The Presidents of the United States

1. The Presidents of the United States

2. George Washington 1788-1796 George Washington led the Colonial Army in their revolt against Britain. After the war, some in Congress wanted to make Washington king. With the new constitution, adopted in 1787, Washington was elected president. Being the first, all eyes were on him. How would he want people to address him and how would he run the Executive Department. Washington created the first cabinet positions and also signed the Judicary Act.

3. John Adams 1796-1800 John Adam’s is considered by many to be the person most responsible for convincing the Continental Congress to break away from Britain. The Undeclared War occurred during Adams presidency. It was also during this time that the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. Adams and Jefferson continued to be at odds and both ran against each other in the election of 1800. With the loss, Adams returned home. John Adams died on July 4, 1826 the 50th year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

4. Thomas Jefferson 1800-1808 Jefferson was a politician, writer, scientist, and slave owner. He was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence. As president, he had a wine bill of over $11,000 and sometimes even met foreign amassadors in a wine stained coat. During his Presidency, Jefferson sent the Navy out to destroy the Barbary Pirates, purchased the Louisiana Territory, and sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition out. Jefferson freed his slaves after his death. Some believe he fathered a child from a slave. Like John Adams, Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

5. James Madison 1808-1816 James Madison is considered the Father of the Constitution. During his presidency, America’s Second Revolutionary War occurred (War of 1812). As the British burned Washington D.C. Madison’s wife Dolly saved Much of the art work in the White House before fleeing for Her life.

6. James Monroe 1816-1824 Monroe’s Presidency was called the era of good feeling. The U.S. entered a period of a 75 years of isolationism. He did issue the Monroe Doctrine which told Europeans to stay out of Western Hemisphere affairs. Monroe was The last president to have been directly involved in the Revolutionary War. The Erie Canal was built during this time and the Missouri Compromise was agreed to by Northern and Southern leaders.

7. John Quincy Adams 1824-1828 The son of John Adams, John Quincy actually lost the popular and electoral vote to Andy Jackson. Because there was no clear majority the House decided the election and voted for Adams. Not very popular because of the election results, John Q. Adams lost his reelection bid. Returning home he represented Mass. In Congress. In 1838 John Adams Represented the Africans in the Supreme Court in the famous Amestad Case. Jackson dueled with Charles Dickenson after Dickenson insulted Jackson’s wife.

8. Andrew Jackson 1828-1836 Andrew Jackson was probably one of the most stubborn presidents in history. He should have been impeached for his removal of the Indians in Georgia in the famous ‘Trail of Tears’. During the War of 1812 he became famous for capturing New Orleans even though the war was over when the battle occurred. Hating the National Bank Jackson removed all government money out and put it in local banks triggering inflation and eventually a Depression. He started the Spoils System and the Kitchen Cabinet. Jackson died when on a hot summer day he ate to many cherries and the “gas attack” killed him.

9. Martin Van Buren 1836-1840 Van Buren was Jackson’s hand picked successor which meant that everything he did he would be compared to the popular Andy Jackson. Even though the Panic of 1838 was not his making (Jackson), he was the president and had to assume responsibility in the eyes of the people. He was President during the famous Amestad Case. No hand picked successor has ever been reelected.

10. William Harrison 1840-1840 “Tippicanoe” became famous in the early Indian Wars when he defeated the famous Chief Pontiac. At the treaty signing a Shaman told Harrison he would become leader of his people and while leader he will die and that every 20 years the leader chosen by the American people will die. Harrison was elected in 1840 and died 45 days later of the flu because he gave a 3 hour inauguration speech in freezing weather. In the elections of 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940 and 1960 that president never finished the term. ended the streak when he was elected in 1980.

