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On
April 30, 1789, George Washington (1732-1799), standing
on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York,
took his oath of office as the first President of the United
States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation
will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James
Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these
precedents may be fixed on true principles." When the
Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in
May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was
elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July
3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of
his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was
to last six grueling years. He realized early that the best
strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress,
"we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action,
or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity,
into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles
saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally
in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender
of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He soon realized that the Nation
under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning
well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to
the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When
the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College
unanimously elected Washington President. He did not infringe
upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution
gave Congress. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term
alliances. Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement
at Mount Vernon, for he died of on December 14, 1799. For
months the Nation mourned him. |
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In
the thick of party conflict in 1800, Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826) wrote in a private letter, "I have
sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man." This powerful
advocate of liberty was born in 1743 in Albermarle County,
Virginia. As the "silent member" of the Congress,
Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence.
In years following he labored to make its words a reality
in Virginia. Most notably, he wrote a bill establishing
religious freedom, enacted in 1786. Attacking Federalist
policies, he opposed a strong centralized Government and
championed the rights of states. When Jefferson assumed
the Presidency, he reduced the national debt by a third.
He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates,
who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean.
Further, Jefferson suppressed his qualms over constitutionality
when he had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory
from Napoleon in 1803. Jefferson retired to Monticello to
ponder such projects as his grand designs for the University
of Virginia. A French nobleman observed that he had placed
his house and his mind "on an elevated situation, from
which he might contemplate the universe." He died on
July 4, 1826. |
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With
the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
(1858-1919), not quite 43, became the youngest President
in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power
to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the
American public toward progressive reforms and a strong
foreign policy. He took the view that the President as a
"steward of the people" should take whatever action
necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden
by law or the Constitution." I did not usurp power,"
he wrote, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive
power." Roosevelt's youth differed sharply from that
of the log cabin Presidents. He was born in New York City
in 1858 into a wealthy family, but he too struggled--against
ill health--and in his triumph became an advocate of the
strenuous life. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt
was lieutenant colonel of the Rough Rider Regiment, which
he led on a charge at the battle of San Juan. He was one
of the most conspicuous heroes of the war. As President,
Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the
great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the
Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing
justice to each and dispensing favors to none. Roosevelt
steered the United States more actively into world politics.
He liked to quote a favorite proverb, "Speak softly
and carry a big stick. . . . " He won the Nobel Peace
Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War, reached a Gentleman's
Agreement on immigration with Japan, and sent the Great
White Fleet on a goodwill tour of the world. He crusaded
endlessly on matters big and small, exciting audiences with
his high-pitched voice, jutting jaw, and pounding fist.
"The life of strenuous endeavor" was a must for
those around him, as he romped with his five younger children
and led ambassadors on hikes through Rock Creek Park in
Washington, D.C. While campaigning in Milwaukee, he was
shot in the chest by a fanatic. Roosevelt soon recovered,
but his words at that time would have been applicable at
the time of his death in 1919: "No man has had a happier
life than I have led; a happier life in every way."
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Abraham
Lincoln (1809-1865) warned the South in his Inaugural
Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen,
and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The
government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered
in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have
the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."
Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use
force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate
batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender,
he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more
slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within
the Union. The Civil War had begun. The son of a Kentucky
frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for
learning. As President, he built the Republican Party into
a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most
of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January
1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared
forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln
never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an
even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating
the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and
that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth." The spirit that guided
him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now
inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all;
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up
the nation's wounds...." On Good Friday, April 14,
1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington
by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was
helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with
Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity
died. |
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At
the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan (1911-2004
) viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative
program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to reinvigorate
the American people and reduce their reliance upon Government.
He felt he had fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to
restore "the great, confident roar of American progress
and growth and optimism." As president of the Screen
Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the
issue of Communism in the film industry; his political views
shifted from liberal to conservative. He toured the country
as a television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism.
