The New Big Book of U.S. Presidents
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Copyright © 2021, 2017, 2008, 2004, 2000 by Running Press Kids
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First Edition: January 2021
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Print book cover by Ryan Hayes. Print book interior design by Alicia Freile.
Cover illustration by Frank Sipala
Text updates by Joanne Mattern. Edited by Molly Jay, Elizabeth Encarnacion, T.L. Bonaddio, and Marlo Scrimizzi. Photo research by Jane Sanders and Susan Oyama.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940702
ISBNs: 978-0-7624-7144-7 (hardcover), 978-0-7624-7142-3 (ebook)
E3-20201221-JV-NF-ORI
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
The American System
Washington
Adams
Jefferson
Madison
Monroe
J. Q. Adams
Jackson
Van Buren.
W. H. Harrison
Tyler
Polk.
Taylor
Fillmore
Pierce
Buchanan
Lincoln
Johnson
Grant
Hayes
Garfield
Arthur
Cleveland
B. Harrison
McKinley
T. Roosevelt
Taft
Wilson.
Harding
Coolidge
Hoover
F. D. Roosevelt
Truman
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
G. H. W. Bush
Clinton
G. W. Bush
Obama
Trump
Biden
Glossary
ART CREDITS
Top (t), Bottom (b), Center (c), Left (l), Right (r)
Cover credits, clockwise from top right:
George Washington, detail: ACME Imagery/SuperStock
Franklin D. Roosevelt, (detail), by Douglas Chandor: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Barack Obama: Courtesy of Whitehouse.gov
John F. Kennedy: AP Images
Thomas Jefferson: Bettmann/Getty Images
Abraham Lincoln: Bettmann/Getty Images
Joseph Biden (center): Official White House / David Lienemann, 2013:
Back cover: Brooks Kraft/Getty Images
Interior credits:
ACME Imagery/SuperStock: here
AP Images: here
AP Photo: here, here, here
AP Photo/Doug Mills: here
AP Photo/Kreusch: here
AP Photo/Library of Congress: here
AP Photo/NASA/Neil A. Armstrong: here
Bettmann/Getty Images: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, 41, here, here, here
Brooks Kraft/Getty Images: here
Circa Images/Glasshouse Images/SuperStock: here
Courtesy Everett Collection: here
Photo by Geoffrey Clements/VCG/Getty Images: here
© Kate Way/Shutterstock:here
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Courtesy of the Office of the Governor, Texas: here
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: portrait details here, here, here, here, here, here; detail of portrait by Everett Raymond Kinstler (1926–2019) here; and by Henry Casselli here
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson: here
REUTERS/Mike Segar: here
Courtesy, The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (National Archives and Records Administration): here
SuperStock: here
U.S. Navy photo, courtesy Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum: here
© Vacclav/Shutterstock.com: here
Photo by VCG Wilson/Fine Art/Getty Images: here, here
Courtesy of Whitehouse.gov: here
Official White House / David Lienemann, 2013:here
THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
THE CONSTITUTION
As the Revolutionary War erupted around them, members of the Continental Congress turned to the difficult task of creating an effective national government. The delegates clashed over whether to form a strong, centralized government or a loosely joined confederation of sovereign states. The resulting Articles of Confederation, ratified in March 1781, represented a compromise. The Articles gave Congress certain powers but reserved significant powers for the states.
The Articles gave each state so much power and independence that the central government had difficulty establishing a national policy. Accordingly, by 1786 many political leaders believed that America needed a stronger national government. Meeting in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence had been proclaimed a decade before, delegates representing every state except Rhode Island debated the form of that new government. Most delegates agreed that it should be strong without being oppressive, and they worked to balance liberty and order. Ratified in 1788, the Constitution they finally produced represents a series of compromises between national and local authority and between the interests of the large states and the concerns of the smaller ones.
