Presidents and Eras

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
“54º40’ or fight!” annexation of Texas
Mexican War—Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo, Oregon Treaty
Independent Treasury reinstated, Tariff Reduction
1846: Mormons to Utah
1848: Seneca Falls Convention, Gold found in Cali

Political Party:
Whig

1st Term:
Polk announces it, but Gold Rush '49
"Old Rough and Ready!"

Political Party:
Whig

1st Term:
Compromise of 1850
Japan opened to trade: Commodore Perry

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Gadsden Purchase of 1854
Ostend Manifesto / Young America Movement
“Bleeding Kansas” and John Brown 
Sumner Caned in Senate

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Scott v. Sanford (1857) and Panic of 1857
LeCompton Constitution fails
Lincoln-Douglas Debates and Freeport Doctrine
1859: John Brown raid to Harper’s Ferry
Dec. 20, 1860 South Carolina secedes

Political Party:
Republican (1st Term) and National Union Party (2nd Term)

1st Term:
Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation
Morrill Tariff, Homestead Act, Pacific Railway Act, Banking Acts
Trent Incident, Draft Riots, so much death
10% Plan
Great speeches, smart fella

2nd Term:
Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse
Reconstruction
Assassinated by conspiracy

Political Party:
National Union Party

1st Term:
Radical Republicans vs. Johnson
Freedman’s Bureau
13th & 14th amendments ratified
Impeachment 1868
KKK
Alaska Purchased / Mexico liberated

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Wedding of Rails
Gold Corner Scandal (1869)
Credit Mobilier
Standard Oil trust created

2nd Term:
Whiskey Ring Scandal (1875) and Panic of 1873
1874--Salary Grab / Belknap
1876 – Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer)
Telephone invented

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
End of Reconstruction
Jim Crow
1879 – Edison Light Bulb
Railroad Strike
1877 Munn v. Illinois

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Chinese Exclusion Act
Transcontinentals completed 1882
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
Statue of Liberty gifted (Thanks France, that was cool!)

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Garfield’s post office investigation arrests
Stalwart politicians dislike him
assassinated

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
“Mudslinging campaign” of 1884
Haymarket Riot ’86
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Sherman Anti-Trust Act and McKinley Act of 1890, Wounded Knee1890
Census of 1890: no more frontier
Homestead Steel Strike 1892
Steel Navy Built (Teddy’s Big Stick in the future)

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Panic of 1893 “Morganization” of the railroads
Populists lose: Weaver, Omaha Platform
Repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act
1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:“Front Porch Campaign” vs. Bryan (Cross of gold)
1898 SP – Am War / Hawaii annexed
Gold Standard Act

2nd Term:
Beginnings of Progressive Era
Assassinated by Leon Czolgosz

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Northern Securities Case: Trust-buster
Panama Canal begins construction 1904-1914
Roosevelt Corollary 1904

2nd Term:
“The Square Deal”
Gentleman’s Agreement, Great White Fleet, Root-Takahira

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
“Dollar Diplomacy”
Titanic sinks, Rose never gives in

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
All 3 Progressive Presidents against each other
16th (income tax) and 17th (direct elect senators) amendments
1914: WWI begins in Europe
1915: Lusitania sunk, Birth of a Nation and 2nd KKK
1916: chasing Pancho Villa in Mexico
1917: Zimmerman Telegram

2nd Term:
Russian Revolutions 1917
US enters World War 1
Treaty of Versailles / League of Nations failure
18th (prohibition) and 19th (women vote)
Red Scare / Palmer Raids / Sacco&Vanzetti / Schenck v. US
1st radio station KDKA Pittsburgh

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Return to Normalcy
Teapot Dome Scandal
Andrew Mellon’s Economic Plan
Washington Naval Arms Conference (5:5:3:1.75:1.75)

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Silent Cal
Revenue Act slashes taxes for wealthy and corporations
Presidential golf… wow, a lot of golf
1924: National Origins Act
Prohibition’s not working… gangsters like Al Capone…

2nd Term:
“Roaring” Twenties and urban v. rural conflict
Lucky Lindbergh crosses Atlantic solo
The Young Plan (cut down Germany’s reparations… )

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
The Great Depression begins
Oct. ’29 Stock Market Crash
1932: Farm Holiday
1932: Bonus Army disbanded / burned out of DC

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
The New Deal and “Hundred Days”
Hitler 1933
Dust Bowl
Alphabet soup agencies

2nd Term:
The Second New Deal and the Spanish Civil War
Appeasement…
WWII begins w/ invasion of Poland

3rd Term:
Mt. Rushmore
41: Pearl Harbor / internment / US at war / Manhattan Project
42: Japanese-Am Internment (Exec Order 9066) in US
42: Holocaust begins in Europe
44: D-Day

4th Term:
Yalta Conference and United Nations
FDR death

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Hitler suicide / Aug ‘45: The A-Bombs
Potsdam Conference and Berlin Airlift
Cold War begins
47 – Marshall Plan
48 – Israel founded / Gandhi assassinated

2nd Term:
Communist China / NATO
McCarthyism / Red Scare / HUAC
50 – 53: Korean conflict

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
“Modern Republican”
54: Brown v. Board of Ed., Topeka, Kansas
55: Rosa Parks and MLK!
CIA covert craziness: Iran, Central America etc…

2nd Term:
The Eisenhower Doctrine
57: Sputnik
Ike: Beware the “Military-Industrial Complex”
’57 Little Rock, Ark Central High School: Little Rock 9 (#9)
59: Castro in Cuba 60: Nixon / Kennedy TV Debate

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
The New Frontier
61: Bay of Pigs Invasion / Peace Corps
61: Freedom Riders
62: Cuban Missile Crisis
63: Dallas, TX assassinated

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
The Great Society
Vietnam Escalation
63: I Have a Dream
64: Civil Rights Act of 64, LBJ: “We Shall Overcome”

2nd Term:
65: Voting Rights Act, Malcolm X assassinated
68: MLK & RFK assassinated, Olympics in Mexico City,
Dem. Convention Chicago, Tet Offensive, My Lai
Massacre, Miss America Pageant protests.. etc. SO
MUCH INSANITY in 68
War on Poverty continues

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Vietnam War
69: Moon landing!!! Mankind’s Greatest Adventure!!!
69: Woodstock / Vietnamization
70: US invades Cambodia / Kent State / EPA / SALT I
71: 26th amendment (18 can vote)

2nd Term:
Vietnam War ends
Watergate Scandal—1st prez to resign
Roe v. Wade
Détente

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Pardons Nixon
75: Fall of Saigon, S. Vietnam Surrenders
two failed assassination attempts
economy in toilet—“stagflation”

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Middle East conflict
78: Proposition 13 / Camp David Accords
79: Iran hostage crisis / SALT II / 3 Mile Island Nuclear
meltdown
“outsider” administration

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
The “Great Communicator” / War on Drugs “Just Say No”
AIDS
Trickle-Down Economics
IBM PCs /
Star Wars (SDI)

2nd Term:
Iran-Contra Affair
Titanic found, Jack gave in…
Challenger disaster / Chernobyl nuclear accident USSR
Pan Am 103

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
Exxon Valdez (no relation to Carlos)
Tiananmen Square (slaughter of Chinese dissidents by gov’t)
90: Nelson Mandela freed!! (S. Africa)
End of Soviet Union and Cold War!!!
Gulf War
LA Riots (and elsewhere) / Hurricane Andrew

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
1993 World Trade Center Bombing
NAFTA
Branch Davidians Waco, TX / OK City Bombing
OJ / Unabomber
Rwanadan Genocide—Clinton’s greatest regret as Prez. / Ebola

2nd Term:
Budget goes into surplus
Yugoslavia / Serbia / Kosovo conflict
African embassy bombings / USS Cole in Yemen
Monica Lewinsky Scandal / Impeachment
Tiger Woods and a kid named Kobe (let the haters hate)
Columbine

Political Party:
Republican

1st Term:
2000: crazy election to put it mildly
2001: 9/11 / invade Afghanistan
2003: Iraq / Shuttle Columbia disaster

2nd Term:
Supreme Court new justices; Iraq continued
Hurricane Katrina: New Orleans; Iraq continued
Financial collapse in housing, stocks, banks…
doesn’t bode well for legacy, but who knows?

Political Party:
Democratic

1st Term:
Slow economic recovery, but recovery…
Helath care
Culture Wars continue
Iraq War ends
Osama Bin Laden killed by Navy SEAL team in Pakistan
Arab Spring

2nd Term:
Supreme Court hears gay marriage / affirmative action cases
Gun Control Debate heats up (again)
Global Economic Crisis continues, changes