-
Period: to
George Washington
Birthplace: Westmoreland County, VA.
Education: Local school, got education from his mother, and his half brother, along with books and practice.
Military Service: Major General, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.
Offices held: House of Burgesses (1758-1776).
Family Members: Bushrod Washington, he served in the Continental Army and was appointed in the Supreme Court in 1798. -
Event 1
Washington signed the Tariff Act of 1789. This act protected manufactured industries advancing in the nation and raise revenue for the federal government. -
Event 2
Washington signed the Act of 1789. This act established the Department of Foreign affairs. This department was important because it was responsible for planning and implementing American Foreign Policy. -
Event 3
On July 27th, of 1789, Washington signed an act establishing the Department of Wars. The Department of Wars was involved in various things like warfighting, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, and more. The Department also took care of soldiers, marines, sailors, etc. along with their family. -
Event 4
On August 17th, of 1789, Washington signed the Lighthouse Act. This act put lighthouses under federal control, and tried to make it safer and more efficient for sailors to navigate. -
Event 5
On September 2nd, of 1789, Washington signed an act establishing the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department manages systems that are crucial to the nation's financial infrastructure such as production of coin and currency, disposal of payments to the American public, revenue collection, and borrowing funds. -
Event 6
On September 24th, of 1789, Washington signed an act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States. Making the Supreme Court six, establishing thirteen Judicial Districts, and dividing most districts into three circuits and stating that Supreme Court justices serve as Circuit judges. -
Event 7
On September 25th, 1789, the Congress adopts 12 Constitutional Amendments. The Amendments of the Constitution are important because it shows Americans rights in relation to the government. It assures the civil rights and liberties to the person, as in freedom of speech, press, and religion. -
Event 8
On November 4th, 1791, the Miami Indians defeat 1400 American military soldiers lead by General Arthur St. Clair, killing 900 Americans. -
Event 9
On December 15th, 1791, the states officially ratify the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights. -
Event 10
On June 1st, 1796, Tennessee is declared a state. Making it the 16th state in the union. -
Period: to
John Adams
From: Braintree, MA
Education: Dame school, Latin school, Preparatory school, then Harvard.
Military Service: Served in France and Holland as diplomatic roles.
Offices Held: Vice president of the United States 1789-1797.
Family Members: Mother was from a leading medical family in present-day Brookline, Massachusetts.
Important Things: Leader of American Revolution that achieved independence for Great Britain, he served the U.S. government as senior diplomat in Europe. -
Event 1
On June 24th, 1797, Adams was permitted by Congress to raise a militia of 80,000 men for defensive purpose in case of the war with France. -
Event 2
A diplomatic incident between France and the U.S. diplomats that followed in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War. -
Event 3
On January 8th, 1798, the eleventh amendment was declared to the Constitution of the United States. The Judicial power of the U.S. will not be construed to extend any suit in law or equity against of the states by citizens of another state or foreign state. -
Event 4
On May 3rd, 1798, Adams makes Benjamin Stoddert to serve as the first secretary of Navy for the new department of the Navy. This department was made in case of the war with France. -
Event 5
The first four acts (Alien and Sedition) is adopted. The acts aimed to curb criticism of administration policies and prevent internal subversion. -
Period: to
Thomas Jefferson
From: Shadwell, VA
Education: Attended in Williamsburg, pursuing at William and Mary, then law with George Wythe.
Military Service: In Virginia militia as a colonel.
Offices Held: Vice pres., secretary of state, diplomatic minister, and congressman.
Family: His father was Justice of Peace and surveyor for the British Crown. His mother was apart of a powerful and wealthy Randolph family.
Before/After: Served as delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates, founded University of Virginia. -
Event 1
On April 30th, 1802, Jefferson signs the Enabling Act, developing procedures which territories organized under the Ordinance of 1787 can become a state. The law authorizes people of Ohio territory to hold a convention and frame a constitution. -
Event 2
Yusuf Karamini, pasha of Tripoli, declares war on the U.S. by the symbolically cutting down the flagpole at the U.S. consulate. This happened because the U.S. didn't want to pay more tribute to the Tripolitans in exchange for protection from piracy against American ships. -
Event 3
On March 18, 1802, Congress reduced the size of the U.S. Army to its 1796 limits. Congress also passes an act, which is signed into law by Jefferson, making an official United States Military Academy at West Point. -
Event 4
On January 11th, 1803, Jefferson appoints James Monroe minister to France & Spain, telling him to purchase New Orleans and East and West Florida. -
Event 5
On February 19th, 1803, Ohio becomes the seventeenth state of the Union. It's the first state to prohibit slavery by law at its inception. -
Event 6
On February 24th, 1803, Marbury v. Madison was decided. This ruling established that the Supreme Court can declare an act of Congress void if it's inconsistent with the Constitution. -
Event 7
On April 30th, 1803, Livingston and Monroe are sent to cease a treaty for the acquisition of New Orleans, but it ends in concluding a treaty for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This day is the official signing of a peace treaty with France & the purchase Louisiana. -
Event 8
On December 9th, 1803, the Congress passes the 12th amendment to the Constitution. The amendment declared that requiring electors to vote for president and vice president separately. -
Event 9
On March 26th, 1804, Congress passes the Louisiana Territory Act. This act divides Louisiana Purchase into the Territory of Orleans in the south and the district of Louisiana in the north. -
Event 10
On March 2nd, 1807, at Jefferson's command, Congress passes a law prohibiting the importation of slaves into any place within the jurisdiction of the United States after January 1st, 1808. -
Period: to
James Madison
From: Orange, VA
Education: Attended Princeton
Military Service: Commander and Colonel of Orange County Regiment, VA Militia.
Offices Held: Secretary of State
Family: Father was a slave owner and planter
Before/After: Member of Orange County Committee of Safety, apart of the Virginia legislature, served on the Governor's Council. -
Event 2
On February 1st, 1811, Madison vetoes 2 bills of Congress. One bill grants land in the Mississippi Territory to a Baptist congregation and the other incorporating an Episcopal church in Washington, D.C. -
Event 1
On May 1st, 1810, Congress passed Macon's Bill Number 2, this replaced the Nonintercourse Act. Macon's Bill Number 2 allows American ships to carry French or English goods while barring belligerent powers from American ports. Macon's Bill Number 2 also further swears to renew nonintercourse with one of the two belligerent nations if the other withdraws its decrees. -
Event 3
On January 10th, 1812, Congress passes an Army Bill to enlarge the second regular army to 25,000. The pill provides less flexibility than Madison had requested. -
Event 4
On March 23rd, 1812, France sunk America ships carrying flour to British troops in Spain, leading many in Congress to call for war against France. -
Event 5
On April 2nd, 1812, the Congress passes an embargo, effective through July 4th, on all shipping to give shipper the opportunity to get their vessels to safe haven. -
Event 6
On April 15th, 1812, Louisiana is admitted to the nation as the 18th state of the Union. -
Event 7
On October 5th, 1813, he U.S. (under General Harrison) is victorious to the Battle of the Thames. This ends British and Indian control in the Northwest and upper Canada. -
Event 8
On December 9th, 1813, Madison calls for a total embargo on exports and a ban on imports of British origin. Congress believing that Britain depends on trade with the U.S., they pass the embargo days later. -
Event 9
On March 27th, 1814, under the command of Andrew Jackson, 2,000 troops defeat the Creek Confederation of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in the Tallapoosa River, getting rid of the Confederation as an obstacle to American expansion toward to Gulf Coast. -
Event 10
On August 24th, 1814, British forces attack and burn Washington D.C., setting the White House, the Capitol, and other federal buildings on fire. -
Period: to
James Monroe
From: Monroe Hall, VA
Education: Attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.
