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The White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946®

"WHGS" White House Daily News Feature Since 2010

Anthony Giannini

Today in American Presidents History & White House News



Celebrating Our 70th Anniversary with United States Patent and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Protections Granted on the Anniversary of Our 70th Year of Service which began with President Harry S. Truman, Chief of Secret Service, Inspector of the White House Police, and volunteer members of the Uniformed Division of U.S. Secret Service

April 3, 2023, In preparation for his surrender, first appearance, and arraignment, President Donald J. Trump travels to Manhattan, New York. On April 4, former President Trump is expected to enter a plea of not guilty.


March 21, 2023


President Biden's Covert Train Ride Across Poland Coin


PRESIDENT BIDEN'S COVERT TRAIN RIDE ACROSS POLAND
https://lnkd.in/gh7cx9Kk

Commemorative Coin Released by The White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946 in Support of Ukraine with Percent of Proceeds
to Ukraine House per President Zelenskyy to White House Gift Shop via Ukraine Embassy Ambassador



I am pleased to introduce our newest Historic Moments in Presidential History Coin with significant proceeds going to Ukraine House with guidance by President Zelensky for WHGS to assist Ukraine House to the Ukraine Ambassador in Washington, D.C.


In the Historic Moments in Presidential History Coin Collection, my goal since inception is to tell the story of a presidential administration in narrative coin art, much like a short story sequence. The newest coin commemorates President Biden's courageous journey across Poland into Kyiv!

While our coins cannot win Ukraine's battle for democracy over Putin's tyranny, a significant portions of the funds can help lessen suffering for women and children in Ukraine.

As some of you know, in addition to my corporate, educator, former military, and government roles—I design gifts, toys, coins, luxury items, and soon in Europe—a new fashion line. I learned toy making from my father and fashion design from my mother. I was raised with stories family service from one distant ancestor at Monticello leaving to fight with Thomas Jefferson to another, while a considerably different form of service, funding Walt Disney's first animated film, Snow White—when no other banker would touch Walt's prescient cinematic dream. Dreams: The patriots of Ukraine have one core dream—Freedom.

The suffering of Ukraine's people, its children, women, and men are special to us at The White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946 (WHGS) by members of U.S. Secret Service & by permanent order of Present H. S. Truman. Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine, WHGS has dedicated significant profit for direct aid to orphaned children and wives of fallen heroes of Ukraine.

Over the past few months, WHGS raised $50,000.00, and in June, I will present this donation in Washington D.C. to Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States. We will continue to support Ukraine's women and children as well as our missions in the United States—support for women and children traumatized by domestic violence, as well as families of fallen law enforcement officers.

Please consider purchasing the President Biden Covert Train Ride Across Poland & Ukrainian Patriot Commemorative Coin at https://lnkd.in/gh7cx9Kk.
Thank you,

Anthony Giannini, CEO
White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946
GSE Strategic Inc

US/MIL Training Certifications:
Antiterrorism Officer (US Defense Security Academy)
Advanced Intelligence Analyst (USA)
Counterintelligence Special Agent (USA)
Advanced Aerial Intelligence Analyst (USA)
Signal Systems Intelligence (USA)
Adv. Unmanned UAV Operator (USA)
Counter Human Trafficking in Women/Children (JAG)
Law of Intelligence (JAG)


December 21, 2022
News: PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY AT THE WHITE HOUSE

President Zelenskyy arrived at The White House today for a historic meeting with President Biden: A Churchill diplomatic Christmas moment. Until today, Zelenskyy has not left his beloved Ukraine for 300 days, since Russia first invaded Ukraine. The United States and Ukrainian presidents vowed unity against tyranny.

Lest we forget, wars that begin in Europe, do not stay in Europe: It is in Europe's and America's best interests to stand with Ukraine against Putin's dictatorship of over Russia, Russians, and his Hitlerian invasion of Ukraine.
- Anthony Giannini

April 22, 2022

100% of Profits from the sale of our Ukraine Heroes Commemorative coins and other symbols are donated to American Red Cross Ukraine Relief! - Anthony Giannini, CEO





November 7, 2020

Fox News announces that Joseph R. Biden is 46th President-elect of the United States.

46th President, Joeseph R. Biden, Joe Biden

September 2, 2018


SEPT 2, 1944: Future U.S. President George Herbert WalkerBush scores four direct hits on his mission to destroy a radio tower; Hit by anti-aircraft fire, he dive bombs again, heads out to sea, ejects from his plane, and is rescued by the the sailors of the USS Finback.
- A. P. Giannini


G. H. W. Bush, WWII Pilot

September 1, 2018
On September 1, 1807, former United States vice president Aron Burr is aquitted of Treason.
Burr was charged with plotting to annex parts of Mexico's Louisiana and Spanish territory for the purpose of establishing an independent republic. His aquittal found that while Burr had conspired against the United States, nonetheless, his action was not "overt" — a requirement of treason laws. He was acquitted on the grounds that, though he had conspired against the United States — he was not guilty of treason because he had not engaged in an “overt act” — a requirement of the laws governing treason. As you may recall, Aron Burr was previously charged with murder of Alexander Hamilton but as vice president he was immune from prosecution and finished his term in office. Disgraced in America, Burr retreated to Europe. - Anthony P. Giannini


August 3, 2018

THE WHITE HOUSE GIFT SHOP CHARITABLE FOUNDATION IS CREATED!

On August 1, 2018, The White House Gift Shop Foundation was officially recognized as a charitable nonprofit organization.

Our missions include direct support at community levels for homeless families, at risk children on the streets, grants to rural law enforcement agencies, skills training for good people in tough situations, support to veterans, and providing great meals to the very elderly who live alone with minimal social interactions.

The Foundation's programs are grass-roots, community level. We are opening our first non-profit restaurant for unique programs to include Chef's Camp for children at risk, a socially themed "Evening Out" for home alone elders at nutritional as well as isolation risk, and a once each week free meal in our "Honoring Those Who Served" veterans outreach program.

Ornament sales help support assistance to rural law enforcement agencies, wounded LEOs, veterans, homeless families, and children at risk.

- Tony Giannini


2018 White House Ornament


May 31, 2018




April 27, 2018


President Trump News Today

President Trump's Weekly Address is available at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/weeklyaddress/?utm_sour...

Today is September 1, 2017

1939- George Catlett Marshall, Jr. is named Chief of Staff of the United States Army under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Marshall served as Chief of Staff until 1945 and organized the largest expansion of the United States military in history. His success led to his five-star promotion to General of the Army.

Today is August 10, 2017
1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, age 39, is stricken with fever and ascending paralysis, later diagnosed as polio. In 1938, as President of the United States, Roosevelt founds the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis which leads to the discovery of a polio vaccine.

Today is July 19, 2017

ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY

1993 - President Bill Clinton announces a new military policy of "Don't ask, don't tell."
1984 - The headline of the New York Times reads: GERALDINE FERRARO IS CHOSEN BY MONDALE AS RUNNING MATE, FIRST WOMAN ON MAJOR TICKET
1989 - Vikki Carr sings at the opening of the Nixon Library dedication with Presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon present.

Today is May 25, 2017

1787 - On May 25, 1787, George Washington presides over The United States Constitutional convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1861 - On May 25, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln suspends the right of habeas corpus for John Merryman who was arrested for actions to prevent Union troop movements from Baltimore to Washington.

1961
- On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announces to Congress and Americans his goal for an American to land on the moon by the decade’s end. On July 20. 1969, Kennedy’s goal was met when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot upon the moon.

Today is May 13, 2017
On This Day, May 13, In Presidential and White House History

1905 - President Theodore Roosevelt opens the White House Conservation Conference in Washington, D.C.

1915 - President Woodrow Wilson delivers a note to the German Foreign ministry protesting the German sinking of the British liner Lusitania.

1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1969 - President Richard M. Nixon calls for a military draft lottery.

1980 - President Jimmy Carter declares Kalamazoo County, Michigan, a disaster area following an F3 tornado.


Today is April 21, 2017

On This Day, April 21, In Presidents and White House History

1943 — President Roosevelt announces the execution of Doolittle pilots by the Japanese.
1865 — President Lincoln's funeral train departs Washington D.C.

Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train

1789 — John Adams becomes the first Vice President of the United States.



Today is April 14, 2017

On This Day, April 14, In Presidents and White House History
1986 — President Ronald Reagan addresses the Nation about the U.S. air assault on terrorist and military targets in Libya.
1865 — President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C., and dies the next day.

President Abraham Lincoln

Today is April 6, 2017

On This Day, April 6, In Presidents and White House History

1965 — President Lyndon Baines Johnson authorizes ground combat operations in Vietnam.
1973 — President Richard M. Nixon throws the first pitch of the season at a game for the California Angels.
1841 — President John Tyler is sworn-in two days after the death of President William H. Harrison.

Today is March 29, 2017

On This Day, March 29, In Presidents and White House History
2005 - First Lady Laura Bush visits Afghanistan.
1961 - Future President John Tyler is born.


Today is March 23, 2017

On This Day, March 23, In Presidents and White House History

1983 - President Ronald Reagan proposes a new missile interception program: The Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars
2010 - President Barack Obama signs the Hea;th Care Reform Bill.



Today is March 19, 2017

On This Day, March 19, In Presidents and White House History
1900 - President William McKinley urges trade with Puerto Rico.
1963 - President John F. Kennedy and a coalition of six Latin American countries pledge to fight Communism.
1979 - C-SPAN begins daily broadcasting coverage of the United States House of Representatives.
2003 - President George W. Bush announces strikes against military targets in Iraq.


Today is March 12, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1933
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his first address to the nation in what will become known as his "Fireside Chats." He begins his address: "I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." On March 12, 1933, Roosevelt, indeed, spoke to a worried nation with nearly 33 percent unemployed, a citizenry panicked to mass bank account withdrawals consequent of bank failures, and a nation demoralized about roiling economic forecasts. Between March 1933 and June 1944, 90 percent of Americans with radios would steadfastly listen to 30 more "fireside chats."


President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat



Today is March 8, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1943
— President Harry S. Truman is featured on the cover of Time Magazine.

Today is March 5, 2017
On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1933
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes all U.S. banks, declares a bank holiday, and freezes all financial transactions to prevent a worsening of the Great Depression.


Presidential Quote for Today

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd United States President, In Office March 4, 1801 — March 4, 1809: On Government


Thomas Jefferson


"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."

"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

"No man will ever carry out of the presidency the reputation which carried him into it."

Today is March 3, 2017
On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1809 - Thomas Jefferson serves his final day as 3rd President of the United States and will be succeded on March 4 by James Madison.
1845 - Florida becomes the 27th U.S. state.
1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes is first sworn-in as President in the Red Room of the White House on March 3, 1877 and is sworn-in again, publicly, two days later.
1931 - The Star Spangled Banner becomes the national anthem of the United States.


Presidential Quote for Today
Franklin D. Roosevelt: On National Defense

"When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President, In Office March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945. From Roosevelt's
Fireside Chat, September 11, 1941, The Attack of the United States Destroyer Greer by a German Submarine

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Today is February 26, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1919 - President Wilson signs the act to establish the Grand Canyon National Park.
1929 - President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

* * *

Presidential Quotes for Today: Presidents of the United States on the Presidency

" Associate with men [women] of good quality if you esteem your reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington, 1st President, In Office April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1789


"No man will ever bring out of that office the reputation which carries him into it. The honeymoon would be as short in that case as in any other, and its moments of ecstasy would be ransomed by years of torment and hatred." - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, In Office March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809


"I'll be damned if I am not getting tired of this. It seems to be the profession of a president simply to hear other people talk, - William Howard Taft, 27th President, In Office March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913


"Presidents are selected, not elected." Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President, In Office March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945


"The most important thing you need to do is to have big chunks of time when all you're doing is thinking." - Barack Obama, 44th President, In Office January 20, 2009 - January 20, 2017


"We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable." - Donald J. Trump, 45th President, Inauguration January 20, 2017



Today is February 22, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History

* * *

Quote for Today: Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States: On God and National Security

"It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence." - Franklin Pierce

Today is February 21, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History

1885
— The Washington Monument obelisk is dedicated in commemoration of President George Washington who also served as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and known as the Father of America. Measuring 169.046 m in height, it is the tallest true monumental obelisk in the world.


The Washington Monument


1971 — President Richard M. Nixon normalizes Sino-American relations in his visit to the People's Republic of China.


* * *

Quote for Today: General Douglas McArthur on National Security
"Talk of imminent threat to our national security through the application of external force is pure nonsense. Our threat is from the insidious forces working from within which have already so drastically altered the character of our free institutions - those institutions we proudly call the American way of life." - Douglas McArthur


Today is February 16, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1962 — President John F. Kennedy invites peace marchers into the White House.


* * *

Presidential Quote for Today, February 14, 2017, Ronald Reagan, 40th President: On Effective Communications

"If your explaining, your losing." - Ronald Reagan


President Ronald Reagan



Today is February 14, 2017
On This Day in Presidents and White House History


Presidential Quote for Today: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President: On Total Security

"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is — freedom." - Dwight D. Eisenhower


President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Today is February 11, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1943 — General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed as Commander of the Allied Armies in Europe..

Presidential Quote for Today, February 111, 2017: John Adams, 2nd President, On Political Parties

"There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This in my humble apprehension is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution." - John Adams


Today is February 7, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1962
— President John F. Kennedy orders a full trade embargo on Cuba.
2002 — President George W. Bush announces his plan to federally fund faith-based initiatives to expand community based social-service programs.


Presidential Quote for Today: Thomas Jefferson on Immigration

"Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming, as I doubt not you will do, to our established rules. That these rules shall be as equal as prudential considerations will admit, will certainly be the aim of our legislatures, general and particular." - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States

Today is February 5, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1917
— Over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, the United States Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1917 restricting the numbers of immigrants to the U.S., imposing a literacy test, barring immigrants form an area defined as the Asia-Pacific Zone, and deeming certain categories of persons as inadmissible.
1971 — Apollo 14 astronauts land on the moon.


Today is February 1, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1865
— President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery and forced servitude.
1942 — Voice of America begins broadcasting.
1996 — Congress passes the Communications Decency Act with the goal of protecting children from pornographic content on the Internet.
1999 — President Bill Clinton presents Congress with a budget proposal for 2000 of $1.77 trillion.


Today is January 30, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1835
— Andrew Jackson, 7th president, becomes the first United States President to experience an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot President Jackson but fails as he is subdued by Jackson, himself, congressmen, and a group of citizens.
1882 — On January 20, 1882, future 32nd president Franklin D. Roosevelt is born in Hyde Park, New York.


