Our presidents have come from a wide selection of backgrounds. Many have been lawyers, others were soldiers, a few were teachers, and some were businessmen. Check out the presidents by clicking on the years you want:
Presidents from 1850-1900
Presidents from 1900-1950
Presidents from 1950-2000
Presidents from 2000-today
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 34th (1953-1961)
1.
He was born David Dwight on October 14, 1890 in
Denison, Texas.
2.
He attended West Point and graduated in 1915. He
switched the order of his name to Dwight
David.
3.
He married Mamie Geneva Doud on July 1, 1916 and
they had two sons, but one died young.
4.
He served in WWI and became a lieutenant
colonel.
5.
During WWII he served on the general staff in
Washington.
6.
In June 1942 he was made Commanding General of
the European Theater of Operations.
7.
In December 1943 he was made Supreme Commander
of the Allied Expeditionary Force of the
North African Theater of Operations.
8.
He became a 4 star general and became the
commander of the war in Europe – the Supreme
Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force.
9.
He was in charge of D-Day at Normandy and
appointed 1944 he was promoted to General of the Army.
10.
On May 8, 1945 he was appointed the Military
Governor of the US Occupation Zone in Frankfurt.
11.
In December 1950 he was made the Supreme
Commander of NATO.
12.
In 1952 he retired from the military.
13.
He ran for president – his slogan – “I Like Ike”
and his vice president was Richard Nixon.
14.
He expanded the Social Security program and
increased the minimum wage.
15.
He signed the Federal Highway Act in 1956 to
improve the roads.
16.
The CIA was created during his term of office.
17.
He served two terms and left office in 1961.
18.
The Former President Act gave him a full
pension.
19.
He retired to his farm in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.
20.
He died on March 29, 1969.
John F. Kennedy: 35th (1961-1963)
1.
He was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline,
Massachusetts.
2.
He graduated from Harvard in 1940.
3.
He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and served in
the Pacific Theater during WWII.
4.
He earned the Navy and Marine Corps Medal when
he saved a crew member.
5.
He was discharged in 1945 after being injured –
he received the American Defense Service Medal, the Purple Heart, the American
Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and 3 Bronze stars.
6.
He served the House of Representatives for 6 years.
7.
He ran for the Senate in 1952 and won.
8.
He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12,
1953 and they had two children.
9.
He ran for president in 1960 and won with Lyndon
Johnson as his Vice President.
10.
He was the youngest president ever elected –
only 42 years old at the time.
11.
He mobilized the National Guard to help James
Meredith attend college = during the height of the civil rights movement.
12.
He pushed for the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to
create equality for women.
13.
He pushed for the Civil Rights Act on 1964 –
which passed after his death.
14.
In 1962, - the Bay of Pigs occurred.
15.
On October 22, 1962 – a blockade of Cuba was
initiated.
16.
On November 20, 1962 the US was involved in the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
17.
On November 22, 1963 during a trip to Dallas,
Texas, Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Lyndon B. Johnson: 36th (1963-1969)
1.
He was born on August 27, 1908 in Stonewall,
Texas.
2.
He went to Southwest Texas State Teacher’s
College and graduated in 1930.
3.
He taught high school after graduating.
4.
He married Claudia Alta Taylor on November 17,
1934 and they had two daughters.
5.
He was made the director of the Texas National
Youth Administration in 1934.
6.
He became a member of the House of
Representatives in 1937 and served until 1941.
7.
He joined the military in WWII and was sent to
inspect ships.
8.
In 1948 he ran for the US Senate and won.
9.
He helped push through the Civil Rights Act of
1957.
10.
John F. Kennedy asked him to be his Vice
President in 1960.
11.
He was the Chairman of NASA and pushed for space
exploration.
12.
When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, he became
President.
13.
He created the Warren Commission to investigate
Kennedy’s death.
14.
He won re-election in 1964.
15.
He pushed for federal aid for education.
16.
He pushed for the Higher Education Act of 1965.
17.
He pushed through bills that helped the poor –
Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps.
18.
He was an advocate for civil rights and
supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – making discriminatory voting
practices illegal.
19.
After the assassinations of President Kennedy,
Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr, Johnson signed the Gun Control Act
of 1968.
20.
He sent troops in to help South Vietnam. In 1965
– Operation Rolling Thunder – the US bombed North Vietnam.
21.
In 1967 – The Outer Space Treaty was signed.
22.
He left office in 1969 and retired to his ranch
in Texas.
23.
On January 22, 1973 he died.
Richard M. Nixon: 37th (1969-1974)
1.
He was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda,
California.
2.
He attended Whittier College and then Duke
University School of Law. He graduated in 1937.
3.
He was admitted to the bar in 1937.
4.
He married Pat Ryan in 1938 and they had two
daughters.
5.
He joined the navy in 1942 and held several
different jobs until he resigned in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
6.
