Andy Young: All about dead presidents

By Andy Young

Don’t let the headline fool you.

This column has nothing to do with those two-and-a-half inch by six-inch pieces of green paper that a few people over the age of 50 still use to purchase things. This essay concerns America’s actual presidents, or more specifically the 39 of them who are no longer living.

When June 1 dawned and Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter were still breathing, it continued one of the most unnoticed but remarkable streaks in American history.

Since the nation inaugurated its first chief executive in 1789, no American ex-president has ever died during the calendar’s fifth month. That’s 235 Mays (and counting) without a single presidential death.

There are two other months when no former president has died, but August’s and September’s streaks come with asterisks. Warren Harding succumbed to a heart attack on Aug. 2, 1923, while James Garfield (Sept. 19, 1881) and William McKinley (Sept. 14, 1901) were both felled by assassins. But each of them was a sitting president when he died, so August and September remain technically unsullied by the demise of any former chief executives.

While May remains a safe haven for America’s ex-commanders-in-chief, the two months that follow it are extraordinarily perilous ones. A half-dozen ex-presidents died in June, specifically Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Ronald Reagan, and a trio of Jameses (Madison, Polk, and Buchanan). And the following month is even deadlier: seven presidents (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant) expired during July.

Ironically the deadliest day for ex-presidents is July 4. Three of them (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826 and James Monroe in 1831) have died on the nation’s nominal birthday. Dec. 26 (Harry Truman in 1972 and Gerald Ford in 2006) and March 8 (Millard Fillmore in 1874 and William Howard Taft in 1930) are the only two other dates to have marked the end of more than one ex-presidential life.

Five former White House occupants died in January: John Tyler, Rutherford Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon Johnson. Next up on the presidential death-by-month list, with four each: March (Fillmore, Taft, Benjamin Harrison, and Dwight Eisenhower) and April (William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon). December (George Washington, along with the aforementioned Truman and Ford) and November (Chester Arthur, John F. Kennedy, and George H. W. Bush) follow with three each. Two presidents died in the months of September (Garfield and McKinley), October (Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover) and February (John Quincy Adams and Woodrow Wilson).

New York is clearly the most dangerous state for ex-presidents: nine of the 39 no-longer-extant chief executives expired there. Seven more died in Washington D.C., four had their lives conclude in Virginia, and Texas, California, and Tennessee have each had three presidents die inside their borders.

The longest America has gone between presidential deaths was 26 years, six months, and 20 days, which was the time span between George Washington’s demise on Dec. 14, 1799, and the deaths of Adams and Jefferson on the nation’s 50th birthday, 9,698 days later. The second-longest death-free span was the 7,760 days that transpired between the passings of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

So, what exactly can be learned from all of this painstaking research? Maybe nothing. However, if I were a current or former president of the United States who was interested in continuing to stay alive for a while longer, I think I’d steer clear of New York and Washington D.C. for the next couple of months. <

Bill Diamond: Continuing the fight to protect Maine children

By Senator Bill Diamond

After four Maine children died last summer – allegedly at the hands of their parents – I and many other Maine lawmakers formally requested that the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee (GOC) begin a thorough investigation of Maine’s child protection system. It’s clear that the system is failing to protect kids, and the only way we can make the changes we need to is by understanding exactly what went wrong in these cases, and where other shortcomings and challenges lie.

The GOC strongly agreed with us, and in August 2021 they voted to authorize an investigation to be carried out by their independent partner office, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA). One year later and the investigation is still ongoing, with the GOC and OPEGA doing great work collecting critical information, reviewing systems and listening to the public.

Their work is nearing an end, at which point the GOC may recommend reforms that the 131st Legislature can vote on when it convenes in 2023.

In July, the GOC requested that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) share the case files for the four children who died last summer to help in the final steps of the committee’s investigation. Those children — 6-week-old Jaden Harding, 3-year-old Hailey Goding, 3-year-old Maddox Williams and 1-month-old Sylus Melvin — all have parents who have been charged with murder or manslaughter in connection with their deaths. 

If the GOC could access these case files, they may learn critical information about what went so horribly wrong that these children ended up dead. Last month, DHHS denied this request under advice from the Attorney General’s office, saying that sharing this information with the GOC may put ongoing criminal investigations at risk. While DHHS will share the case files with OPEGA staff, they are refusing to share them with the elected members of the GOC. I find that unacceptable.

The GOC has two choices now: They can rely on OPEGA’s staff to summarize and share the key points of the case files, or they can pursue legal action against DHHS and demand that the files be handed over.

I believe it’s critical to the integrity of this investigation and of future investigations that the GOC firmly stand their ground and assert what I and others believe to be their right: To review these cases in a confidential, closed-door session, where they can uncover potentially critical facts without jeopardizing the criminal investigations into those responsible for these heinous acts.

