THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
George Washington + Martha Dandridge
1st President
1789-1797
George Washington + Martha Dandridge
President Name
George Washington Number President 1st President
Terms Served 2 Terms Served
Dates Served 1789-1797
Party Federalist
State Represented Virginia
Married to / First Lady Martha Dandridge Washington
Born February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia
Died Died: December 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Virginia
Age George Washington would be 275 this year.
Biography
George Washington America’s revolutionary commander in chief, and the first president of USA (1789-1797), was born on Feb. 22, 1732 at Bridges Creek, later known as Wakefield in the Westmoreland Country, Va.George Washington (often spelt as Gorge Wasington) was born in a wealthy family and had a private education. Though he didn’t have any formal schooling, his early notebook suggest that he read military history, geography, agriculture, composition and also had some aptitude towards surveying and mathematics.His father Augustine Washington died when George was only eleven. Washington was appointed the official surveyor for Culpeper Co., in 1749. In 1752, Washington inherited the property of his half brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon, after his death. His experience in the frontier helped for his appointment as major in the Virginia militia, in December1752 at the age of 20.
Washington figured a very important role in the struggles preceding the outbreak of French and Indian wars in America. Commissioned as lieutenant colonel by Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia, Washington sent about 400 men to reinforce the post built at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, as per order of Dinwiddie. The post however was captured by French before he could reach it. Learning that French were approaching, Washington came back to the Great Meadows and built an entrenched camp named Fort Necessity.After suffering a defeat in the hands of Washington, the French cam back strongly and overwhelmed Washington at Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754. After surrendering, Washington departed to Virginia with remnants of his company.
Washington narrowly escaped death, while fighting gallantly as an aide to Edward Braddock, against French force at Fort Duquesne in 1755. He was appointed commander in chief of the Virginia militia to defend the frontier, after this debacle. He resigned his commission in 1758, after his election to the Virginia House of Burgesses (1759–74). Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a rich young widow with a large estate in 1759. This made him one of the wealthiest men in Virginia.
After the American Revolution broke out at Concord and Lexington, Washington was named (June 15, 1775) commander in chief of the Continental forces. He made a brilliant strategic move to occupy Dorchester Heights, and forced the British to evacuate Boston on Mar. 17, 1776. Part of his success can be attributed to his innovative hit and run tactics of guerilla warfare which foiled British armies who were used to close line-formation of warfare. His victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781 practically ended the war. He retired from the army in1783 and returned to Mount Vernon.
Washington maintained his presence in the controversy over the country's future. He along with other nationalists from Virginia was instrumental to bring about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. His attendance in the Constitutional Convention and support for the ratification of the constitution were important for its success in the state conventions in 1787 and 1788. On February4, 1789 George Washing was unanimously elected the first president of USA by all 69 presidential electors.
A natural leader, Washington had great difficulty in coping with an unruly new government. Eager to establish the new national executive above partisanship, he chose men from all factions for the administrative departments. He was re-elected as president in 1793.
In 1796, Washington announced his inability to run again and retired from his offices next year. When war with France seemed imminent (1798), he was offered command of the army. However, the war was averted. He died on Dec. 14, 1799, and was buried on his estate. The death of George Washington was mourned all over the world.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
John Adams
2nd President
1797-1801
John Adams Abigail Smith Adams Born
Number President 2nd President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1797 - 1801
Party Federalist
State Represented Massachuetts
Married to / First Lady Abigail Smith Adams Born
Born: October 30 1735 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Died Died: July 4, 1826 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Age John Adams would be 221 years old
Brilliant Mind and Passionate Patriot- John Adams
John Adams was born on 30th October, 1735, in Braintree, Massachusetts. John was named after his father, Deacon John Adams who was a deacon of the church and a role model in John Abraham’s life. Occupationally farmer, his father was also, at times, the town's tax collector, constable, selectman and lieutenant of the militia. Susanna Boylston Adams, John’s mother, remarried in 1766 to Lt. John Hall after death of John’s father on 1761.
Not so attentive in studies, John’s favorite subject in school was mathematics. His father wanted dearly that John does his graduation from Harvard and become a minister. With continuous encouragement from his father and under tutelage of Joseph Marsh, John's school work improved and he entered Harvard in 1751. He graduated in 1755 with Bachelor’s of Arts degree. Though Adams wanted to practice law after graduation, his first job was as a schoolmaster in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Adams was very eager to leave the life of a schoolmaster and wanted to practice law. He began to study law under James Putnam and was admitted to the bar in 1758.
On October 25, 1764, at the age of 28 John married Abigail Smith who was 19 that time. Abigail was John's best friend and wisest political advisor and found to be as politically astute as John. She was regarded as one of the early advocates of the women's liberation movement, and was the First Lady to live in the White House. She died on 28th October, 1818, just after the Adams' fifty-fourth anniversary.
In 1765, John Adams started publishing newspaper essays titled, "Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law." Adams emerged into politics as an opponent of the Stamp act. As a leader of the Revolutionary group, Adams opposed the measures taken by the British, while he was in Boston. He distinguished himself in the First Continental Congress in 1774.
In 2nd Continental Congress, though being moderate, he was a dynamic revolutionary. He suggested the name of George Washington for the post of commander in chief in order to unite Virginia more cohesively to bring about independence. He helped Jefferson to edit the Declaration of Independence. He was instrumental in ratifying it on 1776 after leading the debate.
John drafted the influential Massachusetts constitution in 1779 while he was commissioner to France and Holland. He also chaired several other committees during the American Revolution. Adams was among Adams along with other members compiled the Treaty of Paris (1783) to put an end to the Revolution of America. Congress appointed Adams as the first United States ambassador to Britain's Court of St. James from 1785 to 1788. In 1787, while in England Adams wrote the Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America which coincided with the creation of the US Constitution He also wrote Discourses on Davila, in 1790, in reaction to the French Revolution
Since Adams ran second to Washington in Electoral College balloting in both 1788 and 1792, he was chosen the Vice President and served throughout George Washington’s administration (1789-1797).
In 1796, Adams defeated Thomas Pinckney and Thomas Jefferson and became the president of America succeeding George Washington. The threat of war with France, debate over foreign policy and the limits of descent, dominated the politics of his administration. Though he was inclined to conservative policies, he tried to balance the partisan contest between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson and his regime was torn between these partisan wrangles.
His Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), forbidding criticism of the government, outraged many citizens. Adams sacrificed his popularity within his party to settle the "quasi-war" with France by the Convention of 1800.
Due to various unpopular war measures, Jefferson defeated Adams in his bid for reelection in 1800. Defeated for re-election by Jefferson, Adams retired from public life
Adams started living in Quincy after retirement from 1801. He issued thoughtful and well respected political statements and wrote and received several letters. He corresponded mainly with Jefferson.. They died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Thomas Jefferson
3rd President
1801-1809
Thomas Jefferson + Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
Number President 3rd President
Terms Served 2 consecutive Terms Served
Dates Served 1808-1809
Party Democratic-Republican
State Represented Virginia
Married to / First Lady Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
Born April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia
Died July 4, 1826 in Monticello in Virginia
Age Thomas Jefferson would be 265 years old
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of USA, was the third of eight siblings in Virginia. Jane Randolph was his mother who came from a family of high social standing. Her father, Isham Randolph was the captain of a ship and a planter. The father of Thomas Jefferson was Peter Jefferson who was a planter as well as surveyor. His ancestors were of English origin.
At the age of nine Thomas started going to a neighbouring school that was run by a Scottish minister. From that early age he began to learn Latin, Greek as well as French. Thomas lost his father when he was only 14 years old. He inherited 20 square km of land and many dozens of slaves. With time he settled here which later came to be known as Monticello. He continued his education at the school of another minister 19 km from his home. Here he came in touch with classical learning, science and history.
When 16, Thomas joined The College of William and Mary and graduated with high laurels in 1762. Although his stream was philosophy he also studied mathematics and the writings of Locke, Bacon and Newton. Jefferson referred to them as the three greatest individuals the world had ever seen.
Playing the violin was another hobby of Thomas. Curious in all fields of knowledge he often studied for fifteen hours in a day. While in college he joined a secret organization known as the Flat Hat Club. Jefferson frequented the communal meals in the hall, regularly attended prayers at the chapel and was frequently invited to lavish parties hosted by the Governor. Here he played the violin and acquired a taste for wines at an early age. After graduating Thomas Jefferson went on to study law and came to be admitted in 1767 to the Virginia bar.
Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson – a widow. They had six children.
Thomas Jefferson was tall with freckles and sandy hair. He was eloquent and a forceful correspondent. – although he was no orator. At the age of 33 he drafted the Declaration of Independence. In 1786 he also drafted anther bill trying to establish freedom of religion. It became law in 1786.
Jefferson followed Benjamin Franklin to be minister in France in 1785. Here he came to sympathize with the French Revolution. This led to a clash with the Secretary of State, Hamilton and Jefferson resigned in 1793. Sharp differences led to the formation of two parties – the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Jefferson became leader of the Republicans and started to attack the policy of the Federalists. He opposed centralized government and was for the rights of the states.
