Choose ONE of the three episodes concerning Presidents Garfield, Zachary Taylor or Richard Nixon, viewed this week that involved the use of "Forensics in the White House."
Write about the
1. Problem or Question Presented
2. The Hypotheses put forth by experts
3. The Evidence presented
4. The Result or Conclusion that was given by the experts
5. If YOU Agree or Disagree with the Stated Conclusion
Write at least 75 words.
Out of the three episodes we watched I found that episode on President Garfield to be most interesting. The problem was that they president was shot in the back and needed someone to find where the bullet was resting in his body. Alexander Gram Bell tried to step in and create a device to help save the president but was unable to make it work. He later on believed that the metal box spring the president had on his bed was to blame for interfering with his device. Daniel Martinez a historian believed that Bell was inventing the first “metal detector” to help save Garfield. I agree that they metal box spring may be to blame for his invention not working.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all three episodes we watched. I think the one that really stands our for me is the one with President Garfield. I find it very interesting that this is how the metal detector came to be. Who would have thought the mattress was the reason it didn't work to find the bullet in the president. If Bell hadn't been such an incredibly intelligent individual, would it ever have been invented?
ReplyDeleteJayme H.
I really liked all of the episodes that we had watched during philosophy. I think the most interesting one to me was the president zachary taylor one. I thought it was really strange how he became sick from just having a glass of milk and cherries. I personally think that someone did poison him, but they might not have found the poison because it might have evaporated during the time the body was put to rest. Other than that, I really wouldn't understand why he died.
ReplyDeleteOf the three stories we watched I was struck by the Sam Byck story. I am a history nut but I had never heard this story before. I had no idea that nearly 30 years prior to 911 that someone else had the same idea! Sam Byck was a man that was manic depressed and had no job. He became active with the PLO and the Black Panthers with his contempt for government. Byck blames the White House and President Nixon for being corrupt. He makes several threats to people that he would like to shoot the president. The Secret Service follows up on each accusation but with no result. Eventually, Byck decides that he will hyjack a plane and fly it into the White House. He even went so far as to audio-tape himself and give detail of his plans. Byck does finally go to the airport to execute his plan. He shoots and officer before entering the plane. He then kills the co-piot and shoots the pilot in the shoulder for stalling. A police officer finally ends up shooting and killing Sam Byck. Listening to Byck's tapes is very disturbing and he is very calm and calculated. He does not want to be known as a manic. Clearly, the Secret Service was not prepaired for this incident and the Watergate scandel overshadowed the case. Thankfully, the Secret Service is much stronger now and in light of the 911 attacks much more security is in place now.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Phelps -
ReplyDeleteAfter watching all three of the videos I liked the one about president Garfield the most. I think its very interesting how bell designed the first metal detector and it worked on all of his test but the reason it didn't work was because of the box spring that Garfield was laying on. Its a shame he did not realize that thats the reason his metal detector didn't work. Either way Bell was a very intelligent man and the inventor of the metal dector
When these events occured, fear was brought upon the American society. People felt they were lied to and blinded from the actual plots and murders. President Garfeild's death resulted in a shooting from someone who was accompanied to the White House. That proves to some people that anyone closest to the president could of been involved. Alexander Bell invented the metal detector,and that invention was suppose to find the bullets that were stuck in the president's back. The times he tested this instrument,it never seemed to work correctly. Typical things such as the President's bed was changed before Alexander came to test the instrument again, in which the instrument failed again uncertainly. The smallest things hidden can prove the answers to many things. People look insight of this event and feel that not only the shooter was the result of his death.JFK was a great person and a successful president, and why would anyone want to kill him the way they did. Documents and witnesses go missing, but where is the answers? Who knows of these things still today?
ReplyDeleteOne of the episodes watched in class was about President Zachary Taylor, who fell strangely ill after having a glass of milk and, it was believed he was poisoned. Some experts believed it was arsenic poisoning and they opened his grave to test him for it. The evidence came back negative for the arsenic. The conclusion by the experts was that he either was not poisoned or that it was a different type of poisoning. I really don't know if i believe he was poisoned or not but I do think that the experts should have tested for different types of poisons.
