US Presidents (1865-1975)

• Republican.
• President during the civil war.
• Passed the 13th Amendment which freed over 3 million slaves in the USA.
• Agreed to the Freedmen's Bureau which helped ex-slaves find employment and education.
• Believed in the 10% Plan - only 10% of a state's legislature had to agree to Union terms before being admitted back in - form of reconstruction.
• Assassinated in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth.

• Democrat, VP under Lincoln.
• Supported 50% Plan (Wade-Davis Bill) - wanted quick reconstruction.
• Black Codes - African Americans deemed unemployed could be forced to work for white employers; they were prevented from owning guns, getting an education, holding public meetings, and renting city properties.
• Civil Rights Bill 1866 - in February Johnson vetoed the bill to expand the Freedmen's Bureau, and the following March vetoed the Civil Rights Bill (designed to give minimum rights to African Americans). Congress passed both bills by overriding both vetoes - first time in US history.
• Command of the Army Act 1867 - President to issue all reconstruction order through the commander of the military.
• Tenure of Office Act 1867 - President cannot remove any officials without consent of the Senate.
• Military Reconstruction Act 1867 - divided the 10 southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment into 5 military districts.
• 14th Amendment 1868 - guaranteed citizenship to all those born/naturalised in the US (except Native Americans).
• Johnson was impeached after ignoring the Tenure of Office act and removing a Senator without consent. He was tried by the Senate (11 week trial) but they failed to convict by 1 vote. He was still impeached by the House in February 1868. Therefore, Johnson's reconstruction failed.

• Republican, won the 1896 election with 52% of the vote.
• Favoured reconstruction and rights for African Americans, but both his terms were plagued by scandal.
• New state governments had been established in the South; 20,000 troops spread across 5 military districts, but the governments were inefficient and corrupt - Grant wanted to change this. 
• 15th Amendment 1869 - guaranteed everyone (except women and Native Americans) the right to vote.
• Scandal: speculators James Fisk and Jay Gould attempted to manipulate the gold market, resulting in a short financial panic. Since Grant knew both men, his reputation suffered.
• Whiskey Ring Scandal 1875 - Orville Babcock (Grant's private secretary) was supposedly involved in a scheme involving distillers and other public officials trying to defraud the government of millions in liquor tax revenue.

• Republican.
• Presidency dominated by 2 main issues: civil service reform and the railroad strike.
• Civil Service Reform - Hayes wanted to award positions based off of an exam that all applicants would sit, and he appointed an advocate for reform (Carl Shurz) as Secretary of the Interior. Congress refused to outlaw the spoils system, so Hayes issued an order that forbade federal officeholders from having to make campaign contributions or participate in party politics.
• The 1877 Railroad Strike - major railroads had cut employees wages to make up for losses (panic on 1873) which led to strike. Hayes was prepared to sent in federal troops in fear of riots. Business leaders praised Hayes for establishing federal government support for industry but the strikers got no justice.

• Republican.
  
• He supported civil service reform and strengthened government authority over the US Customs House.
• He appointed Roscoe Conkling's rival (William Robertson) to the NYCH - Conkling fought this decision in the Senate, so the legislature decided to elect 2 men, and Robertson was one of them; Garfield won.
• He was shot in July 1881 by Charles Guiteau, who felt he was owed a patronage position by Garfield. The president passed in September, but his death greatly increased support for civil service reform.

• Republican; VP under Garfield, continued civil service reform.
  
• Pendleton Act 1882 - called for a merits system based on promotions within the service.
• He created the first Civil Service Commission which ended the spoils system.
• Tariff Act 1883 - reduced tariffs by an average of  1.47%.
• He signed the first federal immigration law that excluded paupers, crimimals anf the mentally ill.
• Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 - made Chinese immigration illegal for over 20 years and excluded them from US citizenship; Arthur initially vetoed the bill but then revised it to make it less harsh.

