Harry ruman
Backround:
- Born May 8, 1854
- Married Elizabeth and had one child, Margaret
- Democrat
Election Results:
- He was apart of one presidential election
- He became president his first term when FDR died (he was vice president) and finished out FDR's term in April, 1945
- Election was held on November 2, 1948; ran against Thomas Dewey and this election is considered the greatest upset out of all the other elections
- One of the most unpopular presidents of all time when he left office-22% approval rating. This rate has increased over the past years and he has become more well liked.
Major Accomplishments:
- Authorized the atomic bombs like HIroshima and Nagasaki
- In office when we passed the 22nd ammendment; this made it so presidents could only run 2 terms and no more than 10 years.
- President when WW2 ended with Germnay and Japan - potsdam conference
- Had to deal with transition from wartime economy to peacetime economy- in a time of ressesion like this presidents are normally blamed
- Helped organize and later join the United Nations
- He desegregated the U.S. military
- Created the CIA and National Security Council
- "The Buck Stops Here"= he said that he takes full responsibility if someone (citizen or worker) messes up or if something goes wrong
- Set up the Fair Deal= designed to help people in need; aimed to promote economic development and social welfare- giver everybody a fair chance (similiar to FDR's New Deal)
- Helped the Jews (victims of Hitler) by giving them Israel as a home place
- Involved us in Vietnam by giving economic/military aid to the french
Assassination Attemps:
- First one = through mail letters; had a bomb inside but was disarmed by security
- Second one = at the blair house (where he was staying while the white house was getting renovated) by Puerto Rican people because they wanted independence
Dwight Eisenhower -34th 1953-1961
Backround:
- Famous WW2 general
- Republican; Nixon was vice president
- Disagnosed with Crohn's disease and had minor stroke while in office
Election
- 1952 Election; there was high tention between us and the Soviets
- Ran against Adlley Stevenson
- This election was a blow out
- 1956 Election; he was pretty much guarenteed to win; this was the biggest victory since FDR
- Campaign slogan: "I like Ike"
Major Accomplishments/Civil Rights
- Ended the Korean war (this was big because this was his campaign promise)
- Launched the space race against the soviets
- Did many covert operations using the CIA to disrupt communist/other bad governments of other countries and help take them down
- Increased involvment in Vietnam by sending advisors to help the South vietnamese people and teach them how to fight
- NASA was created under him
- Eisenhower Doctrine = the U.S. would help any middle eastern country fight off communism
Civil Rights
- Believed in laissez-faire and in a balanced budget
- Deported many immagrants (mexicans)
- Brown vs. Board of education case- schools could no longer segregate based on race and Little Rock refused so he had to have troops help the blacks at school.
- Helped pass the federal aid highway act of 1956
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