| Name | Accomplishments |
| George Washington | -1st president/unanimously elected, 2 terms
-standard of a strong presidency w/ control of foreign policy and the power to veto Congress's legislation.
-declared proclamation of neutrality in April 1793, keeping US neutral in European wars. |
| John Adams | -diplomat/signer of Declaration
-led country through XYZ affair, Alien and Sedition Acts, VA and Kentucky Resolutions
-kept nation out of war |
| Thomas Jefferson | -author of declaration, 1st sec. of state
-Revolution of 1800-first time America changed presidential political leadership
-responsible of Embargo of 1807
-support of states' rights |
| James Madison | -Father of Constitution
-The Federalist Papers, VA Plan
-faced pressure from war hawks to end embargo
-Led US to War of 1812, concluded in 1814 |
| James Monroe | -Era of Good Feelings
-Nat. identity grew, westward movement
-Monroe Doctrine
-America feared int. influence b/c of world-wide rev. fervor after Napoleon's fall
-N/S tensions over slavery |
| Corrupt Bargain of 1824 | -Clay, Adams, Jackson, Crawford
-Jackson won pop. vote, not majority
-Clay threw support to Adams
-Adams gave Clay Sec. of State |
| John Quincy Adams | -led active fed. gov. in internal improvements and Nat. Am. affairs
-Policies proved unpopular
-served in House of Reps., forced debates against slavery |
| Andrew Jackson | -invaded Spanish Florida to quell Nat. Am. rebellions
-Defeated British force that invaded New Orleans
-popular president (self made Westerner)
-Indian Removal Act: fed. enforcement to remove Native American tribes west of Miss.
-war against US Bank |
| Martin Van Buren | -established independent treasury
-Panic of 1837
-unsuccessful in re-election |
| William Henry Harrison | -W. who fought against Nat. Am.
-"Old Tippecanoe"
-VP, John Tyler
-died of pneumonia after inauguration |
| John Tyler | -States' righter, S, strict constitution
-rejected programs of the Whigs
-settled Webster-Ashburton Treaty
-helped Texas achieve statehood in 1845 |
| James K. Polk | -"dark horse" candidate
-new independent treasury system
-lowered tariff w/ Walker Tariff
-Oregon Treaty--49 parallel
-Manifest Destiny
-acquired CA
-led US to Mexican War |
| Zachary Taylor | -Mexican war
-Whig
-opposed spread of slavery
-encouraged territories to organize and seek admission directly as states to avoid issue of slavery |
| Millard Fillmore | -opposition to expansion of slavery and abolitionists activities
-supported Compromise of 1850 |
| Franklin Pierce | -Dem. from N.H.
-supporter of manifest destiny
-Kansas-Nebraska Act
-opened Canada to greater trade |
| James Buchanan | -backed Lecompton Constitution
-denied legal right of states to secede but believed fed. gov. could not legally prevent them. |
| Election of 1860 | -containment of slavery and encouragement of transcontinental rail
-Dem. vote split between Douglas and other candidates
-Lincoln won election, S. seceded |
| Lincoln | -Lincoln-Douglas Debates won him high nat. regard
-N. army defend Union against secessionists
-suspended habeas corpus during Civil War
-Emancipation Proclamation
-10% plan for reconstruction
-Gettysburg Address |
| N. Election of 1864 | -Lincoln v. McClellan
-Lincoln ran on nat. unity
-Sherman's taking of Atlanta helped Lincoln win |
| Compromise of 1877 | -came after 1876 election
-neither president won electoral vote
-Dem. agreed to give Hayes the president
-Hayes promised to show consideration for S. interest, end Reconstruction, aid S. industrialization, withdraw remaining forces from S. |
| Rutherford B. Hayes | -Rep. nominee in 1876
-won election through Compromise of 1877
-removed fed. troops from South
-railroad strike in 1877 |
| Ulysses S. Grant | -Mexican War, accepted Lee's surrender
-Sec. of War |
| Andrew Johnson | -more conservative, opposed legislation that dealt with former slaves
-voted Civil Rights Act
-violation of Tenure, impeached |
| Grover Cleveland | -first Dem. elected after Civil War
-only one elected to 2 non-consecutive terms
-vetoed private pension bills to Civil War vets.
-signed Interstate Commerce Act
-sent fed. troops against striking railroad workers |
| Cross of Gold Speech | -William Jennings Bryan
-criticized gold standard, supported coinage of silver |
| William McKinley | -had business support
-election over Bryan influenced future political races by setting up interest groups and alliances |
| Theodore Roosevelt | -Rough Rider
-trust buster-Sherman Antitrust Act
-speak softly and carry a big stick
-supported conservation of national resources |
| William Howard Taft | -prosecuted trusts under Sherman Antitrust Act
-Dollar Diplomacy
-Dept. of Labor |
| Federal Reserve Act of 1913 | -response to Panic of 1907
-need for stable currency supply
-divided nation into separate regions w/ federal reserve banks
-raised/lowered interest rates |
| Warren Harding | -opposition to League of Nations, low taxes, high tariffs, immigration
-return to normalcy
-Eugene V. Debs
-8 hour work day |
| Coolidge | -avoided responsibility for most of Harding's cabinet scandals
-reputation for honesty
-believed in leading through inactivity |
| Hoover | -conservative economics
-rugged individualism
-minimal help from government |
| FDR | -Hundred Days
-economic and agricultural recovery |
| FDR 3rd Term | -broke precedent set by Washington
-won by narrow margin |
| Harry Truman | -atomic bombs on Japan
-banned racial discrimination in fed. hiring and armed forces
-Truman Doctrine: containment of communism |
| Eisenhower | -allied commander during WWII
-signed truce in 1953 to end Korean War
-integration of military forces
-sent troops to Little Rock
-desegregation movement |
| Election of 1960 | -Nixon nominated by Republicans
-Kennedy nominated by Democrats
-presidential debates televised
-Nixon's negative appearance on tv affected voters perception of him |
| JFK | -1st Catholic president
-New Frontier-tax reforms, education aid, emphasis on space program
-raised minimum wage
-Peace Corps
-Cuban Missile Crisis |
| Lyndon Johnson | -promoted Kennedy's agenda through Congress
-Civil Rights Act of 1964
-Great Society Program: war against poverty, social and economic welfare legislation |
| Richard Nixon | -Vietnamization
-remove US troops from S. Vietnam
-Ended draft
-Opened China for trade
-reduced tension with USSR w/ Salt agreements
-Watergate |
| Watergate | -CRP/CREEP
-wire taps, presidential tapes, espionage |
| Gerald Ford | -pardoned Nixon
-rise to power represented the first use of 25th Amendment |
| Jimmy Carter | -wanted to make a "responsible gov."
-reduced unemployment and eased energy crisis
-Camp David Accords
-Iranian hostage situation |
| George Bush | -led US to success in Gulf War, forcing Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait |
| Bill Clinton | -gun control, strong economy, welfare reform
-North American Free Trade Agreement--lift trade barriers between US, Canada, and Mexico
-2nd president impeached (Monica) |
| Reagan | -increased military spending
-Star Wars
-Reaganomics
-worked with Gorbachev-reduction of nukes |
| George W. Bush | -No Child Left Behind
-Terrorism-Afghanistan and Iraq |