As President Thomas Jefferson he cut down drastically expenses in the armed forces, did away with whisky tax and yet managed to bring down the national debt and send troops to put down the Barbary pirates who were disturbing American commerce in the Mediterranean. He tried hard, during his second term as President to keep the nation out of the Napoleonic wars although both England and France interfered with the neutral rights of American vessels. An embargo on American ships made him highly unpopular.
He retired to his home in Monticello to mull over great designs of setting up a University in Virginia in 1819. He lifted his mind from the mundane and moved around in a world of knowledge. The opening of the university with selective courses was a dream come true for Thomas Jefferson. It was the largest project in North America at that time and the notable fact was that it was built round a library and not the church. No chapel was there in the original plan. He invited scholars from abroad and one of them was Edgar Allan Poe.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
James Madison
4th President
1809-1817
James Madison + Dolley Payne Todd Madison
Number President 4th President
Terms Served 2 consecutive terms served
Dates Served 1809-1817
Party Democratic-Republican
State Represented Virginia
Married to / First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison
Born March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, King George, Virginia 2342
Died June 28, 1836 in Montpelier in Virginia
Age James Madison would be 257 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
James Madison was the fourth President of USA 1809-1817 and one of the founding fathers of the country.
Born in Port Conway, King George, Virginia, Madison’s childhood was spent in Orange County in Virginia. He was the eldest among a dozen siblings of whom only seven survived. His father was Colonel James Madison Sr. and his mother, Eleanor Rose Conway. Both were owners of slaves and prosperous tobacco planters.
He belonged to the Church of England – this being the state religion of Virginia at that time. He attended Princeton what was then called the College of New Jersey. He was a student of history as well as government or political science. He read law with great interest and was conversant with its intricacies. Madison was ‘Princeton’s first graduate student.’
He was married to Dolley Payne Todd Madison who was comely and attractive. She was 17 years younger to him. They did not have any children. She was her husband’s political ally and adviser and the toast of Washington.
Madison was the shortest and lightest President with a height of 5’4” and a weight of 100 Lbs. But in those days the average American was not tall like today.
James Madison was instrumental in the shaping of the Virginia Constitution and was a leader of the Assembly. H took active part in debates in Philadelphia. Madison is often referred to as the ‘father of the Constitution’. His Federalist Essays won him laurels. In the Congress he was the architect of the Bill of Rights and initiated the revenue legislation for the first time.
He opposed financial steps that would give northern financiers an edge over others. Out of this he gave leadership to the Jeffersonian or Republican party. When he was Secretary of State to Jefferson he protested that Britain and France contravened international laws by seizing American ships. The Embargo Act of 1807 made him unpopular for causing a depression without making the hostile nations change their stand. He was elected President in 1808. The act was repealed before he took over charge.
On June 1812 circumstances compelled Madison to declare war against France, then under Napoleon. The young nation was not prepared to stand up to the beating. The British entered Washington setting fire to the White House and Capitol. But General Andrew Jackson turned the tide at New Orleans. The Federalists who had opposed the war now were to all practical purposes wiped out.
When Madison retired at the age of 65 to Montpelier to his country estates in Orange County he used to speak for the perpetuation of the United States and against state rights that were disruptive in nature. Madison had suffered financially from his plantation and this had left him facing increasing debts. Together with this he began to breakdown mentally and physically. In 1829 when he was 78, Madison was chosen as representative to the Constitutional Convention at Richmond for revising the Virginia Constitution. This was his last active appearance.
Madison was known as The Great Legislator and tried to give proportionate representation to all the states. The problem about the slaves was his undoing during the last years. He was ignored by the new leaders of a new America.
James Madison left behind a rich legacy with many towns, institutions, cities and rivers being named after him. Even ships were christened James Madison. Two vice presidents died while he was president – a record of sorts.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
James Monroe
5th President
1817-1825
James Monroe + Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Number President 5th President
Terms Served 2 Terms Served
Dates Served 1817-1825
Party Democratic-Republican
State Represented Virginia
Married to / First Lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Born April 28th, 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia
Died July 4, 1831 in New York, New York
Age James Monroe would be 250 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
James Monroe was the fifth President of USA from 1817 to 1825. His father Spence Monroe was a woodworker as well as tobacco farmer. His mother, Elizabeth Jones Monroe had considerable landed property but not much fluid cash.
James was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He too, like his parents owned many slaves. His schooling was in Campbell town Academy and he went too College of William and Mary – both being in Virginia.
After graduating in 1776 James Monroe joined the Continental Army where he got injured. After his stint at military service he practiced law in Fredricksburg, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Kortright in 1786 in New York. He was tall and proportionate in appearance – plain and conservative in his dress style. His manner was always quiet and dignified. There was an honest expression on his face that immediately drew attention to his sincerity.
When young, James Monroe joined the anti-Federalists at the Virginia Convention where the Constitution was ratified. He advocated the policies of Jefferson and became US Senator in 1790. During 1794 to 1796 as Minister to France he was passionately sympathetic towards the French cause. Later with the assistance of Robert R Livingston he was instrumental in negotiating Louisiana Purchase.
Monroe was ambitious and energetic and this won for him the support of President Madison. He was the Republican choice for the 1816 run for Presidency. With negligible opposition from the Federalists he won re-election in 1820. His tenure as President was marked by unique decisions. His cabinet consisted of Southerner John C. Calhoun (Secretary of War) as well as Northerner John Quincy Adams (Secretary of State). He wanted to include Henry Clay, an exceptional Westerner. The latter refused.
Monroe’s period is referred to as an age of good feelings as he visited Boston. But unfortunately the halcyon days did not last. Nevertheless he remained popular because of his unswerving faith in nationalist policies. Ugly fissures appeared accompanied by economic depression.
The residents of Missouri Territory were unhappy when in 1819 their request to be included in the Union as a slave state was turned down. A bitter debate for eradication of slavery in Missouri dragged on for two years before the passing of an amended bill. Missouri was coupled with Maine as a free slave state. Slavery was banned north and west of Missouri for all times to come.
In foreign affairs the famous Monroe Doctrine bears his stamp. At that time there was the threat that Spain would try to get European allies to win back former colonies. Only after cessation of Florida in 1821 did Monroe come out with firmness. He did not give recognition to the sister republics until the Congress voted for setting up of diplomatic missions, in 1822.
The situation was grave with Britain with her powerful navy pitched in for re-conquest of Latin America. Ex-presidents Jefferson and Madison pressurized Monroe but he firmly stood his ground. He even warned Russia not to come from the Pacific and made it quite clear that they were no longer colonies of European powers.
When Monroe’s wife Elizabeth died he moved to New York to the house of his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur. Her marriage to Samuel Gouverneur had been the first White House wedding. James Monroe succumbed to tuberculosis and heart disease on 4th of July 1831 – he being the third president to die on that famous date. Originally buried in New York his body was re-interred to the President’s Circle at Richmond, Virginia.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
John Quiency Adams
6th President
1825-1829
John Quiency Adams + Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams
Number President 6th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1825-1829
Party Democratic-Republican
State Represented Massachussets
Married to / First Lady Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams
Born July 11, 1767 in Braintree, Massachusetts
Died February 23, 1848, after collapsing on the floor of the House two days earlier.
Age John Quincy Adams would be 241 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
John Quincy Adams was the first president of America who was also the son of another president and he paralleled his illustrious father in many areas like his career, viewpoints and temperament.
John Quincy Adams was born in 1767, in a place called Braintree, Massachusetts. Above his family farm, from the top of Penn’s Hill, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was the secretary of the state and during his term he became a diligent diarist and a skillful linguist.
He became a lawyer after he graduated from the Harvard College. When he was 26, he was selected as the Minister of Netherlands and promoted to Berlin Legation. He was elected to the Senate of the United States in the year 1802 and appointed as the Minister to Russia by President Madison in the year 1808.
Under President Monroe, John Quincy Adams was on the great Secretaries of State in America. Some of his work includes arranging joint occupation of Oregon country, getting the cession of the state of Florida from Spain and formulating the Monroe Doctrine with the President.
According to the political traditions of the early 1800s, the Secretary of the State was deemed to be to the heir to the Presidency. At that time, the single existing party, the Republicans was dividing internally into the sectionalism and the factionalism. Both the parts put up their own candidates for the presidency. John Quincy Adams, candidate from the North, was behind Gen. A. Jackson in both electoral and popular voting. However, he received more votes than W. H. Crawford and Henry. Clay.
No Candidates was having a clear majority of votes through election making the election to be decided among the first three in the House of Representatives. Henry. Clay had propaganda similar to Adams and supported him tilting the needle to Adams favor. Clay was appointed as the Secretary of the State after Adams became President. Jackson charged them of corrupt bargain and began their campaign immediately on the issue for the next term in 1828.
Adams was aware that he would face resentment in Congress. Nevertheless, he proclaimed a brilliant national program in his first Annual Message. He suggested that the Fed Government should develop a network of canals and highways. Using funds from the sale of public lands, the public domain should be conserved and developed. In 1828, the project for the C & 0 Canal (185 miles in length) was started.