The delegates established a two-house (bicameral) national legislature, with broad powers over commerce, taxation, and war. In the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, representation was based on the total of each state’s white population plus three-fifths of its black population. In the Senate, the upper house, each state has two members regardless of its population. The founders expected the House of Representatives to be the branch more responsive to the people. Therefore, congressmen are directly elected by the people and serve two-year terms. The delegates believed that the Senate, in contrast, should be above public whims and passions. Under the original terms of the Constitution, members of the Senate were appointed by state legislatures and served six-year terms. In 1913, the 17th Amendment enabled the people to directly elect their senators.
In addition to Congress, the Constitution created two other equal branches of government: the executive and the judicial. Elected independently of Congress, the chief executive, or president, could originally serve an unlimited number of four-year terms. (In 1951, f
ollowing Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four presidential victories, the 22nd Amendment limited the president to two terms.) The Supreme Court heads the judicial branch. To ensure the judges’ independence from political pressure, the Constitution provides that they serve for life.
Checks and Balances
The founders empowered each branch of the government to “check” and “balance” the others, so that no one branch could dominate. For example, the president has veto power over laws enacted by Congress, but his veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses. The president also chooses all federal judges, ambassadors, and other heads of government departments (called the cabinet). Most of these appointments have to be approved by the Senate. The Supreme Court also exercises an important brake on the other two branches. Although the Constitution doesn’t explicitly give the Court the power to declare a law unconstitutional, the Court began to exercise that power in 1803 and has used it ever since. Finally, Congress can put on trial and remove from office both the president and members of the judiciary.
The Bill of Rights
Despite the checks and balances, the Constitution did very little to protect individual rights. The first ten amendments, adopted in 1791, placed restraints on the power of the federal government over ordinary citizens. They protected individual liberties (such as freedom of speech, the press, and religion), guaranteed trial by jury, and forbade cruel and unusual punishments. These constitutional amendments have protected individuals’ basic rights throughout the nation’s history.
ELECTING THE PRESIDENT
Presidents have never been elected by the direct vote of the people. Instead, the voters of each state choose a group of men and women—members of the electoral college—who then vote for the president. Each state’s number of electors is equal to its total of senators and representatives. California, the most populous state, has 54 electors, while Vermont has only 3. Because of this difference, presidential campaign strategy focuses on larger states like California, New York, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida. At present, the total number of electors is 538, and a candidate needs a majority of 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. If the candidate doesn’t get that number, the House of Representatives decides the election.
The drafters of the Constitution created the electoral college because they wanted to shield the presidential election from direct popular control. According to the electoral procedure originally specified in the Constitution, the electors voted for the two most qualified persons without specifying their choices for president and vice president. The candidate receiving the greatest number of electoral votes would be president, and the second-place finisher would be vice president. In 1804, the 12th Amendment separated the voting for president and vice president.
Aside from a few other minor changes, the procedure worked out by the framers of the Constitution is basically the one in use today. The importance of the presidential electors has changed, however. As political parties developed and vied for power, party interests determined the electors’ votes. As a result, the parties presented lists of electors who were pledged to vote for their candidate (although technically an elector may vote as he or she wishes). Electors of a state therefore voted as a unit, and a “winner-take-all” system emerged. Whether a presidential candidate wins a state by one vote or one million votes, he still carries all the electoral votes of that state. In 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000 the candidate who received the most popular votes ultimately lost the election. Since 1888, the winner of the popular vote has also received the majority of electoral votes.
THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE PRESIDENT
The presidency has an ambiguous place in American politics for two reasons. First, Article II of the Constitution defines the president’s role vaguely, allowing presidents and other government officials to argue honestly over what functions the president should and should not perform. The Constitution’s imprecise wording allows reasonable people to disagree. Second, the U.S. government is based on a system of checks and balances that forces the government’s branches to share power. This balancing is inexact and encourages the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to argue over which governmental office should control particular issues. Fearful of the power of kings, the framers of the Constitution expected this kind of negotiating to occur. They believed that only such negotiations would prevent any one person or group from becoming too powerful and would allow freedom to flourish in the United States.
