Important People in American History - Denton ISD · Important People in American History. Important People in United States History •Principal author of the ... • Supported American

Important People in American History

Important People in United States History

• Principal author of the Declaration of Independence

• US Ambassador to France

• Washington’s Secretary of State

• 3rd President• Authorized Louisiana

PurchaseThomas Jefferson


• Delegate to 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses

• Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army

• Chairman of the Constitutional Convention

• 1st President of the USA-served two terms

George Washington


• 16th President of USA• Helped build the Republican

Party • Administration

– Civil War– Gettysburg Address– Emancipation Proclamation

• Assassinated before he could implement Reconstruction Plans

Abraham Lincoln


• Rough Rider during the Spanish American War

• Vice-Pres. For McKinley; succeeded to presidency after the assassination

• Supported expansionism, Panama Canal, powerful navy, national parks, prosecuted trustsTheodore Roosevelt


• Most renowned defense attorney of his time

• Argued criminal conspiracy cases, union violence, and labor union cases

• Most famous case: defense of John T. Scopes in Tennessee case of teaching evolutionClarence Darrow


• Noted politician and orator

• Supported reforms benefiting ordinary people

• Ran unsuccessfully for president three times

• Famous Speech: Cross of Gold

William Jennings Bryan


• Mass produced the Model T automobile

• Reduced the price of the Model T by refining the assembly line

• World-wide influence on the development of the automobile industry

Henry Ford


• Set a record flying The Spirit of St. Louis non-stop from St. Louis to Paris on May 20-21, 1927

• Served as a technical advisor to commercial airlines and to the US military following the attack on Pearl Harbor

Charles A. Lindbergh


• Social Reformer; partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Organized the Women’s State Temperance Society

• Outspoken proponent of Women’s Suffrage and equal rights for women

Susan B. Anthony


• 1888 first African American to earn Ph.D. at Harvard

• Called for immediate extension of rights to blacks, opportunities for education, and equal access to public facilities

• Believed in the Talented Tenth

• Active in NAACP

W.E.B. DuBois


• Montgomery, Alabama minister rose to prominence in Civil Rights Movement

• 1957 Organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

• Organized sit-ins, boycotts, and protest marches

• I Have a Dream Speech during march on Washington

• Assassinated 1968

Martin Luther King, Jr.


• U.S. Army General during WWII– Eisenhower’s “eyes and

ears” in North Africa– Commanded the First

Army on D-Day• U.S. Army Chief of Staff

in 1948• First Chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of StaffOmar Bradley


• Scottish immigrant to US

• Fortune made in production of steel using the Bessemer Process

• Shared wealth through a range of philanthropic causes, granting more than $350,000,000 to worthy causes such as libraries, research, and education

Andrew Carnegie


• 1964 elected to New York Legislature without support of New York political machines

• 1968 First African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress

• Ran unsuccessfully for president in 1972

Shirley Chisholm


• Supported unionization and labor reform, opposed strikes, and favored negotiations as a means to improve labor

• Founded the American Railway Union in 1893, it’s failure convinced him to call for a socialist economy

• Joined the Socialist Democratic Party

• Ran unsuccessfully for president five times

Eugene V. Debs


• U.S. Military General– Commanded Allied forces in

Europe during WWII– Commanded Allied forces on

D-Day• 34th President of the United

States (two terms)• Negotiated peace in the

Korean Conflict• Cold War grew between the

USA and the USSR during his administration

Dwight D. Eisenhower


• Senator from Massachusetts• Supported American

expansionism to gain world power

• Helped Theodore Roosevelt craft the “large policy”– American canal through Central

America– Coaling stations on Pacific

Islands– Strong Navy to protect the

Merchant Marines

Henry Cabot Lodge


• U.S. Military General– Commander of U.S. Forces in

the Far East WWII– Presided over the surrender of

Japan– Military Governor of Japan

1945-50– United Nations commander in

Korea– Relieved from command by

President Truman in conflict over tactics

Douglas MacArthur


• WWI Veteran• Organized the Civil

Conservation Corp during the New Deal

• U.S. Army Chief of Staff during WWII

• Secretary of State under the Truman Administration

• Developed the plan to rebuild the European economy following WWII

• Nobel Peace Prize 1953George Marshall


• Most noted representational expressionist painter in America

• Famous for painting of the desert Southwest

Georgia O’Keefe


• Considered one of the most successful American field commanders

• WWI-learned tank tactics• WWII

– Directed amphibious attacks in North Africa

– Commanded Third Army on march into Germany

• Strong opponent to communists

George Patton, Jr.


• Elected to four terms as President of the United States

• New Deal reforms were proposed to counter the Great Depression in four areas: finance, industry, agriculture, and welfare relief

• Supported allies in WWII• 22nd amendment limited

presidential terms to two

Franklin D. Roosevelt


• Vice-President of USA• Succeeded to Presidency

following FDR’s death• Authorized the use of the

atomic bomb in Japan• Truman Doctrine: pledged U.S.

support to nations opposing Communism

• Cold War began during his administration

• Korean Conflict began during his administration

Harry S. Truman


• Mexican American labor activist

• Organized the United Farm Workers of America

• Nonviolent protests: strikes, fasts, and boycotts to draw attention to the needs of migrant farm labor

• Negotiated first industry wide labor contracts

Cesar Chavez


• President of Princeton University; Governor of NJ

• 20th President of the United States

• Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Trade Commission began during his administration

• WWI Peace Plan known as 14 Points

• Dream of League of Nations not approved by Congress Woodrow Wilson


• Massachusetts Congressman• Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in

Courage• 1st televised presidential debate vs.

Richard Nixon• Administration

– Peace Corp– Bay of Pigs– Cuban Missile Crisis– Civil Rights emphasis

• Assassinated Nov. 22, 1963• “Ask not what your country can do

for you—ask what you can do for your country.”John F. Kennedy


• 12/11/1955 she was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white man

• Prompted the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Led to Supreme Court ruling that segregated public transportation was illegal

• Civil Rights advocate

Rosa Parks


• Senator that contributed to the Red Scare by accusing prominent Americans of being communists in the 1950s

• In 1954 televised hearings, he bullied, harassed, and accused witnesses of un-American activities with little or no evidence

• Senate censured him in December 1954

Joseph McCarthy

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Important People in American History - Denton ISD · Important People in American History. Important People in United States History •Principal author of the ... • Supported American