Presidential Accomplishments

AP U. S. History Presidential Listing

 

The Young Republic, 1788-1815

1. George Washington, 1789-1797

VP - John Adams
Secretary of State - Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of Treasury - Alexander Hamilton
Major Items:

·      Judiciary Act, 1789

·      Tariff of 1789

·      Whiskey Rebellion, 1799

·      French Revolution - Citizen Genét, 1793

·      Jay Treaty with England, 1795

·      Pinckney Treaty with Spain, 1795

·      Farewell Address, 1796

·      First Bank of United States , 1791-1811

2. John Adams, 1797-1801

Federalist
VP - Thomas Jefferson
Major Items:

·      XYZ Affair, 1797

·      Alien Act, Sedition Act, 1798

·      Naturalization Act

·      "Midnight Judges," 1801

·      Kentucky (Jefferson) and Virginia (Madison) Resolutions, 1798

3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809

Republican
VP - Aaron Burr
Secretary of State - James Madison
Major Items:

·      Marbury v. Madison, 1803

·      Louisiana Purchase, 1803

·      Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1805

·      12th Amendment, 1804

·      Embargo Act, 1807

·      Non-Intercourse Act, 1809

4. James Madison, 1809-1817

Republican
VP - George Clinton
Secretary of State - James Monroe
Major Items:

·      Macon Act, 1810

·      Berlin and Milan Decrees

·      Orders in Council

·      "War Hawks," 1811-1812

·      War of 1812

·      Hartford Convention, 1814

·      First Protective Tariff, 1816

 

Era of Good Feelings and the Era of the Common Man, 1815-1840

5. James Monroe, 1817-1825

Republican
VP - Tompkins
Secretary of State - John Quincy Adams
Major Items:

·      Marshall's Decisions: McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819; Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 1819; Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

·      Acquisition of Florida from Spain, 1819

·      Transcontinental or Adam-Oñis Treaty, 1819

·      Missouri Compromise, 1820

·      Monroe Doctrine, 1823

·      Sectional Tariff, 1824

·      Favorite Sons Election [Jackson, J. Q. Adams, Crawford, Clay], 1824

6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829

National Republican
VP - John C. Calhoun
Secretary of State - Henry Clay
Major Items:

·      "Corrupt Bargain"

·      Erie Canal, 1825

·      Tariff of Abominations

·      Calhoun's Exposition and Protest, 1828

7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837

Democrat
VP - John C. Calhoun and Martin Van Buren
Major Items:

·      Jacksonian Democracy

·      Tariffs of 1832 and 1833

·      The 2nd Bank of the United States (due to expire in 1836)

·      Formation of the Whig Party, 1832

8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841

Democrat
VP - Richard M. Johnson
Major Items:

·      Panic of 1837

·      Specie Circular, no Bank of the United States

·      Unsound financing by state governments

 

Ante-Bellum Period, 1840-1860

9. William Henry Harrison, 1841

Whig
VP - John Tyler
Secretary of State - Daniel Webster

10. John Tyler, 1841-1845

Anti-Jackson Democrat ran as VP on Whig ticket
Secretary of State - Daniel Webster
Major Items:

·      Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1842

·      Vetoes Clay's bill for 3rd Bank of the United States

·      Canadian Border set at 45th parallel

11. James K. Polk, 1845-1849

original "dark horse" candidate
Democrat
VP - Dallas
Major Items:

·      Manifest Destiny

·      Texas becomes a state, 1845

·      Oregon boundary settled, 1846

·      Mexican War, 1846-1848

·      Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo, 1848

·      Wilmot Proviso

12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850

Whig
VP - Millard Fillmore

13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853

Whig
Secretary of State - Daniel Webster
Major Items:

·      Compromise of 1850

·      Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1850 (Britain and U. S. agree not to expand in Central America if the canal is built)

·      Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852

14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857

Democrat
VP - King
Major Items:

·      Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 1854

·      popular sovereignty

·      Japan opened to world trade, 1853

·      Underground Railroad

·      Bleeding Kansas

·      Ostend Manifesto, 1854

15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861

Democrat
VP- Breckinridge
Major Items:

·      Dred Scott decision, 1857

·      Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858

 

Civil War, 1861-1865

16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865

Republican
VP - Andrew Johnson
Secretary of State - William H. Seward (New York)
Secretary of Treasury - Salmon P. Chase
Secretary of War - Edwin M. Stanton
Major Items:

