US Presidents Flashcards

Question

25

Answer 1

William McKinley Republican 1897-1901 assassinated - -Spanish-American War, 1898: to liberate Cuba; USA destroys Spanish fleet in 100-day war - -victory leads to territorial expansion: annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Hawaii - -assassination, 1901: shot by an anarchist at Buffalo Pan-American Exposition; died 8 days later

Answer 2

Theodore Roosevelt Republican 1901-1909 - -age 42, youngest president ever; remembered for charisma - -believed that government should arbitrate between conflicting economic forces (capital v. labor) - -Square Deal domestic policy, 1902: anthracite coal strike mediation (higher wages, shorter workday, union recognition) - protect the consumer - control large corporations - conservation of natural resources - -Panama Canal, 1903-1914: big stick diplomacy - -Elkins Act, 1903 and Hepburn Act, 1906: trust buster, forcing dissolution of Northwest railroad combination - -Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905: ended the Russo-Japanese War; mediation role leads to Nobel Peace Prize for TR - -Monroe Doctrine corollary: justifies US "international police power"; no foreign bases in the Caribbean; USA has sole right of intervention in Latin America - -conservation: added 230 million acres of public lands

Answer 3

William H. Taft Republican 1909-1913 - -Dollar Diplomacy: foreign policy that furthers American aims in Latin America and East Asia through economic power; guarantees loans made to foreign countries - -continued high tariff rates - -initiated 80 antitrust suits - -was also chief justice of the Supreme Court, after his presidency

Answer 4

Woodrow Wilson Democratic 1913-1921 - -Underwood Act: lower tariff and graduated Federal income tax - -Federal Reserve Act: more elastic money supply - -Federal Trade Commission, 1914: established by antitrust legislation - -workers' rights legislation, 1916: child labor prohibited, railroad workers limited to 8-hr day - -WWI - early neutrality - RMS Lusitania, May 7 1915: German U-boat sinks British ocean liner - Apr 2 1917: declaration of war on Germany - Fourteen Points, 1918: American war aims, including establishing a general association of nations for mutual guarantees of political and territorial independence for all states - Armistice, Nov 1918: Versailles Treaty, including the Covenant of the League of Nations - -Volstead Act (vetoed, overrode): beginning of Prohibition of manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages

Answer 5

Warren G. Harding Republican 1921-1923 died in office - -first president elected after women's suffrage; won by a landslide - -postwar policy: lower taxes, federal budget system established, high protective tariff, tight immigration limitations - -Emergency Quota Act, 1921: immigration limited to 3% per year of number of current US residents from their country of origin (1910 census) - -Teapot Dome Scandal, 1922-1923: secret leasing of exclusive drilling rights to federal oil reserves at Elk Hills, CA and Teapot Dome, WY by the secretary of the interior A.B. Fall (accepted a bribe while in office) - -death, 1923: heart attack

Answer 6

Calvin Coolidge Republican 1923-1929 - -only president born on July 4 (1872) - -'active inactivity': simplifying government, reducing its interference in business - -Indian Citizenship Act, 1924: full citizenship to all Native Americans - -anti-KKK efforts - -Air Commerce Act, 1926: establishes federal control over civil aviation (eg. air routes)

Answer 7

Herbert C. Hoover Republican 1929-1933 - -Stock Market Crash, 1929 - -Great Depression response: keeps balanced budget, expands public works projects, increased tariffs, cuts taxes (except higher taxes on top income brackets) - -Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1931-1957: to aid business, help farmers, banking reform, loans to states for unemployment relief - -believed caring for the poor must be primarily a local and voluntary responsibility

Answer 8

Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic 1933-1945 died in office - -only president elected to more than 2 terms - -First 100 days, 1933: recovery program for business, agriculture, unemployed, foreclosure risks; reform - -Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933: established to handle flooding, electricity generation, reforestation - -New Deal, 1933-1935: nation taken off of the gold standard; budget deficits allowed; concessions to labor (unpopular with business and banking) - -Second New Deal, 1935-1936: Social Security, higher taxes on the wealthy, controls on banks and public utilities, Works Progress Administration (work relief program) established - -Judicial Procedures Reform Bill, 1937 (failed): court-packing attempt; but results in government legally able to regulate the economy - -Good Neighbor foreign policy: unilateralism shifts to mutual action against aggressors - -WWII - early neutrality: supports threatened nations; sends GBR all possible non-military aid - Pearl Harbor, Dec 7 1941: Japanese attack - US declare war on Japan, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania - -death, Apr 12 1945: cerebral hemorrhage