January 29, 2017, Presidential Quotes for Today: Seven
United States Presidents On Immigration
"Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders ..." - Donald J. Trump, 45th President

Donald J. Trump, 45th President


"A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation." - Ronald Reagan, 40th President

Ronald Reagan, 40th President

"We are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants, and we can reconcile those two things. So we need comprehensive reform and that means stronger border security ... although we also have to make sure we do it in a way that doesn't lead to people ... being discriminated against." - Barack Obama, 44th President

Barack Obama, 44th President


"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President


"Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country." - Theodore Roosevelt. 22nd President

Theodore Roosevelt, 22nd President


"Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience." - John F. Kennedy, 35th President

John F. Kennedy, 35th President


"Just as the Nation's interests call for a larger degree of flexibility in the laws for regulating the flow of other peoples to our shores, there is at the same time a significant need to strengthen the laws established for the wholesome purpose of ridding our country of the relatively few aliens who have demonstrated their unfitness to remain in our midst. Some of these persons have been found to be criminals of the lowest character, trafficking in murder, narcotics, and subversion. Constitutional due process wisely confers upon any alien, whatever the charge, the right to challenge in the courts the Government's finding of deportability. However, no alien who has once had his day in court ... should be permitted to block his removal and cause unnecessary expense to the Government by further judicial appeals the only purpose of which is delay." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President



* * * *

Presidential Quote for Today, January 26, 2017

On the Rule of Law: "The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States


Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President

Today is January 24 2017

Presidential Quote for Today: On Taxes
"Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased - not a reduced - flow of revenues to the federal government. - President John F. Kennedy, January 7, 1963, Annual Budget Message to Congress


John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States


On This Day, January 24, in Presidential and White House History
2003 — Created as a cabinet department in response to the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 — on January 24, 2003, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began formal operations. DHS is now led by General John F. Kelley, former Chief of the U.S. Southern Command.
1943 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill conclude the Casablanca Conference, codename SYMBOL, with the resolute doctrine of "unconditional surrender" by the Axis powers.


January 23, 2017
Presidential Quote for Today
"Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States." - Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States


Official Photo President Ronald Reagan


Today is January 23, 2017
On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1964
-Amendment XXIV of the United States Constitution is ratified and prohibits any form of taxation on the right to vote.
1973 - President Richard M. Nixon announces a Vietnam peace accord.


Presidential Quotes for Today, January 22, 2017

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, speaks to the perennial dynamics between a president and media, the transformative power of the presidency on a president, and offers advice to the nation to look to the future as much as the past — that past is not necessarily prologue.

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: "President Can't Swim."


Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

The Presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.


- Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States


Lyndon B. Johnson
36th President of the United States


Today is January 22, 2017
On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1917 — On January 22, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addresses the U.S. Senate and urges an end to the European conflict through settlement by "peace without victory." Two months later, the United States will declare war against Germany.
1946 — On January 22, 1946, the Central Intelligence Group, predecessor to CIA, is created. On July 26, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signs into law the National Security Act which creates the Central Intelligence Agency.
1950 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt's former adviser, Alger Hiss, is convicted of perjury for denial of his contacts with Soviet spies and is sentenced to five years in prison.
1973 — Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, dies of a heart attack at age 64. While his vision of a Great Society was overwhelmed by the war in Vietnam, Johnson's legacy includes significant gains in civil rights, education, Social Security, and education.


Today is January 20, 2017

2017 — 58th Presidential Inauguration Day, Donald J. Trump, President, Michael R. Pence, Vice President

Today is January 19, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and White House History
1961 — The President of the United States receives a salary increase from $75,000 to $100,00 with an additional expense allowance of $50,000.
1949 — The salary of the President of the United States was increased from $75,000 to $100,000 with an additional $50,000 expense allowance for each year in office and now receive $400,000.00 with an extra $50,000 personal allowance.

Today is January 17, 2017

On This Day in U.S. Presidents and White House House
1961
— President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation, warns against massive deficit spending and the concentration of power in the military-industrial complex.
1991 — Under the administration of President George H. W. Bush, Operation Desert Storm begins with a coalition of 34 nations in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Today is January 15, 2017 On This Day in U.S. Presidents and White House House
1777 — Vermont (then New Connecticut) declares independence in the American Revolution War. The name Vermont originates from the French name to describe Vermont's Green Mountains (Verd Mont) on a 1647 map by French explorer Samuel de Champlain
1942
— In Praise of the Importance Baseball to America's Morale: On January 15, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball to suggest that baseball games continue during World War II as a way to sustain national morale.

President Roosevelt in a Letter of January 15, 1942, Suggests Baseball Games Continue During World War II

1953 — On January 15, 1953, President Harry S. Truman becomes the first president to deliver a farewell address by television and radio and establishes the tradition of the presidential farewell address to the Nation.
1973 — Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard M. Nixon on January 15, 1973, suspends U.S. military offensive actions in North Vietnam

Today is January 12, 2017

OnThis Day in U.S. Presidents History
1915 — The U.S. House of Congress votes against a proposition requiring all states to give women the right to vote.
1966 — President Lyndon Johnson in his State of the Union Address advises regarding Vietnam:
"
We could leave, abandoning South Vietnam to its attackers and to certain conquest, or we could stay and fight beside the people of South Vietnam. We stayed. And we will stay until aggression has stopped. We will stay because a just nation cannot leave to the cruelties of its enemies a people who have staked their lives and independence on America's solemn pledge—a pledge which has grown through the commitments of three American Presidents."

1991 — Congress authorizes President George H. W. Bush authority to use military action to combat Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait.


Today is January 9, 2017

On This Day in U.S. Presidents and History
1349 — In a prelude of future atrocities against the Jews, on January 9, 1349, in Basel, Switzerland, the people and guilds of Basel accused the Jews of causing the Black Death, seized over 600 Jewish people of Basel, shackled them in a wooden barn, and incinerated them. Thereafter, the leaders of Basel banned all Jewish people from residing or settling in the city of Basel for 200 years.
1788 — Connecticut becomes the fifth U.S. state.
1913 — Future president Richard M. Nixon is born.


Today is January 8, 2017

On This Day in Presidents History
1790 — George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address.
1815 — General Andrew Jackson and his troops win the Battle of New Orleans.
1853 — The statue of Andrew Jackson is unveiled in Lafayette Park, Washington D.C.
1900 — President William McKinley orders Alaska under military rule.
1918 — At the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson announces his Fourteen Points peace plan.
1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a War on Poverty."

Today is January 6, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and U.S. History
1853 — On January 6, 1853, President-elect Franklin Pierce, his wife, Jane Means Appleton Pierce, and his son, Benjamin "Bernie" Pierce, board a train for a short trip from Andover, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire. En route, the axle of the rail car in which he and his family ride — breaks, the train derails, overturns, and slams into an embankment. Early telegraph messages report the President-elect dead, but while unharmed, Franklin Pierce and his wife, Jane, emotionally, will never be the same. Inside the train, Franklin senses the rail car about to crash; He grasps his wife and son, but the violent car overturning rips young Bernie from his father's protective arms. Bernie, torn into space by the car's overturning force, smashes against the fracturing side wall, falls between the jagged space of this gaping metal crevice, and horrifically dies as Franklin and Jane, eyes wide open, see Bernie's decapitated head crushed, his skull broken, and his brain splattering out. In that singular moment, the Pierces' paths darkly divert: Jane will refuse the role of First Lady, will scarcely leave her room at the White House, and will begin to compose lamentful letters to the spirit of her dead beloved son, while Franklin Pierce will soon descend to alcoholism. Upon leaving office in 1857, Franklin will say, "There's nothing left to do but get drunk." On October 8, 1869, former president Franklin Pierce dies of liver failure.


Jane Pierce and Her Son Bernie


Franklin Pierce, 14th U.S. President

Today is January 5, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and U.S. History
1781 — British forces commanded by Benedict Arnold burn Richmond, Virginia
1846 — The U.S. House of Representatives votes in favor of disallowing access by theUnited Kingdom to the Oregon Territory.
1933 — Calvin Coolidge, 13th president, dies.
1949 — President Harry S. Truman announces his program called the Fair Deal.
1957 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses Congress about his core set of principles that will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.
1971 — President Richard M. Nixon approves the development of a sophisticated space shuttle.


Today is January 3, 2017

On This Day in Presidents and U.S. History
1749 — On January 3, 1749, Benning Wentworth issues the first of his New Hampshire Grants of land to establish democratically and self-sustaining governed towns which ultimately lead to the establishment of the state of Vermont.
1777 — American Revolutionary War: In the pivotal Battle of Princeton, General George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis.


General George Washington Rallies Troops at Princeton, New Jersey

1946 — The United States Congress televises its proceedings for the first time.

1953 — Frances P. Bolton and Oliver Bolton, mother and son, respectively, become the first mother and son to simultaneously serve in the United States Congress.
1959 — Alaska becomes a U.S. state.
1961 — The United States ends diplomatic relations with Cuba consequent of Fidel Castro nationalizing all American assets.
1990 — Panamanian leader, Manuel Noriega, surrenders to U.S. forces. In his trial in April 1992, Noriega is convicted of racketeering, money laundering, and drug trafficking. He is sentenced to 40 years in prison. Ironically, Noriega was once a highly valued Central Intelligence Agency asset as well as a known drug trafficker during his period of paid services by the CIA.
2013 — President Barack Obama meets with leaders of Congress about the escalating situation in Syria, informing Congress that "Syria has used, in an indiscriminate fashion, chemical weapons that killed thousands of people, including over 400 children ... That poses a serious national security threat to the United States and to the region, and as a consequences, Assad and Syria needs to be held accountable ... I've made a decision that America should take action."

President Barack Obama meets in the White House Cabinet Room with Members of Congress to discuss Syria.

Today is January 1, 2017

On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1863 — On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves are free.


Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln, January 1, 1863

1942 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue the United Nations declaration to create a global organization for peace.


Today is December 29, 2016

On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1813
— On December 30, 1813, British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York. The War of 1812 (June 1812 - February 1815) was declared by the U.S. in response to the impressment into British military service of over 10,000 American merchant sailors.
1852 — Rutherford B. Hayes, future President, weds Lucy Webb.

Today is December 29, 2016
On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1778 — On December 29, 1778, three thousand British soldiers capture the city of Savannah, Georgia. Established 1733, Savannah is the oldest city in the state of Georgia and a strategic port.
1845 — Texas becomes the 28th U.S. state following the signing of the "Joint Resolution" by President James Polk.
1848 — Fiat Lux: President James Polk lit the first gas light of 80 outside the White House on December 29, 1848. Within the White House, Mrs. Polk had insisted that the Blue Room chandelier remain candle-lit. On the first night of the new as lighting, the supply of gas depleted, the White House rooms went dark, and only Mrs. Polk's candle-lit Blue Room had light. In 1891, President Benjamin Harrison had the gas lights replaced by electric.

2011 — President Barack Obama continues the tradition started by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he visits the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama lay a wreath within the memorial.


Today is December 28, 2016
On This Day in Presidents and U.S. History

1832
— On December 28, 1832, John Calhoun, citing policy disagreements with President Andrew Jackson, becomes the first United States Vice President to resign this office.
1846 — Iowa becomes the 29th U.S. state on December 28, 1846.
2009 — On December 28, 2009, President Obama reassures Americans that the U.S. will identify and track down "all who were involved" in the plot to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight as is it approached Detroit.

Today is December 27, 2016
On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1944 — On December 27, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure control of goods belonging to Montgomery Ward company consequent of its failure to comply with three collective labor agreement bargaining agreements negotiated by the National War Labor Board created in 1942.

Today is Christmas, December 25, 2016

Christmas at the White House

Today is December 24, 2016
On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1814 - The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent which ends the War of 1812.
1851- The Library of Congress burns and destroys approximately two-thirds of its books.
1914 - During World War I "The Christmas Truce" begins.
1943
- President Roosevelt appoints General Dwight D. Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.
1973 - The District of Columbia Home Rule Act passes and Washington D.C. residents are allowed to elect their local government.


Today is December 22, 2016
On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History

1775 — The Continental Congress creates the Continental Navy on December 22, 1775 and names Esek Hopkins as fleet commander in chief.
1807 — Congress passes The Embargo Act which forbids trade with all foreign countries. Urged by President Thomas Jefferson, the trade embargo was a direct response to the seizure of American merchantmen and cargo by France and Great Britain in their battle for control of Europe as Great Britain, mainly, captured U.S. seamen and impressed, forced, them into service on British warships. Both Great Britain and France rationalized seizures of American merchantman, vessels, and cargo as necessary to their survival and a consequence of war between these two countries. Nonetheless, the Embargo Act was a financial disaster for the United States as all overseas trade effectively ceased. Southern farmers could not sell their crops, shipping industries in the U.S. fell flat, and smuggling of foreign good accelerated. The textile industry and manufacturing in New England, however, thrived, as labor and capital shifted to the region, but overall the Embargo Act shattered the economy of the United States.

1968
— Julie Nixon, daughter of President Richard M. Nixon, weds David Eisenhower, grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
2010
On September 22, 2010, President Barack Obama repeals the 17 year-old Don't ask, don't tell policy banning gays from openly serving in the U.S. military.

Today is December 20, 2016

On This Day in Presidential and U.S. History
1792
— President George Washington creates the United States Postal Service by signing the U.S. Postal Service Act on December 20, 1792
1606 — The Virginia Company sets sail three ships with settlers and cargo to create the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown, Virginia.
1991 — JFK, a film directed by Oliver Stone, opens in the U.S. on December 20, 1991.
1995 — Nixon, a film directed by Oliver Stone, opens in the U.S. on December 20, 1995.

Today is December 19, 2016
1974
- On December 19, 2016, Nelson Rockefeller by provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution becomes Vice President in the administration of President Gerald Ford.
1776 - The Continental Army under the Command of General George Washington winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Today is December 17, 2016
On this Day in Presidential History
2014 — President Barack Obama re- establishes diplomatic relations with Cuba.
2004 — President George W. Bush signs the most significant U.S. Intelligence reorganization in 50 years.
2002 — President George W. Bush announces plans to create a new system of anti-ballistic missile protection for American troops and allies.
1997 — President Bill Clinton signs the No Electronic Theft Act.
1969 — The United States and the Soviet Union begin SALT I talks to freeze the number of existing strategic ballistic missiles.
1777 France formally recognizes the United States in the American Revolutionary War.


