Self-Doubt, and what it can do to you

So Kami and I went and heard Pulitzer ("Puh-litzer" or "Pew-litzer?") Prize-winning author David McCullough at Belmont on Monday night, and he convicted me - a history major working in a historic institution - to bone up on my American history.

I started thinking about how many Presidents I knew. I did know that there were 44 presidents, and that's where I started: How many presidents could I name? I got 30. That's bad. So I started working on it, and by yesterday morning I was at the point where I could name 40 of the 44 presidents. At lunch today I got 43 of the US presidents, in order.

Here's my problem, I had to look it up to see if Warren Harding's middle name started with a "G." Because I had been calling him "Warren G. Harding" since high school. And here's where my self-doubt crept in. Was I calling him "Warren G Harding" because that's what his name is, or because of the rapper Warren G.?



Panic led to the White House's website. Thank God it's Warren Gamaliel Harding.