·      Civil War, 1861-1865

·      Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

·      Homestead Act, 1862

·      Morill Act, 1862 (created agricultural colleges)

·      Assassinated April 14th, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth

 

Reconstruction, 1865-1877

17. Andrew Johnson, 1865, 1869

Republican
Secretary of State - William H. Seward
Major Items:

·      13th Amendment, 1865

·      14th Amendment, 1868

·      Reconstruction Act, 1867

·      Tenure of Office Act, 1867

·      Impeachment Trial, 1868

·      Formation of KKK

·      Adoption of Black Codes in the South

18. Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877

Republican
VP - Colfax, Wilson
Secretary of State - Hamilton Fish
Major Items:

·      15th Amendment, 1870

·      First Transcontinental Railroad, 1869

·      Tweed Ring

·      Panic of 1873

·      Crédit Mobilier

·      Whiskey Ring

·      Indian Ring

 

Gilded Age, 1877-1900

19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881

Republican
VP - Wheeler
Major Items:

·      Bland-Allison Act, 1878 (free coinage of silver)

·      Troops withdrawn from the South, 1877

20. James A Garfield, March 4 to September 19, 1881

Republican
VP - Chester A. Arthur
Secretary of State - James A. Blaine
Major Items:

·      Assassinated by C. Julius Guiteau

21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885

Republican
Secretary of State - James A. Blaine
Major Items:

·      Pendleton Act, 1883 (set up civil service commission)

22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889

Democrat
VP - Hendricks
Major Items:

·      Knights of Labor, 1886

·      Haymarket Riot, 1886

·      Interstate Commerce Act, 1887

·      Washburn v. Illinois, 1886

23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893

Republican
VP - Morton
Secretary of State - James A. Blaine
Major Items:

·      Sherman Anti-trust Act, 1890

·      Populist Party Platform, 1892

·      North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington become states, 1889

·      Idaho and Wyoming become states, 1890

·      McKinley Tariff, 1890

·      Sherman Act, 1890

24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897

Second Administration (only President to serve two non-consecutive terms)
Democrat
VP - Stevenson
Major Items:

·      Panic of 1893

·      Hawaiian incident, 1893

·      Venezuelan Boundary Affair, 1895

·      Pullman Strike, 1894

·      American Federation of Labor

·      Wilson-Gorman Tariff, 1894

25. William McKinley, 1897-1901

Republican
VP - Garet Hobart, 1896-1900
VP - Theodore Roosevelt
Secretary of State - John Hay
Major Items:

·      New Imperialism

·      Spanish-American War, April 1898 - February 1899

·      Open Door Policy, 1899

·      Boxer Rebellion, 1900

·      McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, 1901

 

Progressive Age, 1900-1920

26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1908

Republican
VP - Fairbanks
Secretary of State - John Hay, Elihu Root
Major Items:

·      Panama Canal, 1903-1914

·      "Square Deal"

·      Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904

·      Portsmouth Treaty, 1905

·      Gentleman's Agreement with Japan, 1904

·      Hague Conferences, 1899 and 1907

·      Hepburn Act, 1906

·      Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection Act, and "muckrakers", 1906

·      Political reforms of the Roosevelt Era

·      Trust-busting

·      Coal Strike

·      Conservation

·      Venezuelan Debt Controversy, 1902

·      Dominican Republic Crisis, 1902

·      Algerian Conference over Morocco, 1906

27. William Howard Taft, 1909-1913

Republican
VP - Sherman
Major Items:

·      Paine-Aldrich Tariff, 1909

·      Pinchot-Ballinger controversy, 1909 (conservation v. reclamation)

·      "Dollar Diplomacy"

28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921

Democrat
VP - Marshall
Major Items:

·      Underwood Tariff, 1913

·      16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments

·      Federal Reserve System, 1913

·      Glassower Act, 1913

·      Federal trade Commission, 1914

·      Clayton Anti-trust Act, 1914

·      Troops to Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Virgin Islands, Mexico

·      The Lusitania, May 1915

·      "Fourteen Points," January 1917

·      Treaty of Versailles, 1919-1920

·      "New Freedom"

 

Roaring Twenties, 1920-1929

29. Warren G. Harding, 1921-1923

"Dark Horse" candidate
Republican
VP - Calvin Coolidge
Secretary of State - Charles Evans Hughes
Major Items:

·      Teapot Dome Scandal

·      Washington Conference, 1921-1922

·      Fordney-McCumber Tariff, 1922

30. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929

Republican
VP - Dawes
Secretary of State - Frank Kellogg
Major Items:

·      Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928

31. Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933

Republican
VP - Curtis
Secretary of State - Henry L. Stimson
Major Items:

·      National Origins Immigration Act, 1929

·      Panic and Depression

·      Stock market Crash, 1929

·      Hawley-Smoot tariff, 1930

 

The New Deal and the Era of Reform, 1920-1945

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945

Democrat
VP - Garner, Wallace, Truman
Major Items:

·      New Deal

·      "Alphabet soup" bureaucracies

·      World War 2

·      Labor reforms

33. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953

Democrat
VP - Barkley
Major Items:

·      World War 2 ends

·      Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 1945

·      Taft-Harley Act, 1947

·      Truman Doctrine, 1947

·      Marshall Plan, 1947

·      North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949

·      Korean War, 1950-1953

·      "Fair Deal"

 

The Cold War, 1945-1968

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961

Republican
VP - Nixon
Major Items:

·      22nd Amendment

·      Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

·      Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

·      Suez Crisis, 1956

·      Eisenhower Doctrine

·      the "race for space"

·      Alaska and Hawaii become states, 1959

35. John F. Kennedy, 1961-1963

Democrat
VP - Lyndon B. Johnson
Major Items:

·      Alliance for Progress

·      Baker v. Carr, 1962

·      Peace Corps

·      Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

·      "New Frontier"

·      Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

·      Assassinated in Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald

36. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1968

Democrat
VP - Humphrey
Major Items:

·      The "Cold War"

·      Cuban Policy

·      Income tax cut

·      Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964

·      Civil Rights Act, 1964

·      Voting Rights Act, 1965

·      Anti-Poverty Act, 1964

·      Elementary and Secondary education reform

·      Medicare

·      "Great Society"

 

Detente and Rapprochement, 1968 - present

37. Richard M. Nixon, 1968-1974

Republican
VP - Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford
Major Items:

·      "Imperial Presidency"

·      Landing on the moon, July 1969

·      Warren Burger, Chief Justice, 1969

·      Woodstock, August 1969

·      Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established, 1970

·      16th Amendment, 1971

·      Visit to China, February 1972

·      Visit to Russia, May 1972

·      Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), 1972

·      Kissinger and "shuttle diplomacy," 1973-1975

·      Wounded Knee, South Dakota, 1973

·      Allende regime in Chile overthrown with the help of the CIA, September 1973

·      Agnew resigns, 1973

·      Nixon resigns, August 9, 1974

·      Pentagon Papers, August 30, 1971 (superior court allows the NY Times to publish)

38. Gerald Ford, 1974-1976

Republican
1st appointed President
VP - Nelson Rockefeller
Neither President nor Vice-President had been elected
Major Items:

·      Pardons Richard Nixon

·      OPEC crisis, 1974

39. Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981

Democrat
VP - Walter Mondale
Major Items:

·      Panama Canal Treaty signed, September 1977

·      Established diplomatic relations with China and ended recognition of Taiwan

·      Three-Mile Island Incident, March 1979 (nuclear reactor leak in Pennsylvania)

·      Egypt and Israel peace treaty; Sadat and Begin win the Nobel Prize, 1979

·      Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979 (rescue attempt, 8 killed, April 1980)

·      Seizure of Afghanistan by Soviets, 1979

·      "Stagflation"

·      Boycott of Olympics in Moscow to protest invasion of Afghanistan

40. Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989

Republican
VP - George Bush
Major Items:

·      Hostages returned

·      Falkland Islands Crisis, 1982 (U. S. supports England)

·      1500 Marines sent to Beirut, 1983; withdrawn in 1984

·      Grenada, October 1983

·      Nicaragua, 1984

·      Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman appointed to the Supreme Court

·      "Supply-side economics"

·      Iran-Contra Hearings, Summer 1987 (Oliver North)

41. George Bush, 1989- 1993

Republican
VP - Dan Quayle
Major Items:

·      Savings and Loan Scandal, 1990

·      Berlin Wall came down leading to the reunification of Germany

·      Invasion of Panama, 1990

·      Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm (the Gulf War), January to August 1992

42. Bill Clinton, 1993-2001

Democrat
VP - Al Gore
Major Items:

·      North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 1993

·      Proposes a national health care system, 1993

·      Participates in air strikes in Bosnia, 1994

·      Participates in air strikes in Iraq

·      Sex scandal, 1998

·      Participates in air strikes on Serbia, 1999