Today is December 15, 2016
On this Day in Presidential History
1791 — The Virginia General Assembly ratifies the United States Bill of Rights which was created on September 25, 1789 and authored by James Madison. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution of which Madison authored and introduced the first nine in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1798.
1938 —President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses participants in the ground-breaking ceremony for the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.
1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves the Bill of Rights Day.
1978 — President Jimmy Carter grants diplomatic recognition to Communist China and breaks official relations with Taiwan.
1980 — The Electoral College official elects Ronald Reagan as President of the United States.

Today is December 14, 2016

On this Day in America's History
1799
— On this day in presidential history, George Washington, first President of the United States, dies at the age of 67 in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Of his presidency, Washington said, "I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn in precedent."
1999 — President Jimmy Carter exchanges documents transferring control of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama.
1882 — Alabama becomes the 22nd state.
1902 — Innovation: The first Pacific telegraph cable is laid from San Francisco to Hawaii.
1903 — Invention: The Wright Brothers attempt to fly the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1964 — In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, the Supreme Court rules in favor of congressional use of the the Constitution's Commerce Clause to help stop racial discrimination.
1990 — President George H. W. Bush announces he will nominate Lynn Martin to succeed Elizabeth H. Dole as labor secretary.
1991 — President George H. W. Bush renews the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico.
1992 — President-elect Bill Clinton holds a two-day conference in Little Rock, Arkansas to discuss the nation's economic problems.
2000 — President Bill Clinton speaks in England and urges wealthy countries to end to farm subsidies and reallocate money to fighting disease in impoverished countries as well as cutting emissions to thwart global warming.
2003 — President George W. Bush announces the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
2008 — President George W. Bush dodges two shoes thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist.

Today is December 12, 2016

1745 — John Jay who will become the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is born on December 12, 1745.

1753 — George Washington, two days prior to his death, pens his final letter to Alexander Hamilton urging Hamilton to pursue the creation of a United States military academy.

1787 — Pennsylvania on December 12, 1787, becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1791 — The Bank of the United States opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1800 — Washington D.C. is established as the capital of the United States.

1870 — Joseph H. Rainey is the the first African American sworn into the United States House of Representatives.

1975 — Sara Jane Moore pleads guilty to attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in San Francisco, California.

1979 — President Jimmy Carter orders the removal of Iranian diplomats in the US. as a response to the taking of American hostages in Tehran.

1990 — President George H. W. Bush announces a planned summit in Washington D.C. with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

1995 — The United States Senate by a mere three votes halts an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would give Congress authority to make illegal the burning or desecrations of the American flag.

1995 — William Brown becomes the first African American Mayor of San Francisco on December 12, 1995.

2000 — On December 12, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its decision in Bush v. Gore which ends legal challenges to results of the presidential election.

2001 — President George W. Bush signs the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act of 2001.

2003 — President George W. Bush imposes economic sanctions against Syria for its failure to substantially fight terrorism.

2014 — The U.S. House of Representatives approves an eleventh-hour $1.1 trillion budget to prevent a government shutdown.

2015 — President Barack Obama speaks about the the climate change agreement reached during the United Nations Climate Change Conference to globally limit greenhouse gas emissions.


Today is December 11, 2016
1980
— President Jimmy Carter signs into law a $1.6 billion environmental superfund to pay for cleanup of chemical spills and toxic waste dumps.
2001 — President George W. Bush announces that the U.S. will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treat with Russia.

Today is December 10, 2016, 344th Day of the Year with 21 Days Remaining to Year's End: Have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season & a Merry Christmas in 15 Days!
1817
— Mississippi becomes the the 20th state of the United States.
1869 — Educational Societies: When Christian and Jewish students are denied membership at their college's fraternities, they found their own fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi at City College, New York, with the goal of friendship without regard to race or creed.
1884 — Moments in American Literature: Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the first major work in America written in vernacular or informal language, named one of the Great American Novels, but in the 20th century was criticized for its racial stereotypes and racial slurs although the main character, "Huck" Finn is at his youthful core - non-racist in the severely racist milieu of his time - set in an American zeitgeist 20 years prior to the novels publication on December 10, 1884.
1906 — President Theodore Roosevelt in recognition of his mediation of the Russo-Japanese War is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
2002 — President Jimmy Carter for his mission to bring peace in the world is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Today is December 9, 2016
1793 — The American Minerva, New York's first daily newspaper, is published by Noah Webster the American textbook innovator, lexicographer, English-language reformer, political writer, prodigious author often called "Father of American Scholarship and Education," and whose name is perennially remembered in the title of the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
1975 — President Gerald R. Ford signs a $2.25 billion authorization to prevent New York City to prevent loan defaults.
2000 — The United States Supreme Court orders a temporary cessation of the Florida presidential vote count.
2009 — President Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize

Today is December 8, 2016
1776 — George Washington army is forced to retreat across the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.
1863 — President Abraham Lincoln on December 8, 1863 announces his Reconstruction plan.
1872 — P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American governor in the United States.
1987 — President Ronald Reagan and Michail S. Gorbachev, Soviet leader, sign a treaty to destroy their respective nation's arsenal of intermediate nuclear weapons.
1993 — President Bill Clinton signs NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement.
1953 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses the Nation with his Atoms for Peace speech.
1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes his now famous declaration that December 7 will be "a date which will live in infamy" as the U.S. declares war on Japan.
1927 — The Brookings Institution is founded through the merger of three organizations created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings.


Today is December 7, 2016

1796 — John Adams wins election for the 2nd President of the United States.
1836 — Martin Van Buren wins election as the 8th President of the United States.
1941 — The United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is attacked by the Japanese Navy
1987 — President Ronald Reagan meets with Mikhail Gorbachev for a summit in Washington D.C.

Today is December 5, 2016

1492 — Christopher Columbus is the first European to reach the island of Hispaniola.
1775 — Henry Knox begins to transport artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1831 — John Quincy Adams is seated in the House of Representatives.
1847 — Jefferson Davis wins election to the United States Senate.
1848 — President James K. Polk reports to the U.S. Congress that significant gold deposits have been discovered in California: The Gold Rush begins.
1933 — The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified which repeals the 18th Amendment of January 16, 1919, prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverage.
1955 — Rosa Parks and E. D. Nixon lead the event known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1964 — Captain Roger Donlon is the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Vietnam war.

Today is December 3, 2016
1776 — George Washington arrives at the banks of the Delaware.
1818 — On December 3, 2016, Illinois becomes the 21st state.
1828 — Andrew Jackson is elected President of the United States. 1901 — President Theodore Roosevelt in his State of the Union address asks the Congress to curb the power of trusts. 1989 — President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet at Malta and issue statements suggesting the Cold War may reach and end.


Today is December 2, 2016

1962 — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield at the request of President John F. Kennedy travels to Vietnam and upon his return becomes the first high-ranking U.S. official to adversely comment on the war.
1954 — Joseph McCarthy is censured by the U.S. Senate in a 65 to 22 vote for bringing "dishonor and disrepute" into the United States Senate. McCarthy was the principle actor behind the "Red Scare" campaign in which McCarthy and his loyalists unsuccessfully for a half-decade attempted to expose alleged communist agents, spies, traitors, and left-wing loyalists in the U.S. government and society. In 1954, McCarthy targeted the United States Army — an action that culminated in his censure by the U.S. Senate.
1930 — President Herbert Hoover in his State of the Union Address on December 2, 1930, proposes a public works program to stimulate the economy and create new jobs.
1823 — On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe in his 7th annual message to Congress expresses what was named in 1850 the "Monroe Doctrine." The Monroe Doctrine as policy opposed European colonialism in North and South America — that intervention in the Americas by external countries will be perceived by the U.S. as a potential act of hostility and also stated that the policy of the United States is not to meddle in the concerns of other countries.


President James Monroe

Today is December 1, 2016
1862 — On December 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln addresses the United States Congress. Speaking of the war, of slavery, and of the trials faced by the Union, Lincoln closes his address with words of storms, fire, honor or dishonor, and in the freeing of slaves as the right of freedom to all — he defines America as "The last, best hope of earth."
* * *
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present ... The fiery trial through which we will pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. In giving freedom to the slave, we ensure freedom to the free-honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.
— Closing of Address to Congress, Lincoln

Today is November 30, 2016
2005 — President George W. Bush releases "Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" and addresses Americans.
1995 — President Bill Clinton becomes the first United States President to visit Northern Ireland.
1993 — President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill which requires a five-day waiting period for background checks of gun buyers.
1967 — Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower announce their engagement.
1967 — Robert S. McNamara announces his resignation as Secretary of Defense.
1963 — President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of the assassination of his predecessor, President John F. Kennedy, assassinated on November 22, 1963, in downtown Dallas, Texas.
1952 — Dwight D. Eisenhower travels to Korea to explore ways to end the Korean War.
1947 — The United Nations votes to partition Palestine.
1929 — American Explorers: Admiral Richard E. Byrd becomes the first person along with three expedition members to fly over the South Pole.
1775 — Strategy: The Second Continental Congress creates the Committee of Secret Correspondence the purpose of which is to inform European nations of events in American colonies under British control and thus gain support and material aid for the War.
1877 — American Creativity: Thomas Edison introduces his phonograph, an invention of his created while working on two other inventions — the telegraph and telephone.

Edison Introduces Phonograph in 1877

1776 — Jonathan Eddy and his militia extend the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in what is known as the Eddy Rebellion but are thwarted with the arrival of reinforcements by Britain.
1777 — Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, now known as San Jose, California, is founded by José Joaquin Moraga.
1733 — Incomprehensible Barbarism: 133 Africans are thrown into the sea by the slave ship Zong's crew to claim an insurance loss.

Today is November 28, 2016
1963 — President Lyndon B. Johnson renames Cape Canaveral as Cape Kennedy.
1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson is advised to escalate the bombing of Vietnam by his top advisors, Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Maxwell Taylor, and several National Security Council members.
1964 — America's Space Pioneer Spirit: On November 28, 1964, the U.S. launches Mariner 4 and sends it to probe the planet Mars.
1995 — President Bill Clinton ends the 55 miles per hour speed limit and signs a $6 billion road bill.
1943 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets in Tehran with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin to develop a World War II strategy.
1895 — American Automotive History: Frank Duryea wins America's first automobile race on a 54 mile course lasting 10 hours from Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois.
1843 — The Kingdom of Hawaii becomes an independent nation on November 28, 1843 when Great Britain and France officially recognize its sovereignty.

Today is November 26, 2016
1941
— On November 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designates the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in America. Originally a post-harvest "Lecture Day" for the settlers of the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts — It was in 1777 when the Continental Congress with the victory at Saratoga created the very first national day of Thanksgiving. President George Washington in 1789, was the first president to create an actual Thanksgiving holiday on each November 26 in commemoration of the Constitution of the United States. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln adjusted the day of Thanksgiving celebration to the last Thursday of each November.

Complete Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by by President Abraham Lincoln

A Proclamation.

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with his guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while he has opened to us new sources of wealth, and has crowned the labor of our working men in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of Freedom and Humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, hereby, appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day, which I desire to be observed by all my fellow—citizens wherever they may then be as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do farther recommend to my fellow—citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of Peace, Union and Harmony throughout the land, which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[L.S.]

Done at the city of Washington this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty four, and, of the Independence of the United States the eighty—ninth.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Today is November 25, 2016

2013 — President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform in San Francisco and gives credit to former President George W. Bush who strongly supported immigration reform.
2002 — President George W. Bush names Tom Ridge as head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
1957 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffers a stroke.
1874 — The Greenback Party was established largely by American farmers consequent of the Panic of 1873 that triggered a depression in North America and Europe from 1873 to 1880. The Greenback Party the name of which relates to its support of a non-gold backed monetary policy (greenbacks) became known as the Independent Party, National Independent Party, and the Greenback Labor Party.

The Economic Panic of 1873


Today is November 23, 2016
1981 - President Ronald Reagan in NSDD-17 gives the Central Intelligence Agency authority to support Nicaraguan Contra rebels.
1954 - U.S. Economy: Today, November 23, 2016, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is at an all time high of 19,000, but on November 23, 1954, the Dow Jones after 25 years of malaise finally recovers to its pre-1929 Wall Street crash high of 381.17. The DJIA is a price-weighted average of the stock of 30 significant companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange - the price-weighted average of which is used as a key indicator of the U.S. economy and more specifically of stock market performance. The first DJIA calculation occurred on May 26, 1896 by Charles Dow using a simple average method with an arithmetic result of 40.94.
1963 - Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President of the United States following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
1863 - The Battle of Chattanooga begins and is fought for three days and creates a strategic opening for General William T. Sherman's "march to the sea."
1804 - Franklin Pierce is born on November 23, 1804 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He will grow to become the 14th President of the United States, facilitating territorial acquisitions that will become the states of Arizona and New Mexico.

Today is November 22, 2016
1963 — President John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, is assassinated on November 22, 1963, during a 10-mile motorcade parade in downtown Dallas, Texas and a grieved nation mourns.
1943 — World War II: At the Cairo Conference, President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek to formulate a plan to defeat Japan.

Today is November 21, 2016
1969
— President Richard M. Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato meet in Washington D.C. Nixon agrees to the restoration of control of Okinawa to Japan starting in 1972.
1963 — On November 21, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline B. Kennedy begin their two day visit of Texas. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy is assassinated in downtown Dallas and the Nation mourns.
1962 — President Kennedy ends the quarantine of Cuba when the Soviet Union removes its nuclear missiles from Cuba.

Today is November 20, 2016
2001 - President George W. Bush honors Robert F. Kennedy by dedicating the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters buildings as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building.
1962 - On November 20, 1962, President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of Cuba and the Soviet Union agrees to move its missiles from Cuba.
1789 - New Jersey is the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights..

Today is November 19. 2016
2001 — President George W. Bush signs a comprehensive aviation security bill just two months after the terrorists used passenger jets to attack the World Trade Center.
1985 — President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Geneva for their first summit.
1931 — James Garfield is born in a log cabin on November 19, 1831 and will become the 20th President of the United States from March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881. Garfield was shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881 in Washington D.C. He died eleven weeks later in Elberon, New Jersey after only 200 days in office.


