Unsuccessful Presidents Identified- 1865-1940
Andrew Johnson
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Herbert Hoover
Political Characteristics
Political Party
Congressional Issues
Johnson's Problems with Congress
Cleveland's Problems with Congress
McKinley's Problems with Congress
Hoover's Problems with Congress
Keynesian Economics
Using it to achieve goals
Americans unconcerned with problems outside of borders.
Rural country first
Disdain for strong leaders
Personal Patterns
Economic Issues
Concern for the economy
Democratic Ideals
Changing Policy
Failing to change
What political characteristics, personal patterns do unsuccessful presidents share in common between 1865 and 1940?
From the period 1865 to 1940, a total of fifteen men served as President of the United States. These fifteen - Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Roosevelt - served during what should have been mostly prosperous times. Yet several of these men and their presidencies must be labeled as failures.
Of these men, four have been identified as unsuccessful presidents. This paper will examine Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Herbert Hoover. None are remembered fondly by history.
Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency following the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. On April 15, 1865, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase administered the oath to then Vice President Johnson at the Kirkwood Hotel in Washington, D.C. Johnson was the first vice president to assume the presidency following the assassination of a president. Johnson presided over the beginning of what is known in American History as the Reconstruction Period. The Civil War had ended, and it was time for the country to reunite and rebuild. Expansion and settlement into the west half of the country continued. Bitter politics soon plagued President Johnson.
Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as president. His first term started March 4, 1885 and his second term began March 4, 1893. Benjamin Harrison served a four-year term between the two terms of Cleveland. Cleveland rose quickly in politics. Running as a reformer, he was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881 and later, Governor of New York. During Cleveland's first term, he vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. He vetoed bills that would have granted pensions to soldiers that served in the Civil War. He angered the railroads by ordering an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant and forced them to return 81,000,000 acres. He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law that attempted regulation of the railroads. Cleveland lost the Electoral College vote, but won the popular vote, during his reelection bid against Harrison.
Cleveland was elected again in 1892. He soon faced an acute depression. He dealt directly with the Treasury crisis rather than with business failures, farm mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment. He maintained the Treasury's gold reserve with the assistance of Wall Street. When railroad strikers in Chicago violated a court-ordered injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. "If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago, that card will be delivered!" The rotund president thundered.
When William McKinley became president in 1896, the country was just coming out of the economic depression of 1893. The Democrats wanted to issue silver coins freely. Foreign affairs became his focus when reports of hostilities in Cuba reached the United States. Newspaper reports prodded Congress to vote three resolutions tantamount to a declaration of war for the liberation and independence of Cuba. In the 100-day war that followed, the United States destroyed the Spanish fleet outside Santiago harbor in Cuba, seized Manila in the Philippines, and occupied Puerto Rico.
Herbert Hoover's presidency followed the two-terms of President Coolidge. Hoover took office March 4, 1929. The country was in the middle of the industrial age, supplying manufactured goods to a global market. Europe was still rebuilding after World War I. Hoover served as Secretary of Commerce under both Presidents Harding and Coolidge. When he was seeking the presidency, he said, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." His election seemed to ensure America's prosperity. Yet within just months after his election, the stock market crashed. The Nation fell into a deep depression.
Of these four men, two were Democrats, and two were Republicans. Hoover and McKinley were Republicans, while Johnson and Cleveland were Democrats. All four men came from humble beginnings. Johnson grew up...
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