Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893)

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), was elected President by a margin of only one electoral vote.His victory over Samuel J. Tilden in 1876 climaxed the most disputed presidential election in U.S. history. Congress had to create a special Electoral Commission to decide the winner.

Hayes was a studious, good-natured man who enjoyed books more than politics. Ohio Republicans nominated him for Congress while he was fighting in the Civil War. Hayes refused to campaign. He declared that any officer who "would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress, ought to be scalped." Hayes was elected, but did not take his seat until after the war. He later served three terms as governor of Ohio.

When Hayes became President, the nation was suffering from the business depression and the political scandals of the previous administration of Ulysses S. Grant. The unsolved problem of Reconstruction in the South still divided the American people, even though the Civil War had ended 12 years before. Hayes was not popular at first. Democrats charged he had "stolen" the election. His fellow Republicans were bitter because he refused to give special favors to party politicians.

By the time Hayes left office, most Americans respected him for his sincerity and honesty. He had promised to end Reconstruction, and he did. Within two months after he took office, he removed the last federal troops from statehouses in the South. Hayes also put the government on the path toward civil service reform. Throughout his career, Hayes tried to live by his motto: "He serves his party best who serves his country best."

During Hayes's administration, the United States continued its remarkable growth. The nation became more industrialized than ever before, and labor unions gained thousands of new members. The population of New York City soared above a million. Civil War General Lew Wallace won nationwide fame for his novel Ben-Hur. And Thomas A. Edison visited the White House to demonstrate his favorite invention, the phonograph.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), commanded the victorious Union armies at the close of the Civil War in 1865. His success and fame as a general led to his election as President in 1868. During his military career, Grant led his troops with energy and determination. He developed great confidence in his own judgment, and an ability to learn from experience. These traits also characterized Grant's political career. But the qualities which had brought him military glory were not enough to solve the nation's problems in the 1870's. Grant's enemies called him a poor President, and historians have generally agreed.

Grant was the first West Point graduate to become President. A quiet, unassuming man, he had an almost shy manner. He was short and stalky, and did not look like a leader of men. Clever and dishonest men used President Grant as a tool to promote their own evil schemes. His presidency was clouded by disgrace and dishonesty, partly because of his habit of trusting persons who pretended to be his friends. Congretional investigations revealed widespread corruption in both state and federal governments. A severe financial panic in 1873 caused the people to react against Grant. To many Americans, he symbolized the confusion and corruption of the times. Grant ignored the attacks on him and the Republican party. He believed that all the criticism came only from political opponents.

Two months after Grant became President in 1869, the nation's first transcontinental railroad was completed. In October, 1871, the great Chicago fire killed about 300 persons and left more than 90,000 homeless. In 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the United States. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. That same year, in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors massacred about 225 men under General George A. Custer.

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), who was impeached, became Chief Executive upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War had just ended. Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, wanted to carry out Lincoln's program of kind and generous treatment for the defeated Confederate States. But he faced a Republican Congress controlled by men determined to punish the South. Congress passed a series of harsh laws over Johnson's repeated vetoes. Feelings became so strong that the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. But the Senate failed by one vote to remove Johnson from office.

Johnson was one of the most unpopular Presidents. But the American people realized during his lifetime that he had been treated unjustly. Many historians feel that his acquittal in the impeachment trial saved the presidency from being weakened, with the President a mere figurehead.

The stocky Johnson was a typical man of the frontier. A tailor by profession, he was the only President who had never gone to school. His wife taught him how to write. Johnson had the touchy pride of a self-made man. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, who had served with Johnson in the United States Senate, felt he had "the pride of having no pride."

A serious man, Johnson had neither tact nor humor. One contemporary said his face had "no genial sunlight in it." Johnson lacked Lincoln's skill in getting men to work together. But he was honest, brave, and intelligent. An unshakable faith in the Constitution guided his actions during his 20 years as a U.S. Representative, a governor, and a U.S. Senator. One of his lawyers at the impeachment trial wrote: "He is a man of few ideas, but they are right and true, and he could suffer death sooner than yield up or violate one of them."