Today is November 18, 2016

2004 — The William J. Clinton Presidential Center opens on November 18, 2004 with former U.S. presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter attending.
1993 — The U.S. House of Representatives approves the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, now a contentious trade deal debate in the United States relative to loss of American jobs and manufacturing plants.
1987 — Congress issues the Iran-Contra Affair Report.
1988 — President Ronald Reagan signs legislation permitting the death penalty for murders committed by drug traffickers.
1961 — President John F. Kennedy approves 18,000 military advisers for duty in South Vietnam.
1901 — Britain withdraws its objections to the United States having absolute rights of control over the Panama Canal Zone.
1886 — Chester Alan Arthur, twenty-first president, dies on November 18, 1886, of a fatal kidney disease known as Bright's Disease.
1493 — Christopher Columbus sights and claims in 1493 the island of Puerto Rico for the Kingdom of Spain. In 1898, the United States annexed Puerto Rico in the Treaty of Paris following the Spanish-American War. Today, Puerto Rico is in financial collapse with over $70 billion in debt. Unlike cities like Detroit which restructured under Chapter 9 bankruptcy provisions created as a result of the Great Depression to help American cities restructure consequent of severe debt, the island of Puerto Rico was stripped of Chapter 9 bankruptcy rights by Congress in 1984. President Obama stresses that the deprivation of Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection for Puerto Rico was unfair and Congress should restore the ability of Puerto Rico to effectively restructure its debt. What is clear is that Puerto Rico and its natural American citizens need assistance regardless of historic causes of its debt.

Today is November 17, 2016
2004 — President Bill Clinton opens the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, Arkansas. The dedication ceremony on November 18, 2004 was attended by over 30,000 people including former United States presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.

Former Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter at Clinton Library

1962 — President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington's Dulles National Airport

.
1751 — George Washington battles smallpox and survives to become the first President of the United States. During his lifetime, Washington was called the "father of his country."


Today is Tuesday, November 15, 2016
1977
— President Jimmy Carter hosts the shah of Iran and his wife during their two day visit to discuss ways to improve relations. Two years later, the shah was overthrown and Iranian fundamentalists took American hostages in Tehran.
1957 — Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader, on November 15, 1957, rambles in an interview with an American reporter and challenges the United States to a
"... peaceful rocket contest just like a shooting match." The missile imbalance between Soviets and the United States became a debate theme in the 1960 presidential campaigns between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
1777
— The thirteen original states comprising the Continental Congress approve the Articles of Confederation which serves as the first Constitution of the United States of America. The thirteen original states in order of ratification are: Virginia, South Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

Today is Monday, November 14, 2016
2008 — On November 14, 2008, the G20 (Group of Twenty) holds its first ever economic summit in Washington D.C. The G20 is a group of 20 of the largest economies and was founded in 1999 to study and promote international financial stability.
1995 — The federal government temporarily closes most government offices, national parks, and museums in a U.S. Congress budget standoff.
1979 — Responding to the taking of 63 American hostages by the government of Iran, President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170 which freezes all Iranian assets in the United States.
1951 — President Harry Truman seeks and receives congressional support to provide U.S. economic and military aid to Yugoslavia, a communist country. Truman's goal was to weaken Yugoslavia's ties to the Soviet Union.
1935 — The leaders of the Philippine Islands ratify a new constitution and U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaims the Philippines a free commonwealth with complete independence by July, 4, 1946.
1881 — The assassin of President Garfield begins his trial and is ultimately convicted and hanged.
1862 — President Lincoln approves the plan by General Ambrose Burnside to capture Richmond, Virginia which leads to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1851 — American Literature: Herman Melville's Moby Dick, or The Whale, is published on November 14, 1851 during a period known as the American Renaissance.


Today is November 12, 2016

2010 — President Obama arrives in Japan on his ten-day tour of Asia.
1999 — President Bill Clinton signs the Financial Services Management Act.
1979 — Sixty-three hostages are taken hostage on November 4 at the U.S. Embassy, Tehran. On November 12, 1999, President Jimmy Carter orders cessation of oil imports from Iran.

Today is November 10, 2016

2004 — Nancy Reagan presents the President Ronald Reagan postage stamp.
1993 — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Brady Bill which was created following the assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan.
1775 — John Adams sponsors a resolution to establish the Continental Marines. On the 10th day of November, each year, the Marine Corps celebrates its birthday with a ball, ceremony, and cake.

Today is November 9, 2016
2016 — On November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th President-Elect of the United States.
2002 — President George W. Bush increased by 35% the number of National Guard troops at airports to protect against terrorism during the holidays.
1906 — President Theodore Roosevelt travels to Panama to inspect progress made for the Panama Canal and becomes the first U.S. president to embark on foreign travel.

Today is November 8, Presidential Election Day


Today is November 7, 201

2000 — On November 7, 200, the U.S. presidential election between incumbent President George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) hinged on the outcome of the state of Florida ballot recount and was ultimately decided with George W. Bush as President by a divided Supreme Court ruling on December 12.
1989 — Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor when he wins the election in Virginia.
1989 — David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor when he wins the mayoral election in New York City.
1973 — The U.S. Congress limits the power of the President to wage war when it overrides President Richard M. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution.
1967 — President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs establishes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting when he signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
1957 — The Gaither Report urges the production increase of American missiles and additional nuclear fallout shelters. 1944 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States.
1910 — American Innovation: On November 7, 1910, the Wright Brothers and department store owner Max Morehouse succeed in making the first commercial air transport delivery when ten fabric bolts are airlifted from Dayton, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio.

November 7, 1910: The First Air Cargo Transport Delivery, Wright Brothers .

Today is November 5, 2016

1872 — On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony defies U.S. law prohibiting women from voting, votes, and is arrested two weeks later. At her trial, amidst a packed courtroom, she is found guilty of illegal voting. Anthony is fined $100.00 and prosecution costs to which she retorts: "May it please your honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. And I shall earnestly and persistently ... urge all women ... that resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."

Susan Brownell Anthony, American Social Reformer


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1831 — On November 5, 1831, Nat Turner, who led the largest rebellion in U.S. history of slaves and free blacks is sentenced to death. Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia, on October 2, 1800. His mind was keen — taught himself to read as a young boy. His spirit was strong — delved deeply into the Bible, prayed, fasted, and began to manifest visions from God. Fellow slaves named him "The Prophet." Hanged on November 11, 1831, his flayed body was beheaded and quartered. Essential Reading: The Confessions of Nat Turner by Nat Turner (not the William Styron version)


The Discovery of Nat Turner, Known as The Prophet by Fellow Slaves


The Confessions of Nat Turner


Confessions of Nat Turner: Available at The White House Gift Shop Click on Image

* * *

1994 — On November 5, 1994, President Ronald Reagan tells the nation that he suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
1968 — Richard M. Nixon is elected 37th President of the United States on November 5, 1964.
1946 — John F. Kennedy at the age of twenty-nine is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1940 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) before term limits is elected to an unprecedented third term in office. He promises American neutrality in foreign wars: "Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of American people sending its armies to European fields." On December 7, 1941, a date which Roosevelt cited as "a date which will live in infamy" — the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is attacked by Japanese planes. The next day, Roosevelt sought and received from Congress a declaration of war against Japan.
1912 — Thomas Woodrow Wilson (D) is re-elected 28th President of the United States (In Office March 4, 1913 - March 4, 1921) and Thomas R. Marshall is Vice President.
1862 — President Abraham Lincoln replaces George B. McClellan from his position as commander of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan had a contentious dynamic with Lincoln with episodes of insubordination, derision, repudiation of the party's platform, and Lincoln's perception of McClellan's strategic failure at the Battle of Antietam, although won by the Union.


Today is November 4, 2016
2008
— Barack Obama is elected 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008.

Senator Barack Obama is Elected 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008

1940 — On November 4, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented third term.

Presidential Election 2016: Observations

In four days, on November 8, 2016, Americans will choose and elect the 45th President of the United States. During these scant days before election, millions of Americans will experience some form of election stress or anxiety: 52 percent of Americans report that this year’s election is a significant source of stress — evenly divided along party lines with 59% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats feeling significant election anxiety.

* * *

Today is November 3, 2016
1964 — On November 3, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson is elected to his first full term by defeating Barry Goldwater Sr. (R) with 60 percent of the popular vote. Johnson in 1963 became president after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

1964 — Residents of the District of Columbia vote for the first time in a presidential election on November 3, 1964 because of the passage of the Twenty-Third Amendment to the United
States Constitution giving D.C. citizens the right to vote for a president and vice president.


23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution

1868 — On this day, November 3, 1868, Ulysses S. Grant is elected 18th President of the United States in the first election after the American Civil War. This period was known as Reconstruction. Grant defeated the incumbent President, Andrew Johnson, who became president following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Grant during his presidency fought for the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to recognize the rights of blacks to vote.
1796 — John Adams is elected second President of the United States.


November 2 in Presidential History

1792, George Washington, 1st President of the United States (April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797)
On November 2, 1792 George Washington is unanimously elected by the Electoral College process to his second presidential term during the 2nd quadrennial election of 1792 held from November 2 to December 5, 1792. The 2nd quadrennial was the first election by electors of the original 13 states and the states of Kentucky and Vermont.



Today is November 1, 2016

1950 — On November 1, 1950, Secret Service Uniformed Division Officer, Leslie William Coffelt, dies while defending President Harry S. Truman from an assassination attempt outside of Blair House.


Funeral Services for White House Police Officer Leslie W. Coffelt
1800 — On November 1, 1800, President John Adams becomes the first president to reside in the President's House which later became known as The White House.

Today is October 31, 2016

1941 — 6,000 feet above seal level in North Dakota, Mount Rushmore is completed with massive images of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Today is October 29, 2016

1975 - On October 29, 1947, President Gerald Ford signs a law that banning gender or marital status discrimination in credit determinations.

1947 - On October 29, 1947, President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights, Executive Order 9808, publishes To Secure These Rights - documenting racial discrimination in the United States. Truman calls for desegregation of the armed forces and on February 1, 1948 asks Congress to establish a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice.

1901 - President McKinley's assassin is electrocuted.

Today is October 27, 2016

1988 - On October 27, 1988, President Ronald Reagan halts U.S. Embassy construction in Moscow when listening devices are discovered in the structure.
1964 - On October 27, 1964, Ronald Reagan delivers the speech that launches his political career: "A Time for Choosing"
1795 - The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid on October 27, 1795.
1682 - On October 27, 1682, The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.

Today is October 26, 2016


President Obama, October 26, 2009, U.S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL.

2009 — On October 26, 2009, President Obama addresses 3,400 Sailors, Marines, military families, and Department of Defense civilians at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida.
2001
— On October 26, 2001, the USA Patriot Act is signed into law.

Today is October 25, 2016

1764 — John Adams, future President, marries Abigail Smith on October 25, 1764: Their marriage lasts 54 years and President Adams calls her a “constant feast.”

1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower holds the first televised Cabinet meeting on October 25, 1954.

1973 — On October 25, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon orders the U.S. military on high alert to send a message that America will not allow the Soviet Union to interject military into the Middle East.


Today is October 24, 2016
1970 - President Richard M. Nixon asks radio broadcasters to avoid songs urging drug use.

1945 - On October 24, 1945, Roosevelt’s vision of the creation of the United Nations is realized as the UN charter is ratified by signatories including the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, China and 46 others. Roosevelt coined the phrase, “United Nations” in 1941 with its first use on a 1942 document entitled Declaration of the United Nations, a document pledging its signatories to united efforts in World War II and against making a separate peace.

1861 - On October 24, 1861, Justice Stephen J. Field sends the first transcontinental telegraph message: The recipient of the first message is President Abraham Lincoln.



Today is October 23, 2016

1962 — On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy announces the discovery of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba and orders a naval quarantine of that nation.

1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Highway Beautification Act on October 22, 1965.

1981 — On October 22, 1981, the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority decertifies the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its August strike.



Today is October 21, 2016
1994 — On October 21, 1994, the United States and North Korea sign an agreement that requires the cessation of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and inspections. Since 1991, the U.S. employed coercion methods which failed. Cooperative methods were then used which appeared to have success as Jimmy Carter interceded with top-level diplomacy. On June 16, 1994, after peaceful means failed, Bill Clinton sent precautionary military reinforcements to South Korea because North Korea repeatedly denounced sanctions as a "declaration of war." On October 21, 1994, negotiations succeeded — the U.S. and North Korea reached an Agreed Framework. On November 21, 2003, the agreement broke down. Today, North Korea is able to make approximately 20 nuclear bombs with the capability with increased uranium production to produce at least six additional nuclear weapons each year.

1959 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an order transferring German scientists including Wernher von Braun from the U.S. Army to NASA.

1921 — On October 21, 1921, President Warren G. Harding on October 21, 1921 delivers the first speech by an incumbent U.S. president denouncing the lynching of blacks — a speech in Alabama in which he avows full civil rights for African Americans as well as suffrage for women. During 1920, alone, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) reported, on average, the murder by lynching of at least two African Americans each week. While the anti-lynching bill was approved in the House of Representatives, it died in the Senate. Efforts failed for a half-century to pass similar Civil Rights Laws. Civil Rights for blacks did not become law until Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

1879 — American Invention: On October 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invents the first practical incandescent light bulb.

1797 — On October 21, 1797, the USS Constitution is launched, a 44-gun frigate.

1774 — On October 21, 1774, colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts display for the first time the word "Liberty" as they raise a flag in defiance of British rule.

Today is October 18, 2016


Today is October 18, 2016 with 74 Days Until the End of the Yer

Today at the White House, October 18, 2016

President Barack Obama will host a state dinner for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. President Obama and Prime Minister Renzi have a close relationship based upon progressive ideals and will discuss trade, the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea — thousands of migrants have died this year consequent of overloaded boats that capsized. A joint press conference is scheduled around noon.


1898 — The United States on October 18. 1898 under the administration of President William McKinley, twenty-fifth president (1843-1901), raises the American flag in Puerto Rico having signed an armistice ending the Spanish-American War with Spain. The Spanish-American War originated in principle with the struggle of Cuba for independence from Spain confluent with America's goal to end colonialism. On April 25, 1898, Spain sunk the Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor. On February 15, 1898, the U.S. declared war on Spain. The war ended on December 10, 1898 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Spain ceded to the United States all claims to Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and with the exchange of $20 million — sovereignty over the Philippines.


History in Context of the the World in 1898: American architect Frank Lloyd Wright moves his practice to Oak Park, Illinois; Winston Churchill transfers to Egypt joining the 21st Lancers serving in the Sudan, poet T. S. Eliot attends Smith Academy; Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Gaol is published after Wilde's two years of hard labor imprisonment for acts of gross indecency, a period that inspired his poem; James Joyce, novelist enrolls at University College Dublin and will become one of the greatest influences in modern literature; The USS Maine explodes off the Coast of Havana and the U.S. declares war on Spain; Enzo Ferrari of race car fame is born and will become a race car test driver in 1981; American novelist Willa Cather publishes The Way of the World; The Battle of Manila Bay is fought on May 1, 1898; Theodore Roosevelt becomes Lieutenant-Colonel of the Rough Riders; The Battle of San Juan is fought on May 10, 1898; United States launches the first attack of the invasion of Guantanamo Bay; Hawaii is annexed by the U.S. on July 1, 1898; Seventy men die and are entombed in a coal mine explosion at the Empire Mine near Brownsville, PA; On November 8, 1898, Theodore Roosevelt is elected Governor of New York; The Portland Gale storm strikes off the New England coast (November 26-27) and over 150 vessels are lost at sea and in harbor — more than 400 persons die.