• Democrat, but was supported by the Mugwumps after they abandoned Republican James Blaine in 1884.
• He continued civil service reform and announced that he would fire any Republican not doing his job, and he refused to use the spoils system. Later in his term he began replacing Republicans with Democrats but was still a considerably successful president.
• Issues: he vetoed the Pensions Bill (which had been rejected by the Pensions Bureau - he trusted in their judgement) and the Texas Seed Bill in 1887 (which would have allowed Congress to appropriate $10,000 to purhcase seed for farmers in Texas, whose crops were ruined by drought).

• Republican, wanted better regulation of big business, fewer robber barons, controlled business and rights for labourers.
  
• 1902 - Roosevelt ordered the US Attorney-General to sue the Northern Securities Company for violating the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act - court ruled in his favour and the company was dissolved.
• After this, Roosevelt embarked on a further 44 anti-trust persecutions.
• Newlands Reclamation Act 1902 - allowed government to create investigation projects to make dry lands useful.
• Coal Strike 1902 - 150,000 Pennsylvania miners wanted better wages, fewer hours and trade union recognition. Roosevelt urged arbitration but when the owners refused he threatened to take control of the mines; after 3 months, a shorter day and higher wages were agreed to. 1st time federal government helped workers in a strike.
• 1903 Department of Commerce and Labour Act - created the office of commerce whihc collected data from any business dealing with interstate commerce - vital in identifying monopolies.
• 1904 election - Roosevelt spoke of a 'square deal' - balance betwene consumers, labour, businesses and environment.
• 1906 Hepburn Act - gave government the power to inspect railroad company books and lay down the maximum rates they could change - protected the public from exploitation.
• He created the United States Forest Service (USFS) - protects 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game reserves, 5 national parks and 18 national monuments. He saved a total of 230 million acres of public land during his presidency and created Yellowstone National Park.

• Republican.
  
• Initiated 80 anti-trust suits (2x as many as Roosevelt).
• Introduced an 8-hour day for government employees, mine safey legislation, income and legislation tax and direct election of Senators. He stuck to the limits of the constitution and the rights of Congress.
• But he lacked Roosevelt's political skills and couldn't control the Republicans, and he was opposed by Progressivists after removing conservationist Gifford Pinchot.
• 1909 - Payne-Aldrich Act did little to lower tariffs but Taft supported it.

On hearing of Taft's failures, Roosevelt tried to run again in 1911 but couldn't win the nomination as Taft controlled the party machine. Roosevelt created the Progressive party in 1912 to oppose Taft, splitting the Republican party so Woodrow Wilson won the election (Democrat).

• Democrat, but was very progressive in terms of foreign policy and measures in the US.
• Federal Reserve Act 1913 - created the 1st central bank; any banks part of the system kept 6% of their income in a federal bureau to safeguard against collapse, though for some banks this was a small amount.
• Underwood Tariff 1913 - reduced duties and led to the 16th Amendment.
• Federal Trade Commission 1914 - investigated corporations to stop unfair practices; administered approx. 400 cease-and-desist orders to illegally operating companies (though the definition of 'unfair' was unclear).
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act 1914 - made certain business practices illegal.
• Revenue Act 1916 - taxation of businesses; led to largest source of government revenue.
• Federal Child Labour Act 1916 - helped 2 million children under 16 who had no educatin, though it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1918.
• Adamson Act 1916 - 8 hour working day established for railroad workers. 
• BUT he didn't support trade unions and put segregationists in key government positions, depite making a speech in 1912 condemning segregation and promising to treat black and white people equally.
• He created the 14 Points as a basis for peace settlement after WWI and established the League of Nations as an international peacekeeping organisation, but failed to have the US join it because he had a stroke during campaigning and wouldn't accept compromise over it. 

Republican; called for a return to 'Normalcy' - won the largest popular vote ever; gave him control over the House of Representatives.

• Shepard-Towner Maternity Aid Act (1921) - gave states federal aid in building infant/maternity centres.
• Made several cuts to government spending; 'balancing the books'.
• Budgeting & Accounting Act (1921) - made departments present their budgets to the president for approval.
• Called in Congress for an increased federal government role in the economy and society of the US.
• Achieved his policy of Normalcy.

