US Presidents

George Washington (1789-1797)No party

• Economy: Hamilton established BUS

• Foreign Policy:

• No foreign entanglements (no long term alliances in peacetime)

• Jay‘s treaty (British leaves forts on US soil, British damages maritime US losses)

• Pinckney‘s Treaty (Spanish clarifies south-western borders, free navigation of Mississippi)

• Domestic:

• Whiskey Rebellion (force to maintain order)

• Political/Legal:

• Disliked formation of parties

• 2 term limit

John Adams (1797-1801)Federalist

• Foreign Policy:

• French Revolution

• XYZ affair

• Convention of 1800, peace w/France, alliance canceled, French to pay damages to American shippers

• Domestic:

• Alien & Sedition act

• Political/Legal:

• Marshall Court

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)Demotic Republican

• Economy:

• Embargo Act (forbidden exports, tried to get France/Britain to respect US)

• Lowered taxes

• Eliminated whiskey tax

• Non-Intercourse Act– embargo to France/Britain

• Foreign Policy:

• Louisiana Purchase (1803)

• Chesapeake Affair

Domestic:

-Lewis & Clark

-Cumberland Road authorized

Political/Legal:

-Midnight judges (Marbury v. Madison, judicial review)

James Madison (1809-1817)Democratic Republican

• Economy:

• Macon‘s Bill No2– lifts embargo for first country to repeal certain decrees/orders

• Protectionist Tariff of 1816- British goods start flooding US market, first protectionist tariff

• First BUS charter ends, not renewed

• Foreign Policy:

• War of 1812

• Treaty of Ghent– ends War of 1812, “Not one inch of territory ceded or lost“, armistice

James Madison (cont.)(1809-1817)Democratic Republican• Domestic:

• Battle of Tippecanoe (Tecumseh dies {Indians screwed}, Harrison gets famous)

• Battle of New Orleans (Jackson‘s popularity increases)

• Cumberland Road construction begins

• Vetoes Bonus Bill (internal improvements should be done by state)

• Political/Legal:

• Fletcher v. Peck (legislatures could not mess w/contracts)

James Monroe (1817-1825)Democratic Republican

• Economy:

• Second BUS (1816)

• Panic of 1819- wildcat banks, too much land speculation

• Foreign Policy:

• Monroe Doctrine– hands off American continent

• Russo-American Treaty of 1824- Russia leaves Oregon

• Treaty of 1818- fixed northern boundary of Louisiana

James Monroe (cont.)(1817-1825) Democratic

Republican• Domestic:

• Jackson invades Florida

• Missouric Compromise (slave below 36‘30, admit Maine/Missouri)

• Political/Legal:

• Gibbons v. Ogden- states couldn‘t regulate interstate commerce

• Dartmouth College v. Woodward– states can‘t mess w/contracts

John Q. AdamsDemocratic Republican

• Economy:

• Tariff of Abominations

• Domestic:

• Corrupt bargain, Clay becomes Secretary of State

• Political/Legal:

• Henry Clay throws election to Adams

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)Democrat

• Economy:

• Pet banks, pulls money out of BUS

• Vetoes vote to recharter BUS

• Tariff of 1832- lower than Abomination, but seemed more permanent

• Compromise Tariff of 1833

• Foreign Policy:

• Texas wins independence

Andrew Jackson (cont.)(1829-1837) Democrat

• Domestic:

• Indian Removal Act

• Maysville Road veto- strict construction

• Specie Circular- attempted to discourage land spec., paid hard money for hard land

• Political/Legal:

• Spoils system

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)Democrat

• Economy:

• Panic of 1837- screwed Buren over

• Independent Treasury

• Foreign Policy:

• Recognizes Republic of Texas, but doesn‘t annex

William Henry Harrison (1841-1841)Whig

• Political/Legal:

• Longest speech, shortest term

John Tyler (1841-1845)Whig

• Economy:

• Vetoed bank bills

• Vetoed a tariff bill

• Foreign Policy:

• Webster-Ashburton treaty– Maine border dispute

• Texas annexed

James K. Polk (1845-1849)Democrat

• Economy:

• Tariff-for-revenue Bill– lowered average rates from 32% to 25%

• Foreign Policy:

• “Fifty-four forty or fight“, but didn‘t fight

• War w/Mexico– got disputed land of Texas and California

• Domestic:

• CA, OR acquired

• California gold rush 1848

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)Whig

• Domestic:

• Doesn‘t want Compromise of 1850

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)Whig

• Domestic:

