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U.S. Presidents (1839 - 1897)
William Henry HARRISON
(9 February 1773, Charles City, Virginia, USA - 4 April 1841, Washington, DC, USA)1841 - March 4 - William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) becomes 9th President of the United States - dies one month after assuming the office.
Nominated for president in 1835 as a military hero whom the conservative politicians hoped to be able to control, he ran surprisingly well against Van Buren in 1836. Four years later, he defeated Van Buren but caught pneumonia and died in Washington on April 4, 1841, a... Read MORE...
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John TYLER
(29 March 1790, Charles City, Virginia, USA - 18 January 1862, Richmond, Virginia, USA)1841 - April 4 - John Tyler (1790-1862) becomes 10th President of the United States.
Elected vice president on the Whig ticket in 1840, Tyler succeeded to the presidency on Harrison's death. His strict-constructionist views soon caused a split with the Henry Clay wing of the Whig party and a stalemate on domestic questions. Tyler's more considerable... Read MORE...
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James Knox POLK
(2 November 1795, Pineville, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA - 15 June 1849, Nashville, Tennessee, USA)1845 - March 4 - James K. Polk (1795-1849) becomes 11th President of the United States
When James K. Polk accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency, he was not very well known. The Whig opposition party played on his obscurity, sniping, "Who is James K. Polk?" An experienced speaker, Polk surprised everyone when he campaigned vigorously... Read MORE...
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Zachary TAYLOR
(24 November 1784, Barboursville, Montebello, Orange County, Virginia, USA - 9 July 1850, Washington, DC, USA)1849 - March 4 - Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) becomes 12th President of the United States. He dies in office after 16 months.
During the revival of the slavery controversy, which was to result in the Compromise of 1850, Taylor began to take an increasingly firm stand against appeasing the South; but he died in Washington on July 9, 1850, during the fight over the Compromise.
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Millard FILLMORE
(7 January 1800, Locke, Cayuga, New York, USA - 8 March 1874, Buffalo, New York, USA)1850 - July 9 - Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) becomes 13th President of the United States
As president, Fillmore associated himself with the pro-Southern Whigs, supporting the Compromise of 1850. Defeated for the Whig nomination in 1852, he ran for president in 1856 as candidate of the American, or Know-Nothing, Party, which sought to unite the country against... Read MORE...
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Franklin PIERCE
(23 November 1804, , New Hampshire, USA - 8 October 1869, Concord, New Hampshire, USA)1853 - March 4 - Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) becomes 14th President of the United States
As president, Pierce followed a course of appeasing the South at home and of playing with schemes of territorial expansion abroad. The failure of his foreign and domestic policies prevented his renomination.
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James BUCHANAN
(23 April 1791, Cove Gap, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, USA - 1 June 1868, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA)1857 - March 4 - James Buchanan (1791-1868) becomes 15th President of the United States - the only bachelor to be President.
He was elected president in 1856, defeating John C. Frémont, the Republican candidate, and former President Millard Fillmore of the American Party. The growing crisis over slavery presented Buchanan with problems he lacked the will to tackle. His appeasement of the South... Read MORE...
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Abraham LINCOLN
(12 February 1809, , Kentucky, USA - 15 April 1865, Washington, DC, USA)1861 - March 4 - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) becomes 16th President of the United States.
Lincoln's inaugural address was stirring. He appealed for the preservation of the Union. To retain his support in the North without further alienating the South, he called for compromise. He promised he would not initiate force to maintain the Union or interfere with... Read MORE...
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Hiram Ulysses Simpson GRANT
(27 April 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio, USA - 23 July 1885, Saratoga, New York, USA (Schuylerville) (Victory))1869 - March 4 - Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) becomes 18th President of the United States
In 1868, as Republican candidate for president, Grant was elected over the Democrat, Horatio Seymour. From the start, Grant showed his unfitness for the office. His cabinet was weak, his domestic policy was confused, and many of his intimate associates were corrupt. The... Read MORE...
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Rutherford Birchard HAYES
(4 October 1822, Delaware, Ohio, USA - 17 January 1893, Fremont, Ohio, USA)1877 - March 4 - Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) becomes 19th President of the United States
On the night of the 1876 presidential election, Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes went to bed early. He assumed that he had lost the election to his opponent, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden did win the popular vote that night, but the Republicans challenged the... Read MORE...
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James Abram GARFIELD
(19 November 1831, Orange, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA - 19 September 1881, Elberon, New Jersey, USA)1881 - March 4 - James A. Garfield (1831–1881) becomes President of the United States
In 1880, Garfield was elected to the Senate, but instead became the presidential candidate on the 36th ballot as a result of a deadlock in the Republican convention. In the election, he defeated Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, the Democratic candidate. Garfield's... Read MORE...
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Chester Alan ARTHUR
(5 October 1829, Fairfield, Vermont, USA - 18 November 1886, Manhattan, New York, USA (New York City) (New Amsterdam) (Washington Heights))1881 - September 19 - Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) becomes President of the United States
In 1880 Arthur was nominated for vice president in the hope of conciliating the followers of Grant and the powerful New York machine. As president upon Garfield's death, Arthur, stepping out of his familiar role as spoilsman, backed civil service reform, reorganized the... Read MORE...
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Stephen Grover CLEVELAND
(18 March 1837, Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey, USA - 24 June 1908, Princeton, Mercer, New Jersey, USA)1885 - March 4 - Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) becomes 22nd President of the United States
In 1884 Grover Cleveland won the Democratic nomination for president. The campaign contrasted Cleveland's spotless public career with the uncertain record of James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate, and Cleveland received enough Mugwump (independent Republican) support to ... Read MORE...
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Benjamin HARRISON
(20 August 1833, North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA - 13 March 1901, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA)1889 - March 4 - Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) becomes 23rd President of the United States
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison received the Republican nomination for president on the eighth ballot. Though behind on the popular vote, he won over Grover Cleveland in the electoral college by 233 to 168.
As president, Harrison failed to please either the bosses or the... Read MORE...
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Stephen Grover CLEVELAND
(18 March 1837, Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey, USA - 24 June 1908, Princeton, Mercer, New Jersey, USA)1893 - March 4 - Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) becomes President of the United States