IT’S INAUGURATION DAY ~ How many Presidents were in office during my father’s lifetime? Let's use Legacy 8 to find out

It’s an amazing day in history. Every four years our country peacefully transfers power from one person to another (unless a President is chosen for a second term).  This process has been taking place since the election of George Washington, our first President.  It makes me very proud to be an American.

Today I asked myself – how many Presidents were elected/in office during the lifetime of my parents?  How about my grandparents?  Or me?  I’ll use my Dad as an example.

To find out, I used my Legacy 8 database.

Select the Chronology tab, then click on “Options” in the lower right corner.  You can customize your Chronology in many ways.  I will concentrate on the “Include” tab and choose “Select” under Other Options, as shown here.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)


Note, that you can even change the color of this display, by clicking on the “color” box above my red arrow.  This determines what color the item will show up as, in your timeline.  You can change all the colors in your timeline.

When you hit the “select” icon another screen comes up.  Note all your options on this screen.



Now let’s click on the “Add a Timeline File.”

There are 51 different historical items for you to choose from on this list.  When you highlight one of them, the description field at the bottom tells you about that event.



Here is a screen shot of my Dad’s timeline without any historical events.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)


Here is a screen shot of my Dad’s timeline with the historical event “U.S. Presidents” added.  I’ve marked the first 3.



You can see how valuable this display option can be for putting your ancestor in a place and time.  Want to know which wars went on during their lifetime, which amendments to the constitution were passed, which items were invented or any other of the 51 timeline options.

My Dad was born during the Presidency of William Howard Taft, the 27th President.  He died during the term of our 41st President, George H. W. Bush.

Which Presidents were in office during your lifetime or your parents?

Have you ever used the historical timeline in you genealogy software program?  If so, what did you discover?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION