George Washington is ranked first here as he was tasked with holding the fragile republic together in its infancy. This was a perilous time in which the whole country could have fractured apart, collapsed, turned into a dictatorship or even been taken over by a foreign power. The fact the the United States thrived, and in such a calm manner, is a ( Read more... )

Dwight Eisenhower was the president that was the closest to George Washington, both avoided making mistakes and they got the big decisions right. They served during extremely dangerous times: Washington was tasked with holding the fragile republic together, Eisenhower with leading the nation at the beginning of the Nuclear Age.

Many times during ( Read more... )

Abraham Lincoln became President during the most dire of circumstances, as states decided to leave the country in protest of his election, and he was tasked with bringing the country back together again. The election of Lincoln signaled to the southern states that they no longer held the balance of power in the country, and that the old Jackson ( Read more... )

Ronald Reagan became president during a period of economic chaos and when America’s prestige was shrinking at home and abroad. Reagan led the country out of Jimmy Carter’s malaise and return prosperity and America prestige. Reagan didn’t see the United States as just another nation among many, but as a Shinning City on a Hill, a beacon of light, ( Read more... )

Harry Truman assumed the presidency on April 12th 1945 after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Truman faced three major issues as president: how to end of World War II, what role the United States would take internationally and how the United States would adjust domestically after the war.

The war in Europe was already winding down as Germany ( Read more... )

Ulysses Grant became president due to his service during the Civil War, winning the first post war election. Grant is generally portrayed as an amicable dolt that allowed the country to drift from one scandal to the next. This narrative was created mainly by the Dunning school and “lost cause” southern sympathisers. Grant had three strikes against ( Read more... )

In order to impeach and remove someone from office a law has to have been broken. You can’t remove someone from office because you think that they are “obnoxious”. Thomas Jefferson tried to remove a Supreme Court justice, Samuel Chase, for this reason and failed. When Andrew Johnson was impeached, Congress first passed the Tenure of Office Act, ( Read more... )

William McKinley was a transitionary president, serving as the last president of the 19th century and the first president of the 20th century. McKinley was the last Civil War veteran to serve as president, as well as the last guilded age president and the first modern president. The United States also became a world power during his term.

The Panic ( Read more... )

James Madison was one of the most important founding fathers. He wrote the Virginia Plan, which was the foundation for the Constitution, and earned him the nickname “Father of the Constitution”. He also drafted the Bill of Rights and was one of the three authors of the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay were the others. Even though ( Read more... )

George Bush became president after serving eight years as Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President. He was the first sitting Vice-President to be elected President since Martin Van Buren in 1836, and only the third sitting Vice-President to be elected overall. During his time as Vice-President and Ambassador to the United Nations Bush had made several ( Read more... )