In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin
of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970. Ronald Reagan
won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose
as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United
Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation
and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept
the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral
votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter. On January 20, 1981,
Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a
would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to
duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused
his popularity to soar. A renewal of national self-confidence
by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an
unprecedented number of electoral votes. Their victory turned
away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine
Ferraro. Overall, the Reagan years saw a restoration of
prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength seemed
to be within grasp. |
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Harriet
Tubman (1820-1913) was born in Dorchester County, Maryland.
Her parents were from the Ashanti tribe of West Africa,
and they worked as slaves on the Brodas plantation. In addition
to producing lumber, Edward Brodas raised slaves to rent
and sell. Life was difficult on the plantation, and Harriet
was hired out as a laborer by the age of 5. Harriet did
not like to work indoors, and she was routinely beaten by
her masters. By her early teens, Harriet was no longer allowed
to work indoors and was hired out as a field hand. She was
a hard worker but considered defiant and rebellious. When
she was 15 years old, Harriet tried to help a runaway slave.
The overseer hit her in the head with a lead weight, which
put Harriet in a coma. It took months for her to recover,
and for the rest of her life, Harriet suffered from blackouts.
Harriet became quite well known and huge rewards were offered
for her capture. Harriet was the master of disguise A former
master did not even recognize her when they ran into each
other on the street. She was nicknamed the "Moses of
her people" for leading them to freedom. In all, Harriet
made 19 trips on the Underground Railroad and freed more
than 300 slaves. With the arrival of the Civil War, Harriet
became a spy for the Union army. She later worked in Washington
DC as a government nurse. Although Harriet won admiration
from the military, she did not receive a government pension
for more than 30 years. Harriet Tubman was not afraid to
fight for the rights of blacks. Her story is one of dedication
and inspiration. During her lifetime Harriet was honored
by many people. In 1897, her bravery even inspired Queen
Victoria to award her a silver medal. |
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On
November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand
days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)
was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound
through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected
President; he was the youngest to die. Back from the war,
he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area,
advancing in 1953 to the Senate. He married Jacqueline Bouvier
on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recuperating from
a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won
the Pulitzer Prize in history. In 1956 Kennedy almost gained
the Democratic nomination for Vice President, and four years
later was a first-ballot nominee for President. Millions
watched his television debates with the Republican candidate,
Richard M. Nixon. Winning by a narrow margin in the popular
vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President.
His Inaugural Address offered the memorable injunction:
"Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what
you can do for your country." As President, he set
out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving
again. His economic programs launched the country on its
longest sustained expansion since World War II. He wished
America to resume its old mission as the first nation dedicated
to the revolution of human rights. With the Alliance for
Progress and the Peace Corps, he brought American idealism
to the aid of developing nations. But the hard reality of
the Communist challenge remained. After the Cuban Missile
Crisis, Kennedy contended that both sides had a vital interest
in stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and slowing the
arms race--a contention which led to the test ban treaty
of 1963. The months after the Cuban crisis showed significant
progress toward his goal of "a world of law and free
choice, banishing the world of war and coersion." His
administration thus saw the beginning of new hope for both
the equal rights of Americans and the peace of the world.
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George
Bush (1924- )
brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American
values and a determination to direct them toward making
the United States "a kinder and gentler nation."
In his Inaugural Address he pledged in "a moment rich
with promise" to use American strength as "a force
for good." Coming from a family with a tradition of
public service, George Herbert Walker Bush felt the responsibility
to make his contribution both in time of war and in peace.
The youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings,
he flew 58 combat missions during World War II. On one mission
over the Pacific as a torpedo bomber pilot he was shot down
by Japanese antiaircraft fire and was rescued from the water
by a U. S. submarine. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying
Cross for bravery in action. He served two terms as a Representative
to Congress from Texas. Twice he ran unsuccessfully for
the Senate. In 1980 Bush campaigned for the Republican nomination
for President. He lost, but was chosen as a running mate
by Ronald Reagan. As Vice President, Bush had responsibility
in several domestic areas, including Federal deregulation
and anti-drug programs, and visited scores of foreign countries.