Military Service: Enlisted in the 3rd Virginia Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel.
Offices Held: Secretary of State, member in Congress of the Confederation, Senator, and Governor.
Family: One of his daughters was his official hostess.
Before/After: Worked on expanding the power of Congress, organizing government for the western country, and protecting American navigation on the Mississippi River. -
Event 1
On December 10th, 1817, Mississippi becomes the 20th state in the Union. -
Event 2
On December 3rd, 1818, Illinois is admitted as the twenty-first state of the Union. -
Event 3
On December 14th, 1818, Alabama becomes the twenty-second state of the Union. -
Event 4
The Panic of 1819, where decline in real estate values and a severe credit contraction inflates the currency and causes imports and prices to fall. -
Event 5
The Transcontinental Treaty is a treaty transfers Florida from Spain to the United States for $5 million, and advances the U.S. border across Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. -
Event 6
The U.S. Supreme Court rules against the state of Maryland in McCulloch v. Maryland, which declares that states cannot tax federal agencies. -
Event 7
On March 15th, 1820, Maine becomes the twenty-third state of the Union. -
Event 8
On March 2nd, 1821, Monroe signs the Military Establishment Act, which shifts the national priorities toward commerce and negotiation. -
Event 9
On August 10th, 1821, Missouri is becomes the twenty-fourth state of the Union. -
Event 10
On May 4th, 1822, Monroe vetoes the Cumberland Road bill, which would extend construction of the interstate artery to Zanesville, Ohio. -
Period: to
John Quincy Adams
From: Braintree, MA
Education: Harvard College/University, Leiden University
Military Service: No military service
Offices Held: Statesman, politician, diplomat, lawyer and diarist.
Family Members: His father was a diplomat
Before/After: Secretary of state, ambassador, and member of the US Congress. Adams also won election to the House of Representatives. -
Event 1
The first passage, Erie Canal, is completed from Lake Erie to New York City, linking the Atlantic and trans-Atlantic marketplaces with growing agricultural production in the Northwest states. -
Event 2
A joint House and Senate resolution calls for the production and dispersal of training manuals due to concern of military standardization and integration of Union and state militias. -
Event 3
Found fathers, and former presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die. -
Event 4
President Adams finalizes a settlement with the British over restitution for damages incurred during the War of 1812. -
Event 5
Adams closes all trading American ports with British colonies, suspending disagreements from an era of protracted contention with the British over tariffs, navigation and duties. -
Period: to
Andrew Jackson
From: Waxhaws
Education: Sporadic education and studied under law attorney, Spruce Macay.
Military Service: Major general in the regular army of the U.S..
Offices Held: Senator, Federal Military Commissioner, Representative
Before/After: General in U.S. Army and served in both houses of U.S. Congress. -
Event 1
Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, allowing the forcible relocation of Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Seminole tribes to land allotments. -
Event 2
Jackson vetoes the Maysville Road bill, which would have sanctioned the federal government's purchase of stock for the creation of a road entirely within Kentucky. -
Event 3
President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill that would have renewed the corporate charter for the Second Bank of the United States. -
Event 4
Jackson presented the Nullification Proclamation, which stated that states and municipalities are forbidden from nullifying federal laws. -
Event 5
Congress passes the Force Bill, allowing Jackson's use of the army to gain compliance for federal law in South Carolina. -
Event 6
Jackson employs Edmund Roberts as a “special agent” of the United States to negotiate commercial trade treaties abroad. This results in the first treaties between the U.S. and several of far eastern governments. -
Event 7
Jackson orders for the Treasury Department to withdrawal federal deposits from the Bank of the United States and place them in state banks. -
Event 8
Jackson terminates the national debt, freeing the United States of foreign and domestic obligations beyond the reserves of the treasury. -
Event 9
The representatives of the people of Texas officially and declare their independence. -
Event 10
Jackson introduces the Specie Circular, stating that the government will accept only gold and silver for land payments. -
Period: to
Martin Van Buren
From: Kinderhook. NY
Education: Kinderhook local school house, Claverack College
Military Service: No military service
Offices held: VP, Secretary of State
Family Members: His sons served as private secretaries
Before/After: Served on finance committee and chaired the judiciary committee. -
Event 1
The Panic of 1837 which results in collapse of credit facility, and banks can no longer being able to redeem currency notes in gold and silver. A depression in England causes the price of cotton to drop and ends British loans to the U.S.. This ultimately leads to additional debts and unemployment. -
Event 2
Van Buren opposes the annexation of Texas, mainly to make possible the developing peace with Mexico but also to ease abolitionist concerns. -
Event 3
Van Buren agrees on the principle of forming an peacemaking commission to settle quarrels with Mexico. -
Event 4
The U.S.S. Washington seizes the Amistad, a slave ship, and brings the captives to a jail in New Haven, Connecticut. -
Event 5
By signing the Independent Treasury Act, Van Buren parts from the federal Treasury Department from its relationship with all banks. -
Period: to
William Henry Harrison
From: Virginia
Education: Hampden-Sydney College, University of Pennsylvania
Military Service: First American Regiment
Offices Held: Governor, member of House of Representatives
Family Members: One of his children was a Congressmen, and another a prominent politician
Before/After: Apart of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, led a military force at the Battle of Tippecanoe. -
Period: to
John Tyler
From: Charles City, VA
Education: William and Mary College
Military Service: Captain to defend Richmond
Offices Held: Virginia State Legislator, governor, U.S. Representative & Senator
Family: A prominent slaveholding Virginia family
Before/After: Virginia State Legislator, governor, U.S. Representative & Senator, elected representative for the Confederacy -
Event 1
The Massachusetts Supreme Court confirms the legality of labor unions, including the right for workers to strike. -
Event 2
Tyler signs the Webster-Ashburton Treaty which normalizes U.S.-British relations by adjusting the Maine-Brunswick border, settling boundary issues around western Lake Superior, and resurveying numerous smaller borders. -
Event 3
The Texas Annexation Treaty is signed by the United States and the Republic of Texas, this treaty inducted Texas into the Union as a territory. -
Event 4
Congress passes the joint resolution submitted by Tyler to annex Texas, which gets accepted. The annexation allows Texas to be recognized as the 28th state. -
Event 5
On March 3rd, 1845, Florida is revealed as a slave state, which makes it the 27th state in the Union. -
Period: to
James Knox Polk
From: Pineville, NC
Education: Presbyterian school, then University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Military Service: Tennessee militia, chief lieutenant of Jackson in Bank war.
Offices Held: Governor of Tennessee, Representative TN
Family Members: Father, Samuel Polk, prospered in Tennessee, owning thousands of acres and more than 50 slaves.
