Defining the presidency: George Washington (1789-1797) -- The natural aristocracy: John Adams (1797-1801) -- Aristocratic progressivism: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) -- Father of the constitution: James Madison (1809-1817) -- Controlling the Americas: James Monroe (1817-1825) -- A populist revolution: John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (1825-1837) -- A conservative division: Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler (1837-1845) -- Manifest destiny: James K. Polk (1845-1849) -- The last of the Whigs: Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (1849-1853) -- An inevitable collapse: Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan (1853-1861) -- Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) -- Reconstruction halted: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) -- Corrupt bargains: Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) -- The lost presidents: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur (1877-1885) -- Popularity and political corruption: Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison(1885-1897) -- A state of anarchy: William McKinley (1897-1901) -- Natural American history: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft (1901-1913) -- The dawn of internationalism: (Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) -- The conservative shift: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover (1921-1933) -- New ideas: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) -- Extreme solutions: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) -- The Cold War hero: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) -- Civil rights and human rights: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1969) -- Thieves and liars: Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (1969-1977) -- Moralistic progressivism: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) -- Acting like a president: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) -- Crime and punishment: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton (1989-2001) -- Empire and archetype: George W. Bush and Barack Obama (2001-2017) -- America's business: Donald Trump (2017-) -- Conclusion: the limits of power.
Summary:
Explains the unique characteristics of the U.S. presidency and outlines the development and expansion of the executive office, highlighting significant events that relate to presidential authority from the election of George Washington in 1789 to the impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.