ReplyDeleteMichael Gillette
ReplyDeleteI think the Zachary Taylor story was most shocking. It was believed that Taylor was poisoned by a glass of milk he had drank at the white house. Scientists thought the poison used was arsenic but when they dug him from his grave the tests were negative. I think they should have done more research, seems like they gave up after their theory was wrong.
I thought the most interesting episode we watched was with Zachary Taylor. Can it be so long ago that they had enough technology to prove if someone was poisoned or not? Bacteria in a glass of milk might have been able to kill you then. Without the technology, the knowlege and the medicine we have today it very well could be that he just drank a glass of bad milk and got so sick, but what if he didnt? Someone could have gotten away with murdering a president!
ReplyDeletein the case of zachary taylor the question presented was, how did he die? was he poisoned? scientist exhumed his body to do some research but could not find poison in his body. it's not hard to believe that he was poisoned seeing as I'm not really sure how you could just get really sick and die for no reason. maybe someone did it deliberately, maybe the milk was just really bad. with out further research no one could ever be sure.
ReplyDeleteOut of all 3 episodes that I watched I thought the one about Presidet Garfield was very interesting. The problem was that someone shot him in the back and tried to kill him. Alexander Gram Bell stepped in to try and help the president by making a device that detects metal. When his device didn't work on the president he thought he failed. Later on he found out that the president had a metal 'spring box' that may have fudged the results of finding the bullet. I would have to agree that the metal 'spring box' did mess with the results of Alexander Gram Bell tring to find the bullet.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the three episodes involving the scandals and deaths of the presidents, I found the case of President Zachary Taylor to be the most interesting. I found it hard to believe that forensic scientists discovered a small amount of arsenic in his bloodstream and then claimed that it was not enough to have killed him. With his body being in a casket for so long, I would think that some of the arsenic would have left his bloodstream and this would have left the small amount in his bloodstream. I believe he died from arsenic poisoning and it may have been someone who actually worked in the White House in a close proximity with him. Maybe someone who would have gained a higher position with him being dead or maybe even his wife. His death was definitely foul play.
ReplyDeleteIn the Zachary Taylor case the question was how did he really die? The scientists came up with the hypothesis that arsenic may have lead to his demise. Zachary Taylor's body was exhumed and tested for arsenic, with negative results. I believe the scientific model is flawed and not thorough. After all that work to exhume the body test it for just on possible poison is futile and proves nothing.Who is to say other poisons were not the cause? I disagree with the end result saying he wasn't poisoned. Taylor definitely could have been but by testing only one type makes the makes the results inconclusive.
ReplyDeleteIn the episode regarding President Zachary Taylor, the question of whether or not he could be the first president to have been assassinated while in office is presented. The experts believe that Taylor was poisoned shortly after attending a ceremony on July 4, 1850. There are two suspects, Senators Stevens and Toombs, with plenty of motive. They visit the president two times prior to the night of the alleged poisoning, which ended in heated arguments and threats by the Senators to the President. The night in question, the President leaves the ceremony early, walks alone back to the White House where consumes ice milk and raw vegetables and within a few hours becomes ill. The next day, he seems to recover; however, later that night his symptoms return. The doctor’s bleed him and give him a laxative. But his conditions worsens and dies six days later. Historian and relative Clara Rising, believes that because Taylor’s symptoms are identical to arsenic poisoning and it would be easy for the doctors to miss these generalize symptoms; he must have died from arsenic poisoning. Since arsenic is absorbed by the body and remains forever, Taylor’s remains are exhumed. Samples of the bones are taken and tested for arsenic. Arsenic was found in the bones but not more than would be found in anyone else’s bones nor was it enough to kill him. The conclusion is drawn that Taylor was not poisoned and that the culprit may have been bacteria in the milk. I tend to agree with the experts that he was not poisoned. The evidence supporting poisoning is circumstantial. I think when the experts refer to bad milk, they are not talking about spoiled milk but milk that been contaminated with bad bacteria. Pasteurization was not invented until 1863; thirteen years after Taylor’s death. Perhaps that combined with the raw vegetables that may have not been very clean (no running water), and the treatment provided by the doctor compounded and caused the death of Zachary Taylor.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think this study solves the mystery, I think it just adds to it because there are so many unknowns. Unfortunately, we don’t have a time machine to go back and test the milk, the vegetable, or to get a sample of Taylor’s blood and tissues for further testing. This episode is the best example of a forensic/scientific study because there was theory, evidence to support the theory, a test of the theory, and factual evidence to support or disprove the theory. In this case, the evidence from the test disproved the theory.