He also proposed the development of science and art in the United States by establishing a national university, financing scientific expeditions and erecting an observatory. However, his critics quoted such steps transcended limitations in the constitution.In the elections of 1828, Adams was charged with public plunder and corruption by Jackson and his supporters, making it hard for Adams to bear. He was defeated and returned to Massachusetts where he spent the rest of his life at his farm enjoying his books.
The Plymouth district, unexpectedly elected Adams to House of Representatives in 1830 and from there on, he served as a commanding leader for the rest of his life. Above all, Adams fought for more powers for the civil liberties.
In 1848, Adams suffered a stroke at his house and two days later, he died. He was buried at the First Parish Church in Quincy alongside his mother, father and wife. Till the end, the eloquent man fought for what he felt was right.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Andrew Jackson
7th President
1829-1837
Andrew Jackson + Rachel Donelson Jackson
Number President 7th President
Terms Served 2 Terms Served
Dates Served 1829-1837
Party Democratic- Republican
State Represented Tennessee
Married to / First Lady Rachel Donelson Jackson
Born March 15, 1767 in Waxhaw, South Carolina.
Died June 8, 1845 at the Hermitage near Nashville, Tennessee.
Age Andrew Jackson would be 241 years old this year
BIOGRAPHy
Andrew Jackson was elected by popular voting, more nearly than any president before. He acted as the direct representative of common man as the president of his country.
Andrew Jackson was born in a backwoods settlement located in Carolinas in the year 1767. The education received by him was irregular. But for 2 years in his late teens, he studied law and became a brilliant lawyer at that young age in Tennessee.
Jackson was fierce when it came to his honor. He engaged in more than a few brawls and fought a number of duels mainly for the honor of his wife Rachel. In one of this duel, he even killed the other man who had cast an unjustified disgrace on his wife.
Andrew Jackson had sufficie nt wealth to build a mansion and buy slaves. His mansion was called the Hermitage and was located near Nashville. He was the first man from Tennessee who was elected to the House of Representatives. He also served in the senate for a small period of time.
In the war of 1812, he was ranked a major general and became a hero when he defeated British at the New Orleans.
Jackson got the highest total of votes in the election of 1824, although he did not become the president then. The elections in 1829 was won easily by him and in his first annual message to the congress, he suggested removal of the Electoral College. He also tried to introduce democracy at the Federal offices.
One can say that the path taken by Jackson was a mild one. He criticized the officeholders where people seemed to have the benefit of life tenure without much work. He believed that the duties in the Government can be plain and simple and the work in the office should be given to people who deserve it.
Since the politics of the United States was polarized around Jackson and his opponents, two parties were formed from the Republican Party – the Democrats, lead by Jackson and the Whigs, lead by his opponents.
Daniel Webster and Henry Clay were among the popular leaders in Jackson’s opposition and proclaimed themselves as the defender of the popular liberties. Cartoonist portrayed Jackson as King Andrew I.
The reason behind the accusations lied in the fact that Jackson was the first president who did not rely on the Congress for making policies. Instead he used his veto power to assume command.
The Second Bank of the United States was a Private company, around which the greatest party battle in American politics was surrounded. The bank had a government-sponsored monopoly over many areas and Jackson was against it. Jackson’s hostility towards the bank made the Bank use all it powers against him.
Webster and Clay led the fight for re-chartering the bank in the Congress as attorneys. Jackson told Martin Van Buren , “The bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!” He charged the Bank with undue privileges and vetoed the re-charted bill.
Jackson’s views were accepted by the people of America and he won more than 50 percent of votes in the elections of 1832, which was more than 5 times than Henry Clay.A head-on challenge between John C. Calhoun and Andrew Jackson took place when the former tried to get rid of a high protective tariff on them.
When South Carolina went on to nullify their tariff, Jackson sent armed forces to Charleston and threatened Calhoun privately. Violence looked inevitable, but Clay negotiated a compromise between the two parties and tariffs were lowered and idea of nullification was dropped.When the Senate rejected the nomination of his favorite Martin Van Buren as the Minister of England, Jackson said, “By the Eternal! I'll smash them!" And he did. Van Buren became the Vice President and became the President when Jackson retired.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Martin Van Buren
8th President
1837-1841
Number President 8th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1837-1841
Party Democratic-Republican
State Represented New York
Married to / First Lady Hannah Hoes Van Buren
Born December 5, 1782 in Columbia, New York
Died July 24, 1862 in New York
Age Martin Van Buren would be 226 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Martin Van Buren was trim and erect, only about 5 feet and 6 inches in height, and dressed meticulously. His appearance was impeccable which contradicted his humble background and amiability. He was born in 1782, to a farmer and tavern-keeper, in Kinderhook, New York.
He became a lawyer at a young age and soon was involved in New York politics. He became the leader of the Albany Regency which was an effective organization in New York Politics. Although, he astutely gave awards and office positions to bring in votes but he was faithful to his duties. In 1821, Van Buren was elected to the United States Senate.
By the year 1827, Van Buren became a power northern leader in alliance with Andrew Jackson. He was appointed as the Secretary of the State by Andrew Jackson soon after. Van Buren became the most trusted advisor to President Jackson and was referred as, “a true man with no guile” by the president.
Calhoun, a Presidential candidate’s differences with President Jackson caused a serious rift in the Cabinet. Van Buren sought a way out of the serious problem: he and the Secretary of the War Eaton would resign so that the Calhoun men also resign. Jackson then appointed a new cabinet and wanted to reward Van Buren by appointing him as the Minister to the Great Britain. However, the Senate voted against this decision, infuriating Jackson.
Van Buren became the Vice President in 1832 on the Jacksonian ticket and was elected as the president of America in 1836.
Van Buren’s inaugural Address was devoted to a discussion on the American experiment to be an illustration to the rest of the world. The country was prospering, however, less than three months later the 1837’s panic disturbed the prosperity.
Basically, the trouble was cyclical economy of “boom and bust” in the 19th century, but some of Andrew Jackson’s moves made the situation a little worse. The Second Bank’s destruction caused widespread inflationary practices of other banks causing wild speculation in land based on east credit from the banks.
The panic began in 1837 and hundreds of businesses and banks failed. Thousand of citizens lost their land and the depression was the worst yet in the history of the United States. Van Buren’s remedial actions that were based on the deflationary policies of Jackson were only making the depression worse.
Van Buren declared that the panic was caused by the overexpansion of credit and recklessness in business. He devoted himself to maintain the solvency of the Government. He was against the creation of a new Bank of United States. He also opposed to the idea of placing Government funds in the state banks.
Van Buren supported free trade and lower tariffs, and this helped him to maintain support from the south for the Democratic Party. He also succeeded in creating a system of bonds to handle the national debt.
He was inclined to oppose the expansion of slavery and blocked the annexation of Texas as it would have added to slave territory. He was defeated by the Whigs in 1840 and was an unsuccessful candidate for presidential elections in 1848. He died in the year 1862.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
William Henry Harrison
9th President
1841
William Henry Harrison +Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
Number President 9th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served (Died in Office)
Dates Served 1841 Party Whig
State Represented Ohio
Married to / First Lady Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
Born February 9, 1773 in Charles City County, Virginia
Died April 4, 1841. He died in Washington D.C. of pneumonia a month after taking office. He was the first president to die in office.
Age William Henry Harrison would be 235 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
A Democratic newspaper gibed, “Give him a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of two thousand a year on him, and my word for it, he will sit ... by the side of a 'sea coal' fire, and study moral philosophy.” This comment was the reason President William Henry Harrison was put as an electoral candidate. He was a simple Indian Fighter, lived in a log cabin, drank cider and was very different from the champagne sipping, aristocratic, Van Buren.
Harrison was the youngest of the seven children of Elizabeth Bassett and Harrison V. His family was prominent at the Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County Virginia and also politically active. His father, a Virginia planted served as a member to the Continental Congress and one of the people to sign the declaration of Independence in 1776.
Harrison studied history and classics at the Hampden-Sydney College and medicine in Richmond. In the year 1791, he switched interests and obtained a commission as a member of the First Infantry in the Regular Army and went to Northwest where most of his days were spent.
Harrison served to the General “Mad Anthony” in the campaign against the Indians in the battle of Fallen Timbers. This battle was the gateway to most of the areas in Ohio for settlement. He resigned from the army in 1798 and became the Secretary of Northwest Territory. He was the first delegate to Congress from the area and obtained the legislation which divided the Territory into the Indiana and the Northwest territories. He became the Governor of Indiana Territory in 1801 and served there for 12 years.
Harrison became the candidate from the Northern Whig party in the elections of 1836, but lost to Martin Van Buren who had the support of Andrew Jackson. In 1840, he faced Van Buren again and the panic of 1837 helped him win the elections and become the President.
Harrison was ridiculed in the Democrat’s election campaign as was cast as a out-of-touch old man who would not be interested in the country’s administration and rather sit in the log cabin, drinking hard cider. The strategy backfired and the Harrison campaign was filled with posters of Hard Cider bottles and log cabins.
The election results were heavily in favor of Harrison as they call it, it was a landslide victory against Martin Van Buren. When Harrison came to Washington, he was focused on projecting himself as the hero of Tippecanoe. His oath was on an extremely wet and cold day and the speech the longest inaugural address comprising of 8,444 words and taking nearly 2 hours.