He ran for Congress and won in 1946.
7.
In 1948 he ran for the House of Representatives
and won.
8.
In 1949 he ran for the Senate and won.
9.
He became Eisenhower’s vice president and served
for both terms.
10.
In 1960 he ran against Kennedy but lost. This
was the first televised presidential debate.
11.
He returned to California to practice law.
12.
After a while, he moved to New York and opened a
law practice there.
13.
In 1968 he ran for president. He won on January 20, 1969.
14.
His economic strategy included 4 points –
initiate a wage-price board, no price or wage controls, tax relief, and no increasing
federal spending.
15.
He supported NASA and the moon landings occurred
during his administration.
16.
In 1970, the EPA was created – the
Environmental Protection Agency.
17.
He endorsed equal rights with the Equal Rights
Amendment.
18.
He helped open the door to China and sent
diplomats there.
19.
He was the first president to travel to Moscow
and met with Premier Leonid Brezhnev. They signed the Strategic Arms Limitation
treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
20.
With Kissinger as his Secretary of State, peace
was negotiated with North Vietnam in 1972.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 but the war did not
officially end in 1975.
21.
On June 17, 1972 the Watergate incident
occurred. The men were arrested and charged with burglary.
22.
On July 16, 1973 – evidence surfaced that Nixon
was also involved in the Watergate incident. Nixon refused to hand over the
tapes.
23.
Facing impeachment, Nixon resigned on August 9,
1974.
24.
He returned to California and was disbarred by
the state of New York so he could not practice law.
25.
He died on April 18, 1994.
Gerald R. Ford, Jr.: 38th (1974-1977)
1.
He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on July 14,
1913 in Omaha, Nebraska but grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
2.
He legally changed his name to Gerald Ford in
1935 after his step-father.
3.
He became an Eagle Scout – the first president
to be one.
4.
He graduated from University of Michigan in
1935.
5.
Instead of playing for the Green Bay Packers or
Detroit Lions, he chose to coach football at Yale.
6.
He went to Yale for law school and was admitted
to the bar in 1941.
7.
He enlisted in the navy when WWII started.
8.
He resigned from the navy in 1946 as a
lieutenant commander.
9.
He married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren in 1948 and
they had 4 children.
10.
He was elected to House of Representatives and
served until 1973.
11.
President Johnson appointed him to the Warren
Commission in 1963 to investigate Kennedy’s death.
12.
When Spiro Agnew resigned, Nixon asked him to be
his vice president in 1973.
13.
He was the first vice president to ever to be nominated
by the president.
14.
When Nixon resigned, Ford took office on August
9, 1974 – the only president to ever serve as both vice president and president
without ever being elected.
15.
He pardoned Nixon – but most did not approve of
his doing this.
16.
In 1974 the country was in a recession.
17.
Vietnam escalated with the fall of Saigon – even
after the Paris Peace Agreement.
18.
He ran again in 1976 but lost to Jimmy Carter.
19.
He died on December 26, 2006. He lived longer than any American president
at the age of 96.
James Earl Carter, Jr.: 39th (1977-1981)
1.
Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924 in
Plains, Georgia – the first president born in a hospital.
2.
He went to Georgia Southwestern College and then
the US Naval Academy.
3.
In 1946 he married Rosalyn Smith and they had
four children.
4.
He served on ships and in submarines.
5.
He resigned from the navy when his father died
and then he worked at the family business – as a peanut farmer.
6.
In 1962 he joined the Georgia State Senate.
7.
He ran for governor in 1971 and won but only
served one term.
8.
He decided to run for president in 1976. He won by 50.1% of the popular vote.
9.
He tried to be more like the common man but the
media portrayed him as incompetent.
10.
In 1978 he had an energy package that
deregulated oil and natural gas prices.
11.
He was an expert on nuclear energy because of
his years working on nuclear submarines.
12.
He established a route for the Alaskan pipeline.
13.
He invited Sadat and Begin to Camp David to come
to an agreement in 1978. It became known as the Camp David Accords which were
signed on March 26, 1979.
14.
He ran for re-election in 1980 but lost to
Ronald Reagan.
15.
After he left office, he has been very
active.
16.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and is
the only president to receive them after leaving office.
Ronald W. Reagan: 40th (1981-1989)
1.
He was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico,
Illinois.
2.
He went Eureka College and graduated in 1932.
3.
He became
a radio announcer in Iowa and announced the Chicago Cubs baseball games.
4.
In 1937 he traveled to California and took a
screen test which won him a 7 year
contract at a movie company – Warner Brothers.
5.
He appeared in 19 movies from 1937-1939.
6.
He enlisted in the Army during WWII and was
called to duty in 1942.
7.
His eyesight was bad so he could not serve, and
he asked to be sent to the Air Force – where he served in the Motion Picture
Unit.
8.