Of all the discussions, I found the Zachary Taylor mystery to be the most interesting. Clara Rising has strong beliefs that Taylor was killed, and did not die from any natural illness. She studied and found that his symptoms before death were unacanny to that of arsenic poisoning. Taylor's body was exhumed and tested for arsenic. After determining that there was not enough arsenic present to be the cause of death, it seemed as though the case was dismissed. I was left wondering why they didn't test further for any other cause of death, and am assuming that no other type of poison would still be present in the mummified state of the body. I have strong doubts that President Taylor died of natural causes. With the White House being open and so vulnerable to unwanted guests, anyone could have gotten in there. Maybe it wasn't even the milk that was poisoned, it could have beenin the food that he ate. I don't think this case will ever be proven as foul play, but in my opinion, he could have easily been killed.
ReplyDeleteI thought the case of Zachary Taylor was most interesting to me. In that case, one of his relatives has done a lot of investigating and strongly believes that he was poisoned by arsenic. The experts viewed her findings and thought it was a sound theory and from the accounts of history and his relatives research it could have well been killed President Taylor. It was said that he came home after a event at the Washington monument and had lunch, after which he became very ill and die after a few days. The experts exhumed the body and ran some tests on the only parts that would still have trace amounts of arsenic and found nothing. The experts think it could have been a combination of bacteria in his milk and a fast unset ulcer. I somewhat agree with that. It could have been that but back then there were so many hidden dangers that they didn’t even know about, such as Cyanide poisoning from silver dinner ware that was not fully washed after being polished, or some kind of infection that they didn’t know about. Their very well could have been some fowl play because there were many people that wanted him dead because of his policy on slavery we may never know.
ReplyDeleteThe case that interested me the most was Zachary Taylor. To this day, there is mystery surrounding his death. In the movie, I felt that both sides had reasonable arguments. One side of the agrument, which were the scientists, believed that he died from a poison that was used to polish sliver. Another researcher believed that he was murdered by people who were against his slavery policies. I agree with the theory of Taylor being intentionally poisoned. There is too much evidence to be ignored; until proven otherwise, the case should be investigated further.
ReplyDeleteOut of the three presidential mysteries I found President Richard Nixon’s death to be interesting. It is a thought that he was poisoned. Until the president’s body was resurfaced, it was the only conclusion that could be made. After the body was tested for the poison there was a small trace. However scientists said having this amount is normal to have it in your body and it was okay and was not potent enough to kill him. After hearing about his story I believe he was poisoned. I do not think the person wanted to kill him, only intending to harm the president. I think that along with spoiled milk, the poison did more than intended. Another option that the president could have died from would be a sickness that could have been going around along with spoiled milk and the poison, and without the medicine that is available today it is unclear to say how the president died.
ReplyDeleteBeing that I am really into history, especially American history; I was already familiar with all three stories (although I could not remember Guiteau's name). I found that of the three stories, the Byck-Nixon incident to be the most fascinating. I have to wonder if Byck was in any way the inspiration for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Osama Bin Laudin was recruited by the CIA during the Nixon administration). The other thing I find fascinating is that both Byck and Guiteau saw themselves as heros that were doing the work of the will of the people. I think we can all agree that even the worst of presidents being assasinated is a tragedy. The irony of the two stories is that both the names Byck and Guiteau seem to be almost forgotten. Even though one of them was even successful. I know that in the tapes that Byck made he stated that he did not seek fame of glory for his actions, this was not the days of Facebook and You Tube. The technology of the day did not make it easy to record every aspect of your life like the tecnology of today. Tape recorders were expensive and if someone recorded thier voice, it was with the hopes of having what was said to be a self archive. It seems like a tactic similar to Julius Ceasar accepting his position of dictator over the Roman Empire on behalf of the people of Rome.