He then rode on the streets for the inaugural parade and the carelessness lead to development of Pneumonia and Pleurisy. He wanted to rest in the White House, but never found a quiet room as he was always approached for one favor or another.
Harrison’s only official act was calling Congress for a special session on May 31, 1841. The stress and volume of people and interviews further weakened the situation of the already sick Harrison. he doctors tried everything that was possible at that time, but the condition just worsened and Harrison died a month later on April 4, 1841 in his office. His Presidency term the shortest in American Politics – only thirty days, twelve hours and thirty minutes.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
John Tyler
10th President
1841-1845
John Tyler + Letitia Christian Tyler and to Julia Gardiner Tyler
Number President 10th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1841-1845
Party Whig
State Represented Virginia
Married to / First Lady Letitia Christian Tyler and to Julia Gardiner Tyler
Born March 29, 1790 in Charles City County, Virginia
Died January 18, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia
Age John Tyler would be 218 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
John Tyler was the first Vice President who was elevated to the President’s office because of the death of his predecessor. For this reason, he was also called “His Accidency” by his critics.
Tyler was born and brought up in Virginia. The importance of constitution was imbibed into him from his childhood and this conviction never left him. He studied law at the College of William and Mary.
John Tyler served in the House of Representatives for 5 years from 1816 to 1821. Tyler voted against a large portion of nationalist legislation and also opposed the Missouri Compromise. After leaving the House of Representatives, he became the Governor of Virginia. As a Senator, he supported Jackson for president, but soon joined the Whig party formed by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay which opposed Jackson.
Tyler was nominated as the Vice President from the Whig Part in 1840. The election campaign slogan of “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” is one of the most famous slogans in American politics along with “Log Cabins and Hard Cider” which was used for Harrison in the same year. Upon Harrison death, Tyler became the new American President.
He took the presidential oath on April 6th and both the house and Senate passed resolution which recognized Tyler as the President. He also delivered Inaugural Address, making his entrance more formal.
Clay’s plans were not to be assumed by Tyler and Clay’s bill was vetoed by Tyler which was to form a National Bank with branches in a number of states. The consequence, Tyler was expelled from the Whig Party and all but the Secretary of the State resigned from the cabinet.
Another veto against a tariff bill caused the first impeachment resolution to be passed against a President. The impeachment resolution that was brought in the House of Representatives was headed by John Quincy Adams and the reason stated was the misuse of the president’s veto power. However, the resolution failed.
In spite of the large number of differences between President Tyler and the Whig part, a lot of positive legislations were enacted during the term. The “Log-Cabin” bill was passed that enabled a settler to assert ownership over 160 acres of land before the land was made public and the settler had to pay 1.25 US$ for it later.Tyler signed a tariff bill in 1842 to protect the northern manufacturers. In 1845, Texas was annexed the Canadian boundary dispute that rose as a result of the Webster-Ashburton treaty was settled.
The administration path followed by Tyler strengthened the Presidency. However, it also led to an increase in the sectional cleavage which later caused the civil war. The original Whig cabinet was replaced by southern conservatives by the end of Tyler’s term. Calhoun became the Secretary of State in 1844 and the cabinet became more committed to the democratic party which was supporting the protection of states’ rights, slavery and planter interests. Whigs became the supporters of farming and northern business interests.
The final year of Tyler’s term was stained by an accident in which two cabinet members were killed.
When first southern states became independent in 1861, Tyler wanted a compromise; failing, the Southern Confederacy was created. Tyler died in 1862 as a member of the Confederate House of Representatives.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
James Polk
11th President
1845-1849
James Polk + Sarah Childress Polk
Number President 11th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1845-1849
Party Democrat State Represented
Tennessee Married to / First Lady Sarah Childress Polk
Born November 2, 1795 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Died June 15, 1849 in Nashville, Tennessee
Age James Polk would be 213 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
James Knox was known for being a man who never swerved from his principles. Under his tutelage the boundaries of USA extended by more than a million square miles to include regions across Texas, Mexico, California and Oregon. He believed that USA was entitled to reign over as much land as it could acquire on the continent.
Polk was born in his family’s farm in North Carolina. At the tender age of ten he moved along with his parents in a wagon to build a plantation in the wild regions of Tennessee. The hardships permanently damaged his health. But the family greatly prospered by acquiring acres and acres of rich land and over 50 slaves. Polk joined a Presbyterian school when he was 18 and continued to join University of North Carolina. He studied law. In 1825 he was elected to the US House of representatives and continued to serve six terms.
In 1824 he married Sarah Childress of Tennessee and she came to be his right hand and asset. She was rich and educated – the perfect wife, entertaining and mixing easily with many. She was a contrast to her reserved husband and accepted stoically his ups and downs – whether in the plantation or in the glittering White House.
Polk’s father had supported Andrew Jackson and his son remained a close ally of Jackson in Congress. Polk soon became the Speaker in 1835 for four years. In 1839 he became Governor of Tennessee. Polk’s attempt to be re-elected was at a crucial juncture when the country was in the grips of a depression. Banks had failed and farms had closed. Jackson was squarely blamed by the Whigs for these ills. Facing failure Polk turned to his plantation.
In 1844 surprisingly Polk won the nomination of the Democrat party to compete for the post of President. Polk declared his support for annexing Texas and retaking Oregon from the British. By autumn of 1848 Texas had been acquired and Mexico captured. By a treaty the border with Texas was redefined and $15 million was paid for acquisition of California and New Mexico.
Polk was apprehensive that England would take this dispute with Mexico as an excuse to grab parts of Central America and the Caribbean. To thwart it Polk drew up a treaty with New Granada (Columbia) by which US gained the right to cross the isthmus. In return US recognized the neutrality of the isthmus and the sovereignty of New Granada.
In internal affairs Polk found himself facing the Wilmot Proviso bill. It banned slavery in all the lands that had been taken over from Mexico. The bill was passed despite opposition from Polk but the Senate never gave its sanction.
Polk revived an act that had been repealed by the Whigs – Independent Treasury Act. It established independent treasury deposit centres distinct from private and state banks. It was to receive all government funds.
Polk was a principled man and true to his ideals he retired after the end of his first term without seeking the re-election that he could have easily won. On the other hand he felt free and light after relinquishing public duties. He went on an extensive tour of the south where he was warmly welcomed by crowds. At the end he shifted to his newly acquired estate in Nashville where he died soon after, unable to withstand the rigours of the tour. He left his property to his wife with a request that she free the slaves.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Zachery Taylor
12th President
1849-1850
Zachery Taylor +Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor
Number President 12th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served (Died in Office)
Dates Served 1849-1850
Party Whig
State Represented Louisiana
Married to / First Lady Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor
Born November 24, 1784 in Orange County, Virginia
Died July 9, 1850 in Washington D.C. while in office. He got sick after eating cherries and milk at a July 4 celebration.
He was the second president to die in office.
Age Zachery Tylor would be 224 years old this year(11-24-1784 - 07-09-1850)
BIOGRAPHY
Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia. He belonged to a family of planters and slave owners, and spent his childhood in a log cabin in the forests. With prosperity the house became a brick mansion and Zachary lived here with his seven siblings. Zachary was poor in his studies and from the very beginning wanted a career in the armed forces.
From his first posting in 1808 as an officer, he continued to retain frontier postings until he became president. In 1810 he married Margaret Mackall Smith who belonged to a renowned family of Maryland. She frequently accompanied him on his postings – moving from one wilderness to another. His salary was modest but the land he got from his father brought him substantial returns as its value increased. However Taylor never supported slavery.
Taylor became famous for his combats against the native Indians – especially the Sacs and Seminoles during the 1830’s. He was loved by his colleagues and subordinates for he shared the travails of field duty with them. Although Taylor fought against the Native Americans he was sympathetic towards them and often protected them from white settlers. He admired their guerilla tactics greatly.
Taylor shot to fame for his role in the Mexican war – 1846-1848. Texas was made a state in 1845. There was dispute over land demarcation with Mexico and President Polk ordered Taylor to move into the disputed land. Provocation from Mexico caused war to erupt. The Mexicans were easily defeated by the superior forces of Taylor. Taylor became vastly popular when everyone came to know how he had fought hand in hand with his troops. He became a hero with his informal dress, tattered hat of straw and his love for his horse, Whitey.
After the Mexican war dispute broke out between Northerners and Southerners as to whether slavery should continue in the newly acquired territories. Some southern states threatened to secede but Taylor remained firm to the national cause of holding the Union together. For this he was willing to take up the sword rather than compromise.
Taylor’s informal behaviour made him popular with the North while the Southerners were lured to him because he himself owned 100 slaves. Taylor however remained uncommitted although he got the Whig nomination. But Taylor was too strong minded to remain a puppet of the party. He ran the administration as he had handled the army – by rule of thumb. He declared that the people could decide on the slavery issue when they drew up new constitutions for the state.
The Southerners were furious while the Congress felt that the President was riding rough shod over them. Taylor considered himself to be independent. He disliked the stand of the Democrats on the financial matters and wanted a strong and sound banking system. On the other side although he owned slaves he did not want further extension of the system. He allied with the Whigs on governing issues. Taylor was a strong nationalist.
