Category US Presidents

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the US. But he was famous even before becoming the president, not as a politician, but as a movie star. Reagan had been a movie and television actor for years and moved to politics much later.

Reagan became the president at the age of 69. In fact, he was the oldest first-term US president. He held this distinction until 2017, when Donald Trump became president at age 70. Reagan is also the only movie actor ever to become president. He was a skilled orator and was known as the Great Communicator.

In 1966, Reagan became the governor of California. In 1980, Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination defeating Jimmy Carter. Reagan’s term in office began with cheerful news about the release of the hostages in Iran. Though all the work for this was done by his predecessor Carter, the incident set a positive tone for his tenure.

Though he was shot and wounded by a would-be assassin 69 days after swearing in, he recovered quickly and resumed duties. This incident increased his popularity; Reagan did not forget to maintain his grace and wit during the dangerous incident. During his tenure, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, increase employment, and strengthen national defence. He lowered taxes for the wealthy; Reagan thought if the rich spent more money; it would help all levels of the economy.

Reagan was concerned about keeping America safe during the Cold War and spent a lot on weapons. He was elected for a second term. This time, he made efforts to smoothen the relationship with Russia. He left office in January 1989. Reagan disclosed in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease earlier that year. He died at home in 2004.

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The 39th president of the United States was honoured with the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. The award recognised his efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and the promotion of economic and social development. The president that we are talking about is Jimmy Carter!

Jimmy Carter was an honest man with a good heart. He believed in making the government more efficient, ending unfair treatment of African Americans, and taking care of the environment. Carter carried out many reforms; he deregulated the trucking and airline industries. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands.

The energy crisis was a major problem during Carter’s presidency. The oil rich nations in the Middle East raised the oil price and this led to a shortage of gasoline. Though Carter’s Energy Bill helped reduce the shortages, the voters weren’t happy. He therefore established a national energy policy that decontrolled domestic petroleum prices and stimulated production.

There were other serious problems as well. In 1979, Islamist students attacked the U.S. embassy in Iran and took 52 Americans hostage. Carter tried to negotiate their release for well over a year. He also tried a rescue mission, which failed miserably. His lack of success in freeing these hostages was seen as weakness and contributed to him losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.

Even after his tenure, Carter continued with his activism. He established the Carter Centre to promote and expand human rights. He also travelled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, and help in disease prevention and eradication in developing nations.

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‘I assume the presidency under extraordinary circumstances. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.’ Gerald R. Ford said these words when he took office in 1974. Ford was the only person ever to hold the top U.S. office without having been chosen by the voters as either president or vice president.

As president, Ford tried to calm down the controversies that changed the political climate of America. He granted a full pardon to Nixon and made a cabinet from scratch. He believed that inflation was the primary threat to the economy, and thought that controlling inflation would help reduce unemployment. To rein in inflation, it was necessary to control the public’s spending. He believed that this shift would bring a better life for all Americans.

In his foreign policy, Ford tried to maintain U.S. power and prestige. Israel and Egypt were at the verge of breaking into a war. Ford helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. He also implemented a new agreement with the Soviet Union regarding nuclear weapons. Though he ran for the presidential election in 1976, he lost.

Ford was a good football player during his youth. He worked as an assistant coach while pursuing a law degree. Before joining politics, he worked in the Navy during the Second World War. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1948 and served in Congress for 25 years. During his time in Congress, he developed a reputation for honesty and openness, qualities which helped him during his tenure as president.

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Lyndon B. Johnson served as vice president when Kennedy was the president. Johnson succeeded him after Kennedy was shot dead. He was sworn in as president two hours after Kennedy died.

Johnson entered politics because he wanted to make the world a better place for those who struggled for a living. He served as a U.S Congressman in the beginning of the Second World War, but had to leave to fight in the war later. Years later, he was chosen as the leader in the Senate. After swearing in as the president, Johnson tried to continue Kennedy’s Policies.

Kennedy had been urging for a new civil rights bill and a tax cut at the time of his death. His War on Poverty programme provided early education for poor Children; the programme helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line.

Johnson persuaded the Congress to pass Medicare and Medicaid plans. These were aimed at providing health care for the elderly and those who could not afford insurance. The people of America were happy with their president and winning the 1964 election was a cakewalk for Johnson.

During Johnson’s administration, America made significant advancements in the space programmed. However, during his second term, the Vietnam War took place. This war turned out to be Johnson’s downfall. As more and more U.S. soldiers died in the war, Johnson’s popularity began to diminish and protests grew throughout the country. Johnson put his full efforts into gaining a peace settlement, but failed.

He left office while peace talks were going on and died due to heart attack on 22 January, 1973.

Richard Nixon, the 37th president of America is perhaps remembered the most for the Watergate Scandal. The scandal had disastrous consequences and Nixon had to resign from office even after successfully ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China.

The Watergate Scandal was uncovered in 1972, when five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party offices in a building called Watergate. It was found that those men worked for a committee set up to support Nixon’s re-election. Nixon and many others who worked for him lied to cover up the break-in. However, Congress accused Nixon of political spying and threatened to impeach him. Nixon chose to resign to avoid impeachment.

Like many other American politicians, Nixon began his career as a lawyer. He served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy during the World War II and was elected to the Congress upon leaving service. Nixon made it to the Senate in 1950. At the age of 39, Eisenhower selected Nixon as his vice president. This happened in 1952.

Nixon lost his first presidential election to Kennedy. However, he was successful in 1968. As president, his significant achievements include revenue sharing, anti-crime laws and a range of environmental programmes. Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon when Nixon was president and it was one of the most significant events during his term.

In the 1972 elections, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record, after which the Watergate scandal shook the country. Nixon tried to overcome his bad reputation in his final years. He gained praise as an elder statesman and wrote a lot about his public life and foreign policy.

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John F. Kennedy remained president for hardly a thousand days. He was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, thus becoming the youngest president to die in office. Popularly known as JFK, Kennedy came from a politically active family. It was his father’s wish to make one of his sons the president and John was the one who fulfilled it.

Before joining politics, JFK served in the Navy. He fought the Japanese and was fatally wounded. After recovering, he became a Democratic Congressman from Boston. He later made it to the Senate. It was in 1960 that he ran for the presidential elections against Richard Nixon. Theirs was the first ever presidential debate that was broadcast on television.

Kennedy pledged during his campaign to get America moving again and he tried to fulfill his pledge. After becoming president, he launched a series of economic programmes; those were by far the best and sustainable plans implemented in the country after the Second World War. His vision of America extended to the field of national culture as well. He believed that arts had a central role to play in a vital society. He also called for a new civil rights legislation. The Peace Corps was created by Kennedy to help people in poor nations improve their lives. Kennedy gave a push to the U.S. space program as well.

Things were not always smooth for Kennedy. It was his administration that planned the invasion of Cuba in 1962. What followed is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis that nearly resulted in the breakout of a global thermonuclear conflict.

On November 22, 1963 Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline were riding in an open car as part of a motorcade in Dallas. Suddenly Kennedy was shot; he was rushed to the hospital but died. Kennedy had inspired many Americans and when he was killed the nation was deeply upset. The magical time Americans had called ‘Camelot’ came to a sudden end.

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