ReplyDeleteThe presidential mystery I fouing the most interesting was that of President Garfield. The way that Alexander Graham Bell worked so intensley not only to invent the first metal detector, but the way he put his every effort into saving the presidents life. It is a sad thing that he didnt realize that the metal in the matress powered over the efforts to detect the bullet that was inside the president, and couldnt of realized it sooner, maybe the president would have lived.One good thing that came out of it was Bells invention of the metal detector. G.T.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed all three episodes we watched. My favorite one though was the about the one about the attempt on Nixon. I guess maybe because I had never heard of this before and being that he was involved in the Watergate scandal. I found it very intresting that all this took place 27 years before 911. I found his tapes to be disturbing, he showed no emotion at all while recording them. I agree with how the authorities handled to situation at the time. I found it a little odd that someone who had been shot in the chest twice could still react and shoot himself in the head.
ReplyDeleteOut of the three episodes that we have watched in class I think the one that I thought was most interesting was President Garfield. I think that it was very strange and awesome that the metal detector was founded because of this incident. The president was shot in the back and the bullet was stuck in his back. He was on a metal mattress and they were using a device and they couldn’t find the bullet because of a metal box that was on the bed. They believe the reason that he died is because of the metal box and not being able to find the bullet. I kind of agree that the metal box had something to do with his death but I do not think that is the only reason why he died.
ReplyDeleteJamie Ukleya
ReplyDeleteOf the three stories, I found the Byck story to be the most captive. During Nixon's administration a lot of interesting things went on. He actually had the head of the FBI investigating and following John Lennon because of the "threat" he posed with his music and the sway he had with his fans. I just think that it is interesting that Nixon would have the FBI spend so much time hassling someone that only posed a threat so his re-election only to have the secret service dismiss someone who was obviously a threat to his life. I also believe the after math of the attempted high-jacking was neglected because had it been taken more seriously and not been over shadowed by the water gate incident, the country could have been more prepared and had better counter measures to prevent the events that happened on September 11th.
I found that the inventor of the medal detector (Alexander Bell) was interesting. I liked how he didnt give up and kept trying to find the bullet in Garfield. He was unsuccessful because of the materess was interfearing with his invention.
ReplyDeletei found it interestin that the ingredence in the rye bread made those girls act crazy. i work at Panera Bread and it make me think that sometime it could happen again.
ReplyDeletePresident James Abram Garfield was shot in 1881 at the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Depot. Three weeks later, Alexander Graham Bell was summoned to the White House. Apparently, Bell had a new invention that was similar to a modern day mine detector. He was called to probe the wound with it to find the bullet, but was unsuccessful in his attempts. There are many different assumptions of how President Garfield died some blame the mattress and others say that Bell was placing his detector in the wrong location. The bullet had entered the right side of the spine, but it traveled downward, and to the left and other believe that the repeated surgeries with unsterilized tools, Garfield suffered infection, blood poisoning, and pneumonia causing his eventual death. In the End The Invention of the Metal decetor was discovered Not positive if it worked or not i believe Bell strategy became lucrative in our lives today.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting one to watch was President Garfield. If Alexander Gram Bell had not been such an intelligent human being then some of the material items we have today would not exist. I loved how he never gave up on trying to find the bullet or the cure for Mr. Garfield.
ReplyDeleteThe most interestring one that we watched was on Zachary Taylor. To this day they are uncertain about his death and it is still a mystery. Many scientist think that his death was caused by the poison, that was used to polish silver. On the other hand some researchers believe that he was murdered by people that were against his policies.I feel that both sides of the argument were resonable.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge history fan but out of all three stories i found the one about President Garfield. He survived so long without having any of todays luxerys, like pain medications. I also thought that it was so interesting to see how brillant of a man Alexander Gram Bell was. He never gave up. He contiunied to strive for greatness and perfection. If President Garfield would have been able to last just alittle bit longer I am sure that he would have been ttreated and the bullit would have been found. Without great intelligent men like Bell we would not be as advanced as we are today technologically.