Without warning, before Taylor could take strong action against the secessionists he fell ill. A stormy session with southern leaders as well as the attending of the July 4th celebrations in blistering weather suddenly told on his health and he died within five days of illness. Years later war broke out and his only son fought in the Confederate army. The victor of many battles, he finally succumbed to cholera leaving the nation devastated.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Millard Fillmore
13th President
1850-1853
Millard Fillmore +Abigail Powers Fillmore
Number President 13th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1850-1853
Party Whig
State Represented New York
Married to / First Lady Abigail Powers Fillmore
Born January 7, 1800 in Cayuga County, New York
Died March 8, 1874
Age Millard Fillmore would be 208 years old this yea
BIOGRAPHY
Millard Fillmore was second of eight children born to Nathaniel and Phoebe Millard Fillmore. He was born in Cayuga County, New York in a humble frontier cabin. The family was extremely poor. He was a self-made man and practically taught himself to be educated. His father tried to apprentice him to a clothier.
During his spare time he managed to attend an academy in New Hope where he met his future spouse Abigail Powers. At about the same time he got a post as a clerk in the office of a judge. This gave him the chance to study law. He took up teaching jobs in schools and finally came to join the bar in 1823. He married a rich widow, Caroline, after the death of his first wife and slowly began to expand his law firm. Nathan Kelsey Hall became his partner in the legal trade and political associate.
Fillmore was kind and modest. He declined an honorary degree from Oxford because he thought it would not be fair to accept it because he did not know Latin and would not be able to read it. He was a bookworm but lacked political skills and foresight. He always took the path of least resistance out which his rivals took political mileage.
Fillmore was a big built man with a benign nature and dignified air. His compromising attitude drew attention and he came to be well loved by many. He was one of the best leaders from western New York.
Fillmore was with the National Republican party. In 1826 the excitement concerning abduction of Mason William Morgan, drew him into politics and he joined the anti-Masonic movement. He joined the Whig party but he did not accept nomination. Fillmore gained a friend in Thomas Foote, the editor of a Buffalo journal and thus ensured for himself media support.
Fillmore disliked the practice of slavery also disliked interfering with it. Another issue was the wide scale influx of foreigners into New York sate. His sympathies were for those who resented the outsiders, while other leaders in the Whig party wanted to woo them.
When Zachary became President Fillmore was nominated vice president on the hope that he would mend fences between the pro and anti groups advocating extension of slavery.
The sudden death of Taylor pushed Millard Fillmore to the forefront although as vice president he had strongly differed with his senior on many matters. Suddenly he found himself President of US. But being tired of compromise he had no wishes to run for a second term. In foreign affairs he had the foresight to open a trade mission with Japan. He was alert and firm to see that the Hawaii region and Central America did not fall into the hands of either England or France. In Europe although he expressed his sympathies for those struggling against oppressive regimes he did little by way of action. Fillmore devoted a lot of time to civic activities and was the first chancellor of Buffalo University and founded Buffalo General Hospital as well as Buffalo Historical Society. His second wife, Caroline was a rich widow and their joint income allowed them to live in style and opulence. She adorned their mansion with various paintings and busts of her husband. She became a chronic invalid in later life but her husband preceded her following two fatal strokes.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Franklin Pierce
14th President
1853-57
Franklin Pierce +Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Number President 14th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1853-1857
Party Democrat
State Represented New Hampshire
Married to / First Lady Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Born November 23, 1804 in Hillsboro, New Hampshire
Died October 8, 1869 in Concord, New Hampshire
Age Franklin Pierce would be 204 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Franklin Pierce came into this world in a cabin in New Hampshire. Father Benjamin Pierce was twice the governor of New Hampshire. Anna Kendrick was his mother. Pierce was the seventh amongst eight siblings. His schooling was in Hillsborough Centre and from there he went to Hancock Academy. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and later joined Bowdoin College, Maine.
Pierce was a good debater and formed friendships with Nathaniel Hawthorne as well as H.W. Longfellow. He graduated in 1824, enrolled in a law school and later joined the bar. Pierce was good looking and amiable. This made him too soft and he came to be dubbed as one of the worst presidents of US. In his personal life he struggled with a broken marriage with Jane Means Appleton and alcoholism.
He was a good man who did not understand his own failures. He was polite, thoughtful, and attractive and could play the political game well but he could not understand the nature of changing America. His wife came from an aristocratic Whig family and she was deeply religious. They lost all their children – the last one in a tragic accident.
Pierce was a Democrat with a ‘doughface’ because he was a Northerner with sympathies for Southern causes. He served in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce played an active role in the Mexican war. Pierce practiced law in his home state of New Hampshire and success made him turn down many rewarding offers.
Pierce joined local politics after graduation. He served in the State House and was for sometime the Speaker. In 1832 he was elected to the Congress as a Democrat when only 27 years old. He was also chairman of US Committee on Pension.
Pierce was a compromise Presidential candidate because a dead lock had reached and a tie breaker was required. Till then he was a political nonentity with no major credentials to sing about. As a party activist he had a long career and he never fully came out with his views on the sensitive slave issue.
Pierce’s participation in the Mexican war projected him as a war hero. He was nominated unanimously. He also got support of the Irish Catholics. His opponent was a Whig – the last time the party would contend for the post. At that time he was the youngest president being 48 years of age.
At the time of his inauguration there was peace and the storm around slavery seemed to have died down. But when it resurfaced Pierce could not tackle it firmly. He followed the footsteps of the Presidents who had preceded him. However he entered the presidency a shaken man having seen for himself the tragic death of his son in a train accident in which both he and his wife were also involved. Shaken he took oath on a law book rather than the Bible.
His cabinet consisted of a diverse group. It remained unbroken throughout his tenure. In matters of foreign policy he remained a traditional Democrat in aggressiveness. At that time Spain was weak, Japan retiring and England meddling in Central America. In the Ostend Manifesto he openly suggested seizure of Cuba by force. It shocked many although it was this policy of expansion that had brought success to the Democrats. The most controversial event was the Kansas-Nebraska Act that opened up again the question of slavery.
Pierce hoped but was denied re-nomination. He left White House to go on a European tour with his wife. He settled in Concord and spent his last years in seclusion until his death in 1869.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
James Buchanan
15th President
1867-1868
Number President 15th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1857-1861
Party Democrat
State Represented Pennslyvinia
Married to / First Lady Never Married
Born April 23, 1791 in Cove Gap near Mercersburg, Pennslyvania
Died June 1, 1868 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Age James Buchanan would be 217years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Although James Buchanan was born in a log cabin in April 1791 he came from a rich family. His Irish father James married Elizabeth Speer and was a successful merchant in Pennsylvania.
James was the second of eleven siblings. His schooling was in Mercersburg. He was guided by his father’s success story and his mother’s penchant for education. When 16 years, he entered Dickinson College where he invariably got involved over disciplinary problems. He graduated with honours and opted for law. In 1813 he joined the bar and quickly became successful.
When only 23 years old, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a Federalist ticket. Without giving up his legal practice he served in the legislature for 5 years. At about this time he fell in love with rich Ann Caroline but because of her family’s opposition a misunderstanding arose and she broke up with him. Later she died and James promised never to marry again – a promise that he kept.
Buchanan was elected to the Congress from 1821 to 1831. In the Congress he earned a name as a constitutional lawyer. His party was in the doldrums but he got attracted to the star of the era – Andrew Jackson. The hero of the battle of New Orleans was cobbling together a new Democratic party. Buchanan became its leader in Pennsylvania. Jackson as President sent Buchanan as envoy to Russia. His skills enabled the two countries to agree to trade treaty. He returned in 1833 and won his way to the Senate. Tall and distinguished, he looked every bit a classic 19th century politician.
When Buchanan came back to Washington the slavery issued raised its ugly head. Buchanan did not like slavery but he did not contribute to the idea that this idea should be forced on others. It posed a greater threat to the integration of the nation. He pointed to the constitution to establish the point that the Southerners had the right to own slaves.
Buchanan was one of the most powerful members of the Senate and he hoped for the top presidential post in 1844. But the nomination went in favour of James Knox Polk. The next President was Zachary Taylor running on a Whig ticket. This made Buchanan return to his home in Pennsylvania. In the next round he again fought for nomination locking horns with Stephen A Douglas. It was a tight situation from which the party extricated itself by turning to a compromise candidate – Franklin Pierce. Once more the White House eluded Buchanan.
In 1856 the 65 year old Buchanan knew that the time had come for his last bid for the top post. What helped him was the fact that the disastrous Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 made both the President Pierce and his old rival Stephen Douglas unpopular. The raging issue at that time was slavery. Things came to such a pass that Buchanan admitted that although he had longed for the crown for so many years now he was reluctant to wear it because he could see that war was imminent.
Buchanan appointed moderates to his cabinet to cool the heat. For the time being he succeeded. The Kansas elections half way through Buchanan’s term greatly jeopardized his position. With the threat of Civil War he could not follow a strong aggressive foreign policy.