In 1945 he returned to acting.
9.
In January 1940 he married Jane Wyman and they
had two children and adopted a third.
10.
He served as president of the screen actors
guild and became interested in politics.
11.
He divorced Wyman in 1949 – he’s the only
president to be divorced.
12.
He married Nancy Davis in 1952 and they had two
children.
13.
He became a Republican in 1962.
14.
He ran for governor of California in 1966.
15.
He signed the Family Law Act in 1969.
16.
He ran against Jimmy Carter in 1980 and won –
promising to lower taxes.
17.
In March 1981, he survived an assassination
attempt and he was the first to survive being shot.
18.
He is known for Reaganomics – which pushed lower
taxes and government spending.
19.
He tried to reduce the deficit but only made it
worse during his presidency. It went from $220 billion to over $2.6 trillion.
20.
He declared a “War on Drugs” and gave money to
the Drug Enforcement Agency.
21.
In 1986 he signed the Immigration Reform and
Control Act which made it unlawful to hire illegal immigrants.
22.
In 1983 he pushed the “Star Wars” initiative –
to create a shield from space to protect the US from incoming missile attacks.
23.
The Reagan doctrine – supported anti-communist
revolution.
24.
In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down – signaling an
end to the Cold War.
25.
The Iran-Contra Affair in 1986 was secretly
selling arms to Iran even though they were publically declaring neutrality.
26.
He left office in 1989 and returned to
California.
27.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and
died on June 5, 2004.
George H.W. Bush: 41st (1989-1993)
1.
He was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton,
Massachusetts.
2.
He joined the navy in 1941 after the attack on
Pearl Harbor.
3.
He became a naval aviator in 1943. He flew
successful missions in the Pacific theater.
4.
He left the navy at the end of the war.
5.
He married Barbara Pierce on January 6, 1945 and
they had six children.
6.
He went to Yale University and graduated in
1948.
7.
He moved to Texas and entered the oil business –
Bush-Overby Oil Development Company in 1951.
8.
He ran for the Senate in 1964 but lost. He then
ran for the House of Representatives in 1966 and won.
9.
He was appointed the US Ambassador to the United
Nations in 1971.
10.
He became the chairman of the Republican
National Committee in 1973.
11.
Ford appointed him the American envoy to the
People’s Republic of China.
12.
In 1976 he was made the head of the CIA – the
Central Intelligence Agency.
13.
He tried to get the Republican nomination in
1980 but lost to Ronald Reagan.
14.
Reagan asked him to be his Vice President.
15.
He was the first vice president to serve as
Acting President when Reagan was shot.
16.
In 1988 he won the nomination to run for
president and won a landslide victory over Walter Mondale.
17.
He vowed to not raise taxes but Congress had
other plans – finally raising taxes in 1990.
18.
Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 stopped
employers from discriminating against people with disabilities.
19.
In 1990 the Clean Air Act Amendment was signed
with was focused on reducing acid rain and urban smog as well as eliminating
chemical emissions.
20.
In 1991 the Persian Gulf War officially began.
21.
He ran again but lost to Bill Clinton in 1992.
22.
He returned to Houston, Texas.
William J. Clinton: 42nd (1993-2001)
1.
He was born on August 19, 1946 in Hope,
Arkansas.
2.
His name was William Jefferson Blythe, but when
his mother married Roger Clinton, he changed his last name to Clinton when he
was 14.
3.
He attended Georgetown University and graduated
in 1968.
4.
He attended Oxford College as a Rhodes Scholar
and went to Yale to get his law degree in 1973.
5.
He married Hillary Rodham in 1975 and they have
one daughter.
6.
He taught law before running for the US House of
Representatives but he lost.
7.
He ran for the Arkansas Attorney General in
1976.
8.
In 1978 he became Governor of Arkansas.
9.
He lost the election in 1980, but then won the
governorship again in 1982.
10.
In 1992 he became the democratic nomination for
president.
11.
He won the election and became the first
president born after WWII.
12.
In 1993 he supported a bill – Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act – to reduce the deficit.
13.
He supported NAFTA – North American Free Trade
Agreement – creating a free trade zone between Mexico, the US, and Canada in
1993.
14.
In 1996 the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act reduced the immigration from 800,000 to 550,000.
15.
Whitewater – an alleged cover-up of a failed
saving-and-loan company operated by Clinton associates marred his first term.
16.
Clinton vs. Jones – was a harassment suit filed
against the president from when he was governor.
17.
1998 he was accused of having an affair with
Monica Lewinsky- an intern. He would never admit to lying about the affair and
was placed on trial while in office.
18.
Impeachment proceedings were started but he was
acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice.
19.
In 1994 the GATT was signed – the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
20.
He left office in 2001 and helped his wife
campaign for office as Senator of New York.
21.
In 2004 he had a quadruple bypass surgery.
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