Before/After: Built a law practice, state legislature, the House of Representatives. -
Event 1
General Zachary Taylor receives orders from Polk to move his troops from Fort Jesup in Louisiana to a position in Texas to discourage a Mexican invasion. -
Event 2
Under Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, the Naval Academy opens at Annapolis, Maryland. -
Event 3
Congress declares war on Mexico after American troops, under General Zachary Taylor, fight with Mexican troops on the north bank of the Rio Grande. -
Event 4
In the Bear Flag Revolt, around thirty American settlers take over a small Mexican garrison in Sonoma, California, and declare California a free and independent republic. -
Event 5
The Oregon Treaty makes the 49th parallel as the border between British and American claims to the Oregon Territory, letting the U.S. clear title to present-day Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Montana, while letting the Britain territory above the 49th parallel and control over Vancouver Island. -
Period: to
Zachary Taylor
From: Orange County, VA
Education: Primary school
Military Service: Served in the war of 1812, and Second Seminole War. Taylor became the Commander of the 2nd Department of the Western Division.
Offices Held: None
Family Members: Son-in-Law became the president of the Confederate States of America and his fought in the Civil War as a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army.
Before/After: Career officer in the U.S. Army, rising to major general and becoming a national hero. -
Event 1
Congress goes overs solutions to the issue of slavery's possible expansion into the territories won in the Mexican War. Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850, and Daniel Webster with Stephen Douglas lead its supporters against the measure's opponents who united around John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. -
Event 2
Congress brainstorms solutions to the issue of slavery's possible expansion into the territories won in the Mexican War. Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850, and Daniel Webster with Stephen Douglas lead its supporters against the measure's opponents who united around John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. -
Period: to
Millard Filmore
From: Summer Hill, NY
Education: Little formal schooling, studied to be a lawyer
Military Service: NY Militia Guard, Major Captain in the Civil War
Offices Held: VP, NY Comptroller, Representative
Family Members: Married and had 8 kids
Before/After: Attorney & politician, apart of the NY Assembly & House of Representatives, involved in founding University at Buffalo, became the first chancellor. -
Event 1
Fillmore shows his support for the compromise of 1850. He sends a message to Congress recommending that Texas be paid to abandon claims to part of New Mexico and that the Wilmot Proviso, which states that all land acquired from the Mexican War be closed to slavery, be overturned. -
Event 2
California becomes the 31st state. As a “free” state, its admittance gives non-slaveholding states a majority in the Senate. -
Event 3
Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Bill, prohibiting individuals from aiding runaway slaves, and threatening fines and imprisonment to those who do. Escaped slaves will be returned to their owners, denied a jury trial, and prevented from testifying on their own behalf. -
Event 4
Congress passes the Compromise of 1850 which says California is admitted as a free state, the Utah and New Mexico territories are to be organized on the principle of “popular sovereignty,” and the slave trade is to be abolished in Washington, D.C.. This settles the issue of slavery in the newly acquired territories, dividing the country along the thirty-seventh parallel, with slavery in the South and free states in the North. -
Event 5
President Fillmore makes Brigham Young, governor of the Utah territory. Young leads thousands of disciples from Illinois to the central Utah valley, where he establishes Salt Lake City, the site for the Church's new temple. -
Event 1 (Franklin Pierce)
Pierce's inaugural speech applies the need for additional lands to add to U.S. security. This angers Northerners who charge that Pierce is bowing to Southern desires to expand slavery. -
Period: to
Franklin Pierce
From: Hillsborough, NH
Education: Bowdoin College, Phillips Exeter Academy, Northampton Law School
Military Service: Brigade commander in General Winfield Scott's Army.
Offices Held: Senator, NH, Representative, Speaker of the House of Representatives, State Representative, NH
Family Members: Married & had kids with Jane M. Appleton, whose father was president of Bowdoin (1834).
Before/After: Senator, and appointed New Hampshire's U.S. Attorney. -
Event 2
The Gadsden Purchase, negotiated by James Gadsden, U.S. minister to Mexico, is signed. The U.S gets more than 29,600 square miles of new territory in southwest Arizona and New Mexico. The purchase makes the final boundaries of the U.S. and (by providing a strip of land to the Pacific Ocean) will be used a route for the Southern Pacific Railroad. -
Event 3
Commodore Matthew Perry (first ordered to Japan by President Fillmore) signs the Treaty of Kanagawa. This marks the beginning of the Pacific nation's trade with the rest of the world. -
Event 4
The Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society is founded by Eli Thayer to encourage opponents of slavery to move to Kansas. -
Event 5
“Bleeding Kansas”, a rebellion war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers as they attempt to establish “popular sovereignty, emerges and takes place Kansas for two years. -
Period: to
James Buchanan
From: Cove Gap, PA
Education: Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg then Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.
Military Service: Reserve unit during War of 1812
Offices Held: U.S. Ambassador, Secretary of State, Senator, U.S. Minister, Representative (4th & 3rd District)
Family Members: 6 sisters, 4 brothers, father (who was Irish-American) immigrated from County Donegal.
Before/After: U.S. House of Representatives, Minister, U.S Senator. -
Event 1
Dred Scott decision consists of finds that blacks are not citizens, and that slavery cannot be prohibited in the territories. It states the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. -
Event 2
The Mountain Meadow Massacre in Utah results in the deaths of an estimated 140 people. Paiute Indians and the Mormon Militia kill emigrants heading for California. -
Event 3
Kansas holds a referendum on the Lecompton Constitution, as an attempt to bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state. This results in Stephen Douglas and Northern Democrats allying with Republicans in Congress to reject the pro-slavery document and refuse admittance of Kansas as a slave state. -
Event 4
The Senate votes to accept Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton Constitution after it has already been rejected in Kansas. -
Event 5
Congress passes the English Bill, the bill effectively resubmits the Lecompton Constitution to Kansas voters with the attached incentive of land if ratified. -
Period: to
Abraham Lincoln
From: Larue County, KY
Education: Formal schooling, then self taught through books
Military Service: Volunteer in the Illinois Militia
Offices Held: Representative, IL 7th District, IL State Representative
Family Members: Married with 4 kids.
Before/After: Lawyer, Party leader, U.S. Rep. -
Event 1
The Confederate Congress acquires the Confederate Constitution, which declares the sovereignty of states and forbids the passage of any bill which outlaws slavery. -
Event 2
Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to put down the rebellion. He declares that an “insurrection” exists, marking the official beginning of the Civil War. -
Event 3
In response to Lincoln's decision to use force in South Carolina, Virginia secedes from the nation, followed by North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. -
Event 4
Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports that will eventually weaken the Confederacy by disrupting the importation of supplies. -
Event 5
Searching for a way to finance the war, the House of Representatives passes the Morrill Tariff and excise taxes. Congress becomes the regulator of imports, doubling duties and levying taxes on goods associated with manufacturers and other professions. -
Period: to
Andrew Johnson
From: Waxhaws (between the border of North & South Carolina)
Education: Studied law under attorney Spruce Macay
Military Service: Major general in Regular Army of the U.S.
Before/After: American lawyer, planter, general, and statesmen. Then served in the Senate. -
Event 1
The close of the Civil War is celebrated in Washington, D.C. Johnson conducts over a series of reviews of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Tennessee. -
Event 2
Johnson grants amnesty to all white southerners who take a loyalty oath; resulting in the southerners regaining their property. Johnson also outlines a reconstruction plan for North Carolina which becomes the blueprint for other Southern states. -
Event 3
Johnson appoints William L. Sharkey as the provisional governor of Mississippi. Johnson also appoints provisional governors for Georgia, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. He assigns to each the task of overseeing his reconstruction plans in the South. -
Event 4
Mississippi enacts a Black Code, which restricts the newly won rights of African Americans and attempts to keep the freedmen in a separate and inferior position. -
Event 5
Johnson vetoes a bill calling for the extension of the Freedmen's Bureau. This bill would expand the power of the Bureau, the organization formed for the freedmen's protection. -
Period: to
Ulysses S. Grant
From: Point Pleasant, OH
Education: U.S. Military Academy
Offices Held: U.S. Interim Secretary of War, Commanding General of U.S. Army
Family Members: Married and 4 kids.