• Wants Compromise of 1850 (CA free, Fugitive Slave Act)

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)Democrat

• Foreign Policy:

• Ostend Manifesto- sent diplomats to try to get Cuba from Spain but Northerners found & failed

• Gadsden Purchase- create Pacific RR and brought land from Mexico

• Domestic:

• Kansas-Nebraska Act- Nebraska: free, Kansas: slave but northerners came into Kansas (caused formation of Republicans)

James Buchanan (1857-1861)Democrat

• Economy:

• Financial crash of 1857 – North was hardest hit and south thought they could live without the north (King Cotton)

• Tariff of 1857 – lowest tariff since 1812 rate 20% Northerners complained, fincancial crisis struck soon after

• Domestic:

• John Brown- martyr for anti-slavery forces; killed pro-slavery person in Kansas

• Lincoln-Douglas debates

• Political/Legal:

• Dred Scott v. Sanford= slaves were considered to be property & couldn’t sue in federal courts

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)Republican

• Domestic:

• Civil War

• Emancipation Proclamation

• Crittenden compromise – below 36’30 would be slave above would be free; Lincoln struck it down

• Freedmen‘s Bureau – education & land for blacks

• Political/Legal:

• Suspend civil liberties during war

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)Democrat

• Economy:

• National Labor Union appears

• Foreign Policy:

• Seward buys Alaska

• Political/Legal:

• 13th Amendment (free slaves)

• 14th Amendment (citizenship)

• Impeached but acquitted in Senate

Ulysses Grant (1869-1877)Republican

• Economy:

• Panic of 1873 – RR speculation

• Resumption Act – redeem govt loans in hard currency (step away from bimetallism)

• Domestic:

• Political corruption (Credit Mobilier scandal, Tweed Ring, Whiskey Ring)

• Freedmen‘s Bureau expires

• Political/Legal:

• 15th Am. (voting)

• Force acts (guarantee voting for blacks)

• Civil Rights Act of 1875 (full and equal accomodations, ruled unconstitutional by SC)

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1841)Republican

• Economy:

• Bland-Allison Act– Treasury buys silver & makes silver dollars (continued bimetallism)

• Domestic:

• Hayes-Tilden standoff--> Compromise of 1877= end of military reconstruction for Hayes victory

• Desert Land Act – gave land to those who would irrigate for 3 years

James Garfield (1881-1881) Republican

• Assassinated by “deranged office seeker,” led to Pendleton Act

Chester Arthur (1881-1885)Republican

• Economy:Tariff of 1875- continued protectionist

principles

• Foreign Policy:

• Chinese Exclusion Act

• Political/Legal:

• Pendleton Act (led to downfall of patronage)

Grover Cleveland (part 1: 1885-1889)

Democrat

• Economy:

• Interstate Commerce Act – rein in RRs (but commissioners were all RR people, so nothing happened)

• Knights of Labor dissolved

• Foreign Policy:

• Dawes Severalty Act – largely destroys Indian govts

• Political/Legal:

• Wabash case – defeat for populists who wanted to control railways

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)Republican

• Economy:

• McKinley Tariff – highest tariff in American history until then (48%)

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act – prohibited combinaitons in restraint of trade ... Would be used to target unions though

• Foreign Policy:

• Pan-American conference – worked w/Latin America to establish treaties on trade

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)Republican-- [continued]

• Domestic:

• “Billion Dollar Congress“

• Frontier line disappears

• Pension Act 1890 – gave money to veterans (too much money coming in)

• Hull House – helped immigrants

• US Forest Service est. by Forest Reserve Act

• Political/Legal:

• Populists organized

Grover Cleveland (part 2: 1893-1897)

Democrat• Economy:

• Panic of 1893 (blamed on Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which would be repealed)

• Foreign Policy:

• Hawaii revolts, but Cleveland refuses to annex

• Domestic:

• Labor unrest (Pullman strike)

• Political/Legal:

• Plessy v. Ferguson – “separate but equal“

William McKinley (1897-1901) Republican

•Economy:

• Gold Standard Act – stopped bimetallism

•Foreign Policy:

• USS Maine sunk

• Imperialism

• Open Door note

•Domestic:

• Yellow journalism (hyped Maine)

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)Republican

• Economy:

• Northern Securities case – he didn‘t want trusts out of control

• Panic of 1907 (“Roosevelt Panic“)

• Foreign Policy:

• Panama Canal

• Expansionism – Platt Amendment (Cubans got independence in name only)

• Roosevelt Corollary (Big Stick)

Theodore Roosevelt (cont.)