The presidency’s power, then, naturally extends from two different conditions: (1) the personalities of particular presidents, and (2) the demands of individual eras. In short, some presidents become powerful because they are determined to do so, whereas others become powerful because events demand strong presidential action. Andrew Jackson, for example, became a powerful president because he was determined to do so. Believing he understood the will of the American people better than any other government official, he expanded the use of the veto and meddled with the powers of the Supreme Court. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, was a powerful president because his era demanded strong leadership. When the United States disintegrated following his election, Lincoln determined that only strong presidential leadership could restore the Union and he acted accordingly. Some politicians opposed Lincoln’s powerful actions—the Supreme Court even ruled one of his actions unconstitutional—but he usually managed to overcome his opposition.
Although the presidency was both weak and powerful at different times during the 1700s and 1800s, it became steadily more powerful during the 20th century. Referring to the presidency as a “bully pulpit,” Theodore Roosevelt used it to shape public opinion during his years in office, and his success convinced presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton to follow his lead. In addition, America’s growing interest in foreign relations during the 20th century gave presidents more chances to “flex their muscles.” Because a president serves as commander-in-chief of U.S. military forces, he can operate more independently abroad than he can inside the United States. In fact, many 20th-century presidents have waged war abroad without receiving Congress’s permission. American involvement in the Vietnam War, however, convinced many citizens that the presidency had grown too powerful by the 1970s, causing Congress to reassert itself. At the present time, Congress continues to have a very strong voice in American government, and it is unclear how powerful the presidency will be during the 21st century. Only presidents, congressmen, jurists, and voters can decide.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
1789–1797
Known as the “Father of his Country,” George Washington fully understood the significance of his presidency. While in office, he set the precedents that shaped the job of president. His domestic policies strengthened the national government, and his response to international events helped determine American foreign policy for more than 100 years.
Washington was born into a well-to-do Virginia planter family. Although he had little formal schooling, he learned the morals, manners, and knowledge necessary for an eighteenth-century Virginia gentleman. Spending much of his time outdoors, he became an excellent horseman and an expert surveyor. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel at the age of 22, Washington fought in the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years’ War). His exploits and adventures during the conflict between France and Great Britain showed that he had a gift for leadership and made him famous throughout the colonies.
From 1759 until 1775, Washington managed the lands of his Mount Vernon plantation and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Devoted to the planter life, he played only a minor role in the initial stages of the American Revolution. Elected to lead the new Continental Army because of his past military experience, Washington held together his ill-trained and poorly supplied troops for 6 years. Washington’s strategy was to harass the more powerful British and avoid major battles. The Continental Army did win some small victories that boosted colonial morale and prevented the Americans’ collapse. On Christmas
night, 1776, for example, Washington crossed the Delaware River and defeated a surprised British garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. For the next 2 years, the war swept back and forth across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As the war in the northern states turned into a deadly stalemate that neither side was able to win, the South became the primary battleground during the final years of fighting. In October 1780, Washington sent Nathaniel Greene to South Carolina. Dividing his army into small, mobile bands, Greene employed what today would be called guerrilla tactics, striking by surprise and then disappearing into the interior. In time, the tide began to turn. Finally, in October 1781, with the aid of French allies, Washington forced the British to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. After the war, Washington longed to retire and enjoy the peaceful life of his Mount Vernon fields. The new nation he helped create needed him, however. Probably no other man could have succeeded in welding the states into a lasting union, so he was the unanimous choice for president in 1789.
During his first months in office, Washington enjoyed almost universal support. Within a year, however, there was serious disagreement within Washington’s cabinet. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who had played an important role in securing ratification of the Constitution, favored a strong central government with broad powers. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, feared that a strong government might abuse its power and oppress the people. Washington usually took Hamilton’s side in these disagreements. The Hamilton vs. Jefferson debate about how much power the Constitution gave the federal government has continued to this day.
Despite the split in his cabinet, Washington was unanimously re-elected in 1792. There was some public criticism of his policies, however. The farmers of western Pennsylvania, for example, protested a government tax on whiskey. Alarmed that the protests might spread, Washington led a federal army against the protesters and quickly restored order. Although the Whiskey Rebellion never really threatened the government, Washington’s actions proved that the federal government had the power to enforce its laws.