• He had 2 affairs made public - bad reputation.
• Made dubious appointments - Ohio Gang = Harding's friends who created corruption and embarassment.
• Had one of the most corrupt Cabinets ever - Head of the Veterans Bureau misappropriated $250 million.
• Teapot Dome Scandal.

Republican; began to clean American of disgrace by forcing the resignation of scandalous officials.

• He was a man of people; likeable and a good public speaker.
• He was seen as being honest, calm, confident and incorrutible.
• He favoured less government intervention and spending and liked business, low interest rates and taxation.

• But he had a low work rate - 'lazy' president.
• He may have suffered from depression after the death of his son in 1924.
• He wanted to do less than Harding had done.
• He refused to stand in 1928 due to health concerns.

Republican; became president immediately after the Wall Street Crash - had to deal with the Depression.

• Agricultural Marketing Act 1929 - set up a federal farm board to create cooperatives and help farmers.
  
• Grain Stabilisation Corporation - bought surplus producst from cooperatives to try and stabilise grain prices, but if failed due to a collapse in world grain prices.
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932 - gave power to lend up to $2 billion to rescue failing banks and insurance companies.
• Emergency Relief & Construction Act 1932 - gave federal assistance to the unemployed; states would declare unemployment and the government would lend up to $1.5 billion for public work schemes.
• Federal Home Loans Act 1932 - created the Federal Home Loans Bank - could lend up to 50% assistance to those unable to pay their mortgages.
• Hoover also delayed collection of debts from the Allies to prevent the depression spreading to Europe, and changed his laissez-faire attitude; leaving relief to individuals wasn't working.

• But he failed to establish a system of welfare relief, as the Constitution declared it state jurisdiction. Also his reputation suffered due to the Bonus Army Event; the Senate couldn't pay the veterans in 1932 so they marched on Washington; Hoover had the army remove the 21,000 veterans and their families from the shanty towns.
  

Democrat; promised change and spoke of a New Deal to help the common man: aimed for relief, recovery and reform. He was the only President to be elected 4 times, and he managed to restore confidence among the people after the WSC.

• Introduced the Fair Labour Standards Act 1938 - sorted wages and working hours, exists still today,
  
• Helped rural and agricultural America and smoothed out the economy.
• He created numerous Alphabet Agencies (e.g. AAA, FDIC, TVA, PWA, CWA, CCC, etc.)
• In 1939 he did his best to keep America out of WWII (though he favoured active US participation in the international community, but knew the American people wouldn't accept ths) - but he had no choice but to enter the US into war in 1941 after Pearl Harbour.
• By 1945, he had turned the US into a global superpower and a leading member of the UN.

• But his New Deals failed to completely cure the effects of the Great Depression. Many of his alphabet agencies were declared unconstitutional.
  
• By 1940, the unemployment rate remained high and the economy couldn't be jump-started.
• Alsl  the New Deals didn't ensure that the rights outlines in the Constitution were made avilable to African Americans.

Democrat; tried to continue FDR's work in the form of a 'Fair Deal'.

• Full Employment Bill 1945 - declared employment a right and reaquired the government to ensure jobs were available. This also increased benefits, included a minimum wage and a public works programme.
  
• 1948 Presidential election - he did a 30,000 mile tour of the US defending his policies; won the election by 2 million votes.
• 1949 - Fair Deal - he tried to introduce welfare measures: succeeded in raising the minimum wage and extending FDR's Social Security Act, and also passed an act to assist in slums clearance and provide housing for the poor/

• But he didn't help strikers; in April 1945, mine workers went on strike and in May so did rail workers. Truman annouced he would conscript railroad workers and have the army run the rails. He also wanted to introduce legislation to restrict strike action against the government.
  
• He failed in 1948 to pass many New Deal-type measures and was often blocked by Congress.

Republican; but was somewhat progressive and had many achievements as President.

• He continued most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programmes of his predecessors, despite a Democratic majority in Congress for most of his years in office.
  