ReplyDeleteI the most interesting one that caught my eye was the death of zachary taylor. I think it is so interesting that they pulled his body many years and could test his hair well what was left for poison. Even tho they didn't find what they thought killed him they are still looking for answers. I feel that if they put his body through testing right after he died we would have had an answer a long time ago but since we didn't want to make a big deal with a presidents death we now life in wonder!
ReplyDeletei love mysteries so this was cool to watch they all caught my eye. im not a huge fan of history but this was pretty cool to learn i guess. i watch all the crime mystery shows like cold case files and stuff similar to that.
ReplyDeletePresident Garfield was supposedly the first president to get shot. This one interested me the most because Alexander Gram Bell was amazing when he made the metal detector to find the bullet. He stopped at nothing to figure out why it wasn’t working. His hard work to figure out the mattress was the reason it was not working shows he worked so hard to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Minogue
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting one that I thought was the death of Zachary Taylor.The reasons being that after all of these years they still are not sure of what actually caused his death. They didn't know if it was poison or natural causes and if it was murder they have no clue who committed the crime. I also thought it was interesting that they decided to exhume his body to see if the advanced technology that we have could prove how he died.
The unsolved mystery that I've chosen to discuss is about President Garfield. The problem presented was how to find the bullet that was lodged in the presidents back. It was so interesting to become aware of the fact that a famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell was the man behind the mystery. This took place in 1880 and seven years prior to this Graham invented the telephone. The goal was to try and find the bullet with this metal detector and save the president. After several attempts, the president finally passed away. One idea or problem that Bell felt influenced the detector was the metal frame in the bed. This conclusion seems to be reasonable and I would have to agree with this based on the knowledge known today about conductors, etc. The mattress overwhelming effect of the metal detector was the finally conclusion.
ReplyDeleteAll of the stories were very interesting! I love that mystery story and trying to fit the pieces together. However my favorite was Taylor's death because they never knew why. Although he could have been posioned or times were different then and it was a freak illness of sorts the mystery still exsists. Although i find it interest what they can do to figure it out i think some stories and mysteries are better left as mysteries.
ReplyDeleteZachary Taylor died from what seemed to be a stomach bug. Some think that he just died of natural causes, where others believed that he was poisoned. He presented the same symptoms of those that have been given mercury. But he also portrayed signs that could relate to food-poisoning. It was tested that he did have traces of mercury in his system, but apparently not enough to kill him. I’m not sure if I agree or disagree, I feel that the points are made about the same with both. But I feel that scientists don’t know TOO much from the people back in the day. Taylor could have had a bad immune system or been allergic to mercury, causing his death.
ReplyDeleteIn history there are many things that are unsolved mysteries. The assainations of presidents, the fall of Rome, the disappearence of the Mayan culture.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed all three of the episodes. The one of President Garfield was my favorite. With him being shot in the back, Alexander Graham Bell tried to help save him but was unable to be successful. The one good thing out of this event was that it helped the metal detector invention
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the videos in class I thought they were all very ingesting and I found that with bell inviting the phone that was as great invention and even thought people thought he was uneducated he would end up being someone very smart and fames. Garfield invented the metal deter and that has helps us a lot with weapons and trying to keep are cites safe. Thank you for him doing that even thought it holds us up at the airport a lot.
ReplyDeleteZachary Taylor I think was interesting because of the circumstances leading up to and following his death. To me I think it was suspicious that he just up and died after eating and drinking his snack. No one really knows what caused his death but I do believe that he was poisined, to me there is just no other explination for his mysterious death.
ReplyDeleteI think that the situation with president Garfield was most interesting. The problem was that the president was dying from a bullet wound and the doctors were unable to locate the bullet. I was particularly interested in Alexander Grahm Bells ideas for locating the bullet and how he came up with todays modern metal detector. the hypothesis was that they could locate the bullet and therefore remove it to help cure his infection. While the experiment was unsuccessful, I believe that the conclusion about the metal in the matress was correct. Had they had more time, i believe they would have found the bullet.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the fact that they were poking arounf in the opresidents back. The sciebntist that helped in the use of the x ray was Bell. This was a very useful tool in trying to find the bullet lodged in the backl of the president but ultimatley couldn't save him.
ReplyDelete