The Presidency Analyzed

James A. Garfield is a name that produces a sprawling aura of melancholy and grief amongst all those familiar with American history. This is for one main reason: Garfield, alongside Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley , and John F. Kennedy, is one of only 4 US presidents to be successfully murdered. Unlike Lincoln, McKinley, and Kennedy, however, Garfield didn't get to actually make any major accomplishments before being stolen from the world. For this reason, many have lumped Garfield into the same category as William Henry Harrison, dubbing both of them presidents that died far too early to actually be ranked, as they were unable to accomplish anything in office. I agree that Harrison died too early to actually be analyzed, as he passed away literally 31 days into his tenure. He was inaugurated on March 4, 1841, and died on April 4, 1841. However, Garfield actually did achieve things and embark on legislative adventures during his presidency, so I still rank him on my list. Garfiel

On November 22, 1963, the prosperity and unity enjoyed by Americans under the beloved presidencies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy were smashed to bits by the bullets fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald, a Soviet sympathizer who had briefly lived in Soviet Belarus and even attempted to move to Fidel Castro's Cuba, despised Kennedy's support of Cold War anti-communist policies like the Truman Doctrine. So, when Kennedy visited Dallas, Texas, where Oswald lived, Oswald took the opportunity to slay the man he held such angry, vehement hatred toward. While traveling across Dallas in a hoodless red car cheerfully celebrated by his droves of fans and voters, Kennedy was shot by Oswald. The bleeding president was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died later that day. The next ~15 years would be plagued by war, economic turmoil, political division, corruption, and bleak despair. Much of this was the result of Kennedy's death; a lot of it was not. But regardless, Kenn

With only a few exceptions (such as dark horse candidate James K. Polk ), the lives of US presidents prior to their election tend to be filled with monumental accomplishments that forged their names as names worthy of being listed in the annals of history, regardless of if they lived in the White House or not. George Washington led American troops to victory - and thus independence - in the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and inspired the religious freedom enshrined in the First Amendment. James Madison was integral to the creation of the Constitution. Zachary Taylor was a general who led American forces during significant victories in the Mexican-American War. Abraham Lincoln defeated the oft-admired Stephen Douglas in a collection of debates. Ulysses S. Grant provided the Union with some of its most important victories in the civil war. John Quincy Adams was no exception to this. His name would be written in gold, frankincense, and myrrh ev

On September 6, 1901, one of only 4 bullets to successfully kill a US president was flung by the gun of anarchist Leon Czolgosz into the body of William McKinley . McKinley, who was touring in New York, was immediately rushed to the hospital. At first, doctors were optimistic that McKinley would survive, noting the mild nature of all the wounds. However, over the next few days, the wounds devolved into gangrene, which killed McKinley on September 14, 1901. The country was devastated. McKinley was a popular president who had presided over economic health and a US victory in the Spanish-American War. That victory had dramatically expanded America's international power, further bolstering McKinley's approval. Now, the country was chaired by McKinley's youthful vice president: The 42-year-old Theodore Roosevelt. Like McKinley, Roosevelt would prove to be an extremely influential president who changed much of America's economic and political landscape. For the most part, wer

It was in the midst of the troubled final months of the Jimmy Carter era that Ronald Reagan won the presidency in the 1980 election. Carter's term was drenched in the murky, dirty waters of crisis and misery. Before, during, and after he took the oath of office in 1977, the economy was trapped in a net of amplifying inflation and worsening unemployment numbers. 1979 saw the introduction of two new issues: Iran, which had been modernizing into a semi-egalitarian secular state, erased all that progress and became a totalitarian Muslim theocracy. That would be bad enough, but anti-American college students would go on to ambush the US embassy in Tehran and keep all its residents hostage. Soon after, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, producing immense public pressure on Carter to take immediate, effective action. Carter still decided to run for reelection amidst this vast web of devastating problems, securing the Democratic nomination after a brief competition with Ted Kennedy. Re

George Herbert Walker Bush settled in the White House on January 20, 1989, 2 months before the bi-centennial of the Constitution first taking effect in 1789. Bush's presidency filled the gap left by the expiration of Ronald Reagan 's administration, which had endured from 2 terms spanning 1981 to 1989. Bush's status as Reagan's successor was not the only fact linking the two men. Both were Republicans; both were wealthy participants in the private sector prior to politics (Reagan as an actor and Bush as an oil mogul), and Bush was even Reagan's vice president for both terms. Bush's political resemblance to the extraordinarily-popular Reagan helped him in the 1988 election, securing him a massive victory over Democrat Michael Dukakis. As Bush took the oath of office, Americans were optimistic: Despite its now-evident consequences, the Reagan presidency brought with it better economic conditions, reduced Cold War tensions, and renewed optimism from the American pe

John Adams took the oath of office on March 4, 1797, replacing George Washington as president of the United States. I believe that Washington was the second-greatest president in American history. He sits between FDR and Abraham Lincoln. While Lincoln abolished slavery and FDR saved humanity from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, George Washington preserved the spoils of the American Revolution. With the British surrender at Yorktown, a new nation was born. The first nation since ancient Athens and the Roman Republic (which collapsed all the way back in -27 BCE!) to prioritize democracy and consent of the governed, America was a unique nation with a unique destiny. It was a nation built not upon religious worship or ethnic labels, but on liberty, opportunity, equality, progress, and democracy. George Washington, by making the presidency an office that respected checks and balances, showed the rest of the world that the American Revolution's values could serve as the