HAIL TO
THE CHIEFS
My pet reading project
is a multi-year goal
to read at least one
biography of every
U.S. president.
I’ve finished nearly 60 books, and am
currently up to Jimmy Carter. So as
we celebrate Presidents Day in February, I feel qualified to make
some observations about our
nation’s leaders.
MEASURING PRESIDENTIAL IMPACT
leaving the presidency. But not all
presidents have fared so well or for
so long.
Ronald Reagan’s bold letter to the
public in which he shared his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was a seminal point in public knowledge about
the illness. At the time, he wrote: “In
opening our hearts, we hope this
might promote greater awareness of
Joe Anderson
President, Seniority, Inc.
In our communities, we care for
many important people — the
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers,
uncles, aunts and friends
we call our residents. Aging and the challenges it
Whether someone is president
brings are great equalIn terms of health and
of the United States or of the
izers in life. Whether
aging, our presidents as
local PTA, everyone is susceptible
someone is president of
a group represent a fair
to the vagaries of growing older.
the United States or of
cross section of the general
the local PTA, everyone
population, even though
is susceptible to the vaassassination cut short four
this condition. Perhaps it will encourgaries of growing older.
lives — Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley
age a clearer understanding of the
and Kennedy.
This month, let’s remember those
individuals and families who are afwho have served us and our
At 81, John Quincy Adams was still
fected by it.”
country, both in Washington, D.C.
an elected and participating memand at home.
ber of Congress some 30 years after
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6120 Stoneridge Mall Road
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Patti Kimura will always remember the
shock she felt when
she learned that President John Kennedy
had been assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.
“I was in the sixth grade, and I
remember feeling so many different emotions,” says Kimura, concierge at Nikkei Senior Gardens,
an assisted living community
in Arleta, California. “It was so
unexpected. Nobody believed it
could happen.”
Kennedy’s tragic murder can color
evaluation of his impact on the
nation’s history. This is just one
reason why how each president,
regardless of party affiliation, has
influenced the country in the long
term is difficult to measure, although many historians and politicians have tried. Surveys and polls
of all kinds attempt to determine
the approval ratings and leadership
abilities among our presidents.
In the most recent Historians Presidential Leadership Survey, C-SPAN
asked 65 presidential historians to
rank U.S. presidents based on 10
leadership characteristics. These qualities included public persuasion, crisis
leadership, international relations and
pursuit of equal justice for all.
According to that survey, here are
the top five presidents:
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Harry S. Truman
In another survey, U.S. News & World
Report averaged the results of five
major presidential polls to find that
James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding and Andrew Johnson ranked the
lowest in popularity.
Curious about presidents with the
highest and lowest approval ratings?
John Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower
and George H.W. Bush earned the
highest approval ratings while in
office, while Harry Truman, Jimmy
Carter and Gerald Ford had the
poorest overall averages, according
to Gallup Historical Statistics, which
began tracking this information in
the late 1930s.
While polls and statistics are helpful,
opinions about America’s presidents
are largely based on anecdotes and
personal opinions.
“I don’t remember a president as
well-respected and loved as President Kennedy,” Kimura says.
Seniority Grows With New Leaders
BIRTHDAYS BRING CELEBRATIONS,
SPECIAL EXPERIENCES
When Nancy Rohrbach
discovered that her
stepmother, Atsuko
Risque, shared a birthday with a team member at Nikkei Senior
Gardens, she knew
it was an opportunity to do something
special for both
of them.
especially on birthdays, which are
sometimes viewed as negative moments where people just grow older.
Instead, communities celebrate birthdays as chances for residents and team
members to reflect on their achievements and look ahead to the future.
Anne Ando, 92, looks forward to
the monthly birthday party at Nik-
So Rohrbach, who lives in
Florida, had a seven-layer
caramel cake sent to the retirement community in Arleta,
California, where her stepmother has lived since 2012.
Atsuko Risque and Jamie Nolind
“It was a special moment for
both of us to celebrate our
birthdays together,” says Jamie Nolind, a medication technician. “Nancy
called and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to
us over FaceTime.”
One-of-a-kind experiences like this
happen at every Seniority community,
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FEBRUARY 2015
kei Senior Gardens, when the chef
bakes a cake and team members
decorate the dining room with balloons. The community also publishes birthday announcements in
its monthly news bulletin.
“Sometimes a resident’s children
or grandchildren will stop by the
community for lunch as well,”
Ando says. “Everyone has a
good time.”
While some people avoid birthdays because of the stigma
that can be associated with
aging, most residents look forward to the recognition,
Nolind says. “We don’t
dwell on growing older,”
she says. “Birthdays are
celebrations of individuals and moments where
we can make each other
feel valuable.”
At Cottonwood Court, an
assisted living community in
Fresno, California, several
residents are counting down
to their 100th birthdays.
“We just celebrated a resident
who turned 93,” says Steve Tom,
dining services director. “His dad
lived to be 102, and he says he
can do it, too.”
Three new executive directors
have joined the Seniority,
Inc. team.
years of experience in senior living. She has been
executive director and administrator of several Bay
Area retirement communities, including Aegis, Eldercare Alliance and Masonic Homes of California.
Linda Hardy is the new executive director of
Paintbrush Senior Living in Fresno, California. Hardy has 35 years of experience
in health care, senior living and
operations management.
With more than seven years of experience in memory care support, Benito Del Toro is
joining Cottonwood Court in
Fresno, California, where Jim
Stacy previously served as
executive director. Stacy joins
Seniority’s corporate team
full-time as regional operations manager.
Lydia J. Hertzler joins the Sisters
of the Holy Family Motherhouse in Fremont, California.
Hertzler has more than 20
HISTORY OF PRESIDENTS DAY
The observance of Presidents Day began as
a tribute to the nation’s first president,
George Washington.
For many years after Washington’s death in 1799, the holiday
was celebrated on Feb. 22, his
actual birthday. Today, the nation ob-
serves a holiday that honors all presidents
on the third Monday in February. The
date was set as a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which
took effect in 1971. This year,
Presidents Day is Feb. 16.
Besides Washington, three
other presidents were born
in February: Abraham Lincoln,
William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan.
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FEBRUARY 2015