Thanks to family members speaking out, we already know some critical information about the case of Maddox Williams and how our child protection system failed him. Despite the fact that Maddox was living safely with his paternal grandmother, he was placed back with his mother – who had a history of involvement with the child protection system – over the objections of other family members.

Maddox’s mother, Jessica Trefethen, is scheduled to go on trial this fall for Maddox’s murder. There’s no telling what additional details a review of Maddox’s full case file may uncover, or what shortcomings of our child protection system may be revealed if the GOC is allowed to examine the case files of the other three children.

When I served as a member of the GOC back in 2018, our state was confronting two heartbreaking tragedies: The murders of 4-year-old Kendall Chick in December 2017 and of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy in February 2018. Both girls had prior involvement with Maine’s child protection system, and yet both girls were murdered by their parents.

The GOC’s current investigation is much broader than what we undertook in 2018, as it should be. If we want the GOC to be able to do the work they set out to do, it’s imperative that they have access to any and all information that aids in their work, including these case files.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call 911. To report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, call Maine’s Child Protection Intake line at 1-800-452-1999. If you have concerns about how a child protection case is being handled, contact the Maine Child Welfare Ombudsman at 207-213-4773.

As always, I’m here to talk through your questions and concerns and to help you address any challenges you may be facing. You can email me any time at diamondhollyd@aol.com or call my office at 207-287-1515. <

Bill Diamond: Urgent changes needed to protect Maine kids

Sen, Bill Diamond

By Senator Bill Diamond

Once again, our community has been rocked by the violent deaths of multiple children at the hands of those who were supposed to protect them. On May 31, a six-week-old baby boy in Brewer was brought to the hospital after having been shaken violently, and he died a day later. His father, Ronald Harding, has been charged with manslaughter in the boy’s death.

On June 6, three-year-old Hailey Ann Goding of Old Town died after her mother reported her unresponsive at home. Her mother, Hillary Goding, has been charged with manslaughter in her death. And on June 20, three-year-old Maddox Williams of Stockton Springs died after being taken to the hospital, unresponsive, by his mother and grandmother. His mother, Jessica Trefethen, has been charged with his murder.

These horrible cases, occurring so close together, remind us of two other tragic murders not too long ago: that of four-year-old Kendall Chick in late 2017 and of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy, also of Stockton Springs, in early 2018.

In one of my recent columns for The Windham Eagle, I wrote about their deaths and the serious flaws they exposed in Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), the child welfare agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Department had placed Kendall in the home where she was eventually killed by her grandfather’s girlfriend, and Marissa’s abuse had been repeatedly reported to DHHS, but they did not remove her from her deadly situation.

After these two little girls were murdered, DHHS said it would do better, that it would fix the problems that allowed this to happen. And yet we now know, thanks to the Maine Child Welfare Services Ombudsman, an independent office, that systemic issues within OCFS still exist. Insufficiencies exist in two main areas: First, initial safety assessments are still lacking, including failure to recognize risk to the child when evidence is clear. Second, OCFS often reaches the end of a case, or makes a critical decision about reunification between children and parents, without sufficient information to ensure the child’s safety if placed back in their home.

While the extent of OCFS involvement, if any, in these three most recent cases has not been confirmed, reports have indicated that there were reasons to be concerned for the children’s safety. Hailey Goding had reportedly previously needed medical attention after being exposed to drugs by her mother. In the case of Maddox Williams, police had told social services twice that they were concerned for the boy’s safety, and neighbors shared with the press their shock that the boy was allowed to remain in his mother’s care.

Once again, we are hearing the familiar refrain from DHHS: These most recent deaths are a call to action, and that they resolve to do better. This time around, they have hired an outside firm to help investigate these three deaths, in addition to the death in June of a four-year-old child in what appears to be an accidental shooting.

To be clear, I am glad that DHHS is taking this additional step, but it’s not enough. As a state senator, I have made it a priority to put pressure on DHHS and to pass laws that better protect Maine’s kids. This session, I sponsored bills to increase the number of staff working in the unit of the Maine State Police that investigates digital crimes against children; to increase the penalty for sex trafficking a child; and to strengthen domestic violence and abuse training for court-appointed child guardians. I also sponsored a bill that would make a separate Department of Child and Family Services, so that we could dedicate more resources toward this very important issue. DHHS opposed this bill, which received strong support in the Senate but ultimately failed in the House.

We can’t keep waiting for this ship to right itself; the lives and safety of Maine children hang in the balance. I will continue pushing for serious reform until I’m confident that every Maine child is safe, and I’ve requested a formal inquiry into OCFS by the Government Oversight Committee. But the more voices we have calling for change, the more likely change is to happen. I hope you’ll join me in this important fight.

If you ever have a story to share, or if I can do anything for you or your family, please reach out to me at diamondhollyd@aol.com or call my office at (207) 287-1515. <