜ Killer Rabbit ➜ 0

Our story begins with Jimmy Carter’s real-life killer rabbit story. Carter really did fend off a hissing rabbit with an oar. In our story Harding and Truman are also in the boat. Harding is trying to shoo off the rabbit with his teapot, and losing the battle. Truman sees that Carter and Harding are failing to fend off this viscous hissing bunny, so he pulls out his atomic bombs and !BOOM! vaporizes everything, including himself. The only remains are a zero-shaped crater.

How do you use this story? Let’s say you are given the year 1949, you know Truman was elected in 1948, but unsure of the year code. Then you think of Truman’s atomic bomb, the Killer Rabbit story and the zero-shaped crater, so you know 1948 has year code 0. That means 1949 has year code 1.

One more example: 1978. That’s Carter’s term because he was elected in 1976. You remember the killer rabbit story 1976 is 0, 1977 is 1, and 1978 is 2.

Year Code 1: First Families at Mar-a-Lago [6 elections, 24 years]
Pull out the cards for 1904, 1932/1936, 1960, 1988, and 2016.

1904. Theodore Roosevelt ➜ Roosevelt Family Man ➜ 1
1932/36. Franklin Roosevelt (Great Depression) ➜ Roosevelt Family Man ➜ 1/6(-1)
1960. John F. Kennedy ➜ Kennedy Family Man ➜ 1
1988. George Bush #1 ➜ Bush #1 Family Man ➜ 1
2016. Donald Trump ➜ Trump Family Man and Narcissist #1 ➜ 1

It is remarkable that all of these men of famous first families were elected with year code 1, but we’ll happily accept this remarkable coincidence. Let’s imagine Mr. Trump hosting a dinner at Mar-a-lago. First to arrive, on horseback of course, is Teddy Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt arrives in an open top car, smoking his trademark long cigarette holder. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy arrive next, also in an open top limousine. Finally, George Bush #1 arrives to meet Mr. Trump.

Year Code 2: Bush #2 [2 elections, 8 years]
Find this one card:
2000/04. George W. Bush ➜ Bush #2 ➜ 2/0
Bush #1’s number is 1, Bush #2’s number is 2. He was re-elected so his secondd number is 2 less than his first.

Year Code 3: A Hooverville on Denali [2 elections, 8 years]
Find these two cards:
1900. McKinley ➜ Denali ➜ 3
1928. Hoover ➜ Hooverville ➜ 3
Imagine Denali, a very large mountain, with its slopes covered in a massive Hooverville shanty town. Have you noticed “McKinley,” “Denali,” and “Hooverville” all have three syllables?

Year Codes 4/2: Wheelchair Beach Volleyball [6 elections, 24 years]
Pull these three cards:
1912/16. Wilson ➜ Waged World War in his Wheelchair ➜ 4/2
1940/44. Franklin Roosevelt (WW2 Years) ➜ Waged World War in his Wheelchair ➜ 4/2
1968/72. Nixon ➜ V for Victory ➜ 4/2

Imagine Wilson and FDR playing beach volleyball, with a Wilson volleyball of course. They are playing in their wheelchairs, barely able to move in the sand and barely able to serve. In the referee’s chair, Richard Nixon is keeping score. Imagine him with his “V for Victory” pose, two fingers extended on each hand. Nixon’s four fingers remind us the Year Code is 4. They all were re-elected so the year codes for this story are 4/2.

Trump’s second election win in 2024 is also year code 4. It’s easier for me to remember matching digits (4 for 2024), but if you insist we put Trump’s second election in the story, fine, let’s cut off his head and use it as the volleyball, instead of the Wilson. This is a weird and gruesome little vignette, but hey, a weird gruesome little vignette makes for a good mnemonic device.

Year Codes 5/3: The C5 Galaxy Transport [7 elections, 28 years]
Pull these four cards:
1924. Coolidge ➜ Sleepy Cal ➜ 5
1952/56. Eisenhower ➜ Steady Coach ➜ 5/3
1980/84. Reagan ➜ The Gipper ➜ 5/3
2008/12. Obama ➜ Obamacare ➜ 5/3
The setting is the cockpit of a C-5 Galaxy transport plane. At the flight controls, by himself, is Sleepy Cal Coolidge, and of course he’s taking a nap. Back in the cargo bay is a re-enactment of a famous movie scene starring two-term presidents Eisenhower, Reagan and Obama. The movie scene is the famous “win one for the Gipper” scene with Coach Rockne played by Coach Eisenhower, George Gipp played by Reagan, and at the foot of the bed is Doctor Obama who says “This is NOT affordable care!”

Year Code 6(-1) and 6/4. The Sinking Car [5 elections, 20 years]
There are four cards remaining:
1908. Taft ➜ Jumbo Bathtubs ➜ 6(-1)
1964. LBJ ➜ Floating Car ➜ 6(-1)
1992/96. Clinton ➜ X-rated act ➜ 6(-1)/4
2020. Biden ➜ Sleepy Joe in Sunglasses ➜ 6(-1)
Our final story begins with LBJ’s floating car and his unsuspecting guests Taft, Clinton (with Monica), and Biden. Johnson’s intentions are to prank his guests by faking brake failure and driving into his lake, but the passengers weigh too much, especially with Taft on board. The car quickly sinks in three feet of water. The passengers find themselves with water up to their chests. Taft says “This is like my bath tub,” and strips naked. Biden is like Bernie in the movie Weekend at Bernie’s — motionless, wearing his trademark dark sunglasses. It’s not clear if he has slept through the sinking, or if he has died. Bill Clinton is enjoying his cigar, while Monica disappears underwater to do whatever interns do.

After learning these silly stories (or suitable replacements) you’ll be able to mentally calculate the day of the week, given a date from March 1, 1900 to February 28, 2028 (Zebruary 28, 2027). For the remainder of the 2000s and all other centuries, we need to learn century codes. That’s next.