Before/After: Appointed by Governor to command unruly volunteer regiment, raised to rank of brigadier general of volunteers. Then, partner in a financial firm. -
Event 1
The first transcontinental railroad is completed at Promontory Point, Utah, through the work of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific track crews. -
Event 2
The “Black Friday” financial panic takes place in NYC. The panic results from two railroad entrepreneurs, Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr., to corner the gold market. A Grant finally orders a large sale of $4 million in gold, ruining many speculators. -
Event 3
President Grant's military aide and private secretary Orville Babcock signs a treaty to annex Santo Domingo of the West Indies, and a second document to lease Samana Bay. But, the Senate defeats the annexation treaty on June 30, 1870, and never votes on the Samana Bay treaty. -
Event 4
Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins. It will be the longest suspension bridge in the world when completed. -
Event 5
Grant vetoes the Private Relief Bill and will continue to veto many additional relief bills during his two terms. -
Event 6
Virginia is readmitted to the Union after completing its reconstruction, Virginia was one of the former Confederate states required to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment. -
Event 7
Mississippi is readmitted to the Union. This was important because it was a way to express to Congress support for admission of the Mississippi Territory as one state, not two. -
Event 8
Texas is readmitted to the Union. This is important because the annexation of Texas contributed to the coming of the Mexican-American War -
Event 9
Black male suffrage becomes universal when the Fifteenth Amendment, which states that no state shall deprive any citizen of the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude." -
Event 10
Congress makes it a federal crime to deprive anyone of his civil or political rights by interfering with the right to vote. The act is made to allow the federal government to take action against the Ku Klux Klan when local authorities fail to prosecute crimes. -
Period: to
Rutherford B. Hayes
From: Delaware, OH
Education: Kenyon College, Harvard University, and Harvard Law School
Military Service: Major in 23rd Ohio Infantry in the Civil War
Offices Held: Governor of OH, Representative
Family Members: Married and 8 kids.
Before/After: Served in Congress, Governor, then active in the affairs of Fremont. -
Event 1
Hayes agrees to send a commission to Louisiana to report on the conditions in the southern state. Hayes plans to use the action to sanction his decision to allow Democrat, Francis T. Nicholls, to take over the states by removing federal aid from federally appointed governor, Stephen B. Packard. -
Event 2
Hayes sends troops to patrol the nearly lawless Mexican border and cross it if necessary to pursue bandits. Mexican president Diaz protests and sends troops to the border as well. The economic concerns motivate both parties to work towards a settlement. -
Event 3
Hayes issues an Executive Order that forbids the involvement of federal employees in political activities, due to John Jay's investigation of the New York Customhouse. The Executive Order stipulates that those in office can no longer be dismissed for political reasons. -
Event 4
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins on the Baltimore and Ohio line at Camden Junction, Maryland; more strikes will follow, lasting a month. The strike will lead to anti-Chinese attacks in San Francisco during the fall. -
Event 5
Founded in 1869, the Knights of Labor is established as a national organization. It is the first labor union to attempt to organize all workers and hopes to establish a worker-owned factory system. -
Period: to
James. A Garfield
From: Moreland Hills, OH
Education: Hiram College, Williams College
Military Service: Brigadier General, Major General of volunteers
Offices Held: Representative
Family Members: Married & 7 kids
Before/After: Became an attorney, preacher, President of Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, affiliated with the Disciples, Republican member of Ohio State Senate. -
Event 1
Garfield names James G. Blaine as Secretary of State and Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, as Secretary of War. -
Event 2
Senator Conkling threatens to publish the Hubbell letter, which appears to link Garfield to the Star Route Scandal, a scheme to skim money from the U.S. Post Office. The link is not significant, and the publication of the letter proves more damaging to Conkling than Garfield. -
Period: to
Chester A. Arthur
From: Fairfield, VT
Education: State & National Law School. Union College]
Military Service: Quartermaster General (NY Militia) during the American Civil War.
Offices Held: VP, Collector of the Port NY
Family Members: Married with one kid
Before/After: Taught at a school, wanted to resume practice of law but couldn't because of his illness. -
Event 1
Congress passes a bill mandating the use of the census for determining congressional representation. This results in increasing the number of representatives in Congress to 325. -
Event 2
Nine men are indicted for defrauding the government in a postal scam, an event that becomes known as the Star-Route Scandal. -
Event 3
Congress passes the Edmunds Act, which excludes bigamists and polygamists from voting and holding office. -
Event 4
Arthur vetoes the first Chinese Exclusion Act, which would have banned the immigration of Chinese laborers for twenty years and denied American citizenship to current Chinese residents. This results in angered labor groups who feel threatened by the influx of Chinese labor. -
Event 5
A revised version of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which reduces the period of non-immigration to ten years but maintains the ban on Chinese citizenship, becomes law. -
Period: to
Grover Cleveland
From: Caldwell, NJ
Education: Elementary education at Fayetteville Academy & Clinton Grammar School
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Governor of NY, Mayor of Buffalo
Family Members: Married and had 6 children.
Before/After: Served as mayor and governor of NY, then served as a trustee of Princeton University, and continued to voice his political views. -
Event 1
President Cleveland signs the Presidential Succession Act. The act states that in the absence of a President and VP, heads of executive departments would succeed to the presidency in the order in which the departments were created, starting with the secretary of state. -
Event 2
Cleveland vetoes the first of several bills allowing military pensions to Civil War Union veterans who had appealed to Congress after their claims were rejected by the Pensions Bureau. -
Event 3
Cleveland advises to Congress that the nation accept France's gift of the Statue of Liberty. The gift celebrates the alliance between the two countries during the Revolutionary War. -
Event 4
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) is created to ensure fairness in the management of interstate railroads.
Later on, the scope of the ICC will expand to include all common carriers. -
Event 5
President Cleveland signs the General Allotment Act into law. The act divided tribal lands of Native Americans into individual allotments and encouraged the assimilation of Native Americans into American society. -
Period: to
Benjamin Harrison
From: North Bend, OH
Education: Miami University and Farmers' College
Military Service: Colonel of the 70th Indiana Volunteer Infantry
Offices Held: Senator, IN
Family Members: Married with one kid, and grandfather was the 9th President, and great-grandfather was a founding father.
Before/After: Before he was elected Indianapolis city attorney, formed a law office, elected reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court, after resumed law practice but stayed active in state and national politics. -
Event 1
The Berlin Conference on Samoan Affairs begins, with the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The conference will results with the development of a treaty, “The Final Act of the Berlin Conference on Samoan Affairs,” which states the neutrality and nominal independence of Samoa while creating a three-power protectorate over the islands. -
Event 2
Harrison travels New England and reveals plans for an expanded merchant marine and two-ocean Navy. Expansion of the Navy will be a unique feature of Harrison's presidency. -
Event 3
North and South Dakota join the Union as the thirty-ninth and fortieth states. North and South Dakota leads the nation in production of various crops. -
Event 4
Montana becomes the forty-first state. Montana memorializes the historic 1876 battle between the Sioux tribe and U.S. Army. -
Event 5
Washington is admitted as the forty-second state. The state's coastal location and harbors have contributed to its role as a leader in trade with Alaska, Canada and countries of the Pacific Rim. -
Period: to
Grover Cleveland
From: Caldwell, NJ
Education: Elementary education at Fayetteville Academy & Clinton Grammar School
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Governor of NY, Mayor of Buffalo
Family Members: Married and had 6 children.