11. John Tyler 1840-1844 ‘Tippicanoe and Tyler To’ was the campaign slogan in the election of 1840. When Harrison died people started asking “Tyler Who?” Tyler will be the first Vice-President to become president upon the death or resignation of the president elect. The question that needed to be answered was is Tyler a caretaker with congress dictating policy or is Tyler actually the president. Tyler decided he was president according to the constitution. During a Navy parade on the Potomac River, the guns on the ships went off and landed on a dock killing Tyler’s Father-in-Law.

12. James K. Polk 1844-1848 ’54’40” or Fight’ and ‘Texas Annexation’ were the campaign slogans of Polk. The crying call of Manifest Destiny could be heard as Polk took office. Wanting to serve only one term Polk accomplished a lot. He forced war with Mexico, getting all the of Southwest as a prize. Polk convinced congress to annex Texas as a State. In an agreement with Britain, the border between the United States and Canada was set at the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Just before he left office gold was discovered in California.

13. Zachary Taylor 1848-1850 Zachary Taylor became famous as a result of the Mexican War. He survived two years into his presidency. He was only the second president to die in office. In the 1990’s his relatives allowed his remains to be dug up to test for arsenic. the fear was Taylor was poisoned which ended up being False.

14. Millard Fillmore 1850-1852 Taking Zachary Taylor’s place, Filmore is most Remembered for the Compromise of 1850.

15. Franklin Pierce 1852-1856 Just before Pierce took office his 11 year old son was killed in a train wreck. His most notable accomplishment was The Kansas-Nebraska Act.

16. James Buchanan 1856-1860 Buchanan was the last president of a unified country prior to the Civil War. His opponent, John C. Fremont, was the first Republican to run for the presidency. Even though Fremont lost, he did win the Northern States thus telling Southerner's that in the election of 1860 they could be in trouble. Some say Buchanan was our only gay president. They say his girl friend committed suicide when he wrote her telling her he was gay. There are also letters to his “boyfriend”.

17. Abraham Lincoln 1860-1865 Abraham Lincoln’s goal was to preserve the union and if that meant the continuation of slavery then so be it, but the South wasn’t buying it. Shortly after his victory South Carolina led the Southern States in seceding from the Union. Lincoln knew how he wanted to win the war, firing 4 generals before he came up with U.S. Grant. When the war was over, Lincoln wanted the South to easily come back into the Union but He was killed before he could implement it. He carried letters and bills in his stove pipe hat.

18. Andrew Johnson 1865-1868 Taking Lincoln’s place as president he fought the Radical Republican’s on their idea about the South. Fearing they would have problems with Johnson, the Radical’s passed the Tenure in Office Act and when Johnson did not oblige they impeached him. By one vote, Johnson was saved from removal from office.

19. Ulysses S. Grant 1868-1876 Grant won the presidency because he was The Hero of the Civil War. But Grant would not make a good president. A heavy drinker, Grant was taken advantage of by his aides. During his two terms the transcontinental railroad was finished, Custer’s Last Stand occurred and the U.S. celebrated its 100th Anniversary. Grant once got a ticket for speeding on a horse. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant but changed it Because of H.U.G

20. Rutherford B. Hayes 1876-1880 Rutherford B. Hayes was involved in one of the most controversial elections in U.S. History. Sam Tilden won the popular vote and and needed only one electoral vote to win clear majority. There were 20 electoral votes in dispute and historians say Tilden had clear evidence of winning some. But the Electoral Commission gave all the electoral votes to Hayes and thus the election. The South was furious but agreed to let Hayes become president if Reconstruction ended.

21. James Garfield 1880-1881 Garfield wasn’t president very long. He was president long enough to ask Lincoln’s son, Robert, to the White House to tell Garfield all the details he could about his fathers assassination. Shortly afterward Garfield himself was assassinated. Being ambidextrous and bilingual, Garfield could write Greek with one hand while writing Latin with the other hand.

22. Chester A. Arthur 1881-1884 Arthur knew he had a fatal kidney infection within one year after taking office and kept it a secret. He is most Known for signing the Pendleton Act.