Answer 9

Harry S. Truman Democratic 1945-1953 - -end of WWII - UN charter signed, June 1945 - Atomic bombs, Aug 6-9 1945: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (cities devoted to war work) - Marshall Plan, 1948: economic aid to stimulate postwar recovery in western Europe - -beginning of Cold War - Truman Doctrine, 1947: Political, military, and economic aid pledged to countries struggling against Soviet geopolitical expansion (Cold War begins) - Truman Doctrine, 1948: aid for Turkey and Greece (threatened by USSR pressure and guerrillas) - Berlin airlift, 1949: resupply of West Berlin during Russian resupply siege - NATO established, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty Organization for defense against Communism --Fair Deal, 1949: 21-point program to expand social security, full-employment program, permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, public housing and slum clearance - -Korean War begins, 1950 - response to North Korean Communist government attacking South Korea - war kept limited (to avoid major conflict with China and Russia)

Answer 10

Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican 1953-1961 - -Korean War ends, 1953: Korean Armistice Agreement establishes an armed peace with a DMZ at 38° N - -Russian relations shift, 1953: death of Stalin; peace treaty neutralizes Austria - -Atoms for Peace program, 1953: loan of US uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful purposes - -Geneva Summit, 1955: USA, FRA, GBR, USSR to ease tensions about hydrogen bomb facilities - -interstate highway system established, 1956 - -end of segregation, 1957: school desegregation with Little Rock Nine supported by federal troops; complete military desegregation - -NASA established, 1958

Answer 11

John F. Kennedy Democratic 1961-1963 assassinated - -first Catholic president, first president to win a Pulitzer Prize, participated in first televised presidential debates (good looks, charisma) - -Foreign aid establishments, 1961: Alliance for Progress (Latin America) and Peace Corps - -Vietnam, 1961: Kennedy sends advisors for South Vietnamese (eventually 16,000 personnel) - -Bay of Pigs, 1961: armed and trained Cuban exiles invade Cuba to overthrow Castro; attempt fails - -Berlin wall built, 1961: US garrison reinforced, USSR relaxes pressure in central Europe - -Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: USSR installs nuclear missiles in Cuba, discovered by US air reconnaissance; US block offensive weapon import to Cuba; Russians remove missiles; nuclear blackmail deemed futile - -Test Ban Treaty, 1963: USA, GBR, USSR sign to prohibit nuclear weapon testing in atmosphere, space, or underwater - -Civil Rights Movement champion - -assassination, 1963: shot by LEE Harvey Oswald, in Dallas TX

Answer 12

Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic 1963-1969 - -Civil Rights Act, 1964: outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; applies to voter registration, schools, employment, public accommodations, restaurants, restrooms, etc. - -Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964: authorizes Johnson's military action in southeast Asia (start of the US troop involvement in Vietnam) - -wins re-election with widest popular margin in US history - -Voting Rights Act, 1965: prohibits racial discrimination in voting; amid rising unrest and rioting in black neighborhoods - -Great Society program, 1965: education, Medicare, urban renewal, conservation, fight against poverty, crime prevention - -Thurgood Marshall, 1967: nominated as first black Supreme Court justice - -Moon orbit, 1968 - -Vietnam War ending - bombing of North Viet Nam limited, 1968 - declines re-election, 1968: to focus on Vietnam peace process