Before/After: Served as mayor and governor of NY, then served as a trustee of Princeton University, and continued to voice his political views. -
Event 1
Cleveland withdraws the Hawaiian annexation treaty. Cleveland takes the advice of a special commissioner who reports that proponents of the annexation are sugar planters. -
Event 2
The Panic of 1893 begins after the National Cordage Company and the Philadelphia and Reading railroads go bankrupt. A decline in the NY stock market follows, known as “Industrial Black Friday.” The panic also distresses farm regions. -
Event 3
The “Army of the Commonwealth of Christ” arrives at Capitol Hill. Their arrival had been anticipated and feared, but the event proves anti-climactic. -
Event 4
Hawaii's provisional government declares the Republic of Hawaii. In its constitution, the body includes a supplying for possible American occupation. On August 8, the U.S. government recognizes the Republic of Hawaii. -
Event 5
The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Bill becomes law without Cleveland's signature. The law covers an income tax of 2% on personal income greater than $4,000 and on corporate income above operating expenses. -
Period: to
William McKinley
From: Niles, OH
Education: Allegheny College, Poland Seminary, Albany Law School, University of Mount Union
Military Service: Private in the Union Army
Offices Held: Governor of OH, Representative
Family Members: Married with 2 children.
Before/After: Governor, then decided on a career in law and began studying in the office of an attorney in Poland, Ohio. -
Event 1
The first shipment of gold discovered in Alaska, totaling $750,000, arrives in San Francisco. Gold was a driving force in the early development of Alaska bringing thousands of fortune seekers north. -
Event 2
President McKinley signs the Dingley Tariff Law, which raises custom duties by an average of 57%. -
Event 3
More than twenty workers are killed in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, after deputy sheriffs open fire on striking coal miners. In sympathy, coal miners various states walk off their jobs. The strike is settled afterwards, with Pennsylvania workers being given an 8 hour day. -
Event 4
The battleship Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor, killing 266 Americans. Following press coverage of the event points to Spanish sabotage as the cause of the disaster. -
Event 5
Congress passes the Volunteer Army Act, which allows the organization of the First Volunteer Cavalry, or Rough Riders, under the command of Colonel Leonard Wood and Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. -
Period: to
Theodore Roosevelt
From: New York, NY
Education: Harvard College, Friends Seminary
Military Service: NY National Guard, Colonel, 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry
Offices Held: VP, Governor of NY, Assistant Secretary of the Navy of the U.S., NY State Representative
Family Members: Married, and had 5 children.
Before/After: Governor, VP, then after ran for President on Progressive Ticket. -
Event 1
The United States and Great Britain sign the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, which the British grant control of an isthmian canal to the United States. -
Event 2
Congress extends the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers from the Philippines. -
Event 3
A coal-miners strike begins in Pennsylvania, during the course of which result in 140,000 workers leaving their job. -
Event 4
President Roosevelt signs the Newlands Reclamation Act, which authorizing federal irrigation projects. -
Event 5
Congress passes the Isthmian Canal Act, which ordered for the funding and building of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. -
Event 6
Congress passes the Philippine Government Act, making the Philippine Islands as an unorganized territory and all inhabitants as territorial citizens. -
Event 7
President Roosevelt signs a bill developing the Department of Commerce and Labor, its purpose is to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities. -
Event 8
Congress approves the Elkins Anti-Rebate Act, making it illegal for railroads to give rebates on their published freight rates. -
Event 9
The Supreme Court hands down a decision in Champion v. Ames, making federal police power superior to that of the states. -
Event 10
The United States negotiates the Hay-Buneau-Varilla Treaty with Panama to build the Panama Canal. The treaty gives the United States control of a ten-mile-wide canal zone in return for 10 million in gold plus a yearly fee of 250 thousand. -
Period: to
William Howard Taft
From: Cincinnati, OH
Education: University of Cincinnati College of Law, Yale College, Yale University, Woodward High School
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Chief Justice of the U.S., Provisional Governor of Cuba, U.S. Secretary of War, Governor-General of the Philippines, Civil governor of Philippine Islands, Solicitor General of the U.S.
Family: Married, 3 kids, one became a Senator.
Before/After: Lawyer, judge, solicitor general, governor, after he returned to Yale as a professor. -
Event 1
The Senate passes the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, authorizing Congress to collect income taxes. -
Event 2
Taft requests that China grant American investors a share of a loan that had been floated in Europe for the purposes of building a railroad in southern China. The Chinese grants the United States investment privileges. -
Events 3
Taft signs the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which states a Tariff Board and reduces the tariff. -
Event 4
Taft elects not to greet Theodore Roosevelt upon the latter's return from Africa, a move that widens the rift between the two men. -
Event 5
Taft signs the Postal Savings Bank Act, which lets one bank in each state, under federal supervision, to give two percent interest on accounts under $500. -
Period: to
Woodrow Wilson
From: Staunton, VA
Education: Johns Hopkins University, Princeton, University of Virginia, Davidson College.
Military Service: Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel
Offices Held: Governor, NJ
Family Members: Married, 2 children
Before/After: Member of Democratic Party, President of Princeton University, governor of NJ. After presidency he formed a law partnership with former secretary, Bainbridge, Colby. -
Event 1
The Ford Motor Company institutes the first automobile assembly line to produce the Model T. Company founder, Henry Ford, exceeds and pays his line workers $5 a day. -
Event 2
Gov. Hiram W. Johnson signs the Webb Alien Land-Holding Law, prohibiting Japanese ownership of land in California. -
Event 3
The Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is appointed, providing for the direct popular election of U.S. senators. -
Event 4
President Wilson signs the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act, reducing rates set by previous Republican administrations. -
Event 5
President Wilson explodes a charge to destroy the Gamboa Dike in Panama, leading to the completion of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, giving ships a safe passage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. -
Event 6
The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law, this act creates comprised of a Federal Reserve Board, 12 regional reserve banks, and the base of a smooth central banking system. -
Event 7
Congress passes The Smith-Lever Act, providing federal funds for agricultural instruction for farmers and state college students. -
Event 8
Germany declares war on Belgium, France, and Great Britain. The US declares its neutrality as the Great War begins. -
Event 9
President Wilson signs legislation establishing the Federal Trade Commission, which is designed to regulate business conglomeration. -
Event 10
President Wilson signs the Clayton Anti-trust Act, which prohibits exclusive sales contracts, predatory pricing, rebates, inter-corporate stock holdings, and interlocking directorates in corporations capitalized at $1 million or more in the same area of business. -
Period: to
Warren G. Harding
From: Blooming Grove, OH
Education: Ohio Central College
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Senator, OH, Lieutenant Governor, OH, Ohio State Senator
Family Members: Married with one child.