23. Grover Cleveland 1884-1888 1892-1896 Grover Cleveland is the only president to have won an election lost the next election and then come back four years later to win again. What Happened? It might have been the fact that he raised his best friends daughter and then married her in a lavish White House ceremony. People loved her but word came out that Grover abused her. When he lost the election Mrs. Cleveland told the Maids to keep every thing clean because they would be back. And so they were. Or did he lose because of his rubber jaw?

24. Benjamin Harrison 1888-1892 Benjamin Harrison’s grandfather was William Harrison. Benjamin was once a Prosecuting Attorney in Chicago. His job was to find people who were stealing cadavers. The cadavers were used by medical students for practice. When he broke in to one operation he found out that one of the cadavers was his Grandfather. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed during his four years in office.

25. William McKinley 1896-1891 McKinley took the United States out of its isolationist beliefs when he asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain. The Spanish-American War got the U.S. involved in the Imperialistic movement of the time. Winning reelection McKinley will the the 3rd president that is assassinated.

26. Teddy Roosevelt 1891-1908 Roosevelt became famous when he led the Rough Riders up San Juan hill. Roosevelt became known as ‘Teddy the Trust Buster’. He was the first president to use a telephone and ride in a submarine. Roosevelt supported Panama’s independence from Colombia and the resulting treaty allowed the U.S. to build the Panama Canal. Roosevelt decided not to run for reelection in 1908 but returned in 1912 to start the Bull Moose Party costing Taft the election.

27. William Howard Taft 1908-1912 Taft never wanted to run for president but his pushy wife convinced him to. Weighing over 300 pounds Taft got stuck in the White House bathtub and had a special oversized tub installed. Taft is considered the first golfing president. As hand picked successor of Roosevelt’s he lost reelection. He later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

28. Woodrow Wilson 1912-1920 Woodrow Wilson was elected because William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt split the Republican vote. Wilson won re- election because he “kept us out of war”. After his re-election, Wilson found himself asking for U.S. participation in WW I. After the war Wilson had a stroke while trying to convince the American people to force the Senate to support the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson’s wife protected him and in some respects ran the Executive Department. During his tenure, Wilson convinced Congress to create the Federal Reserve System. He allowed sheep To grow on the White House lawn giving profits to Red Cross.

29. Warren G. Harding 1920-1923 “He wasn’t a bad man. He was just simply a slob.” So said Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter at the funeral of Warren Harding. His Ohio Gang was involved in numerous scandals that came out after his death (the Teapot Dome Scandal to name one). He had an affair with a women who would bear him a child and write a book about it after his death. This is the first election in which women were allowed to vote.

30. Calvin Coolidge 1923-1928 If there was a dime on the ground, Coolidge would fight you for it. He was that cheap. But he was also honest and that was a great change. Coolidge believed in Laze-Faire which would make him popular but hurt his predecessor. The Roaring Twenties was a signature of the Coolidge Prosperity. The radio, talkies, sports, prohibition and the automobile all took center stage during this time period

31. Herbert Hoover 1928-1932 “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” So said Hoover. What a mistake. Less then one year after his famous speech and becoming president, the Stock Market Crashed and the country fell into its worst depression in history. Was Hoover at fault? No, but he was the president. He tried to get us out of the Depression but it wasn’t enough and wasn’t fast enough.

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932-1945 Considered by most people, including his mistress, the greatest president in the history of the U.S. His Social Revolution of government spending and debt might have saved the Country. New Deal measures included minimum wage, FDIC, and Social Security. Leading this country in WW II, Roosevelt was the only President to serve more then two terms. He died after being reelected for the 4th time with his mistress by his side.

33. Harry Truman 1945-1952 Shortly after becoming president, Truman was told about the atomic bomb. He will decide to drop it on Japan in hopes of ending the war. Because of the fear of Communism, Truman issued the Truman Doctrine based on containing the communist. To help Europe, Truman convinced Congress to pass the Marshall Plan. In a bold move, Truman integrated the military and recognized Israel. Not expected to win in 1948, Truman surprised everyone. One of his most famous decisions was to fire Gen. MacArthur during the Korean War.

