Benjamin Harrison

1. Benjamin Harrison He was elected in the year 1888, defeating Grover Cleveland and occupying the term between Grover Cleveland’s two non-consecutive presidencies. He was also a distant relative of the other Harrison – William Henry Harrison. Fortunately, Benjamin Harrison’s presidency lasted much longer!

2. William McKinley His time in office included the Spanish American War – and resulted in much overseas expansion and colonization. The United States claimed Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam after the war; the nation also claimed the right to build a naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and American Samoa. Sadly, he too was assassinated, by an anarchist.

3. Thomas Jefferson Although he was the creator of the Statute of Religious Freedom in Virginia, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the President of the United States; an accomplished architect, political philosopher, scientist, and writer; and the man who bought the Louisiana Territory, sent the Corps of Discovery and Lewis & Clark to explore it’ and double the size of the United States – despite all of this – his proudest accomplishment was that he founded the University of Virginia.

4. Andrew Jackson He was the hero of the Seminole Wars in Florida and the leader of American forces at the Battle of New Orleans at the end (technically, after the end…) of the War of 1812. As President, he destroyed the National Bank, established the “Spoils System”, assured the Cherokee Nation of their fate by refusing to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in Cherokee Nation V. Georgia, and threatened to invade South Carolina after South Carolina threatened to secede over the “Tariff of Abominations”during the Nullification Crisis.

5. John Tyler He was an afterthought during the Election of 1840 – the “Tyler” part of “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!” When William Henry Harrison died, he took steps to ensure that he would take over the office of a President – a procedure which, at the time, was of questionable Constitutionality. During his time in office, the United States officially annexed Texas – which had been an independent republic previously.

6. Millard Fillmore When Zachary Taylor passed away in 1850 Millard Fillmore served out the remainder of his term. He was the President of the United States when the Compromise of 1850 was passed. During his time in office the United States opened relations with the Empire of Japan – forcing them to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa.

7. Chester Arthur He became President upon the death of James A. Garfield by assassination in 1881. The most significant accomplishment of his Presidency was the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883.

8. Abraham Lincoln Widely considered the greatest of all American Presidents, Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War. His Emancipation Proclamation freed all of the enslaved people of the South, and he insisted that in order for the nation to be reunited, Southern States would have to pass the 13th Amendment, banning slavery. His sense of compassion and his eloquence, as evidenced by the Gettysburg Address, helped Americans to survive the most troubling years in our History. He was assassinated in April of 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, just days after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, VA.

9. Ulysses S. Grant Although he is frequently condemned as a poor President due to the corruption and graft of his administration, Ulysses S. Grant was genuinely devoted to the cause of Civil Rights for African-Americans and Reconstruction. He continued to support Freedmen during the Reconstruction by funding the Freedman’s Bureau and keeping up the military occupation to the end of his time in office.

10. James Buchanan He was a largely ineffective President who served from 1857 to 1861. As the sectional crisis and concern over slavery turned violent in “Bleeding Kansas” Buchanan was unable to improve the situation or even negotiate compromise.

11. Rutherford B. Hayes The man who stole the Presidency from Samuel Tildon. He lost the popular vote in 1876, but when no candidate managed to win a majority of the Electoral College, he was placed in office thanks to the Compromise of 1876. He became President, but was forced to end the Reconstruction of the American South, thereby undoing most of the gains African-American citizens had made following the Civil War.

12. Theodore Roosevelt He became President when McKinley was assassinated, and was the youngest President in US History at the time. He was known as a trustbuster, for enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against companies like Standard Oil. After reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, he helped to pass both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. As a committed conservationist, he helped to establish the National Park System.

13. Ronald Reagan He was President of the United States during the height of the Cold War, and once called the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire.” Yet, once Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR and pledged to improve relations with the West, Reagan joined Gorbachev in a partnership which reduced Soviet tyranny over Eastern Europe. In perhaps his most dramatic oration, Reagan, standing before the Berlin Wall, exclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” By 1989, the wall had crumbled.

14. Jimmy Carter While this Democrat was president from 1977 to 1981, The United States was mired in Economic Recession. He opposed the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan so strongly, that the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in the year 1980. He was also President when Iranians held hundreds of Americans hostage at the US Embassy for 444 days.

15. Richard Nixon This President was in office when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. He opened diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China during his time in office. Yet, he is the only President in the history of the United States of America to resign from office. Had he not resigned, he would likely have been impeached and removed from office for breaking in to the 1972 Democratic national headquarters and lying about the criminal act.

16. Lyndon Baines Johnson His “Great Society” reforms like Medicaid, Medicare, and Head Start were considered magnificent accomplishments; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were signed during his Presidency, but his legacy was damaged the Vietnam War.

17. Woodrow Wilson “He Kept Us Out of War” was this President’s campaign slogan in the Election of 1916. In April of 1917, he asked Congress to declare war on Germany to “Make the World Safe for Democracy.” His Fourteen Point Plan to restore Europe after World War I was adopted in the Treaty of Versailles.

18. Dwight David Eisenhower This Nebraskan and World War II hero directed Operation Overlord on D-Day in Normandy, France prior to becoming the President of the United States. While he was in office, he was caught lying about U-2 spy planes missions over the Soviet Union. He also sent troops into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to force the school to integrate peacefully.

19. Warren G. Harding He promised Americans a “Return to Normalcy” after World War I and the rise of Radicalism left many Americans upset and disturbed. He was notoriously corrupt, however, allowing the Teapot Dome Scandal to happen on his watch. He died in office in 1923.

20. Herbert Hoover He was the President of the United States when the Stock Market collapsed and the Great Depression began, and he was blamed for being unsympathetic towards the poor. Newspapers became “Hoover” blankets, empty pockets “Hoover” flags, and communities of bums lived in “Hoovervilles.”

21. Franklin Delano Roosevelt He designed the AAA, the CCC, the REA, the FDIC, and many other New Deal Programs. Re-Elected four times, this man was the longest serving President of the United States. He was the victim of polio at a young age, and restricted to a wheelchair for much of his life; nevertheless he was extremely active and a charismatic leader.

22. Martin Van Buren He was known as the “Little Magician” because he was such a capable political manager during the 1800s. He was Andrew Jackson’s campaign manager and best political advisor, and he ran for President successfully to succeed Jackson in office. After serving as president from 1837 to 1841, he was re-nominated to run for President in 1848 by the Free-Soil party, which was pledged to abolishing slavery.