Before/After: Apart of Senate, lieutenant governor, after presidency he was on tour, but suffered from high blood pressure, shortly after he died from a heart attack. -
Event 1
The Thompson-Urrutia Treaty with Colombia is ratified. The treaty grants Colombia $25 million as compensation for the loss of Panama, which had gained its independence in 1903 with the help of the US. -
Event 2
Harding signs the Emergency Quota Act into law, limiting the number of immigrants from any given country to 3% of that nationality already in the United States by 1910. -
Event 3
Harding and Congress pass the Emergency Tariff Act. Raising tariffs, especially on farm products. -
Event 4
Harding signs the Budget and Accounting Act in order to better organize the federal government's accounts. The act creates the Bureau of the Budget and the General Accounting Office under the Treasury Department. -
Event 5
Harding signs a joint congressional resolution declaring the official end of war with Germany. -
Period: to
Calvin Coolidge
From: Plymouth Notch, Plymouth, VT
Education: Amherst College, St. Johnsbury Academy
Military Service: Colonel
Family Members: Married with 2 kids
Before/After: Apart of the Harding Administration, after his presidency he wrote his autobiography and articles for national magazines. -
Event 1
Governor J. C. Walton places Oklahoma under martial law in order to suppress the increasing terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan. -
Event 2
Providing twenty-year annuities for veterans at an overall cost of $2 billion, the Soldiers' Bonus Bill is passed by the House. -
Event 3
Representatives from Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador sign the Pact of Anapala with the US. The pact states to cut off aid to the rebel forces in Honduras threatening to overthrow President Rafael Gutierrez. -
Event 4
John T. Scopes, a public school teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, is arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. Scopes loses the trial and pays a $100 fine, the trial serves as a national debate between Darrow and Bryan, science and religion. -
Event 5
Coolidge signs the Revenue Act into law, the Act reduces income taxes as well as other duties. It helps the Republican Party weather the investigations of corruption under Harding, but it further weakens the already deteriorating national economy. -
Period: to
Herbert Hoover
From: West Branch, IA
Education: Stanford University, George Fox University
Military Service: Aided Americans stranded in Europe, established Commission for Relief in Belgium.
Offices Held: U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Director of U.S. Food Administration
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: Wealthy mining engineering, led wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium, director of the U.S. Food Administration, U.S. Secretary, after he authored works and was conservative in retirement. -
Event 1
New York City police raid the Birth Control Clinical Research Center, arresting two doctors and three nurses, and confiscating numerous records. Physicians and private citizens are angry by the incident. Later on, the case will be dismissed as a violation of a physician's right to practice medicine. -
Event 2
Hoover signs the Agricultural Marketing Act to revitalize the increasingly poor market for farm products. The act creates the Federal Farm Board, designed to promote the sale of agricultural products through cooperatives and stabilization corporations. -
Event 3
On “Black Thursday,” the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) experiences a collapse in stock prices as 13 million shares are sold. -
Event 4
A major bootlegging operation in Chicago is shut down with the arrest of 158 people from 31 organizations. These groups roughly distributed more than 7 million gallons of whiskey nationwide with an estimated worth of around $50 million. -
Event 5
Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, raising duties prohibitively high on many imports. The act causes other countries to follow America's lead by raising their tariffs. -
Period: to
Franklin D. Roosevelt
From: Hyde Park, NY
Education: Columbia Law School, Groton School, Harvard University & College, Columbia University
Military Service: Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Offices Held: Governor, NY, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, NY State Senator
Family Members: Married, 6 kids
Before/After: Lawyer -
Event 1
Congress passes the Reforestation Relief Act, which provides for the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC offers immediate work to some 250 thousands young men. -
Event 2
Congress passes the Tennessee Valley Act, establishing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), to control flooding in the Tennessee River Valley and provide for rural electrification in the 7 states comprising the region. -
Event 3
Congress passes the Federal Securities Act, requiring all issues of stocks and bonds to be registered and approved by the federal government. -
Event 4
FDR establishes the National Labor Board, it's created to enforce the right of organized labor to bargain collectively. -
Event 5
Congress passes the Gold Reserve Act, allowing the President to fix the value of the U.S. dollar at between 50 to 60 cents in terms of gold. -
Event 6
FDR signs the Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act, creating the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation, made to help farmers pay their mortgages by granting them easier terms of credit. -
Event 7
FDR establishes the Export-Import Bank to encourage commerce between the United States and foreign nations, especially Latin America. -
Event 8
The Senate creates a committee to investigate the extent to which manufacturers of munitions influenced and profited from U.S. involvement in the Great War. -
Event 9
FDR signs the Home Owners Loan Act, a bill created to promote home construction. -
Event 10
The United States and Cuba sign a treaty releasing Cuba from the Platt Amendment. The amendment had made Cuba a U.S. territory following the Spanish-American War. -
Event 11
FDR signs the Securities Exchange Act, creating the Securities Exchange Commission, The SEC will license stock exchanges and determine the legality of certain speculative market practices. -
Event 12
Congress will pass the Corporate Bankruptcy Act, allowing corporations facing bankruptcy to reorganize if two-thirds of its creditors agree. -
Period: to
Harry S. Truman
From: Lamar, MO
Education: UMKC School of Law, William Chrisman High School
Military Service: Field Artillery officer (WW2), Organized Reserve Corps
Offices Held: VP, Senator, MO
Family Members: Married, one kid
Before/After: Judge of Jackson County Court, Senator, after presidency he retired to Independence. -
Event 1
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. A second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. An estimated amount of 200 thousand Japanese (primarily civilians) were killed in the 2 bombings. This resulted in the surrendering of Empire of Japan on Sept. 2nd, WW2 was over. -
Event 2
Truman signs the Employment Act of 1946, placing increased responsibility for economic stability on the federal government. -
Event 3
Truman delivers his “Truman Doctrine” speech to Congress, asking for a $400 million appropriation to fight the spread of Communism in Greece and Turkey. -
Event 4
Truman creates the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. This order’s purpose was to ensure loyalty against communism in the federal government. -
Event 5
Officially titled the European Recovery Program, the package aids Western Europe in rebuilding their economies, and becomes known as the “Marshall Plan.” -
Event 6
The National Security Act passes Congress, creating the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Resources Board. -
Event 7
Truman proposes the “Fair Deal” in his State of the Union address. The goal of his "Fair Deal" was intended to address issues of economic inequality and social justice. -
Event 8
Truman signs the Housing Act, creating a national housing agency and giving federal aid to slum clearance programs and low-cost housing projects. -
Event 9
