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Impeached
In 1868, just after the end of the Civil War, the House impeached President Andrew Johnson over issues related to how southern states would be reconstructed. -
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933 during the economic crisis known as the Great Depression. He took more leadership in steering the economy than any previous president by convincing Congress to create a vast number of programs known as the New Deal to improve the economy. As a result, the executive branch expanded to carry out those programs. Roosevelt enlarged the role of government in American life and left his successors the modern presidency. -
Power limit
During the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman took over the nation’s steel mills during a strike in order to prevent a disruption of steel production. In 1952 the Supreme Court declared Truman’s action unconstitutional because the president’s power to seize private property was not listed in Article II of the Constitution. -
Presedent Lyndon Johnson
In 1968 public dissatisfaction with President Lyndon Johnson’s conduct of the Vietnam War convinced him not to run for reelection. -
Bill Clinton
in 1993 President Bill Clinton proposed major changes to the nation’s health-care system. Various interest groups, including insurance companies and doctors, began to campaign against the president’s proposal. When public opinion turned against the plan, Congress decided not to act on Clinton’s proposal. When public opinion shifted during the Obama presidency, however, Congress passed a new health care law. -
After 9/11
Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush declared a "war on terrorism" and claimed significantly expanded powers to fight terrorism. Congress granted President Bush significant intelligence-gathering powers through the Patriot Act. His administration collected intelligence on people both outside and within the United States and responded to the terrorist attacks with military force.