• Domestic:

• 3 C‘s– conservation, consumer, corporations

• Hepburn Act – no free passes & strengthens ICC

• Regulations: Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act

• Political/Legal:

• Lochner v. New York- can‘t limit # of working hrs

• Gentlemen‘s Agreement w/Japan

• Muller v. Oregon – women‘s working hrs can be restricted

William H. TaftRepublican

• Economy:

• Payne-Aldrich Tariff– Taft didn‘t lower tariffs

• US Steel prosecution- angered TR

• Foreign Policy:

• Dollar diplomacy

• Domestic:

• NAACP forms

• Ballinger-Pinchot Affair – disagreement between TR & Taft

Woodrow WilsonDemocrat

• Economy:

• Underwood Tariff– lowered tariff

• Federal Reserve Act

• Clayton Antitrust Act– outlawed price discrimination, allowed labor unions

• FTC established

• LaFollette Seamen’s Act

• Worker’s Compensation Act

• Adamson’s Act- 8 hr workday for interstate RR workers (same wages as 10 hr day)

• Keating-Owens Act– federal child labor law

• War Revenue Act– graduated income tax

Woodrow WilsonDemocrat

• Foreign policy:

• Tries to stay out of WWI

• Russian Rev. (US doesn’t recognize for 16 years)

• Treaty of Versailles– Fourteen Points

• League of Nations

• Red Scare– Sacco & Vanzetti

Woodrow Wilson Democrat

• Domestic

• Triple Wall of Privilege (tarriff, banks, trusts)

• Selective Service Act– WWI draft

• War Industries Board– took control of war industries

• Harlem Renaissance

• Political/legal

• 16th Amendment- income tax

• 17th Amendment- direct election of senators

• Appoints Jew to Supreme Court

• Schenck v. US– 1st Am. restricted during war

• 18th Amendment- prohibition

• 19th Amendment- woman suffrage

Warren G. HardingRepublican

• Economic:

• Emergency tariff of 1921– saved farmers

• Fordney-McCumber tariff– blatantly protective tariff

• Foreign Policy:

• Separate peace w/ Germany

• Domestic:

• Veterans Bureau

• Emergency Quota Act

• Scandals: Teapot Dome, Veteran Bureau

• KKK revived

Calvin CoolidgeRepublican

• Foreign Policy

• Kellogg-Briand Pact– outlaws war

• Domestic

• Snyder Act of 1924- American Indians get citizenship

• Immigration Act of 1924- similar to Emergency Quota Act

• Soldier’s Bonus Act- bonus to soldiers

• Political/ legal

• Scopes trial- evolution trial

• First female state governor

Herbert HooverRepublican

• Economy

• Stock market crash

• Reconstruction Finance Corporation- gave loans to businesses (trickle-down)

• Norris LaGuardia Anti-Injection Act- no yellow-dog contracts

• Glass-Steagall Act- created FDIC, insured deposits in banks

• Foreign Policy

• Appeasement towards Japan (Manchuria) & Germany

• Debt Moratorium- slowed repayment on loans from European nations

• Domestic

• Bonus Army– veterans march on Washington, dispersed by military force

Franklin RooseveltDemocrat

• Economy:

• Hundred Days Congress

• TVA

• Agricultural Adjustment Act (paid to not grow crops)

• Bank holiday

• Good Neighbor policy- stopped armed intervention in Latin America

• US off gold standard- allowed for inflation of dollar

• Civilian Conservation Corps- young men work in forest, send earnings to family

• Federal Emergency Relief Act- direct $ to civilians

• Federal Securities Act- regulated stock market

• …

Franklin RooseveltDemocrat

• Economy (continued)

• Indian Reorganization Act– more pol. & eco. Freedom

• National Housing Act- fed. Housing administration, homes for cheap

• Works Progress Administration- provided $ for public works

• Wagner Act- National Labor Relations Board est.