Answer 13

Richard M. Nixon Republican 1969-1974 resigned from office - -Moon landing, 1969 - -Vietnam War - Vietnamization, 1969-1973: removal of US troops but but giving financial support to the ARVN (South Vietnamese army) - end of the draft, 1973 - Case-Church Amendment, 1973: end of US military involvement in Vietnam - -World stability, 1972-1974: improves relations with China, USSR; treaty with Brezhnev to limit strategic nuclear weapons; Kissinger negotiates disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents Egypt and Syria - -Environmental Protection Agency established - -re-election landslide, 1972 - -Watergate scandal, 1973: break-in at the DNC offices during re-election campaign; Nixon denies personal involvement, but tape recordings indicate that he had tried to divert investigation into the affair - -Spiro Agnew resigns, 1973: due to tax evasion charge in Maryland; House Minority Leader Gerald Ford nominated and confirmed as replacement VP - -Nixon resigns, 1974: facing certain impeachment

Answer 14

Gerald R. Ford Republican 1974-1977 - -only president never voted into office - -grants Nixon a full pardon, 1974 - -nominates Nelson Rockefeller for VP and gradually selects his own cabinet - -Whip Inflation Now (WIN), 1974: domestic policy to curb inflation; then shifts to stimulating the economy; vetoes many non-military appropriations bills - -Fall of Saigon to NVA, 1975: Cambodia and South Viet Nam collapse - -Middle East tensions: provides aid to both Israel and Egypt to prevent war

Answer 15

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Democratic 1977-1981 - -economic policy: combats inflation and unemployment; decreases budget deficit - -established a national energy policy; decontrols domestic petroleum prices to stimulate production - -deregulation of trucking and airline industries - -expanded national park system (especially Alaska) - -created the Department of Education - -Camp David agreement of 1978: brought amity between Egypt and Israel - -SALT II nuclear limitation treaty with USSR; Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - -establishes full diplomatic relations with PRChina - -US embassy staff hostages in Iran - -post-office: wins Nobel Peace Prize, founds Habitat for Humanity

Answer 16

Ronald Reagan Republican 1981-1989 - -assassination attempt, 1981: recovers from gunshot - -domestic policy: stimulate growth, curb inflation, increase employment, strengthen national defense, cutting taxes and government expenditures; leads to a large deficit - -Income tax code overhaul, 1986: eliminates many deductions; exemptions for low-income people - -Cold War: escalating tensions with Communist nations, fears of nuclear war - -"peace through strength" - -USSR relations: Mikhail Gorbachev; negotiations to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles; Glasnost (improved transparency); fall of the Berlin wall - -war against terrorism: US bombers sent to ?Libya after attack on US soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub - -Iran-Iraq war: orders naval escorts in the Persian Gulf to maintain free flow of oil - -Reagan Doctrine: supports anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, Africa

Answer 17

George H. W. Bush Republican 1989-1993 - -end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union - -Panama: US troops sent to overthrow corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega, who was threatening security of the Canal and Americans living there; Noriega exfiltrated to US for trial as a drug trafficker - -first Gulf War: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, threatens to move into Saudi Arabia; Bush rallies UN and US to send troops in Desert Storm land battle - -Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990 - -Immigration Act of 1990: abolishes quota system based on national origin; new policy based on family reunification and attracting skilled labor

Answer 18

William J. Clinton Democratic 1993-2001 - -Whitewater controversy: investigation into real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Whitewhater Development Corporation - -Monica Lewinsky scandal: personal indiscretions with a White House intern; impeached by House of Representatives; tried in the Senate and found not guilty - -peacekeeping forces to Bosnia - -bombing of Iraq: response to Saddam Hussein stopping UN inspections for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons - -proponent for expanded NATO, more open international trade, worldwide campaign against drug trafficking

Answer 19

George W. Bush Republican 2001-2009 - -election controversy: Florida votes go to the Supreme Court - -9/11 attacks - -formation of the Department of Homeland Security - -forces deployed to Afghanistan to combat the Taliban, a movement under Osama bin Laden that trained, financed, and exported terrorist teams - -reform of intelligence gathering and analysis services and military forces - -tax cuts - -invasion of Iraq: based on the belief that Saddam Hussein posed a grave threat; Hussein captured, but killing of US servicemen and friendlies by insurgents was troublesome

Answer 20

Barack H. Obama Democratic 2009-2017 - -first African-American president - -economic crisis - -fight against terrorism - -death of Osama bin Laden

Answer 21

Donald J. Trump Republican 2017-present - -reformed tax code - -immigration and border dispute

US Presidents Flashcards

(45 cards)