Benjamin Harrison

He was elected in the year

1888, defeating Grover

Cleveland and occupying the

term between Grover

Cleveland’s two non-

consecutive presidencies. He

was also a distant relative of

the other Harrison – William

Henry Harrison. Fortunately,

Benjamin Harrison’s

presidency lasted much

longer!

William McKinley

His time in office included the

Spanish American War – and

resulted in much overseas

expansion and colonization.

The United States claimed

Puerto Rico, the Philippines,

and Guam after the war; the

nation also claimed the right to

build a naval base at

Guantanamo Bay in Cuba,

annexed Hawaii, and American

Samoa. Sadly, he too was

assassinated, by an anarchist.

Thomas JeffersonAlthough he was the creator of the Statute of Religious Freedom in Virginia, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the President of the United States; an accomplished architect, political philosopher, scientist, and writer; and the man who bought the Louisiana Territory, sent the Corps of Discovery and Lewis & Clark to explore it’ and double the size of the United States – despite all of this – his proudest accomplishment was that he founded the University of Virginia.

Andrew Jackson

He was the hero of the Seminole Wars in Florida and the leader of American forces at the Battle of New Orleans at the end (technically, after the end…) of the War of 1812. As President, he destroyed the National Bank, established the “Spoils System”, assured the Cherokee Nation of their fate by refusing to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in Cherokee Nation V. Georgia, and threatened to invade South Carolina after South Carolina threatened to secede over the “Tariff of Abominations”during the Nullification Crisis.

John Tyler

He was an afterthought during

the Election of 1840 – the “Tyler”

part of “Tippecanoe and Tyler,

too!” When William Henry

Harrison died, he took steps to

ensure that he would take over

the office of a President – a

procedure which, at the time,

was of questionable

Constitutionality. During his

time in office, the United States

officially annexed Texas – which

had been an independent

republic previously.

Millard Fillmore

When Zachary Taylor passed

away in 1850 Millard Fillmore

served out the remainder of

his term. He was the

President of the United States

when the Compromise of 1850

was passed. During his time

in office the United States

opened relations with the

Empire of Japan – forcing

them to sign the Treaty of

Kanagawa.

Chester Arthur

He became President upon

the

death of James A. Garfield by

assassination in 1881. The

most significant

accomplishment of his

Presidency was the passage of

the Pendleton Act in 1883.

Abraham Lincoln

Widely considered the greatest of all American Presidents, Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War. His Emancipation Proclamation freed all of the enslaved people of the South, and he insisted that in order for the nation to be reunited, Southern States would have to pass the 13th Amendment, banning slavery. His sense of compassion and his eloquence, as evidenced by the Gettysburg Address, helped Americans to survive the most troubling years in our History. He was assassinated in April of 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, just days after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, VA.

Ulysses S. GrantAlthough he is frequently condemned as a poor President due to the corruption and graft of his administration, Ulysses S. Grant was genuinely devoted to the cause of Civil Rights for African-Americans and Reconstruction. He continued to support Freedmen during the Reconstruction by funding the Freedman’s Bureau and keeping up the military occupation to the end of his time in office.

James Buchanan

He was a largely ineffective

President who served from

1857 to 1861. As the

sectional crisis and concern

over slavery turned violent in

“Bleeding Kansas” Buchanan

was unable to improve the

situation or even negotiate

compromise.

Rutherford B. HayesThe man who stole the Presidency from Samuel Tildon. He lost the popular vote in 1876, but when no candidate managed to win a majority of the Electoral College, he was placed in office thanks to the Compromise of 1876. He became President, but was forced to end the Reconstruction of the American South, thereby undoing most of the gains African-American citizens had made following the Civil War.

Theodore RooseveltHe became President when McKinley was assassinated, and was the youngest President in US History at the time. He was known as a trustbuster, for enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against companies like Standard Oil.After reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, he helped to pass both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. As a committed conservationist, he helped to establish the National Park System.

Ronald ReaganHe was President of the United States during the height of the Cold War, and once called the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire.” Yet, once Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR and pledged to improve relations with the West, Reagan joined Gorbachev in a partnership which reduced Soviet tyranny over Eastern Europe. In perhaps his most dramatic oration, Reagan, standing before the Berlin Wall, exclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” By 1989, the wall had crumbled.

Jimmy Carter

While this Democrat was

president from 1977 to 1981,

The United States was mired

in Economic Recession. He

opposed the Soviet Union’s

invasion of Afghanistan so

strongly, that the United

States boycotted the Moscow

Olympics in the year 1980.

He was also President when

Iranians held hundreds of

Americans hostage at the US

Embassy for 444 days.

Richard Nixon

This President was in office when

Neil Armstrong landed on the

moon. He opened diplomatic

relations with the People’s

Republic of China during his time

in office. Yet, he is the only

President in the history of the

United States of America to resign

from office. Had he not resigned,

he would likely have been

impeached and removed from

office for breaking in to the 1972

Democratic national headquarters

and lying about the criminal act.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

His “Great Society” reforms

like Medicaid, Medicare, and

Head Start were considered

magnificent accomplishments;

the Civil Rights Act of 1964

and the Voting Rights Act of

1965 were signed during his

Presidency, but his legacy was

damaged the Vietnam War.

Woodrow Wilson

“He Kept Us Out of War” was

this President’s campaign

slogan in the Election of 1916.

In April of 1917, he asked

Congress to declare war on

Germany to “Make the World

Safe for Democracy.” His

Fourteen Point Plan to restore

Europe after World War I was

adopted in the Treaty of

Versailles.

Dwight David Eisenhower

This Nebraskan and World War

II hero directed Operation

Overlord on D-Day in

Normandy, France prior to

becoming the President of the

United States. While he was

in office, he was caught lying

about U-2 spy planes missions

over the Soviet Union. He

also sent troops into Central

High School in Little Rock,

Arkansas to force the school

to integrate peacefully.

Warren G. Harding

He promised Americans a

“Return to Normalcy” after

World War I and the rise of

Radicalism left many

Americans upset and

disturbed. He was notoriously

corrupt, however, allowing the

Teapot Dome Scandal to

happen on his watch. He died

in office in 1923.

Herbert Hoover

He was the President of the

United States when the Stock

Market collapsed and the

Great Depression began, and

he was blamed for being

unsympathetic towards the

poor. Newspapers became

“Hoover” blankets, empty

pockets “Hoover” flags, and

communities of bums lived in

“Hoovervilles.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

He designed the AAA, the

CCC, the REA, the FDIC, and

many other New Deal

Programs. Re-Elected four

times, this man was the

longest serving President of

the United States. He was the

victim of polio at a young age,

and restricted to a wheelchair

for much of his life;

nevertheless he was

extremely active and a

charismatic leader.

Martin Van BurenHe was known as the “Little Magician” because he was such a capable political manager during the 1800s. He was Andrew Jackson’s campaign manager and best political advisor, and he ran for President successfully to succeed Jackson in office. After serving as president from 1837 to 1841, he was re-nominated to run for President in 1848 by the Free-Soil party, which was pledged to abolishing slavery.