Truman announces that the United States will develop a hydrogen bomb. This bomb was said to be more effective than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. -
Event 10
Truman signs the Revenue Act of 1950, increasing corporation and income taxes. -
Period: to
Dwight D. Eisenhower
From: Denison, TX
Education: US Army War College, US Military Academy, Command and General Staff College
Military Service: Served with infantry at camps in Texas and Georgia, leader of tank corps, and temporary Lieutenant Colonel in National Army
Offices Held: None
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: Military governor, army chief of staff, president of Columbia University, supreme commander of NATO -
Event 1
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is created by joint congressional action. -
Event 2
Eisenhower signs the Submerged Lands Act, allowing states to submerge navigable lands within their borders to create waterways such as rivers. -
Event 3
Eisenhower signs the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, admitting 214 thousand more immigrants than permitted under existing immigration quotas. -
Event 4
Eisenhower signs the Wiley-Dander Seaway Act, creating jointly with Canada the St. Lawrence Seaway, lock and river system which allows for water travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes along the St. Lawrence river. -
Event 5
The Supreme Court announces a decision in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, ruling that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. -
Event 6
The first “White Citizens Council” is organized in Indianola, Mississippi to oppose the integration of schools and other public spaces and to promote white supremacy. -
Event 7
The Geneva Agreements of 1954 are signed, withdrawing French troops from the region and establishing a cease-fire and partition of Vietnam, ending the First Indochina War. -
Event 8
The United States and seven other nations sign the South East Asian Treaty Organization Pact aimed at preventing communism in South East Asia. -
Event 9
Chinese Communist Air Force raid the Chinese nationalist-controlled Tachen Islands and seize Ichiang Island. -
Event 10
Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act, providing federal funding for the construction of a system of interstate highways for transportation and national defense. -
Period: to
John F. Kennedy
From: Brookline, MA
Education: Harvard College/University, Princeton, London School of Economics
Military Service: Commanded PT boats in Pacific Theater
Offices Held: Senator, MA, Representative
Family Members: Married, 3 kids
Before/After: Represented working-class Boston District, junior senate, MA -
Event 1
Kennedy, issues an executive order creating a temporary Peace Corps. The Peace Corps helped promote a better understanding of other people from different part of the Americas. -
Event 2
A brigade of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed at Bahia de Cochinos. Their mission was to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro, but this invasion ended in a failure with some of the exiles killed and many captured by Castro's army. -
Event 3
East Germany began constructing a wall between the two sections of Berlin. The wall was created to prevent people from escaping to the West from East Berlin -
Event 4
Astronaut John Glenn aboard the Mercury craft Friendship 7 became the first American to orbit the earth. The US had equaled the Soviet Union in scientific accomplishment. -
Event 5
The Supreme Court rules in Gideon v. Wainwright that states must supply counsel in criminal cases for individuals who cannot afford it. -
Period: to
Lyndon B. Johnson
From: Stonewall, TX
Education: Texas State University, Georgetown University Law Center
Military Service: US Naval Reserve
Offices Held: VP, Senator, TX, Representative
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: HS teacher, Representative, Senator. After, he was preparing his memoirs, and overseeing development of his presidential library. -
Event 1
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, abolishing poll taxes. -
Event 2
Johnson announces his intention to create a Great Society by extending American prosperity to all its citizens in a speech at University of Michigan. -
Event 3
Johnson signs The Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing discrimination based on race or color, sex, religion or national origin. -
Event 4
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President power to pursue military action in Vietnam. -
Event 5
Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act, creating the Office of Economic Opportunity and beginning the War on Poverty. -
Period: to
Richard Nixon
From: Yorba Linda, CA
Education: Duke University of School Law, Whittier College
Military Service: Commander (WW2), US Navy
Offices Held: VP, Senator, CA, Representative, CA
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: Representative, senator, VP. After presidency he traveled and wrote books. -
Event 1
Following an attack on a U.S. plane , Nixon orders that reconnaissance flights off of North Korea be resumed. -
Event 2
The NASA Apollo 11 mission is a success with men landing on the moon. -
Event 3
Nixon states his desire to withdraw U.S. troops from southeast Asia and declares that individual nations will bear a larger responsibility for their own security. -
Event 4
Nixon declares that Latin America must be responsible for its own social and economic progress. -
Event 5
Nixon signs the Selective Service Reform bill aimed at calming conscription anxieties. This bill ensured that draftees are selected by a lottery system. -
Period: to
Gerald Ford
From: Omaha, NE
Education: Yale Law School, University of Michigan Law School, University of Michigan
Military Service: US Naval Reserve
Offices Held: VP, Representative
Family Members: Married, 4 kids
Before/After: Leader of Republican Party, VP. After presidency, he wrote a memoir, and still voiced his opinion. -
Event 1
On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford granted a “full, free, and absolute pardon” to former President Richard Nixon. The pardon angered many citizens, Ford's approval ratings dropped drastically. -
Event 2
Ford signs the Privacy Act of 1974, ensuring the right of Americans to individual privacy. -
Event 3
Ford calls for a temporary 5% tax hike, cuts in federal spending, and the creation of a voluntary inflation-fighting organization, named “Whip Inflation Now." -
Event 4
The Freedom of Information Act is passed. The act provides expanded access to government files and allows secrecy classifications to be challenged in court and justified by the appropriate federal authorities. -
Event 5
The Supreme Court rules on the Federal Election Campaign Act, stating that campaign spending limits violated the First Amendment. -
Period: to
Jimmy Carter
From: Plains, GA
Education: Union College, US Naval Academy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Southwestern State University
Military Service: Navy Reserve (lieutenant), submarine officer
Offices Held: Governor, GA, Senator, GA
Family Members: Married, 4 kids
Before/After: Senator, governor. After his presidency, he engaged in political and social projects, establishing the Carter Center, building his presidential library, teaching at Emory University in Atlanta. -
Event 1
Congress passes Emergency Natural Gas Act, authorizing the President to deregulate natural gas prices due to a shortage in supply. -
Event 2
Carter presents he plans to focus off anti-Communism and emphasizes support for fundamental human rights. This is important because it shows that Carter cares about the citizens. -
Event 3
Carter announces that the economy is in recession, with the inflation rates hitting ten percent and interest rates climbing to eighteen percent. -
Event 4
The U.S. Olympic Committee votes to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics, supporting Carter in protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. -
Event 5
Carter announces the failure of “Desert One,” the mission to rescue the Iranian-held hostages, and that several American military personnel had been killed. -
Period: to
Ronald Reagan
From: Tampico, IL
Education: Eureka College
Military Service: US Army Reserve, second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps, later, he became part of the Cavalry Regiment in California.