• He strengthened social security programmes, increased the minimum wage and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
• 1956 Interstate Highway System - larges public works system in history; constructed 41,000 miles of road and employed thousands.
• He spent money completing the St. Lawrence Seaway (connected the Great Lakes with the Pacific).

• But he was criticised for being too conservative and not doing enough, and was accused of representing big business as his Cabinet was made up of millionaire businessmen.
  
• He also appeared to show little sympathy for civil rights and put segregationists in government positions; he felt that people's opinions couldn't be change so fighting for desegregation was an uphill struggle.

Democrat; created 'the New Frontier' and believed in political, social and economic reform.

• Civil rights: he spoke openly in support of civil rights, gave government jobs to African Americans, created the Commission on Equal Employment Opportunities (CEEO) and stood up to southern politicians. But the CEEO only helped those already in government jobs and did nothing to find employment for millions of African Americans, and JFK also tried to get MLK to call off his March on Washington in fear of it making the struggle greater in Congress.
• The economy: cut taxes, made $900 million available to bsinesses to create new jobs, increased government spending on the armed forces which created more jobs. But by 1963 4.5 million were still unemployed  (only 1 million fewer than 1960), and 2x as many African Americans were unemployed compared to whites.
• Healthcare & Poverty - increased minimum wage ($1 to $1.25), made $4.9mil available in loans to improve housing and clear slums, Social Security Act increased benefits for the elderly and unemployed, and he increased spending on research into mental illnesses and wanted to introduce a healthcare system: Medicare. But the increased minimum wage only helped those with jobs already and Congress rejected all proposals for Medicare.
• Education - he created the Peace Corps which was a huge success and wanted to introduce an education law to provide greater funding for schools. But Congress was dominated by Southern politicans who denied his efforts to provide funding and refused to support his plans.

Democrat; wanted to improve America through his 'Great Society' measures.

• Civil Rights - passed the Civil Rights Act 1964 (banned discrimination in public places, federally assisted programmes and employment), passed the Voting Rights Act 1965 (appointed agents to ensure proper voting procedures were carried out), and had the Supreme Court declare in 1967 that interracial marriages were legal.
• The economy - cut taxes, set up the Appalachian Recovery Programme and the Office of Economic Opportunity (to help the poor in inner cities and fund new education and community projects). But US involvement in Vietnam had a huge impact on the economy; cost $176 billion and weakened his 'Great Society'.
• Healthcare & Poverty - Medical Care Act provided Medicare for the old and Medicaid for the poor, the Model Cities Act continues JFK's policy of urban renewal by providing federal funds for slums clearance, the minimum wage increased ($1.25 to $1.40) and the Wilderness Protection Act saved 1.9 million acres of forest from industrial development. But unemployment increased and by 1970, 30% of African Americans lived in poverty still.
• Education - spent $1.5 billion on the Head Start Programme, passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which provided money to ensure education standards were kept equal, and created the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) which was a domestic peace corps programme.

Republican; was supported by Middle America and was limited in his domestic achievements.

• There was some improvement in civil rights; by 1971 there were 13 black Congressmen and 81 black mayors.
• He introduced some measures to help cope with economic problems; a 90-day wage freeze and a reduction in income tax, a Pay Board which kept wage increases down to 5.5% and a Price Commission which limited price increases to 2.5% and devalued the dollar against other currencies.
  
• Therefore he won the 1972 election due to a temporary boom in the economy and an improved situation in Vietnam; he had promised 'Peace With Honour' to end the war.

• But the Watergate Scandal led to his impeachment and removal from office; investigations revealed that Nixon had authorised many illegal activities, from campaign fraud and political espionage and sabotage to illegal wiretapping and a secret slush-fund in Mexico providing hush money for those involved in the burglary. He resigned on Augst 8th, 1974.
  
• The powers of the executive were greatly reduced after the scandal through th War Powers Act 1973, the Election Campaign Act 1974, the Privacy Act 1974 and the Congressional Budget Act 1974.