During Johnson's term, the United States purchased Alaska, and Nebraska became a state. Southerners worked to repair their ruined towns and farms, and to reorganize their economy without slavery. The typewriter and the railroad refrigerator car were invented, and the first plastics were used in billiard balls. Mary Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science movement.  Newspapers gained increasing importance in politics, and Johnson became the first President to grant a reporter a formal interview.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was one of the truly great men of all time. He preserved the American Union during the Civil War, and proved to the world that democracy can be a lasting form of government. Lincoln's Gettyburg Address, and many of his other speeches and writings, are classic statements of democratic beliefs and goals. In conducting a bitter war, Lincoln never became bitter himself. He showed a nobility of character which continues to grow in world-wide appeal. Lincoln was the first President elected by the Republican party. After his assassination, he was succeeded by Vice-President Andrew Johnson.

The American people knew little about Lincoln when he became President. Nothing in his past experience indicated that he could meet successfully the greatest crisis in the nation's history. He received less than 40 percent of the popular vote. As President, Lincoln was often a careless, inefficient administrator. At times, he gave way to political pressures which he might better have resisted.

But these failings mattered little when compared with Lincoln's great merits. His outstanding asset was insight. Lincoln realized at the beginning of the Civil War that the Union must be saved. The United States was the only important democracy in the world. Lincoln knew that self-government would be proved a failure if the nation could be destroyed by a minority of its own people. He determined that the nation, and democracy, would not be destroyed.

Lincoln's second great asset was his ability to express his convictions so clearly, and with such force, that millions of his countrymen made them their own. This he did in his first and second inaugural addresses, in his annual messages to Congress, in the Gettyburg Address, and in his letters. Lincoln would have been surprised that some of his speeches came to be honored as great literature. He sought only to be understood, and to convince.

Lincoln's third great source of strength was his iron will. The Civil War had to be carried on until the Union was restored. At times, people in the North wavered in this purpose. Lincoln never doubted that in the end, right would make might, and the North would triumph. His unyielding faith in victory helped to win victory.

If the Union had not been preserved, the United States would have become two nations. Neither of these nations could have attained the prosperity and importance that the United States has today. Lincoln influenced the course of world history by his leadership of the North during the Civil War. His own life story has perhapos been just as important. He rose from humble origin to the nation's highest office. Millions of persons regard his career as proof that democracy offers all men the best hope of full and free life.

Life in the United States during Lincoln's administration revolved almost entirely around the Civil War. To raise money to fight the war, Congress levied the first income tax in the history of the country. For the first time, federal officeholders had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. Pioneers flocked to the western frontier, and mining towns sprang up overnight. The government gave free farms to settlers, and set aside land for colleges that later became state universities.

Soldiers and civilians alike sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" or "Dixie." Winslow Homer's painting Prisoners from the Front brought him his first fame. Patriotic literature included John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Barbara Frietchie" and Edward Everett Hale's story "The Man Without a Country." Lincoln and thousands of other Americans chuckled at the humorous writings of Artemus Ward.

James Buchanan (1791-1868)

James Buchanan (1791-1868), served as President in the critical years just before the Civil War. Many issues divided the nation, but slavery was the main cause of argument. Buchanan personally opposed slavery. But, as President, he insisted that the Constitution protected slavery and that the laws must be obeyed.

When 7 of the 15 slave states seceded in 1860-61, Buchanan refused to use force to hold them in the Union. He hoped they would grow discouraged and return to the Union. He felt that a warlike policy might cause all the slave states to secede, making a peaceful settlement impossible. His policy delayed the Civil War until after his successor, Abraham Lincoln, took office.

