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Association.
    10 . TENNIS
    In the spring of 1903, when her husband was away on a tour of the western states, Edith Roosevelt had a surprise waiting for Teddy on his return—the first tennis court at the White House. Originally it stood next to the W EST W ING . It was later moved to a more secluded spot just a few yards west of the grand fountain on the South lawn. Teddy found time to work and play by doing both simultaneously, and his cadre of players were sometimes called the “Tennis Cabinet.” 33
    Wilson didn’t care for the game, but his family did, a fate shared by Coolidge and Truman. All three men were rather pathetic at sports, but they married excellent athletes and enjoyed watching their family compete. Wilson’s daughters played the occasional singles match, and Harding’s wife, Florence, initiated an all-women tournament at the executive complex. The Coolidge sons John and Cal Jr. were exceptionally active, partaking of the presidential court on numerous occasions. In the summer of 1924, they played each other on a particularly hot day, and sixteen-year-old Cal Jr. thought nothing of it when his foot blistered. A week later, the abrasion turned septic, and he died of blood poisoning. His father fell into a deep depression, often sleeping twelve hours a day.
    The next active players were Carter and Ford, followed by tennis fanatic George H. W. Bush. To avoid public scrutiny, Bush would usually play at a private club in Washington, but he often invited professional players to hit a few on the White House court. Among Bush’s oldest partners was his secretary of state, James Baker III—the two had met in 1959 when they were paired for a doubles match at the Houston Country Club. Bill Clinton dabbled in the game. He also jogged and swam in an attempt to keep his weight down—to little avail.

    Edith’s gift to Teddy was the first White House tennis court, which was right outside the original West Wing. Standing guard in the background is the Old Executive Office Building.
Calvin Coolidge’s secretary of war was Dwight Davis. In his youth, Davis was a superb tennis player and a founder of the International Lawn Tennis Challenge. After his death in 1945, his tennis tournament was named in his honor—the Davis Cup.

OVERTLY RELIGIOUS PRESIDENTS
    Contrary to popular belief, the Founding Fathers as a whole were neither devoutly religious nor agnostic. The architects of the Republic were nearly as pluralistic as their four million constituents, from New England Puritans to Maryland Catholics, from rustic revivalists to urbane skeptics.
    In 1776, only one out of six Americans belonged to a particular church, and many viewed providence with a sense of wonderment rather than doctrinal certainty. But when it came time to form a more perfect union, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia agreed that if they were to save both church and state, separation was absolutely mandatory. The United States, with its multitude of denominations, would never stay united under the guise of a national religion. In order to survive, the government had to rule through the consent of the people, not through the assumption of divine right. 34
    True to their word, the Founding Fathers protected faith as personal property. Nowhere in the Constitution was there an overt reference to God. Article 6 forbade any religious test for public office. In 1791, the very first sentence of the First Amendment read, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Normally reserved in his language, President Washington was adamant when he told a citizen, “No one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny.” 35
    So it was written for generations. U. S. Grant proclaimed, “Not one dollar…shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian schools.” His successor Rutherford Hayes considered proposing a constitutional amendment to that effect. Theodore