Offices Held: Governor, CA
Family Members: Married, 5 kids
Before/After: Conservative figure, governor, CA. After presidency, he organized his memoirs and supervised the creation of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library -
Event 1
Reagan orders the dismissal of 13,000 PATCO air traffic controllers out on strike, citing their violation of a federal law against industry strikes. -
Event 2
Reagan states that he will not deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe if the Soviet Union agrees to dismantle similar weapons already in place. -
Event 3
Reagan calls for “New Federalism” in his State of the Union address, advocating less federal spending and more state initiative to solve social and economic problems. -
Event 4
Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the combined Houses of Parliament, taking Britain's side in the Falkland Islands conflict with Argentina. -
Event 6
Reagan signs the Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act. The act's purpose was to reduce the federal budget deficit through a combination of tax increases, spending cuts, and tax reform measures. -
Event 5
Reagan signs the Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act. The act's purpose was to reduce the federal budget deficit through a combination of tax increases, spending cuts, and tax reform measures. -
Event 7
In his State of the Union address, Reagan calls for a freeze on domestic spending and increases in military outlays. -
Event 8
Reagan pushes development of the Strategic Defense Initiative , an attempt to create a high-technology anti-ballistic missile shield to protect the United States from nuclear attack. -
Event 9
Reagan signs the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction bill. The bill is supposed to be joint resolution increasing the statutory limit on the public debt. -
Event 10
The Iran-Contra affair is revealed when Regan states that between 10 million and 30 million had been diverted from Iranian arms sales and funneled to the Nicaraguan contras. -
Period: to
George H. W. Bush
From: Milton, MA
Education: Yale, Davenport College, Phillips Academy
Military Service: Pacific theater (pilot)
Offices Held: VP, U.S. Director of CI, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Representative, TX
Family Members: Married, 6 kids
Before/After: Ambassador, chairman, chief of Liaison Office, direction of CI. After presidency, he was still active in charity works, and speaker of political issues. -
Event 1
President Bush offers a program of special assistance for Poland, whose Communist Government agreed to negotiations which produce a plan for free elections. -
Event 2
President Bush signs into law the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. It offers $166 billion worth of aid to troubled savings and loans institutions and creates a new government body. -
Event 3
The Berlin Wall falls, marking the symbolic end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. -
Event 4
President Bush signs a new anti-drug law that provides more than $3 billion for expanded anti-drug programs, including treatment facilities, federal prison expansion, education, and law enforcement. -
Event 5
President Bush signs a budget law intended to reduce the federal budget by almost $500 billion over the next five years. The law includes $140 billion dollars in new taxes. -
Period: to
Bill Clinton
From: Hope, AR
Education: Yale Law School & University, Oxford, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Governor, AR, Attorney General, AR
Family Members: Married, 1 kid
Before/After: State Attorney General, Governor, chairman. After presidency, he had an active speaking schedule, and oversaw the creation of his presidential library in AR. -
Event 1
President Clinton signs the Family Medical Leave Act that requires companies to provide workers with up to three months of unpaid leave for family and medical emergencies. -
Event 2
Six people are killed and more than a thousand suffer injuries after a bomb planted under the World Trade Center in NYC explodes. The bomb marks the beginning of a string of threats against the United States made during the Clinton administration by both foreign and domestic terrorists. -
Event 3
The Senate confirms Janet Reno as US Attorney General, the first woman to serve in the position. This is is important because it shows equality. -
Event 4
The U.S. Navy attack Iraqi intelligence operations in Baghdad after learning that Iraqis had plotted to kill former President Bush during his April 1993 visit to Kuwait. This results in killing 8 people. -
Event 5
President Clinton signs the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. The legislation, lays out a plan to reduce the budget deficit by $496 billion through 1998, by spending cuts and tax increases. -
Event 6
President Clinton reveals a plan for universal health care that would fix what he called a “badly broken” system. Under his plan, all Americans would have high quality health care and would be able to choose their physicians. -
Event 7
President Clinton signs the Brady Act, which requires a potential handgun purchaser to wait five days while a background check is performed by law enforcement officers. -
Event 8
President Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement, eliminating nearly every trade barrier between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, creating the world's largest free trade zone. -
Event 9
President Clinton meets with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan. The talk results in Israel and Jordan agreeing to end nearly fifty years of official antagonism. -
Event 10
President Clinton sign the Violent Crime Control into law along with the Law Enforcement Act that includes provisions providing for the hiring of 100,000 more police and the expansion of the death penalty to cover more than 50 federal crimes. -
Period: to
George W. Bush
From: New Haven, CT
Education: Harvard Business School, Davenport College, Yale, Phillips Academy
Military Service: Texas Air National Guard (Vietnam War)
Offices Held: Governor, TX
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: Texas Air National Guard, co-owned Texas Rangers MLB, governor. After his presidency he worked on establishing the George W. Bush Presidential Center, and releasing his memoir. -
Event 1
President Bush decides to reinstate the ban on aid to international groups performing or counseling on abortion. -
Event 2
President Bush creates the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The new office will work to ease regulations on religious charities and promote grass-roots efforts to solve community issues such as aid to the poor and disadvantaged. -
Event 3
The Bush administration affirms its decision to abandon ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty signed by 180 countries to reduce global warming that set limits on industrial emissions. -
Event 4
President Bush signals a change in relations with China by officially pledging military support for Taiwan in the event of an attack by China. -
Event 5
The Enron Corporation files for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection, the largest bankruptcy case in American history. Discoveries reveal that Enron’s chief financial officer engaged in partnerships which allowed the company to hide half a billion dollars worth of debt. -
Event 6
Bush reveals a tax-cut plan of $674 billion over ten years. Bush says that plan will stimulate the U.S. economy, end the recession, and create jobs. But democrats dismiss the plan. -
Event 7
President Bush announces the U.S. intention to move against Iraq with its coalition of allies. Bush issues an ultimatum for military action, giving Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons forty-eight hours to leave Iraq. -
Event 8
Citing costs of the Iraq War, the Senate approves the reduction of Bush’s tax cut plan to $350 billion, less than half of the original amount. -
Event 9
The UN Security Council votes to lift sanctions on Iraq imposed since the 1991 Gulf War. The resolution gives the US and UK control of Iraq until it makes a legitimate government and authority to use Iraqi oil revenues for humanitarian aid and reconstruction. -
Event 10
Bush signs into law his $350 billion tax-cut package, the third-largest in history, in an effort to strengthen the U.S. economy and reverse a trend of increasing unemployment. -
Period: to
Barack Obama
From: Honolulu, HI
Education: Harvard Law School, Columbia University, Occidental College
Military Service: None
Offices Held: Senator, IL, member of IL senate
Family Members: Married, 2 kids
Before/After: Senator, IL, lawyer, university lecturer. After presidency, he developed his presidential library, active in democratic politics, and campaigning in elections. -
Event 1
Obama signs an executive order to close the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within one year. Guantánamo Bay is a detention center, and it's considered to be a national threat to the US are detained and questioned in controversial conditions. -
Event 2
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act become law. The bill makes it easier for people to challenge unequal pay complaints and is designed to help address the wage gap between men and women. -
Event 3
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act become law. The bill makes it easier for people to challenge unequal pay complaints and is designed to help address the wage gap between men and women. -
Event 4
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is signed into law by President Obama. The purpose of the act was to save and create jobs and to provide relief to those most affected by the economic crisis of 2008-2009. -
Event 5
Obama lifts a 22-year-old ban that restricts those with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States. This is important because it helps people who have HIV/AIDS stop being discriminated and excluded. -
Event 6
Hate Crimes Prevention Act becomes law to help jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute hate crimes more effectively. This is important it improves the Justice System's procedure, and criminal's get a fair sentence. -
Event 7
Obama announces the Volcker Rule, which looks to restrict U.S. banks from engaging in certain speculative investments that would not be in the best interest of the customer. This is important so the customer won't get ripped off, and can also improve the bank's business. -
Event 8
Obama signs an executive order to protect the rights of LGBT employees in the workforce. This doesn't include an exemption for religious beliefs, which means people cannot discriminate based on their religious preference. -
Event 9
The Child Care and Development Block Grant of 2014 is signed into law. This act provides grants to states so they can assist low-income families in finding child care for their children. -
Event 10
President Trump signs an executive order that denies entry into the United States for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and suspends the Refugee Admissions Policy for 120 days. -
Period: to
Donald Trump
From: New York, NY
Education: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham University, NY Military Academy, University of Pennsylvania
Military Service: None
Offices Held: President
Family Members: Married, 5 kids
Before/After: Real estate developer -
Event 1
Millions of people around the world participate in the Women’s March, the largest single-day march in US history, to protest the Trump administration and its policies. -
Event 2
President Trump decides to reinstate the “Mexico City Policy,” a ban on aid to international groups performing or counseling on abortion. -
Event 3
President Trump signs a revised travel ban to respond to legal challenges to the first travel ban. The new travel ban implements a travel ban from six Muslim majority countries and temporarily suspends the Refugee Admission Program. -
Event 4
President Trump signs an executive order that rolls back the Obama administration’s temporary ban on mining coal and a protection rule for streams. -
Event 5
President Trump signs $1.5 trillion tax bill into law. The bill overhauls the federal tax code, the bill cuts taxes for corporations and the wealthy while delivering only moderate cuts to most Americans.