1867 — Today is Alaska Day. On October 8, 1867, during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, the American flag flew in Alaska for the first time when the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. Nearly twice the size of Texas, William Seward, Johnson's Secretary of State, had closed the deal with Russia at $7.2 million, approximately 2 cents per acre. The acquisition of Alaska increased the size of the U.S. by 586,412 square miles. Russia had several reasons for selling Alaska, one of which was its belief that the sale would cause the United States to buffer the goals of Russia's strategic rival in the Pacific, Great Britain. For three decades subsequent to the purchase, the U.S. gave scant attention to Alaska, but this changed in 1869 with the discovery of significant gold deposits in the Yukon. Moreover, Alaska's vital importance to the United States became manifest during World War II. On January 3, 1959, Alaska became a state.




Today is October 17

1823 — Monroe Doctrine: On October 17, 1823, President James Monroe writes a letter requesting Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy advice regarding Great Britain's proposed joint declaration that warns Spain and France not to intervene in the affairs of Central and South America. Concurrently, John Quincy Adams, Monroe's Secretary of State, is concerned by Russia's encroachment on the western coast of North America and expresses his concern to Monroe. During a cabinet meeting on November 7, 1823, Adams will frame his perspective: "It would be more candid, as well as more dignified, to avow our principles explicitly to Russia and France, than to come in as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war." On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe in his seventh annual message to Congress articulates what will eventually be known as the Monroe Doctrine — obligating European powers to respect the Western Hemisphere as the sphere of interest of the United States.


* * *


1974 — On October 17, 1975, President Gerald Ford explains to Congress his decision pardon former President Richard Nixon.

1978
- President Jimmy Carter signs a bill that restores United States citizenship rights to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

2000 - President Bill Clinton holds a Middle East summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to bring an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence.

2006 - President George W. Bush signs the Military Commissions Act of 2006.



Today is October 13, 2016

1962 — On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy addresses Americans about the Cuban missile crisis and U.S. Intelligence reconnaissance photographs of the presence of Russian sponsored missile bases in Cuba.


John F. Kennedy Confronts the Cuban Missile Crisis



1854 - On October 16, 1854, Congressional candidate, Abraham Lincoln, denounces slavery as immoral.




Today is October 13, 2016


2012 — On October 13, 2012, President Barack Obama in his weekly address talks about the more than one million jobs saved in the American auto industry:

We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt. We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way. Today, auto sales are the highest they’ve been in more than four years. GM is back. Ford and Chrysler are growing again. Together, our auto industry has created nearly a quarter of a million new jobs right here in America. - President Barack Obama


2001 — On October 13, 2001, President George W. Bush signs the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006.

1987 — On October 13, 1987, George H. W. Bush announces his candidacy for President and wins the Republican nomination at the RNC national convention in New Orleans in August, 1988.

1989 — On October 13, 1989, President George H. W. Bush calls for the overthrow of the Manuel Antonio Noriega in Panama.


1792 — The cornerstone to the Executive Mansion (which became known as the White House in 1818) is set in Washington, DC on October 13, 1792.


1775 — On October 13, 1775, the U.S. Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy which is later renamed the United States Navy.



Today is October 12, 2016


1961
- On October 12, 1961, the first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. Walter Cronkite interviews Dwight D. Eisenhower and the first presidential video memoirs are made.

2001
- On October 12, 2001, President George W. Bush requests and receives a special episode of America's Most Wanted television series with focus on 22 most wanted terrorists.



Today is October 11, 2016


1884 — Eleanor Roosevelt is born.

1939 — Albert Einstein sends a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt urging the President to rapidly develop a U.S. atomic weapons program rapidly.

2002
— President Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.


Today is October 8, 2016


1913— On October 8, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson explodes Gamboa Dike the last barrier to completion of the Panama Canal.

1957On October 8, 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower apologies to Ghana's finance minister, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, who was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

1973On October 8, 1973, President Spiro Agnew resigns after federal income tax evasion charges.

1978On October 8, 1978, Jimmy Carter authorizes the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

2001On October 8, 2001, George W. Bush releases a list of twenty-two most wanted terrorists.

2002On October 8, 2002, United States Congress Congress authorizes President George W. Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq.

2010 —
On October 8, 2010, Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden speak at the DNC "Moving America Forward" Rally at Fulton Elementary School Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.




Today is October 8, 2016



1869 — On October 8, 1869, Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States, dies

1945On October 8, 1945, President Harry S. Truman states he will release atomic bomb secrets only to Britain and Canada.

1981On October 8, 1981, President Ronald Reagan greets former Presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon at the White House as they prepare to travel to Egypt to attend the funeral of Anwar Sadat.

1970 — On October 8, 1970, the communist delegation in Paris rejects President Richard Nixon’s Vietnam peace proposal.


2001
On October 8, 1869, President George W. Bush announces the United States has launched an attack against Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

2001On October 8, 2001, Liza Minnelli performs at the White House Columbus Day celebration.

2002On October 8, 2002, George Tenet, CIA director, says that Saddam Hussein might help extremists launch terror attacks.




Today is October 6, 2016


2013 — On October 6, 2013, President Barack Obama orders U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff to pay tribute to American fire fighters.


1949
— October 6, 1949, President Harry S. Truman signs the Mutual Defense Assistance Act providing $1.3 billion in military aid to NATO allies.


1961 — On October 6, 1961, President John F. Kennedy advises Americans to install bomb shelters for protection from nuclear war with the Soviet Union.


1979 — On October 6, 1979, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to visit the White House.




Today is October 4, 2016 (Thanksgiving Day for 2016 is Thursday , November 24)



1994 — South African President Nelson Mandela visits President Clinton at the White House.

1822 — Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States, is born.



Today is October 3, 2016 (Thanksgiving Day for 2016 is Thursday , November 24)




2012 — On October 3, 2012, President Barack Obama debates Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, at the Magness Arena, University of Denver, Colorado. Jim Lehrer of PBS News Hour is the moderator.

2008 — President George W. Bush signs the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 on October 3, 2008.

1991 — On this day in U.S. presidential history, October 3, 1991, Bill Clinton on the steps of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas, announces his run for President of the United States.



Bill Clinton Announces Run for President, October 3, 1991


1942
— On October 3, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established The Office of Economic Stabilization and approves price control of wages, farm prices, and rents.

1863 —On this day in U.S. history, October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln Lincoln declares the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day: A day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

1789 — On October 3, 1789, George Washington proclaims Thanksgiving Day a regular national holiday which previously was not always celebrated as a federal holiday and part of Christmas and the New Year as the broader American holiday season.

1778 — Captain James Cook lands in Alaska on October 3, 1778.




Today is October 2, 2016



1996 — President Bill Clinton signs the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments on October 2, 1996.


1967 — Thurgood Marshall is sworn in and becomes the first African-American Supreme Court Justice on October 2, 1967.



Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice



1937
— Ronald Reagan makes his acting debut On October 2, 1937 at age 26 in Warner Bros. "Love Is on the Air."


Future President Ronald Reagan Starts His Acting Career at Age 26 in Love is in the Air


1919 — On October 2, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson is partially paralyzed by a stroke.

1789 — George Washington signs and sends to 11 states the 12 proposed constitutional amendments of which 10 are ratified as the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.




Today is September 30, 2016


1968 — Presidential Election Positions: On September 30, 1968, Hubert Humphrey, Democratic presidential candidate, announces his willingness to halt the bombing of North Vietnam if Hanoi demonstrates any willingness to restore the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam.

1962 — Civil Rights: On September 30, 1962, President John F. Kennedy sends 3,000 federal troops to Mississippi amidst riots over the denial of enrollment of African American Air Force Veteran, James H. Meredith, to the University of Mississippi. Within one day, Meredith is enrolled and begins classes.

1889 — Voting Rights: On September 30, 1889, Wyoming approves a constitution that includes the right of women to vote and becomes the first state in American history to assure this right.

1776 — American Revolutionary War: On September 30, 1776, George Washington writes to his nephew, Lund Washington, of the discipline and battlefield performance problems of the American militia.



Global
Strategic News for September 30, 2016

9/30/2016 — Energy: OPEC will discuss oil production cuts with a stated goal of ameliorating the effect on markets of an emerging surge in oil supplies.

9/30/2016 — Global Trade: The BREXIT debate continues in the United Kingdom relative to Parliament's authority in the authorization of BREXIT negotiation with the European Union.

9/30/2016 — Relations: Jordan finalized a $10 billion Israeli natural gas delivery agreement with Noble and Delek.

9/30/2016 — Military: The United States and the Philippines will continue joint military exercises in 2017.



Today is September 29, 2016


2008 – On September 29, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial fell 777.68 points after the Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual bankruptcies - the largest single-point loss in the DOW history. Then Senator Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, states: "The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers poses a significant threat to the American economy."

1975 – On September 29, 1975, WGPR, Detroit, Michigan, becomes first black-owned-and-operated television station in the world.

1789 – The United States Department of War establishes a regular army.

1789 – The First Congress of the United States adjourns.



Today is September 28, 2016

1991 — On September 28, 2016, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev promises to reciprocate President George H. W. Bush's reduction of U.S. nuclear arms

1850
— On September 28, 1850, President Millard Fillmore names Brigham Young the first governor of the Utah territory.


Strategic News for Today, September 28, 2016

9/28/2016 - SpaceX announced plans to colonize Mars.

9/28/2016 - The fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) has become a touchstone in the 2016 U.S. presidential debates. Twelve major countries signed the TTP in February. TTP from the perspective of U.S. supporters seeks to make it easier for American companies and entrepreneurs to sell products across signatory countries.

9/28/2016 - Airline Passenger Projections (APP) indicate that China and Asia are poised for the highest combined growth in passenger air travel. Air passenger travel within North America is third but strong. Both China and Japan are manufacturing airplanes, ARJ21 and MRJ, respectively, to meet expected demand. Why follow airline passenger projections or APPs? Passenger projections are a prime factor in the overall analysis of expected tourism levels and business travel with enormous economic significance. Total travel and tourism estimated contributions to the United States Gross Domestic Product (GDP) aggregate to a substantial 9.2% of GDP. Hence, discovering new ways to increase passenger travel to the United States is a strategic cornerstone for the U.S. economy.

Today is September 27, 2016


2013 — On September 27, 2013, President Barack Obama speaks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and states "I do believe there is a basis for a resolution" regarding Iran's nuclear program.

1991 — On September 27, 1991, President George H. W. Bush eliminates land-based tactical nuclear arms, removes all short-range nuclear arms from ships, and asks the same of the Soviet Union.

1779 — On September 27, 1779, John Adams is asked to negotiate with the British over the American Revolutionary War peace terms.

1964 — On September 27, 1964, The Warren Commission issues its report regarding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and concludes Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.



Today is September 26, 2016


1960 - On September 26, 1960, the debate between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy in Chicago, Illinois is the first televised debate in U.S. history.




Today is September 24, 2016
with 98 Days Until Year's End

1996 — President Bill Clinton signs a treaty to ban worldwide nuclear weapons testing and calls on leaders to show zero tolerance for terrorism.

1957 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation.

1906 — President Theodore Roosevelt designates America's first national monument - Devil's Tower in Wyoming.



Today is September 22, 2016
with 100 Days Until Year's End

1998 — On September 22, 1998, President Bill Clinton, addresses the United Nations and tells world leaders to "end all nuclear tests for all time."

1975 — On September 22, 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford.

1961
— President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps on September 22, 1961.

1862 — President Abraham Lincoln Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, stating that all slaves held within rebel states will be free on January 1, 1863.

1789 — The office of the United States Postmaster General is established on September 22, 1789.

1776 — American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale, official state hero of Connecticut, is hanged by the British for spying.


Today is September 21, 2016
with 101 Days Until Year's End

2001 — Network and cable channels broadcast America: A Tribute to Heroes and raise over $200 million to aid the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

1996 — The U.S. Congress passes the Defense of Marriage Act prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage but allows states to independently define marriage.

1996 — John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette are secretly married on September 21, 1996 with Caroline Kennedy as matron of honor and Anthony Radzwill as best man.

1981 — Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first female Supreme Court Justice.

1780 — On September 21, 1780, during the American Revolutionary War, traitor Benedict Arnold gives the plans to West Point to the British.




Today is September 20, 2016
with 102 Days Until Year's End

1881 — On September 19, 1881, Chester A. Arthur becomes the 21st president of the United States after President James A. Garfield died from wounds inflicted during an assassination attempt.

1963 - On September 20, 1963, President John F. Kennedy proposes a joint U.S.-Soviet moon expedition.




Today is September 19, 2016
with 103 Days Until Year's End

1676 — On September 19, 1676, Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon burn Jamestown during Bacon's Rebellion against Governor William Berkeley.

1778 — The first United States federal budget is passed by the Continental Congress.

1796
- President George Washington's Farewell Address was published on September 19, 2016. In his speech, he stressed "The unity of government is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence ... of that very liberty which you so highly prize."

1881 — Shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881, James A. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881. Vice President Chester A. Arthur becomes President.

1901
— On September 19, 1901, President William McKinley's body is laid to rest at Westlawn Cemetery in Canton, Ohio.



Today is September 18, 2016
with 104 Days Until Year's End


1793 - President George Washington lays the official cornerstone of the United States Capitol building on September 18, 1793.

1981 - The President Gerald Ford museum is dedicated on September 18, 1981 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

1973 — A Presidential X-Files Moment: President Jimmy Carter on September 18, 1973, files a report stating he had seen a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) during October 1969. At a Lion's Club meeting, he described his experience of the UFO as "... the darndest thing I have ever seen." Carter vowed to release if elected "every piece of government information" relative to UFOs but could not fulfill his pledge when elected, citing "defense implications" with threats to national security if the information was released.

1991
- President George W. Bush will send warplanes to escort United Nations helicopters in the search for hidden Iraqi weapons.



Today is September 16, 2016
with 106 Days Until Year's End

1620 – The Pilgrim Fathers set sail on September 16, 1620, from England on the
Mayflower.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: On September 16, 1776, the Battle of Harlem Heights, New York, is fought with Commander-in-Chief George Washington holding high ground positions with 9,000 men and Major General Henry Clinton of the British Army commanding about 5,000 troops. Washington won the battle, an important victor for troop morale.

