Benjamin
Harrison
He was elected in the year
1888, defeating Grover
Cleveland and occupying the
term between Grover
Cleveland’s two nonconsecutive presidencies. He
was also a distant relative of
the other Harrison – William
Henry Harrison. Fortunately,
Benjamin Harrison’s
presidency lasted much
longer!
William McKinley
His time in office included the
Spanish American War – and
resulted in much overseas
expansion and colonization. The
United States claimed Puerto
Rico, the Philippines, and Guam
after the war; the nation also
claimed the right to build a
naval base at Guantanamo Bay
in Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and
American Samoa. Sadly, he too
was assassinated, by an
anarchist.
Thomas Jefferson
Although he was the creator
of the Statute of Religious
Freedom in Virginia, the
author of the Declaration of
Independence, and the
President of the United
States; an accomplished
architect, political philosopher,
scientist, and writer; and the
man who bought the
Louisiana Territory, sent the
Corps of Discovery and Lewis
& Clark to explore it’ and
double the size of the United
States – despite all of this –
his proudest accomplishment
was that he founded the
University of Virginia.
Andrew Jackson
He was the hero of the
Seminole Wars in Florida and
the leader of American forces
at the Battle of New Orleans
at the end (technically, after
the end…) of the War of 1812.
As President, he destroyed the
National Bank, established the
“Spoils System”, assured the
Cherokee Nation of their fate
by refusing to enforce the
Supreme Court’s decision in
Cherokee Nation V. Georgia,
and threatened to invade
South Carolina after South
Carolina threatened to secede
over the “Tariff of
Abominations”during the
Nullification Crisis.
John Tyler
He was an afterthought during
the Election of 1840 – the
“Tyler” part of “Tippecanoe and
Tyler, too!” When William Henry
Harrison died, he took steps to
ensure that he would take over
the office of a President – a
procedure which, at the time,
was of questionable
Constitutionality.
During his
time in office, the United States
officially annexed Texas – which
had been an independent
republic previously.
Millard Fillmore
When Zachary Taylor passed
away in 1850 Millard Fillmore
served out the remainder of
his term. He was the
President of the United States
when the Compromise of
1850 was passed. During his
time in office the United
States opened relations with
the Empire of Japan – forcing
them to sign the Treaty of
Kanagawa.
Chester Arthur
He became President upon the
death of James A. Garfield by
assassination in 1881. The
most significant
accomplishment of his
Presidency was the passage of
the Pendleton Act in 1883.
Abraham Lincoln
Widely considered the greatest
of all American Presidents,
Lincoln led the nation through
the Civil War. His Emancipation
Proclamation freed all of the
enslaved people of the South,
and he insisted that in order for
the nation to be reunited,
Southern States would have to
pass the 13th Amendment,
banning slavery. His sense of
compassion and his eloquence,
as evidenced by the Gettysburg
Address, helped Americans to
survive the most troubling years
in our History. He was
assassinated in April of 1865 by
John Wilkes Booth, just days
after Robert E. Lee surrendered
at Appomattox Court House, VA.
Ulysses S. Grant
Although he is frequently
condemned as a poor
President due to the
corruption and graft of his
administration, Ulysses S.
Grant was genuinely devoted
to the cause of Civil Rights for
African-Americans and
Reconstruction. He continued
to support Freedmen during
the Reconstruction by funding
the Freedman’s Bureau and
keeping up the military
occupation to the end of his
time in office.
James Buchanan
He was a largely ineffective
President who served from
1857 to 1861. As the
sectional crisis and concern
over slavery turned violent in
“Bleeding Kansas” Buchanan
was unable to improve the
situation or even negotiate
compromise.
Rutherford B.
Hayes
The man who stole the
Presidency from Samuel
Tildon. He lost the popular
vote in 1876, but when no
candidate managed to win a
majority of the Electoral
College, he was placed in
office thanks to the
Compromise of 1876. He
became President, but was
forced to end the
Reconstruction of the
American South, thereby
undoing most of the gains
African-American citizens had
made following the Civil War.