His last years in Pennsylvania were comfortable but rightly or wrongly he was blamed for the war. He was termed ‘Judas’ and his portrait had to be removed to save it from vandals. His niece acted as hostess. He was very generous and supported many families around him. He retired and hardly saw anybody but close friends until his death in 1868.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Abraham Lincoln
16th President
1861-1865
Number President 16th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served (Assassinated)
Dates Served 1861-1865
Party Republican
State Represented Illinois
Married to / First Lady Mary Lincoln
Born Born: February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Hardin County, Kentucky
Died Died: April 15, 1865. Lincoln died the morning after being shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth
Age Abraham Lincoln would be 198 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Abraham Lincoln, the finest president USA ever had, was born in a log cabin in the backcountry of Hodgenville, Hardin, USA on 12th February, 1809. He did not have a great relationship with his father Thomas Lincoln who was a carpenter and a farmer, but his mother Nancy Hawks, who died in 1818, was very dear to him.
His stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnson was very affectionate and kind to him. Lincoln had no formal schooling. His stepmother inspired him to educate and discipline himself. His family first shifted to Indiana and then to Illinois in 1830.
Lincoln had amazing ambition from early childhood and had a strong penchant for learning law. He made incredible efforts to gain knowledge of law. He worked in a farm, split rails used in the fences, surveyed, managed a mill and worked in a store at New Salem, Illinois while he was studying law.
He participated in the famous Black Hawk War in 1832.
Lincoln came to Illinois legislature in 1834 and was named the floor leader of the party. He served the state legislature for four successive terms and gained prominence as a Whig. He left the legislature in 1841.
Lincoln obtained his license to practice as an attorney in 1836 and shifted to Springfield the next year where he joined John T. Stuart as a law partner. He practiced law for 20 years in Springfield displaying great oratory eloquence, a cogent argument capability, and great understanding of law.Lincoln got married to Mary Todd of Springfield, in 1842. Lincoln’s marriage was not happy due to prolonged instability of his wife.
He emerged in the national scene by joining the Congress for one term from 1847 to 1849. Lincoln denounced the Mexican War which made him unpopular at home. When he was not offered the office of his choice after working hard for the election of Zachary Taylor in 1848, Lincoln retired from politics and started practicing law again.
Lincoln got heavily involved in the burning issue of slavery and came back to politics again in 1854. He vehemently opposed Stephen Arnold Douglas and targeted his criticism mainly to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He was a candidate for the senate in 1855 but lost and joined the new Republican Party next year.
He gained his prominence in the party as an opponent to slavery. Lincoln stood against Stephen Arnold Douglas for the post of Senator in 1858. Though he was defeated in the election, he won a national accolade for his debate with Douglas which helped him win the Republican nomination for the post of President in the year 1860.In the presidential election, Lincoln won against John Cabell Breckinridge and Douglas from the Democratic Party, and John Bell from Constitutional Union Party, and was elected as the President.
Immediately upon the election of Lincoln as the President of the America, the belligerent South Carolina along with six southern states, who supported slavery, seceded from the union. In February 1961, a new Southern government was formed when the Crittenden Compromise failed.Though strongly condemning the secession, Lincoln decided not to use force. However when he wanted to send provisions to the beleaguered garrison in Fort Sumter, the Southern Confederate opposed it and on April 12, 1961 they opened fire to reduce the fort. This led to the beginning of the Civil War and secession of Upper South.
With the outbreak of civil war, the inexperienced Lincoln proved himself as one of the most extraordinary leaders of USA, both morally and politically. He displayed astute political sense and maturity. He declared the war being fought primarily against secession and not slavery. During this time the union army was formed. Lincoln made some brilliant moves to contain the war in spite of several criticisms. He found a highly competent general in Ulysses Simpson Grant. Lincoln found the right time to announce the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 after the victory at Antietam. In 1865, the slavery was legally ended.
With his immortal Gettysburg Address in November 1863, Lincoln ably defined war as a struggle for keeping the idea of democracy and his famous sentence ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ moved the people of America.Lincoln was re-elected as US President in 1864 defeating Gen. George B. McClellan. Abraham saw the victory of Union forces in 1865 and while he started planning for liberal reconstruction policy, he was shot dead by actor John Wilkes Booth, who was a southern fanatic, on 14th April, 1865, at Ford’s Theater. Abraham Lincoln died the next morning.
Lincoln was buried in Springfield, IL. Known by various name as Father Abraham, Old Abe, Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator, the Rail-splitter, the nation of America still mourns the death of the most distinguished president they ever had.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Andrew Johnson
17th President
1865-1869
Andrew Johnson +Eliza McCardle Johnson
Number President 17th Presidnet
Terms Served 1 Term served
Dates Served 1865-1869
Party Democrat
State Represented Tennessee
Married to Eliza McCardle Johnson
Born December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina
Died December 29, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina
Age Andrew Johnson would be 200 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Andrew Johnson was born on 29th December, 1808 at Raleigh, N.C, USA. He was the youngest of the five children of his parents and was brought up in abject poverty. His father was a porter. When Andrew was three years old his father, Jacob Johnson died. After the death of his father his mother Mary McDonough Johnson remarried.
The family didn’t have enough money to send Andrew to school. Johnson was sent as an apprentice to a tailor at the age of 14 to learn the trade. The family moved to eastern Tennessee in 1826 and after settling there Andrew opened a tailoring shop. Soon after this Andrew married Eliza McCardle in the year 1827.
Andrew’s wife was very intelligent and had some basic education. Johnson learned writing, reading and mathematics from her. John applied himself to the profession of tailoring and soon became famous in his trade and started earning enough money to support his family.
People from different sections of the society who were interested in public affairs started gathering at Andrew’s shop. Soon Johnson gained in popularity and became the leader of this group.Johnson’s political career started in 1829 when he became alderman which appealed to the working class of Greeneville. He was elected as Mayor of Greeneville and from 1835-1837 and 1839-1841 he served in the House of Representatives of Tennessee. Ultimately he got elected and served as governor of Tennessee from 1853 to 1857. Johnson was elected US senator in 1857. Though he was voted along with other legislators of the south, he was the only southerner who remained in the senate after secession of Tennessee.
Andrew Johnson was a staunch supporter of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln appointed him the military governor of Tennessee with a rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862. In place of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson was favored as a southerner and was nominated as the running mate of Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln was re-nominated president of USA in 1864.
Johnson could stay as vice president only for six weeks as Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th 1865. John escaped a plot to murder him on the same night when Lincoln was killed as the accomplices failed to execute the plan. On 15th April, 1856, a few hours after the death of President Abraham Lincoln, Johnson took the oath as President of America.
Upon becoming president, Johnson reinstated the civil government in the ex-confederate states. However he was condemned heavily by the radical republicans as he refused to grant equal civil rights to black and as he didn’t enforce the disqualification of the offices of the confederates. Johnson’s Secretary of State, William Henry Seward guided him in matters of foreign affairs. Seward was a very able diplomat and acquisition of Alaska for $ 7,200.000 was an example of his farsightedness. In 1863, France had violated the Doctrine of Monroe policy of the USA and put European prince as the emperor of Mexico. The Monroe Doctrine had forbidden intervention by Europe in the Western hemisphere. However France had to withdraw its troops from Mexico by 1867 due to firm handling of the war by Seward.
ohnson’s political power was on the wane after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in April, 1866. On May 2nd 1867, the First Reconstruction Act and the Tenure of Office Act was passed by the radicals over veto of Johnson. Johnson tried to oust from his office, Edwin M.Stanton, whom he suspected to be conspiring with Congress leaders against him.
On February 24, 1868, the house brought charges of impeachment against President Johnson. The charges were mainly political issues. However the most important of the issue was that Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act in the Stanton affair. He was also charged to be conspiring against President Lincoln. However the court narrowly failed to convict Andrew mainly due to Lincoln who was a good friend of Johnson.In May 1868, while his impeachment was still under progress, Grant was nominated as a Presidential candidate by the Republicans and Johnson didn’t get Democratic nomination and Governor Horatio Seymour of New York was chosen as the candidate by the convention.
Johnson left his office embittered and disgraced. He maintained an interest in politics. He was re-elected to the senate in 1875. Johnson suffered a fatal paralytic stroke while visiting his daughter. On 31st July, 1875, Johnson died near Carter Station, Tenn., and was buried in Greeneville
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Ulysses S. Grant
18th President
1869-1877
Ulysses S. Grant +Julia Dent Grant
Number President 18th President
Terms Served 2 Term Served
Dates Served 1869-1877
Party Republican
State Represented Illinois
Married to / First Lady Julia Dent Grant
Born April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio
Died July 23, 1885 in Mount McGregor, New York
Age Ulysses S. Grant would be 186 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Ulysses Simpson Grant, the 18th president of USA and US general was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, and USA on April 27th 1822. His father Jesse Root Grant was a tanner by profession and mother Hannah Simpson Grant was a quiet, reticent lady. Ulysses inherited his quiet nature from his mother.
Ulysses was originally named as Hiram Ulysses Grant. He went to school at 6 years of age and up to 17 years he was in school. When he was 14 years of age, his father took him to Georgetown to attend another school. He also went to Maysville Seminary in Kentucky and Presbyterian Academy in Ripley, Ohio.