The only bachelor President, up to this time, Buchanan was almost 66 years old when he succeeded his fellow Democrat, Franklin
Pierce. The public respected him for his faithful public service in both houses of Congress, as Secretary of State, and in important diplomatic posts. People found him reserved at first meeting, but warm and friendly when they knew him better. His nephew described him as "tall - over six feet, broad shouldered, with a portly, dignified bearing ...; his eyes were blue, intelligent, and kindly, with the peculiarity that one was far and the other near sighted, which resulted in a slight habitual inclination of the head to one side ..."

The storm over slavery gathered during Buchanan's administration. Abolitionist authors aroused New England. The Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois focused attention on the moral wrongness of slavery. Adding to the national unrest, wild speculation in western land and railroads brought on an economic panic. Many banks, factories, and railroads failed. Thousands of unemployed workers stood in bread lines for free food.

On the brighter side, women wore lavish outfits with hoop skirts, and beaver hats trimmed with ostrich feathers. Pony express riders carried the mail through the expanding West. Queen Victoria sent greetings to Buchanan over the first Atlantic cable. In winter, Americans went riding in horse-drawn sleighs and sang a new tune called "Jingle Bells."

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), served as President during a period of increasing bitterness between North and South that later led to the Civil War. He won the Democratic nomination for President in 1852 after the four strongest candidates had fought to a stalemate. Pierce gained support because he strongly favored the Compromise of 1850, which sought to settle the slavery dispute. "If the compromise measures are not ... firmly maintained," he said, "the Constitution will be trampled in the dust." At 48, Pierce became the youngest President up to that time.

The personal good looks of Pierce and his brilliant speaking manner impressed all who met him. People in New Hampshire respected his service as a U.S. Representative and Senator, and as a brigadier general in the Mexican War. But few persons outside his home state had heard of Pierce until he ran for President.

As President, Pierce faced two difficult problems: (1) growing Northern opposition to any expansion of slavery, and (2) rising prejudice against immigrants. He angered Northerners by supporting the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which made slavery possible in a large area in the West. This act provided the issue that created the Republican party. Pierce stirred up further opposition when he protected the rights of immigrants. Those opposed to granting rights to immigrants also formed a new party, called the Know-Nothing, or American, party. By the time Pierce's term ended, the Democratic party had lost much of its strength. Few Democrats favored Pierce for re-election.

The years of Pierce's administration marked one of the most prosperous periods in American history. The California gold rush still attracted men westward. Federal grants of land spurred railroads to extend their lines westward. And the Gadsden Purchase added land from Mexico to the territory of New Mexico. The literary world discussed such works as Thoreau's Walden, Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, and Whitman's Leaves of Grass. People hummed Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night." At Christmas-time in 1855, carolers sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" for the first time.

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874)

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), the second Vice-President to inherit the nation's highest office, became President when Zachary Taylor died. During his 32 months in office, Fillmore's most important action was his approval of the Compromise of 1850. This series of laws helped delay the Civil War for more than 10 years.

A self-made man, Fillmore had been a poor boy who was once a clothmaker's apprentice. He studied law, then won election to the New York state legislature and to Congress. He became known nationally only after the Whig political party chose him to be Taylor's Vice-Presidential running mate in 1848.

As Vice-President, Fillmore presided cooly over the heated Senate debates between slavery and antislavery forces. The Compromise of 1850, which he helped achieve, had been opposed by President Taylor because of its concessions to the South. But when Taylor died, Fillmore urged passage of the compromise, and quickly signed it into law. Fillmore personally did not approve of slavery. But he loved the Union, and preferred compromise to the risk of war.

Fillmore faithfully enforced the compromise, including its provision for the return of runaway slaves. This policy lost him the support of most Northerners, and he was not nominated for President in 1852.

A conservative dresser, Fillmore always wore a dark frock coat and a high-collared shirt with a black silk neckcloth tied in a bow in front. He had kindly blue eyes and a gracious, courteous manner. People admired his modesty. When Oxford University offered him an honorary degree, Fillmore replied that he had done nothing to deserve the honor, and would not accept it.