• Social Security- pay money to retired people

• Soil Conservation Act- replaces AAA

• Fair Labor Standards Act- minimum wage & maximum hours

Franklin RooseveltDemocrat

• Foreign Policy

• Neutrality Acts

• Munich Conference- appeases Germany

• Cash & carry

• Lend-lease Act

• Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact

• Atlantic Charter (if US enters war, Europe would be first)

• Tehran conference- “Big Three” meet, open 2nd front in Europe

Franklin RooseveltDemocrat

• Domestic

• GI Bill

• Fair Employment Practices Commission- no discrimination in war industry

• War Production Board (WPB)- controlled production

Franklin RooseveltDemocrat

• Political/Legal

• 20th Amendment- shortens lame duck period

• 21st Amendment- prohibition ends

• “court-packing”- no messing w/SC

• Korematsu v. US- internment legal

Harry TrumanDemocrat

• Economy

• Employment Act- fed. govt. responsible for economy

• Taft-Hartley Act- no closed shop (can’t be forced to join union)

• Fair Deal

• Foreign Policy

• Potsdam Conference- expanded on Yalta conference

• Nuremburg Trials- warcrime trial

• Churchill’s Iron Curtain

• Truman Doctrine

• Marshall Plan

• Containment policy

• Berlin Airlift

• NATO (North Atlantic TREATY Organization, not trade)

Harry TrumanDemocrat

• Domestic

• National Security Act- coordinates wartime intelligence

• Armed forces desegregate

• Political/Legal

• Fear of communism

• Alger Hiss

• Rosenbergs

• McCarthyism

• 22nd Amendment– 2 terms

Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican

• Economy

• Landrum-Griffin Act- limited union boycotting

• National highways

• Foreign Policy

• Korean war armistice

• Domino theory

• Geneva Summit (“open skies”- ignored)

• Hungarian revolution failed

• Suez crisis intervention in Middle East

• Sputnik

Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican

• Domestic

• Civil rights: Montgomery Bus Boycott, Little Rock integrated, SCLC & SNCC est., lunch counter sit ins

• Alaska & Hawaii become states

• Political/legal

• Brown v. Board- “separate is inherently unequal”

John F. KennedyDemocrat

• Foreign Policy (Cold War)

• Berlin Wall constructed

• Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis

• Alliance for Progress– Marshall Plan for Latin America

• Trade Expansion Act- led to lower tariffs between Europe & US

• Peace Corps founded

John F. KennedyDemocrat

• Domestic

• Civil Rights: Freedom Riders, March on Washington

• Political/legal

• 23rd Amendment– DC gets 3 electoral college votes

Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocrat

• Economy

• Great Society- fought poverty & racial injustice

• War on Poverty, Social Security Act, Medicare & Medicaid

• Foreign Policy

• Vietnam

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Paris Peace Talks

• Tet offensive

Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocrat

• Domestic

• Civil Rights Acts

• Political/legal

• 24th Amendment- no poll taxes

• Miranda case (Miranda v. Arizona)

• 25th Amendment– presidential succession

• First black on Supreme Court

Richard NixonRepublican

• Economy

• OPEC embargo

• Alaskan pipeline

• Foreign Policy

• Détente

• SALT

• Opens relationship w/China

• Ceasefire in Vietnam

• Moon landing

Richard NixonRepublican

• Domestic

• Environment- Clean Air Act, EPA

• Watergate

• Political/legal

• War Powers Act- President couldn’t send troops w/o approval

• 26th Amendment– 18 to vote

Gerald FordRepublican

• Foreign Policy

• South Vietnam falls

• Political/legal

• Pardons Nixon

Jimmy CarterDemocrat

• Economy

• Energy Department (due to OPEC)

• Foreign Policy

• Camp David between Egypt & Israel

• Panama Canal treaty– US will return it

• SALT II

• Iran Hostage Crisis

• USSR invades Afghanistan

• Political/legal

• Pardons draft evaders in Vietnam War

Ronald ReaganRepublican

• Economy

• “Reaganomics” tax cut (tried to decrease size of govt)

• Stock Market plunge, 1987

• Foreign Policy

• Hostages released

• SDI initiative- outspend USSR

• Meets w/Gorbachev

• Domestic

• Iran-Contra scandal

• Political/legal

• 1st woman justice

George Bush, Sr.republican

• Economy

• Americans with Disabilities act

• Foreign Policy

• Gulf war

• Berlin Wall falls- Germans united

• USSR disintegrates

• Domestic

• War on Drugs

• Political/legal

• 27th Amendment- congressional pay raises take effect for next round of senators

Bill ClintonDemocrat

• Economy

• Welfare reform

• Foreign Policy

• NAFTA signed

• EU created

• Domestic

• WTC bombed

George W. Bush

• 9/11/2001– attack on WTC, the Pentagon, & thwarted flight against the White House

• 3,000 Americans killed

• Created Dept. of Homeland Security

• Sent American forces into Afghanistan to break up Taliban

• Most controversial act= invasion of Iraq

• To capture Saddam Hussein

• Hurricane Katrina (2005)