Ulysses hated to work in the tannery and preferred to work with the horses. Soon he became a skilled horseman. His father Jesse understood that Hiram had no business acumen. He put Hiram in the United States Military Academy at West Point in May 1839 and was sure Hiram would be able to make a comfortable living in army career.
Hiram didn’t like him to be called as Hiram Ulysses Grant and initialed himself as HUG. He entered his name as Ulysses Grant; however his name was incorrectly put as Ulysses Simpson which Grant had to accept to avoid large red tape. He graduated in 1843 and his academic record was pretty ordinary.
After graduation, Grants was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, Mo. He met Julia Dent there. She was the sister of Frederick Dent who was Grant’s roommate in West Point. On August 22, 1848 he married her
Grant served under Gen. Zachary Taylor and Gen. Wilfred Scott, during the Mexican War. He resigned from Military service in 1854 because of his drinking habit which he developed because of his loneliness. After unsuccessful attempts in business and farming, he moved to Galena in 1860 and started as a clerk in the leather store of his father.
When the Civil War broke out, he was appointed to command by the Governor an unruly volunteer regiment. He controlled it efficiently and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General of volunteers in September 1861.
Grant took control of Fort Henry in 1862 and attacked Fort Donelson. He dealt the confederate commander with a firm hand and made Confederates surrender. President Lincoln was impressed and promoted him to Major General of volunteers.
After being appointed as General-in-Chief in March 1864, Grant pinned down Gen. Robert E.Lee’s army of Northern Virginia. Lee surrendered on April 9th 1865.
President Andrew Johnson appointed Grant as his interim secretary of war in place of Edwin Stanton. But when the senate did not approve Stanton’s removal, Grant handed back the office again to Stanton. Ultimately Grant was nominated as presidential candidate of Republicans.
Ulysses Grant had no idea of running an office and was a victim of partisan politics and unscrupulous corruption. He was deceived by many friends, namely Jay Gold and James Fisk who tried to corner the gold market in 1869. Republicans in Grant's Cabinet and in Congress were found to have made themselves rich by selling government favors and increasing their own salaries.
However Grant was ably supported by Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish to accomplish a substantial progress in foreign affairs. In 1872 Grant was nominated by the party unanimously. He defeated the Liberal Republican Party candidate Horace Greeley easily and was re-elected as the President of USA.
After the second term Grant retired and went for a world tour. He was greeted wherever he had gone for his heroics in the Civil War. When he returned home he went bankrupt after being swindled by an associate who invested his money badly.
He was diagnosed of throat cancer which got aggravated over time. It went so bad that he was unable to leave his bed. His wife was continuously by his side nursing him through this difficult period. Ulysses Grant died on July 23, 1885 after one hour of finishing his writing for the book ‘Hiram Ulysses Grant’.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Rutherford B Hayes
19th President
1877-1881
Number President 19th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1877-1881
Party Republican
State Represented Ohio
Married to / First Lady Lucy Ware Webb Hayes
Born October 4, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio
Died January 17, 1893 in Fremont, Ohio Age Rutherford B. Hayes would be 186 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Rutherford Birchard Hayes, the 19th president of USA was born on 4th October, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio. He was the fifth child of his parents.
Rutherford Hayes Jr. was his father and his mother was Sophia Birchard Hayes. Rutherford Hayes Jr., a farmer by profession, died just a few months after Birchard was born. Brother of Sophia, Sardis Birchard and Sophia herself, took the responsibility to raise Hayes and Fanny, his sister..
Birchard Hayes could get very good education in his early days. He started with Norwalk Academy in Ohio where his family had settled. From there he went to Middletown, Connecticut to join a privately owned school. He then enrolled himself in Kenyon College in Gamber, Ohio and got his degree in 1842. After working for ten months in a law office, Hayes got admitted in Harvard Law School and in the year 1845 he was graduated.
Birchard started practicing Law in Sandusky, presently named Fremont, after returning to Ohio. Since he was not getting much success from a small community of Lower Sandusky, Hayes started practicing at Cincinnati which proved to be a success for him.
Hayes was opposed to slavery and for this reason he joined the new Republican Party though he was originally associated with the Whig Party.
Birchard got married to Lucy Ware Webb, who belonged to Chillicothe, Ohio on 30th December, 1852. She was a graduate from Wesleyan Women’s College located in Cincinnati. Hayes continued practicing law and became the city solicitor of Cincinnati in 1858.
In the year 1861, Civil War broke out in America. Hayes was appointed major of Twenty-Third Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Ohio, by Governor Williams Dennison. Hayes was injured several times while fighting in the war and was ultimately promoted to the rank of Major General.
Due to his service in the military, he was nominated for the House of Representatives of USA by Ohio Republicans in the year 1864. After winning the election, Birchard resigned from military on 9th June, 1865 and joined the Congress.
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Hayes supported the reconstruction work which started after the Civil War. In 1866, Hayes was re-elected to the House of Representative. But he resigned very soon. Hayes was successful in his campaign for the position of Ohio Governor, supporting suffrage of African Americans and defeated Democrat Allen Granberry Thurman in 1867. He also defeated George Hunt Pendleton in the re-election in the year 1869.
However the Republicans were successful in persuading Hayes to return to politics and in 1875, Hayes ran successfully against William Allen, the Democratic candidate, for the post of governor and became the first person to have been elected as Ohio governor for the third term.
Hayes was chosen as a candidate for the election for the post of President in 1876 by National Republicans who were highly impressed with his successful tenure as a Republican governor. Eminent speakers including Mark Twain campaigned for Hayes. The contest between Hayes and Samuel Jones Tiden of the Democratic Party and Governor of New York was very close.
Hayes started a system of federal civil service and worked hard for improving the monetary system of the nation..He proved to be a competent and mildly reformist president. He alienated many supporters by insisting on ending patronage appointments and by pursuing civil service reform.
Hayes’s wife Lucy was strict and was instrumental to ban alcohol, which was duly supported by the President at White House. For this she earned the nickname “Lemonade Lucy”. Hayes did not contest for the second term and came back to Fremont in the year 1881, thus keeping his promises to Lucy.
While in retirement, Hayes worked for reformation of prisons and public education along with other interests also. He died on 17th January, 1893 at his home in Spiegel Grove.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
James Garfield
20th President
1881
Number President 20th President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1881 (Died in office)
Party Republican
State Represented Ohio
Married to / First Lady Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
Born November 19, 1831, in Orange, Ohio
Died September 19, 1881, in Elbberon, New Jersey after being shot July 2 in Washington D.C. Age James Garfield would be 177 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
James Abram Garfield, the 20th President of America, was born on 19th November, 1831. His father Abram Garfield was a farmer and a worker in canal construction. His mother was Eliza Ballou Garfield. They were New Englanders and they had settled in the Western Reserve region, Northern Ohio.
When James was only two years old, his father died. James had to take the responsibility of his family at very early life. He had to do a lot of work in the farm and found little leisure time to play. When he was sixteen, he got a job in the canal boat.
Garfield had little formal education. In 1849, James enrolled his name in Geauga Academy in Chester, Ohio. After a short stint of service as a teacher, he enrolled in Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in Hiram, Ohio. By continuing practice in teaching and preaching, James earned good amount of money and enrolled in Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In 1858, after graduation, he returned to Hiram College as a professor of ancient language and literature.
James served as the president of Hiram until the outbreak of Civil War. He got married to Lucretia Rudolph on 11th November, 1858. He started his political career in 1859 as a member of the Republican Party, after winning election to Ohio Senate.
James resigned from Hiram College and joined the Union army during Civil War. He started as lieutenant-colonel of the Forty Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the Battles of Chickamauga and Shiloh. While holding the rank of major general, he resigned from the army on 5th December, 1863.
Since he was elected to the House of Representatives of USA by Ohio voters, Garfield resigned from the commission. He became engaged in the campaign for Presidential election in January 1880 after serving for nine consecutive terms in the House of Representatives. He became the presidential candidate on the 36th ballot as a “Dark Horse” nominee, due to a deadlock in the Republican convention. He defeated Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, the Democratic candidate by a margin of 10,000 popular votes. Garfield was sworn in to the office of the President on 4th March, 1881.
Unfortunately Garfield could not serve the full tenure and was shot dead only after four months after he had taken over the office of the President. He was shot while waiting for a train in Washington, by Charles Joseph Guiteau, who was refused a political office under the administration of Garfield. Seriously wounded, Garfield lay for weeks in the White House.