In 1988 Bush won the Republican nomination for President
and, and defeated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
in the general election. Bush faced a dramatically changing
world, as the Cold War ended after 40 bitter years, the
Communist empire broke up, and the Berlin Wall fell. The
Soviet Union ceased to exist; and reformist President Mikhail
Gorbachev, resigned. Bush's greatest test came when Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, then threatened
to move into Saudi Arabia. Vowing to free Kuwait, Bush rallied
the United Nations, the U. S. people, and Congress and sent
425,000 American troops. They were joined by 118,000 troops
from allied nations. After weeks of air and missile bombardment,
the 100-hour land battle dubbed Desert Storm routed
Iraq's million-man army. |
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Learned
and thoughtful, John Adams (1735-1826) was more remarkable
as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People
and nations are forged in the fires of adversity,"
he said, doubtless thinking of his own as well as the American
experience. Adams
was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated
lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause;
a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses,
he led in the movement for independence. During the Revolutionary
War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles,
and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788
he was minister to the Court of St. James's, returning to
be elected Vice President under George Washington. When
Adams became President, the war between the French and British
was causing great difficulties for the United States on
the high seas and intense partisanship among contending
factions within the Nation. On November 1, 1800, just before
the election, Adams arrived in the new Capital City to take
up his residence in the White House. On his second evening
in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote his wife, "Before
I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings
on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May
none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof."
Adams retired to his farm in Quincy. Here he penned his
elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. Here on July 4, 1826,
he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives."
But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier.
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George
W. Bush (1946- ) is the 43rd President of the United
States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas,
President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate
conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of
limited government, personal responsibility, strong families
and local control. President Bush was born July 6, 1946,
and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a
bachelor's degree from Yale University and a Master of Business
Administration from Harvard Business School. He served as
an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard before beginning
his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975,
working in the energy industry until 1986. After working
on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he
assembled the group of partners that purchased the Texas
Rangers baseball franchise in 1989. He served as managing
general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected
Governor on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote.
In an historic re-election victory, he became the first
Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms
on November 3, 1998, winning 68.6 percent of the vote. President
Bush is pursuing the same common-sense approach and bipartisan
spirit that he used in Texas. He has proposed bold initiatives
to ensure that America's prosperity has a purpose. He has
also addressed improving our nation's public schools by
strengthening local control and insisting on accountability;
reducing taxes on all taxpayers, especially for those Americans
on the fringes of poverty; strengthening the military with
better pay, better planning, and better equipment; saving
and strengthening Social Security and Medicare by providing
seniors with more options; and ushering in the responsibility
era in America. |
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Rosa
Parks (1913- ) has been called the "mother
of the civil rights movement" and one of the most important
citizens of the 20th century. Mrs. Parks was a seamstress
in Montgomery, Alabama when, in December of 1955, she refused
to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger.
The bus driver had her arrested. She was tried and convicted
of violating a local ordinance. Her
act sparked a citywide boycott of the bus system by blacks
that lasted more than a year. The boycott raised an unknown
clergyman named Martin Luther King, Jr., to national prominence
and resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing
segregation on city buses. Over the next four decades, she
helped make her fellow Americans aware of the history of
the civil rights struggle. This pioneer in the struggle
for racial equality is the recipient of innumerable honors,
including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize.
She is an example of courage and determination and an inspiring
symbol to all Americans to remain free. |
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Former
slave Crispus Attucks (1723-1770) became the first
casualty of the American Revolution when he was shot and
killed in what became known as the Boston Massacre. As a
seaman, he felt the ever-present danger of impressment into
the British navy. When Samuel Adams, prominent leader of
the struggle against British domination of the American
colonies, called upon the dock workers in the port of Boston
to demonstrate against the British troops guarding the customs
commissioners, Crispus Attucks responded to the plea. Aroused
by Adams' exhortations, a group of 40 to 50 patriots, armed
with clubs, sticks and snowballs, approached the British
soldiers. Attucks was apparently in the front of the line
of the aroused citizens, urging them on. Suddenly there
was a terse order--"Fire!" The British troops
responded with a barrage of rifle fire, and Attucks was
the first to be killed. |
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