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952-1960 The war hero Eisenhower ran and won the election of 1952. His running mate was the young and controversial Richard Nixon. Eisenhower had a major heart attack during his first term. It was also during his first term that McCarthyism took place. When the Russians sent up Sputnik, American’s panicked. Eisenhower was the first president that could not run for More then two terms.

35. John F. Kennedy 1960-1963 What started out as Camelot ended in tragedy for the youngest elected president. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in, at that time, the closest election in the history of the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Berlin Wall, The first Nuclear Test ban Treaty, Civil Rights all took a back seat when on November 22, 1963 three shots ran out in Dallas and a dead president was the result.

36. Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-1968 “Guns and Butter”. More guns (Vietnam) means less butter (Social Programs). This was Johnson’s problem throughout his time as president. Johnson pushed his ‘Great Society’ but always the Vietnam War was around. Running for election in 1964 Johnson trumped up the Gulf of Tonkin incident and convinced Congress to pass the Tonkin Resolution. “Hey, Hey LBJ, whose kid did you kill today” was the slogan for Vietnam War protestors. After the Tet Offensive in 1968 Johnson decided not to run for a second full term.

37. Richard Nixon 1968-1974 A Political Player from 1950-1974 it all came crashing down on Richard Nixon because of the Watergate Scandal. The Anti-Communist, he became the first President to go to mainland China and meet with Mao. He also signed the first SALT agreement with the Soviet Union. A very strong foreign policy president his downfall started with his refusal to pull out of Vietnam. “I will not be the first president to lose a war.”, was his fear. His fear ended up costing him.

38. Gerald Ford 1974-1976 Gerald Ford is the first and only non-elected president. He became Vice-President when Spiro Agnew resigned and then became President when Richard Nixon resigned. Wanting the long nightmare to be over, Ford pardoned Nixon and gave amnesty to draft dodgers. There were two attempts on his life. One was by one of Charlie Manson’s girls. Gerald Ford’s first name is actually Leslie. Ford was drafted by the Green Bay Packers to pay football but declined the offer.

39. Jimmy Carter 1976-1980 The man from Plains, Georgia became president out of America’s want for an outsider. And an outsider he was, which caused him problems with all the insiders. the highest inflation and interest rates combined helped cause a deep Recession in 1980 and ultimately helped cost him the election in 1980. Other reasons for not being reelected was the Iran Hostage Crisis and Boycotting the 1980 Olympics.

40. Ronald Reagan 1980-1988 Nationalism and Patriotism jumped to the forefront when Reagan was elected. Reagan’s ‘Evil Empire’ slogan helped create the first START agreement. Many admirers believe Ronald Reagan ended the Soviet Bloc. Reagan was the oldest elected president in history and the first former actor. As a young life guard, Reagan rescued 77 people from Drowning.

41. George H. Bush 1988-1992 He was a former U.S. Representative, and head of the CIA. “Read my lips. There will be no new taxes”, was his campaign slogan. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, he led a UN backed mandate to get Iraq out. The war ended 100 Days and Bush looked like a sure winner in 1992. That was until The economy went sour and Bush had to raise taxes breaking His campaign promise.

42. Bill Clinton 1992-2000 Clintonwill be the first president since Andrew Johnson to be impeached by the House, but the senate did not remove him from office. His famous campaign slogan, “It’s the economy stupid” helped defeat Bush Sr. During his eight years in office the American economy had its longest continued success.

43. George W. Bush 2000-2008 Bush was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001. Though he originally outlined an ambitious domestic agenda, his priorities were significantly altered following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Wars were waged in Afghanistan and later Iraq while significant debates regarding immigration, healthcare, Social Security, economic policy, and treatment of terrorist detainees took place within the United States.

44. Barack Obama