Category History

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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Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the U.S. He was a highly decorated General in the U.S. army and was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. He contested the elections in 1952 under the banner of the Republicans and won a sweeping victory.

As president, Eisenhower was a moderate conservative and continued the New Deal policies. On the external front, he secured a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War; the signing of the truce brought peace along the border of South Korea.

Eisenhower continued Truman’s legacy and tried to improve the social and economic conditions in the country. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation between blacks and whites in schools was illegal. This verdict was indeed a landmark in the history of America.

During his second term, Eisenhower even sent police to offer protection to the African-American children entering the schools. With popular support, he was elected for the second term in 1956.

Though he was a military man and recognized the necessity of maintaining adequate military strength, Eisenhower also warned that huge military expenditure could be detrimental to the economy.

After his retirement, he was sick for a prolonged period of time. He eventually succumbed to the illness and died on March 28, 1969.

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Before beginning his political career, Harry S. Truman served in the army. His career in politics began as a county court judge. He then became a senator and later went on to become the vice president during Roosevelt’s fourth term.

During his early days as vice president, he did not have any idea about the development of the atom bomb and the problems it was going to create. He also did not know about the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. All of these later fell on his shoulder to deal with.

“I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” This was Truman’s response upon becoming the 33rd president of America. Things were not peaceful when Truman took office. The Second World War was not yet over; Germany was defeated but Japan was still fighting on. Perhaps, Truman made one of the toughest of America’s decisions; to use the atom bomb. The U.S bombed two Japanese cities, killing or wounding thousands of people and leaving its impact forever.

In 1947, when the Soviet Union threatened Turkey and Greece, Truman asked Congress to aid the two countries. This came to be known as the Truman Doctrine. He later came up with the Marshall Plan, a strategy for economic recovery in war-torn Western Europe. The plan was named after his Secretary of State, George Marshall. Truman’s international fame does not end here.

When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to reach supplies to Berliners until the Russians backed down. Matters on the home front too, got his attention. He continued with Roosevelt’s policies to ensure job security. He passed laws to end unfair treatment for African Americans at work and in the military. His administration successfully guided the U.S. economy through the post-war economic challenges.

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When Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in as president, the country was in the depth of the Great Depression. But Roosevelt was a natural leader. He successfully regained the trust of the masses and helped them believe in themselves.

For a people that had fallen into the misery of an economic crisis, having faith in themselves was crucial and Roosevelt managed to do this. No wonder, he is the only president who served more than two terms, though in 1951 the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution set a limit of two terms to presidents.

Roosevelt set up government agencies that created jobs for the unemployed. He made sure that there were legal provisions that ensured that people got fair pay.

He set up ‘Social Security’, a reform policy that imposed heavier taxes on the wealthy. It also called for new controls over banks and public utilities, and an enormous work relief program for the unemployed. The tax raised from the wealthy was used to pay for these programmes. Roosevelt called this the New Deal, a way to help Americans work their way out of the Depression.

Though he had supporters, Roosevelt had detractors as well. Many were of the opinion that the government should not interfere in business practices. But the number of people who loved his policies surpassed his critics; Roosevelt was elected three more times, in 1936, 1940 and 1944 respectively.

Roosevelt felt the U.S. should go to the aid of the British during the Second World War. Contrary to Roosevelt’s idea, most people were of the opinion that the U.S. should stay out of the war. However, when the German U-boats attacked American ships and Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in1941, the U.S. was forced to enter the war. Roosevelt thus became a wartime president.

Roosevelt devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations. He believed that it was necessary to settle international conflicts peacefully. As the war drew to a close, Roosevelt’s health deteriorated. He died on April 12, 1945, of a cerebral haemorrhage.

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Herbert Hoover was already a celebrated international figure when he became the 31st President of America. He is remembered as a great humanitarian.

Hoover was in London when Germany declared war on France. The American Consul General asked his help to bring the stranded tourists back home. The committee under his leadership helped 1,20,000 Americans return to the U.S. in a span of six weeks. His efficiency in managing the difficult situations during the war made him popular. And when it came to the presidential elections, victory was not hard to achieve. But things were not so good when he took charge as president.

In his first year as president, the U.S. economy failed; businesses closed as a result of which, millions of people lost their jobs. It was called the Great Depression and it was the worst economic crisis the country had ever seen. Though the failure of the economy was not his fault, people blamed Hoover’s leadership. Though he contested for the next election he failed miserably.

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