The famous man who invented telephone, Sir Alexander Graham Bell, tried to locate the bullet with an induction electrical device designed by him. However he was unsuccessful in his attempt. Garfield was taken to the seaside of New Jersey on September 6. He seemed to be recovering well, but developed a fatal infection and died on 19th September, 1881 from an internal hemorrhage.
hough Garfield could serve for a short time, his successor President Chester Alan Arthur was inspired by him and he reformed the public system. The death of Garfield confused the Republican Party. They had to wait for a majority status for fifteen years, void of any leader.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Chester Arthur
21st President
1881-1885
Number President 21st President
Terms Served 1 Term Served
Dates Served 1881-1885
Party Republican
State Represented New York
Married to / First Lady Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
Born October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont
Died November 18, 1886 in New York, New York
Age Chester Arthur would be 179 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
With clean-shaven chin, good height, handsome face and side-whiskers, it is said that Chester Alan Arthur looked Presidential! Arthur was born in the house of a Baptist preacher who was originally from Ireland in 1829, Fairfield, Vermont. He studied in the Union College and graduated in the year 1848. After leaving college, he taught in a school for sometime, worked in a bar and then practiced law in the city of New York. During the early period of Civil War, Arthur served as the Quartermaster General of the New York State. He was appointed as the Collector of the New York Port in 1871 by President Grant. During his work here, under his supervision, he efficiently organized a large number of Custom House employees for Roscoe Conkling’s Republican machine.
Arthur was a honorable man, both in his public career and personal life. Nevertheless, he was a rigid believer of the spoils system which was under intense attack from the reformers. He was always dedicated to honest administration when it came to work. For Custom House, he employed for staff than what was actually required. This move made the staff feel more like party workers rather than like Government Officials. In 1878, during attempts of President Hayes towards reformation of the Customs House, Arthur was expelled from the job. Conkling and followers tried for the re-nomination of Grant during the Republican Convention of 1880. But they failed and had to accept the nomination of Chester Alan Arthur for the office of Vice President.He was elected as the Vice President and during the brief period in which he was the Vice President, he supported Conkling in his efforts against President Garfield. However, when Arthur became the President, he was more eager to prove that he was not into machine politics and wanted to work for the greater good.
He avoided his old friends in politics and became a man of fashion, both in his attire and his associates. More often than not, he was seen with the most elite of Washington, Newport and New York. The Stalwart Republicans felt the anger rightly, as the former collector of the New York Port became a hero of civil service reforms as the President. Assassination of Garfield increased the pressure from public and forced the clumsy congress to pay attention to the President.
The Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883. It established a dual party Civil Service Commission, created a classified system to make Government positions available only through written competitive examinations and prohibited levying of political assessments against any officeholder. This helped to protect the employees against political drama.
Arthur as President was acting independent from the party dogmas. He tried to decrease the tariff rates through the Tariff Act of 1883 to save the government from the embarrassment from annual surpluses in revenue. The infuriated Southerners and Westerners looked towards the Democratic Party now for redressing and tariff became an important agenda between the two parties.
Administration under President Arthur was the first to enact any form of a Federal law of immigration. A measure was approved in 1882 which excluded criminals, lunatics and paupers from immigration. Chinese immigration was suspended for ten years by the Congress and later was made permanent.Arthur was a great leader and as Publisher Alexander McClure said, “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected.”
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Grover Cleveland
22nd President
1885-1889
Number President 22nd President and 24th President (Only president to serve two non consecutive terms.) Terms Served 2 Term Served Dates Served 1885-1889 and 1893-1897 Party Democrat State Represented New York Married to / First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland Born March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey Died June 24, 1908 in his home in Princeton, New Jersey Age Grover Cleavland would be 171 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
Grover Cleveland was the first member of the Democrat Party to be elected as the President after the Civil War. He was the only president in the history of American politics to leave White House and return back as President for a second term after a gap of four years. Cleveland was born in 1837, in New Jersey. His father, Richard Falley Cleveland, was a Presbyterian minister and he was one of the nine children in the family. Cleveland spent most of his childhood in upstate New York. He was noted as a good lawyer and for his high-powered focus and concentration on any task that he had to do.
At the age of Forty Four, he became a prominent figure in American politics and was elected President in just three years of his political presence. In 1881, he was elected as the Mayor of Buffalo and soon, the Governor of New York.
With the joint support from the reform Republicans and the Democrats, Cleveland won the elections without any problems. The reform Republicans supported Cleveland as they were against the other candidates.
Cleveland was a bachelor when he became president and was not too comfortable with the White House at first. He wrote to a friend of his, “I must go to dinner, but I wish it was to eat a pickled herring, a Swiss cheese and a chop at Louis' instead of the French stuff I shall find.” Cleveland was the only President to be married in the White House when he married Frances Folsom in June 1886.
Cleveland was strictly against any favoritism and powerfully pursued policies that barred any kind of special favors to any form of economic groups. He vetoed a bill that was to distribute seed grain worth ten thousand dollars among farmers in drought-stricken Texas. He wrote, “Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. . . ."
He vetoed a number of private pension bills for Fraud Civil War veterans. Congress passed a bill under pressure from the Grand Army of the Republic, which granted pensions in case of non-military disabilities too. Cleveland vetoed this too.
Cleveland ordered a full scale investigation of the western lands, that the railroads held through government grants and forced them to give back a whooping 81 million acres of land. He also passed the first law that attempted Federal regulation of railroads by signing the Interstate Commerce Act. A few months before the next elections, Cleveland called on Congress in order to decrease the high protective tariffs. He was told that he was giving the Republicans a good enough issue for the election campaign. However, he retorted on it saying, “What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?" Cleveland lost the next elections; although a majority of popular votes were won by him.
Cleveland was elected back in 1892. However, this term was not popular for him like the previous one. Nevertheless, He handled the railroad strikers in Chicago in a very forceful way and vigorously forced Great Britain to agree to arbitration on a disputed boundary issue. But the policies used by Cleveland to handle depression made him unpopular.
His party deserted him and he left the White House after the end of the term. Cleveland retired to Princeton after that and died in 1908.
THE U.S. PRESIDENTS
Benjamin Harrison
23rd President
1889-1893
Number President 23rd president Terms Served 1 term served Dates Served 1889-1893 Party Republican State Represented Indiana Married to / First Lady Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison Born August 20, 1833 in North Bend, Ohio Died March 13, 1901 in Indianapolis, Indiana Age Benjaman Harrison would be 175 years old this year
BIOGRAPHY
(October 1, 1832 - October 25, 1892)
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (Carrie), wife of Benjamin Harrison (president 1885 - 1889), helped to found the Daughters of the American Revolution -- serving as its first president general -- and also helped open Johns Hopkins University to women students. Benjamin, grandson of President William Harrison, was a Civil War general and attorney. She oversaw a considerable renovation of the White House and established the custom of having special White House dinnerware. She died of tuberculosis which was first diagnosed in 1891. Her daughter, Mamie Harrison McKee, took over White House hostess duties for her father.
(April 30, 1858 - January 5, 1948)
After the death of his first wife, and after he'd finished his presidency, Benjamin Harrison remarried in 1896. Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison never served as a First Lady.)
Benjamin Harrison was nominated at the Republican Convention of 1888 on the eight ballot of the party. He was the first candidate to have conducted a front porch campaign in which he delivered short speeches in Indianapolis, to commission that visited him. The Democrats sarcastically called him the “Little Ben” as he was short (only five and a half feet). To this, he serenely replied he was adequate big to wear the hat of “Old Tippecanoe”, his grandfather.
He was born in the year 1833 on a farm at the banks of the Ohio River. He attended the Miami University, Ohio and studied law in Cincinnati. He practiced law when he moved to Indianapolis and started campaigning for the Republican Party. In 1853, he married Caroline Lavinia Scott. He was the Colonel of 70th Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War and when the war ended, he became a highly reputed man of Indianapolis, also becoming famous as a great lawyer.
In 1876, he was defeated by the Democrats for the office of Governor of Indiana. The Democrats used the term “Kid Gloves” Harrison to reduce his reputation as a leader. He served as a member of the United States Senate in 1880’s. During this period, he championed homesteaders, Civil War Veterans and Indians.
Harrison was outnumbered by a hundred thousand popular votes by Cleveland in the Presidential Election in 1889. However, he received 233 Electoral votes to Cleveland’s 168, that made him the President. Harrison did not make any political bargains before the elections, although his supporters pledged immense support for him.Harrison helped to shape a vigorous foreign policy of which he was proud of. The 1st Pan American Congress met in 1883, in Washington and established an information center that later became Pan American Union.
Harrison signed a large number of appropriation bills for naval expansion, internal improvements, to give subsidiaries for steamship lines. Almost a billion dollars was appropriated by the Congress for the first time except in the Civil War. When the critics spoke of the congress as “the billion dollar Congress”, the Speaker Reed said, “This is a billion dollar country”.
Harrison signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, “for the protection of commerce and trade in opposition to the unlawful monopolies and restraints”, the first Federal act that attempted to regulate trust.
Harrison’s biggest domestic problem during his term was the issue of tariff. The tariff r ates were high that had created an extra amount of money in the Treasury. The low tariff supporters advocated that the treasury was filled at the cost of businesses. Although, the tariff rates were further increased, Nelson Aldrich and William McKinley made a yet higher tariff bill.
Harrison tried in order to make the high rates acceptable by increasing some provisions. Also, the Treasury was removed from the raw sugar that was imported, and the sugar growers in United States were given 2 cents per pound reward on their production.During the last period of Harrison’s term, he signed a treaty to annex Hawaii. However, President Cleveland withdrew it later. Harrison retired to Indianapolis after he left the office and married Mary Dimmick. He died in 1901 at the age of 68.