Theodore
Roosevelt
He
became President when
McKinley was assassinated,
and was the youngest
President in US History at the
time.
He was known as a
trustbuster, for enforcing the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
against companies like
Standard Oil.
After reading Upton Sinclair’s
The Jungle, he helped to pass
both the Meat Inspection Act
and the Pure Food and Drug
Act.
As a committed
conservationist, he helped to
establish the National Park
System.
Ronald Reagan
He was President of the
United States during the
height of the Cold War, and
once called the Soviet Union
an “Evil Empire.” Yet, once
Mikhail Gorbachev came to
power in the USSR and
pledged to improve relations
with the West, Reagan joined
Gorbachev in a partnership
which reduced Soviet tyranny
over Eastern Europe. In
perhaps his most dramatic
oration, Reagan, standing
before the Berlin Wall,
exclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev,
tear down this wall!” By
1989, the wall had crumbled.
Jimmy Carter
While this Democrat was
president from 1977 to 1981,
The United States was mired
in Economic Recession. He
opposed the Soviet Union’s
invasion of Afghanistan so
strongly, that the United
States boycotted the Moscow
Olympics in the year 1980.
He was also President when
Iranians held hundreds of
Americans hostage at the US
Embassy for 444 days.
Richard Nixon
This President was in office
when Neil Armstrong landed on
the moon. He opened
diplomatic relations with the
People’s Republic of China
during his time in office.
Yet,
he is the only President in the
history of the United States of
America to resign from office.
Had he not resigned, he would
likely have been impeached and
removed from office for breaking
in to the 1972 Democratic
national headquarters and lying
about the criminal act.
Lyndon Baines
Johnson
His “Great Society” reforms
like Medicaid, Medicare, and
Head Start were considered
magnificent accomplishments;
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the Voting Rights Act of
1965 were signed during his
Presidency, but his legacy was
damaged the Vietnam War.
Woodrow Wilson
“He Kept Us Out of War” was
this President’s campaign
slogan in the Election of 1916.
In April of 1917, he asked
Congress to declare war on
Germany to “Make the World
Safe for Democracy.” His
Fourteen Point Plan to restore
Europe after World War I was
adopted in the Treaty of
Versailles.
Dwight David
Eisenhower
This Nebraskan and World War
II hero directed Operation
Overlord on D-Day in
Normandy, France prior to
becoming the President of the
United States. While he was
in office, he was caught lying
about U-2 spy planes missions
over the Soviet Union. He
also sent troops into Central
High School in Little Rock,
Arkansas to force the school
to integrate peacefully.
Warren G.
Harding
He promised Americans a
“Return to Normalcy” after
World War I and the rise of
Radicalism left many
Americans upset and
disturbed. He was notoriously
corrupt, however, allowing the
Teapot Dome Scandal to
happen on his watch. He died
in office in 1923.
Herbert Hoover
He was the President of the
United States when the Stock
Market collapsed and the
Great Depression began, and
he was blamed for being
unsympathetic towards the
poor. Newspapers became
“Hoover” blankets, empty
pockets “Hoover” flags, and
communities of bums lived in
“Hoovervilles.”
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt
He designed the AAA, the
CCC, the REA, the FDIC, and
many other New Deal
Programs. Re-Elected four
times, this man was the
longest serving President of
the United States. He was the
victim of polio at a young age,
and restricted to a wheelchair
for much of his life;
nevertheless he was
extremely active and a
charismatic leader.
Martin Van Buren
He was known as the “Little
Magician” because he was
such a capable political
manager during the 1800s.
He was Andrew Jackson’s
campaign manager and best
political advisor, and he ran
for President successfully to
succeed Jackson in office.
After serving as president
from 1837 to 1841, he was
re-nominated to run for
President in 1848 by the FreeSoil party, which was pledged
to abolishing slavery.