Presidents of Era (1860-1928)

James Buchanan

Mar 4, 1857

First president to send a transatlantic telegram: on August 16,1858, he exchanged greetings with Queen Victoria of Great Britain. He did not like slavery, but he believed the Constitution permitted it. Buchanan retired to Pennsylvania where he was not involved in public affairs. He supported Abraham Lincoln throughout the Civil War.

Abraham Licoln

Mar 4, 1861

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Freed all the slaves. He made the Emancipation Procaliamation.

Andrew Johnson

Apr 15, 1865

After Lincoln's death, President Johnson proceeded to reconstruct the former Confederate States while Congress was not in session in 1865.By the time Congress met in December 1865, most southern states were reconstructed, slavery was being abolished, but "black codes" to regulate the freedmen were beginning to appear. Speaking in the Middle West, Johnson faced hostile audiences.

Ulysses S. Grant

Mar 4, 1869

Late in the administration of Andrew Johnson, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant quarreled with the President and aligned himself with the Radical Republicans. When he was elected, the American people hoped for an end to turmoil. During his campaign for re-election in 1872, Grant was attacked by Liberal Republican reformers.

Rutherford B Hayes

Mar 5, 1877

He clashed with both parties over his insistence that paper money be convertible to gold coin in order to establish a single monetary value. When the independent judge was elected to office and left the bench, he was replaced on the commission with a Republican, so Hayes was given the election. When the House voted to repeal the Specie Act, Hayes vetoed them successfully; but the silver coinage became law over his veto.

James A Garfield

Mar 4, 1881

Garfield had been in office only two hundred days and had not yet begun to make a name for himself or create a legacy for his presidency, he was shot by Charles Guiteau. James Garfield was the fourth Chief Executive to die while serving his term. He became the second chief executive to ever be assassinated.

Chester A Arthur

Sep 20, 1881

Chester Arthur's greatest achievement as President was signing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act on January 16, 1883. This act was passed in response to the discovery that Post Office officials and stagecoach operators had come up with a plan to steal millions of dollars from the United States government. He also strengthened the United States Navy.

Benjamin Harrison

Mar 4, 1889

During his term, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act and called for the building of a two-ocean Navy of steel ships. Harrison called the first Pan American Union to develop unity and cooperation in all the Americas. He attempted to annex Hawaii and gain foreign bases for the Navy.

Grover Cleveland

Mar 4, 1893

Grover Cleveland

Mar 4, 1893

As President, Grover Cleveland exhibited a rare degree of courage, honesty, and concern for the public welfare. During his tenure, the government also retrieved over 80 million acres of the public domain in the west, challenging the predatory private interests that were gobbling up these lands. While in office, Cleveland fought an ongoing battle with elements of his own party interested in assigning offices as political favors.

William Mckinly

Mar 4, 1897

During McKinley's time in office, Hawaii was annexed. On April 25, 1898, war was declared against Spain. McKinley's time in office was the Godl Standard Act where by the U.S. was officially placed on the gold standard.

Theodore Roosevelt

Sep 14, 1901

William Howard Taft

Mar 4, 1909

Woodrow Wilson

Mar 4, 1913

Warren G Harding

Mar 4, 1921

Calvin Coolidge

Aug 3, 1923