1908 – American Industry: General Motors is founded on September 16, 1908. In 1953, President Eisenhower nominated GM CEO Charles Wilson as Secretary of Defense. At the hearings, Wilson was asked if he would be able to make decisions contrary to the interests of General Motors. Wilson replied, “I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa.”

2008 – On September 16, 2008, Barack Obama speaks in Golden, Colorado about the state of the economy: “Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what’s at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people’s faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.”



Today is September 15, 2016
with 107 Days Until Year's End

1776 — American Revolutionary War: On September 15, 1776, British General Howe lands on lower Manhattan with 12,000 troops, taking control of New York City.

1789 — On September 15, 1789, The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs becomes the Department of State.

1857 — On September 15, 1857, William H. Taft is born and will become the future 27th President of the United States.

1944 — On September 15, 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet to discuss war strategy at The Octagon Conference in Quebec, Canada.

1959 — On September 15, 1959, Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the White House and he and his wife, Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva, attend. a state dinner with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and first lady Mamie Eisenhower.



President Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev at a White House State Dinner



1914 — President Woodrow Wilson on September 15, 1914, stops the Punitive Expedition's search for Pancho Villa in Mexico.

1966 — President Lyndon B. Johnson responds to a sniper attack at the University of Texas on September 15, 1966 by urging Congress to legislate gun control measures.

1972 — Watergate indictments begin on September 15, 1972.


1994 — President Clinton confronts Haitian military leaders on September 15, 1994 and states, "Your time is up. Leave now or we will force you from power."




Today is September 14, 2016
with 108 Days Until Year's End

2002 — On September 14, 2002, President George W. Bush tells the U.N. that the United States is willing to take action alone in Iraq if the U.N. does not "show some backbone."

2001 — On September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush uses a bullhorn to address rescue workers at the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attack on September 11.

1950 — On September 14, 1950 President Harry S. Truman signs a bill merging Jackson Hole Monument into Grand Teton National Park.

1901 — On September 14, 1901, William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, dies of wounds sustained during an assassination attack on September 6 and is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.

1807 — Found innocent two weeks earlier of treason, on September 14, 1807, Aaron Burr, former Vice President, is acquitted of a misdemeanor.



Today is September 13, 2016
with 109 Days Until Year's End


2001 – On September 13, 2001, following the attacks by Al Qaeda terrorists, civilian air traffic resumes in the United States.

1
994 – On September 13, 1994, President Bill Clinton signs a $30 billion crime bill.

1948 – On September 13, 1948, Margaret Chase Smith with her election as U.S. Senator becomes the first woman to serve in both the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives (one of the two houses of the United States Congress, a bicameral system of legislation, with the U.S. Senate being the other house. See also Article One of the United States Constitution which establishes the powers and composition of the House).


1814 — SYMBOLS OF FREEDOM: On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key composes a poem that in 1931 becomes the national anthem of America, "The Star Spangled Banner" originally tited "The Defence of Fort McHenry." Key, witnessing the incessant bombardment of Fort McHenry, Maryland, by the British during the War of 1812, sees a lone United States flag still flying at daybreak over the fort.

Complete Text of the Star Spangled Banner with Francis Scott Key's Spelling and Punctuation:

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream, 'Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto - "In God is our trust," And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


TRANSPORTATION SAFETY HISTORY: 1899 — On September 13, 1899, Henry Bliss becomes the first person killed in an automobile accident when an electric-powered taxi strikes him.

1788 – On September 13, 1788, the Constitutional Convention votes to hold the first federal election on Wednesday the following February, and on that day elects George Washington as the first president of the United States with New York City as the national capital.





Today is September 12, 2016 with 110 Days Until Year's End


2002 - President George W. Bush addresses the United Nations, advising the U.N it risked irrelevancy unless it confronted Iraq's Saddam Hussein and his refusals to conform to U.N. Persian Gulf War resolutions.

1953
- Luigi Vena sings Ave Maria at the wedding of Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.


Today is September 11, 2016
with 111 Days Until Year's End


September 11 — On September 11, 2001 at 8:45 a.m., Al Qaeda terrorists crash an American Airlines Boeing 767 into the World Trade Center north tower in New York City. In 18 minutes, a second Boeing 767, United Airlines Flight 175, hits the 60th floor of the south tower. Within 15 minutes, the south tower collapses. Over Washington D.C., American Airlines Flight 77 circles and strikes the west side of the Pentagon. At 10:30 a.m., the second World Trade center tower collapses. Nearly 3,000 people die. A fourth plane, United Flight 93, bound for California was hijacked 40 minutes after departing Newark International Airport, New Jersey. Passengers aboard become aware of the events in New York and act to stop the terrorists from striking likely intended targets including the White House, U.S. Capitol, nuclear plants on the eastern seaboard, or Camp David Presidential Retreat in Maryland. At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush speaks to the Nation,
“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve ... We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”


Today is September 10, 2016
with 112 Days Until Year's End


1979 — On September 9, 1979, President Jimmy Carter grants clemency to four imprisoned Puerto Rican nationalists for an attack on the U.S. House of Representatives in 1954, an attempted assassination of U.S. President Truman at Blair House in 1950, and the murder of Secret Service Uniformed Division Officer Leslie William Coffelt who was killed while defending Truman from the attempted assassination.


1964 — President Lyndon Johnson authorizes new covert operations and military actions to "assist morale in South Vietnam and show the Communists we still mean business."

1963 — Intelligence Matters: Having sent Major General Victor Krulak and Joseph Mendenhall of the State Department to Vietnam for a firsthand situation assessment, Krulak reports progress in the war while Mendenhall reports the Diem regime nearing collapse in Saigon. Kennedy, frustrated by the orthogonal situation reports, retorts, "You two did visit the same country, didn't you?"

1942 — On September 9, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandates wartime gas rationing.



Gasoline Ration Card, World War II


1913 — On September 9, 1913, New York City holds a parade honoring World War I veterans and General John J. Pershing

1833 — President Andrew Jackson closes the Second Bank of the United States.

1776 — General George Washington asks for a volunteer to undertake a dangerous human intelligence assignment. Nathan Hale, 19th Regiment of the Continental Army, steps forward and becomes a spy to gather intelligence in New York City in the American Revolutionary War. Later, captured by the British, Hale is executed with his last words before being hanged "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Nathan Hale is the official state hero of the State of Connecticut.




Nathan Hale, Official State Hero of Connecticut


1608 — In Jamestown, Virginia, John Smith is elected council president.

1570 — Jesuit missionaries from Spain land in Virginia.



Today is September 9, 2016
with 113 Days Until Year's End

1966 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act on September 9, 1968.

1965 — The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is created.

1956 — On September 9, 1956, Elvis Presley performs on the Ed Sullivan Show. On December 21, 1970, Elvis will visit President Richard M. Nixon in the White House, will suggest that he be made a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Federal Agent-at-Large, Nixon will order a badge for Elvis, and while at lunch in the White House mess, Elvis will receive his narcotics badge. On August 16, 1977, at age 42, Elvis dies of a suspected overdose of prescription drugs.





Elvis Presley in the Oval Office




Elvis Presley with President Richard M. Nixon



1957 — President Eisenhower signs the first civil rights bill on September 9. 1957.

1893 — On September 9, 1893, First Lady Frances Cleveland gives birth to Esther who is the first child born in the White House of a first lady and president.

1893 — Abraham Lincoln receives his license to practice law on September 9, 1893..



Today is September 8, 2016
with 114 Days Until Year's End

2012 — Jimmy Carter's retirement after leaving office exceeds the former record of Herbert Hoover who previously held the record for 11,553 days.

1943 — General Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the Allied Armistice with Italy.

1892 — The Pledge of Allegiance, expressing allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, then adopted by Congress at the national pledge in 1942 with the official name adopted int 1945 — is recited for the first time.

United States Flag Code reads:

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”, should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.


Flag Day in School, 1899



Today is September 7, 2016
with 115 Days Until Year's End

2009 — President Obama makes historic address from Wakefield High School, Arlington, Virginia, to America's students returning to school and highlights the role of parents in education:

"My mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she though it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning."

- President Barack Obama, September 7, 2009

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF SPEECH

For Immediate Release September 8, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN A NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA'S SCHOOLCHILDREN
Wakefield High School
Arlington, Virginia
12:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could've stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
Now, as you might imagine, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she'd say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster." (Laughter.)
So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now, I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked about responsibility a lot.
I've talked about teachers' responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.
I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.
I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working, where students aren't getting the opportunities that they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that English paper -- that English class paper that's assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
Now, I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what it's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us the things that other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn't fit in.
So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I'm not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was -- I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have a lot of money. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University -- is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He's headed to college this fall.
And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They face challenges in their lives just like you do. In some cases they've got it a lot worse off than many of you. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.
The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject that you study. You won't click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That's okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. J.K. Rowling's -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one's born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and that then allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust -- a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation. Young people. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask all of you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?
Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part, too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down. Don't let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don't let yourself down. Make us all proud.
Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. Thank you. (Applause.)

END
12:22 P.M. EDT


2008 — On September 7, 2008, the U.S. government assumes control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, America's two largest mortgage companies.

1977 — President Jimmy Carter signs the Panama Canal treaties transferring control to Panama of the waterway in 2000. 1776 —


Today is September 6, 2016
with 116 Days Until Year's End

2006 —President George W. Bush acknowledges the CIA operated OCONUS prisons to interrogate captured terrorists including those involved in of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, planners of the 2000 USS Cole bombing, and attackers of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and Tanzania.

1978 — President Jimmy Carter hosts the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.

1901 —President William McKinley, attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, is shot by an unemployed anarchist (Leon Czolgosz, who is executed the following October) and McKinley dies eight days later.

1946 — U.S. Secretary of State James F. Bryan announces the U.S. policy and program for economic reconstruction in postwar Germany.

1870 — Lousia Ann Swain (
née Gardner) at the age of 69 is the first woman to legally cast a vote in a United States general election. She casts her vote in Laramie, Wyoming on September 6, 1870.

1620 — On September 6, 1620, the Pilgrims also known as the Pilgrim Fathers set sail on The Mayflower (a square-rigged and beak bowed merchant-like ship) from Plymouth, England to begin settlement in North America. Aboard are 102 passengers with a crew of approximately 30. Their story becomes an epic of American history: struggle, death, survival, visionary creation of a fundamental form of a new democracy with the writing and signing of the Mayflower Compact.



The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor





From The White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946® Mayflower Commemorative Collection




Today is September 5, 2016


1983 - President Ronald Reagan denounces the Soviet Union for downing a Korean Air Lines flight, killing 269 people.

1905 - President Theodore Roosevelt mediates the end to the war between Japan and Russia in the Treaty of Portsmouth.



Today is September 3 of 2016 with 119 Days Remaining in the Year

2012 — Assessing the damage of Hurricane Issac, President Barack Obama meets with officials in St. John's Parish, Louisiana and approves individual assistance in the disaster declaration.



President Obama, Hurricane Issac, Louisiana


1943 — General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshall Pietro Badoglio sign the Armistice of Cassibile aboard the British battleship HMS Nelson.

1783 — On September 3, 1783, America and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolutionary War.




Today is September 2 of 2016 with 118 Days Remaining in the Year


1994 — Ensign George Herbert Walker Bush, future President of the United States, scores four direct hits on his mission to destroy a radio tower, heads out to sea, ejects from his plane, and is rescued by the the sailors of the USS Finback.

1901 —Vice President Theodore Roosevelt at the Minnesota State Fair states his now often quoted, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.

1789 — Congress creates the United States Treasury Department and President George Washington names Alexander Hamilton as head of the new department.


1775 — General George Washington commissions Hannah, the first American war ship.



Today is August 31 of 2016 with 123 Days Remaining in the Year


1935 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act, Senate Joint Resolution No. 173, an act prohibiting exportation of U.S. arms to "avoid any which which might involve" the U.S. "in war."




Today is August 30 of 2016 with 124 Days Remaining in the Year

1967 — Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Supreme Court Justice and will establish a 24 year legacy of protecting the rights of the individual guaranteed by the United States Constitution.




Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice



1963 — "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back 1234567890" is the first message transmitted over the Washington-Moscow hotline on August 30, 1963. Known as the "red telephone", no phones were ever used. The hotline was a system of teletypes allowing the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union a means of direct communication.



Washington - Moscow Hotline: The Red Telephone in 1963




1776 — George Washington rejects British General George Howe's second letter of reconciliation and states three reasons to the New York Convention for an American retreat from Long Island. The British will capture New York City on September 15 and hold it until the end of the American Revolutionary War.



Today is August 29 Day of 2016 with 125 Days Remaining in the Year


2011 — President Barack Obama declares a state of emergency for 11 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Irene.

2005 — Hurricane Katrina hits land for the second time as a category 4 hurricane with continued devastation of the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,836, and causing more than $115 billion in damages. President George W. Bush is criticized by media for seemingly remaining aloof to which Bush responded: "That photo of me hovering over the damage suggested I was detached from the suffering on the ground. That was not how I felt. But once the impression was formed, I couldn't change it."

1973
— Judge John Sirica orders President Richard M. Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes but Nixon refuses and appeals the order.

1916 —
Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1898. On August 29, 1916, the U.S. Congress passes the Philippine Autonomy Act — the first official declaration committed to granting independence to the Philippines.


Today is August 28 Day of 2016 with 125 Days Remaining in the Year

1957 — The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is nearly killed by the longest filibuster in Senate history by U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (In Office November 7, 1956 - January 3, 2003) , who speaks for 24 hours and 18 minutes in an attempt to prevent a Senate vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1957. While unsuccessful, Thurmond continued to oppose civil rights advances and legislation including 1964 and 1965 civil rights legislation to enforce constitutional rights of African-Americans and end school segregation. On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Attributing the civil rights movement to Communists, Thurmond once said, "... the laws of Washington and the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement." Thurmond's views were long and deep-rooted. When in 1948, President Harry S. Truman ordered the end to racial discrimination in the U.S. Army, Thurmond responded by becoming a State's Rights Democratic Party presidential candidate. Thurmond's career began in the era of Jim Crow — laws enforcing racial segregation that continued until 1965.




President Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1957




Civil Rights Act of 1957



Today is August 27 Day of 2016 with 126 Days Remaining in the Year



1984 - President Ronald Reagan announces that a teacher will be the first U.S. citizen to go into space. Sharon Christa McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 - January 28, 1986) is chosen and dies in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. Christa, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, was one of seven crew members killed in the disaster of Shuttle Challenger. Selected from over 11,000 applicants for the NASA Teacher in Space Project, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Over 40 schools, globally, have been named in honor of Christa McAuliffe.


Christa McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 - January 28, 1986)


1908
- Lyndon Baines Johnson is born and will become 36th President of the United States.


Today is August 26 Day of 2016 with 127 Days Remaining in the Year



1973 — President Richard M. Nixon issues Proclamation 4236 — Women's Equality Day.


Proclamation 4236 - Women's Equality Day
August 16, 1973

By the President of the United States Of America

A Proclamation

Fifty-three years ago, on August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was certified as part of our Constitution, assuring that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

The struggle for women's suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation's life. In recent years, we have made other giant strides by attacking sex discrimination through our laws and by paving new avenues to equal economic opportunity for women. Today, in virtually every sector of our society, women are making important contributions to the quality of American life.

And yet, much still remains to be done. American women, though they represent a majority of our population, still suffer from myriad forms of discrimination.

In the pursuit of equal rights for women, the Federal Government must take the lead and set the example. As I reminded the heads of executive departments and agencies in 1971, American women represent an important reservoir of ability and dedication which Government must draw upon to a greater degree. I therefore directed at that time that the Government demonstrate its recognition of the equality of women by making greater use of their skills.

Last year, with the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, a strong new statutory base was provided for furthering equal opportunity for women in the Federal Government. With the help of this new tool, Federal agencies are now carrying out affirmative action plans to guarantee full opportunity for the advancement of women in accordance with their abilities. During the past two years, the number of women in the middle and higher grade levels of Government employment has significantly increased. And we are determined to do better still.

While we are making great strides to eliminate outright job discrimination because of sex in the Federal Government, we must recognize that people's attitudes cannot be changed by laws alone. There still exist elusive prejudices born of mores and customs that stand in the way of progress for women. We must do all that we can to overcome these barriers against what is fair and right.

Because I firmly believe that women should not be denied equal protection of the laws of this Nation and equal opportunity to participate fully in our national life, I reaffirm again my support for the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment can represent a giant step forward in achieving full equality of opportunity for all Americans as we approach the 200th birthday of our Nation. I hope it will be speedily ratified.

The Congress has, by House Joint Resolution 52, 93rd Congress, designated August 26, 1973, as Women's Equality Day, and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in commemoration of that day in 1920 on which women of America were first guaranteed the right to vote.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of the United States and interested groups and organizations to observe August 26, 1973, as Women's Equality Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I further urge all our people to use this occasion to reflect on the importance of achieving equal rights and opportunities for women and to dedicate themselves anew to that great goal. For the cause of equal rights and opportunities for women is inseparable from the cause of human dignity and equal justice for all.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-eighth.


RICHARD NIXON




Today is August 25, Day 238 of 2016 with 128 Days Remaining in the Year


2009 — Senator Ted Kennedy dies at age 77 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

1998 — Retired Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell dies at age 90 in Richmond, Virginia.

1958 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill granting pensions for former United States presidents and their widows.

1948 — The U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC, established in 1937 to investigate alleged subversive or disloyal activities as well as Communist connections by private citizens, government employees, and organizations — holds the first-ever televised congressional hearing. The hearing is called "Confrontation Day" during which Whittaker Chambers, a former spy for the Soviet Union, then a foreign desk editor for Time magazine, testifies against Alger Hiss, a government official, accused of being a Soviet spy. Hiss is eventually convicted of perjury relative to this charge in 1950.

Debate continued about the validity of the Hiss verdict but media consensus tended to sustain that Hiss had been a Soviet agent. In a report in the New York Times in 2001, staff reporter James Barron cites "a growing consensus that Hiss, indeed, had most likely been a Soviet agent."


As early as October 26, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had attacked HUAC as a cover for attacks on progressive democratic social policies in America. In the late 1940s, one member of HUAC was a first-term U.S. representative and future 37th President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon. HUAC was renamed the Committee on Internal Security in 1969 and continued operations without further subpoenas until 1975.



House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC

1950 — President Harry S. Truman orders the U.S. Army to take control of America's railroads to avert a strike.

1916 — President Woodrow Wilson signs the act creating the National Park Service within the Department of Interior.

1765 — Protesting the stamp tax, American colonists burn the home of Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson.

1718 — French colonists arrive in Louisiana and found New Orleans.



Today is August 23, 2016 with 130 Days Remaining in the New Year


1996 — Osama bin Laden issues his polemic, a Declaration of War Against Americans from a cave in southern Afghanistan. United States forces are placed on higher alert. Because bin Laden is perceived as a marginal threat, there is no significant response by the United States or other countries to his diatribe against the West despite U.S. State Department analysts warning that bin Laden sought expansion of radical ideology "well beyond the Middle East."

1996
— President Bill Clinton imposes constraints on marketing cigarettes to youth.

1947 — President Truman's daughter, Margaret, gives her first public performance as a singer at the Hollywood Bowl with an audience of 15,000.



Today is August 22, 2016 with 131 Days Remaining in the Year

2003 — After refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a monument which he had commissioned inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended.

1998 —
President Bill Clinton announces that he signed an Executive order placing Osama bin Laden and his operatives on a terror group list.

1996 - President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform legislation into law ending the guarantee of cash payments to the poor and demanding recipient work.

1990 - President George Herbert Walker Bush signs an order to increase the number of reservists in the Persian Gulf.

1973 - President Richard M. Nixon names Henry Kissinger Secretary of State.

1967 - The Shah of Iran begins a two-day visit in Washington D.C., with President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

1911President William Taft vetoes a joint resolution of Congress granting statehood to Arizona because he believes a judge recall provision in the Arizona constitution compromises independence of the judiciary. The judge recall clause is removed and Arizona becomes a U.S. state on February 14, 1912. Post-statehood, Arizona restored recall of judges provision in its constitution.

1902 — Henry M. Leland (February 16, 1843 - March 26, 1932) founds The Cadillac Motor Company (later bought by General Motors on July 29, 1909 for $4.5 million) and founds the Lincoln Motor Company in 1917 — named after President Abraham Lincoln for whom Leland had cast his very first presidential vote in 1864.





1902
- President Theodore Roosevelt in Hartford, Connecticut, becomes the first president of the United States to ride in an automobile.





1862 —
President Abraham Lincoln writes a a letter responding an editorial by Horace Greeley's. Lincoln writes, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that" and "I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."

1864 — Twelve nations sign the first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. Today, the Geneva convention covers both combatants and non-combatants, providing a core set of principles for the protection of victims of armed conflicts and wars.

1831
— Nat Turner begins his slaves rebellion moments after midnight on August 22, 1862.

1654 — The first known Jewish immigrant to America, Jacob Barsimson arrives in America's Dutch settlement, New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, and on the same day Jewish settlers arrived from Brazil and the West Indies seeking religious and social freedoms. Governor Stuyvesant denied these rights, initially, to arriving Jews but pressures from Holland, itself, forced Stuyvesant to allow these early Jewish Americans to join the defense of the settlement — the beginning over 350 years ago of American Jews serving at the inception of a future United States military, establish a Jewish cemetery, engage in trade, acquire property rights, and build a synagogue.



Today is August 21, 2016 with 132 Days Remaining in the Year


1968 — Pfc. James Anderson is posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson and becomes the first African American U.S. Marine to receive this award.





The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JAMES ANDERSON JR.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a rifleman, Second Platoon, Company F, Second Battalion, Third Marines, Third Marine Division, in Vietnam on 28 February 1967. Company F was advancing in dense jungle northwest of Cam Lo in an effort to extract a heavily besieged reconnaissance patrol. Private First Class Anderson's platoon was the lead element and had advanced only about 200 meters when they were brought under extremely intense enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire. The platoon reacted swiftly, getting on line as best they could in the thick terrain, and began returning fire. Private First Class Anderson found himself tightly bunched together with the other members of the platoon only 20 meters from the enemy positions. As the fire fight continued several of the men were wounded by the deadly enemy assault. Suddenly, an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the Marines and rolled alongside Private First Class Anderson's head. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, he reached out, grasped the grenade, pulled it to his chest and curled around it as it went off. Although several Marines received shrapnel from the grenade, his body absorbed the major force of the explosion. In this singularly heroic act, Private First Class Anderson saved his comrades from serious injury and possible death. His personal heroism, extraordinary valor, and inspirational supreme self-sacrifice reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service He gallantly gave his life for his country.


/S/ LYNDON B. JOHNSON


1996 — President Bill Clinton makes health care insurance easier to acquire by signing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

1959 — Hawaii becomes the 50th state.

1959 — President Eisenhower orders the 50th star for the United States Flag.

1957 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Niagara Power Bill. 1945 — President Harry S. Truman ends Lend-Lease, a program that had provided aid to Allies during World War II.


Today is August 20. 2016 with 133 days Remaining in the Year

1944 — During World War II, on August 20, 1944, 168 allied airmen from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are shot down over France, accused by the Nazis of being spies, not treated as military prisoners-of-war, and interned by the Gestapo at Buchenwald concentration camp where they are beaten, subjected to gross forms of torture, and subhuman conditions. See the Canadian film The Lucky Ones, collective stories by captured allied airmen of life before and after the horrors at Buchenwald.

The Holocaust

The Nazis of Buchenwald murdered 55,000 to 70,000 Jews. Hitler, during his planned stages of Jewish genocide murdered over 6 million Jews — 66% of the 9 million Jews who had lived in Europe with an additional 5 million non-Jews murdered — over 11 million humans exterminated by the end of Hitler's last planned stage — The Final Solution to the Jewish Question — a plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe.


1998 — In retaliation for the bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the United States launches cruise missile attacks against al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Sudan.


1993 — The Oslo Accords, the start of a peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, are signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C.


Today is August 18, 2016 with 135 Days Remaining in the Year


1940 — Walter P. Chrysler dies at the age of 65 in Great Neck, New York. In 1925, Chrysler founded the automotive company that bears his name, now Fiat Chrysler, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan with major brands including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram Trucks. At the end of the 1980s, a massive global recession accelerated a crisis in the U.S. automotive industry. In November of 2008, Chrysler and General Motors asked President Obama and Congress for emergency assistance to prevent industry collapse and received $85 billion in government loans to restructure and create new business models. On December 20, 2014, The Detroit News quoted President Barack Obama's announcement: "Today, our rescue of the American auto industry is now officially over." While some economists continue to cipher details of loan repayments and while free trade theorists debate government bailouts for private sector corporations, one thing is certain — for American auto workers and automotive industry suppliers — results count: On January 3, 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. domestic auto industry is the healthiest in decades with expected record-breaking sales. - AG




1938 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the The Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada.

1920 — The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified and guarantees women's right to vote.

1916 — The birthplace of Abraham Lincoln is designated as a national shrine.

1590 — John White, governor, returns from England and finds no trace of the 100 Roanoke Island Colony settlers with no signs of violence. He finds only the word "CROATOAN" carved into the settlement's palisade. Roanoke Island Colony, founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585, was the first English settlement.




Today is August 17, 2016 with 136 Days Remaining in 2016


2010 — President Barack Obama addresses the rights of Muslims in America: "Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan." - President Barack Obama in a CNN Interview

1996 — Ross Perot becomes the Reform Party's presidential candidate.

1977 — President Jimmy Carter issues a statement about the death of Elvis: "Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable."

1943 — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and William Lyon Mackenzie King meet at the First Quebec Conference of World War II.

1943 — Operation Crossbow begins in World War II against the Nazi V-weapon program.

1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower commits the Seventh Fleet to protect Taiwan.

1807 — The first commercial steamboat service in the world begins with Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat as it departs New York City on the Hudson River for Albany, New York.



Today is August 16 with 137 Days Remaining in 2016


2009 — President Barack Obama gazes at the majesty of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.





2008 — Presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump's International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, Illinois, becomes the world's highest above-ground residence (1,389 feet).

2002 — President George W. Bush comments on the August 30th strike date for major league baseball players, saying: "The baseball owners and baseball players must understand ... a lot of fans are going to be furious, and I'm one of them."

1861 — President Abraham Lincoln prohibits Union states trading with Confederate states.

1858 — Celebrating the completion of the trans-Atlantic cable, Britain's Queen Victoria sends a message to President Buchanan.

1841 — President John Tyler (10th President of the United States, March 29, 1790 - January 18, 1862) vetoes the bill calling for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States and violent riots occur outside the White House by enraged Whig Party members. The Whig Party advocated supremacy of Congress over the Presidency, favored banking protectionism, industrial modernization, and economic protections. The name "Whigs" reflects the American Whigs who in 1776 opposed tyranny and fought for independence. Two Whig Party candidates were elected President, William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. The party collapsed because of deep divides over slavery expansion to the territories.

1812 — In the War of 1812, General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit to the British Army and does so without a fight.




Today is August 15 in Presidents History with 138 Days Remaining in 2016


2002 — President George W. Bush addresses Americans about the new Department of Homeland Security.

1971 — President Richard M. Nixon announces a wage, rent, and price freeze for 90-days and completes the end of the gold standard.

1858 — Regular mail delivery begins to the Pacific coast of the United States.

1843 — The National Black Convention meets in Buffalo, New York.




August 14 in Presidents History with 139 days Remaining in 2016


2015 — The United States Embassy reopens in Havana, Cuba after 54 years during which United States and Cuba relations ended.

1955 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act creating unemployment insurance and pension plans for Americans.

1945 — President Harry S. Truman announces the surrender of Japan, ending World War II.

1941 — President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill jointly issue the Atlantic Charter which broadly states the war principles of the United States and United Kingdom.

1936 — The last U.S. public execution occurs when Rainey Bethea is publicly hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky.


August 13 in Presidents History


1968 - President Richard M. Nixon awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 astronauts.

1955 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower raises the minimum wage to $1.00 per hour.

1942 - Major General Eugene Reybold, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, authorizes construction of the project called "Development of Substitute Materials" now known as the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb.

1918 - Women are allowed for the first time to enlist in the United States Marine Corps with Opha May Johnson the first enlistee.

1911 — The U.S. Senate votes to rotate the office of the President pro tempore between top candidates for the position after the death of William P. Frye.

1848 — U.S. Congress creates the Oregon Territory.


August 11 in Presidents History


2009 — Sister of President John F. Kennedy and Founder of the Special Olympics, champion of rights of the mentally disabled, and known for her great wit, humor, passion, faith, elegance, and service to others, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, dies at age 88 at a Hyannis hospital. In President Obama's words, we will remember her "as a champion for people with intellectual disabilities, and as an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation - and our world - that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."



Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder of Special Olympics and
Sister of President John F. Kennedy


1997 — President Bill Clinton uses the line-item veto for the first time in presidential history.


1995 — President Bill Clinton bans all nuclear tests by the U.S.

1984 — Unaware of an open microphone, in a moment of political levity, President Ronald Reagan said while testing his microphone: "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sign the Atlantic Charter.

1924 — For the first time in history, newsreel images are taken of United States presidential candidates.



August 10 in Presidents History

1995 — Jimmy Buffet leads the birthday celebration at the White House for President Bill Clinton.

1993 — President Bill Clinton signs the massive deficit reduction bill - the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA-93).

1968 — President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1968 which provides compensation to Japanese Americans interned or relocated in the U.S. during World War II.

1921 — Franklin D. Roosevelt is stricken with polio.

1949 — President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment to replace the Department of War with the Department of Defense.

1874 — Herbert Clark Hoover is born and will grow to become the 31st President of ther United States.

1821 — Missouri becomes the 24th U.S. state.

1776 — News reaches London of the United States Declaration of Independence.



August 9 in Presidents History

2001 — President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding for limited embryonic stem cell research.

1848 — Martin Van Buren is nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party.



August 8

1974 — President Richard M. Nixon addresses the Nation and announces his resignation as President of the United States.

1968 — Richard Nixon is nominated for president at the Republican National Convention.

1945 — President Harry S. Truman signs the United Nations Charter.

1855 — Over 1.5 million mourners attend or watch the funeral procession in New York City for President Ulysses S. Grant.




August 7

1782 General George Washington creates the Purple Heart as the "Badge for Military Merit" consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver with the word Merit stitched across the face in silver. The badge was to be presented to soldiers for "any singularly meritorious action" and also permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. Today, The Order of the Purple Heart is awarded to members of the United States armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy and to soldiers who have suffered torture as prisoners of war. This year's annual commemorative ornament of the White House Gift Shop honors Washington's creation of the Purple Heart, his liberation of Boston, and military service members of all branches.




The 2016 White House Gift Shop Official Ornament designed by Giannini honors military service members of all branches, Washington's creation of the Purple Heart and his Liberation of Boston shown in background of painting.


August 5

1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


August 4

2011 — President Barack Obama suspends immigrant entry of persons who participate in human rights violations and abuses.

"The United States enduring commitment to respect for human rights and humanitarian law requires that its Government be able to ensure that the United States does not become a safe haven for serious violators of human rights and humanitarian law and those who engage in other related abuses. Universal respect for human rights and humanitarian law and the prevention of atrocities internationally promotes U.S. values and fundamental U.S. interests in helping secure peace, deter aggression, promote the rule of law, combat crime and corruption, strengthen democracies, and prevent humanitarian crises around the globe. " - President Barack Obama

1977 — President Jimmy Carter creates the Department of Energy.

1961 — Barack Obama is born and will become the 44th U.S. president.

1914 — President Woodrow Wilson proclaims the neutrality of the United States in World War I.

1862 — U.S. collects the first income tax.

1790 — The U.S. Coast Guard is founded as the Revenue Cutter Service.

1753 — George Washington becomes a master mason.



August 3

2015 — President Barack Obama proposes The Clean Power Plan with goals of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 32%.

2000 — George W. Bush is the Republican party nominee for president.

2004 — President George W. Bush signs the United States - Australia Free Trade Agreement.

1994 — Stephen G. Breyer is sworn in as Supreme Court Justice.

1987 — The Iran-Contra hearings find no evidence between President Ronald Reagan and the Nicaraguan Rebels.

1981 — President Ronald Reagan's warning of firing air traffic controllers is not taken seriously by controllers who go on strike. Regan for national security reasons fires the controllers.

1923 — A day after the death of President Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as 30th president of the United States.

1914 — Germany declares war on France and on April 6, 1917, the United States will join the alliance of Britain, France, and Russia in World War I with over 2 million U.S. soldiers fighting on the battlefields of France. Of the total World War I 4,734,991 U.S. mobilized forces, 116,516 American soldiers will die and 204,002 will be wounded for total casualties of 320,518 by the war's end. - Tony Giannini

1882 — Congress passes the first U.S. law restricting immigration to the U.S.

1676 — Nathaniel Bacon publishes the Declaration of People of Virginia.



Declaration of the People of Virginia

Nathaniel Bacon


1. For having, upon specious pretenses of public works, raised great unjust taxes upon the commonalty for the advancement of private favorites and other sinister ends, but no visible effects in any measure adequate; for not having, during this long time of his government, in any measure advanced this hopeful colony either by fortifications, towns, or trade.

2. For having abused and rendered contemptible the magistrates of justice by advancing to places of judicature scandalous and ignorant favorites.

3. For having wronged his Majesty’s prerogative and interest by assuming monopoly of the beaver trade and for having in it unjust gain betrayed and sold his Majesty’s country and the lives of his loyal subjects to the barbarous heathen.

4. For having protected, favored, and emboldened the Indians against his Majesty’s loyal subjects, never contriving, requiring, or appointing any due or proper means of satisfaction for their many invasions, robberies, and murders committed upon us.

5. For having, when the army of English was just upon the track of those Indians, who now in all places burn, spoil, murder and when we might with ease have destroyed them who then were in open hostility, for then having expressly countermanded and sent back our army by passing his word for the peaceable demeanor of the said Indians, who immediately prosecuted their evil intentions, committing horrid murders and robberies in all places, being protected by the said engagement and word past of him the said Sir William Berkeley, having ruined and laid desolate a great part of his Majesty’s country, and have now drawn themselves into such obscure and remote places and are by their success so emboldened and confirmed by their confederacy so strengthened that the cries of blood are in all places, and the terror and consternation of the people so great, are now become not only difficult but a very formidable enemy who might at first with ease have been destroyed.

6. And lately, when, upon the loud outcries of blood, the assembly had, with all care, raised and framed an army for the preventing of further mischief and safeguard of this his Majesty’s colony.

7. For having, with only the privacy of some few favorites without acquainting the people, only by the alteration of a figure, forged a commission, by we know not what hand, not only without but even against the consent of the people, for the raising and effecting civil war and destruction, which being happily and without bloodshed prevented; for having the second time attempted the same, thereby calling down our forces from the defense of the frontiers and most weakly exposed places.

8. For the prevention of civil mischief and ruin amongst ourselves while the barbarous enemy in all places did invade, murder, and spoil us, his Majesty’s most faithful subjects.

Of this and the aforesaid articles we accuse Sir William Berkeley as guilty of each and every one of the same, and as one who has traitorously attempted, violated, and injured his Majesty’s interest here by a loss of a great part of this his colony and many of his faithful loyal subjects by him betrayed and in a barbarous and shameful manner exposed to the incursions and murder of the heathen. And we do further declare these the ensuing persons in this list to have been his wicked and pernicious councilors, confederates, aiders, and assisters against the commonalty in these our civil commotions.

Sir Henry Chichley William Claiburne Junior

Lieut. Coll. Christopher Wormeley Thomas Hawkins

William Sherwood Phillip Ludwell

John Page Clerke Robert Beverley

John Cluffe Clerke Richard Lee

John West Thomas Ballard

Hubert Farrell William Cole

Thomas Reade Richard Whitacre

Matthew Kempe Nicholas Spencer

Joseph Bridger

John West, Hubert Farrell, Thomas Reade, Math. Kempe

And we do further demand that the said Sir William Berkeley with all the persons in this list be forthwith delivered up or surrender themselves within four days after the notice hereof, or otherwise we declare as follows.

That in whatsoever place, house, or ship, any of the said persons shall reside, be hid, or protected, we declare the owners, masters, or inhabitants of the said places to be confederates and traitors to the people and the estates of them is also of all the aforesaid persons to be confiscated. And this we, the commons of Virginia, do declare, desiring a firm union amongst ourselves that we may jointly and with one accord defend ourselves against the common enemy. And let not the faults of the guilty be the reproach of the innocent, or the faults or crimes of the oppressors divide and separate us who have suffered by their oppressions.

These are, therefore, in his Majesty’s name, to command you forthwith to seize the persons above mentioned as traitors to the King and country and them to bring to Middle Plantation and there to secure them until further order, and, in case of opposition, if you want any further assistance you are forthwith to demand it in the name of the people in all the counties of Virginia.

Nathaniel Bacon





August 2

1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Housing Act of 1954 with 140,000 public housing units for families relocated consequent of urban revitalization.

1939 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Hatch Act barring government employees from participating in political campaigns.

1939 — Albert Einstein, a pacifist who considers war " a disease" signs a letter with other scientists to President F. D. Roosevelt recommending U.S. atomic weapons research because of Hitler's atomic bomb research programs.

1923 — Warren G. Harding, twenty-ninth president, dies of a heart attack in San Francisco.

1776 — Fifty-six members of Congress sign an enlarged copy of the Declaration of Independence.




July 30

1991 — President George H. W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

1953 — 1948 — President Truman participates in the dedication of New York International Airport now John F. Kennedy International Airport.

1875 — The 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, dies of a stroke.

1771 — Marquis de Lafayette, age 19, becomes without pay a major-general in the Continental Army and goes on to serve at Brandywine, Barren Hill, Monmouth, Rhode Island, and the siege of Yorktown in 1781.



July 29

1958— In response to the Soviet Union's launch in October 4, 1957 of the satellite, Sputnik, President Dwight D. Eisenhower creates NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration by signing into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

1975 — President Gerald R. Ford is the first U.S. president to visit the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

1914 — 102 years ago today, transcontinental telephone service began with the first telephone conversation between San Francisco and New York.


July 28

1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson orders the increases of United States troops in Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1932 — President Herbert Hoover orders the forcible removal of World War I "Bonus Army" veterans gathered in Washington D.C. The Bonus army was a group of over 43,000 marchers including 17,000 World War I veterans many out of work who were awarded bonus certificates for World War I service that they could not redeem until 1945. The movement was led by former U.S. Army Sergeant Walter W. Waters.






1868 — African Americans are granted citizenship and guaranteed due process of law under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1866 — Vinnie Ream, age 18 is the first and youngest female artist commissioned to sculpt a statue of President Abraham Lincoln.



July 27

1995 — President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam dedicate the Korea War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

1974 — The U.S. Congress asks for impeachments proceedings against President Richard M. Nixon based on the events of the Watergate scandal.

1967 — President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints the Kerner Commission to analyze and recommend solutions to the causes of urban rioting in American cities.

1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson sends an additional 5,000 advisors to Vietnam.

1960 — Vice President Richard M. Nixon is nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.

1929 — The Geneva Conventions is signed by 53 nations and sets a standard for the treatment of prisoners-of-war.

1789 — The Department of Foreign Affairs which is the first federal government agency is established and will become the Department of State.


July 26

1990 — President George Bush signs into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

1947 — President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 creating the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. National Security Council, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Defense, and Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders all Japanese assets in the U.S.1908 — The Office of the Chief Examiner is established which will become the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

1788 — New York becomes the 11th state of the United States.

1775 — The Second Continental Congress establishes the office that will eventually become the United States Post Office Department.



July 25

1994 — Jordan's King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with U.S. President Bill Clinton watching on the White House lawn — sign the historic White Washington Declaration formally ending the war since 1948 between the two nations.









1969 — President Richard M. Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine also known as the Guam Doctrine whereby Asian allies will be responsible for their own military defense.

1961 — President John F. Kennedy states that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.

1952 — The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico adopts its constitution.

1898 — During the Spanish-American War with minimal resistance the United States takes control of the island of Puerto Rico from Spain. In December the U.S. and Spain will will sign the Treaty of Paris ending the war and ceding Puerto Rico to the United States.

1866 — The U.S. Congress approves the new rank of General of the Army and Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to this rank. 1861 — U.S. Congress adopts the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution which states the goal of the war is not to end slavery but to preserve the Union.


July 24

1974 — The U.S. Supreme Court orders President Richard Nixon to surrender subpoenaed White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

1969 — President Richard M. Nixon meets with the crew of Apollo 11.

1950 — Operations begin at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

1959 — Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev have the now famous kitchen debate at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow.

1929 — President Herbert Hoover renounces war as an instrument of foreign policy in the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the Nation in his fourth Fireside Chat.

1862 — Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States (March 4, 1837 - March 4, 1841), dies in Kinderhook, New York.. Van Buren also served as a vice president, secretary of state, and senator.

1866 — Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the Union after the Civil War.

1701 — The roots of the future city of Detroit are set when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds Fort Pontchartrain.




July 23

2012 — America's first woman in space, Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 - July 23, 2012), dies of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Ride, a physicist and astronaut, was a member of President Obama's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.





President Obama and Dr. Sally Ride



1975 — The U.S. inflation rate is 9% with some areas of the country experiencing monthly inflation rate increases of 3% for gas and 1.5% per month for food.

1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson requests $962,000 from Congress for literacy, employment programs, and drug rehabilitation as the start of his War on Poverty.

1885 — Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885 at the age of 63. Grant was 18th President of the United States (1869 - 1877) and commander of the Union armies in the closing years of the American Civil War.




July 22

2011 — President Barack Obama extends condolences to the people of Norway and says "The world must work together to prevent future attacks." It is clear that global terrorism cannot be solved by one nation alone.

2004 — The September 11 Commission issues its report citing that America's leaders did not grasp the gravity of terror threats before the 9/11 attacks.

1942 — The U.S. orders compulsory gas rationing because of wartime demands.

1937 — The U.S. Senate rejects President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices.

1862 — President Abraham Lincoln tells his cabinet that he will free the slaves by proclamation but will wait for a substantial Union Army victory before making the announcement.

1849 — Emma Lazarus, and American poet, dies. She wrote the sonnet "The New Colossus" in 1883 to help raise money for the construction of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Her words' Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. " are inscribed inside the lower pedestal.

1796 — The city of Cleveland, Ohio is founded by General Moses Cleaveland.

1587 — Roanoke off the coast of North Carolina is the second English colony to mysteriously vanish.




July 20

2015 — President Obama restores full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba after fifty years since Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 3, 1961 closed the American embassy in Havana and severed diplomatic relations to send a signal to the Castro regime that the U.S. would take strong measures to oppose the regime. Precedent events included Castro's 1959 nationalization of America industries in Cuba, establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in May 1960, and a strategic perspective that the Castro regime presented a significant threat to U.S. national interests. - TG

1969 — Apollo 11 lands on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility and American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the moon.





July 19 on this Day in Presidents History

1993 — President Bill Clinton announces the military "Don't ask, don't tell policy" as a step toward partner choice equality.

1984 — Geraldine Ferraro is nominated to the office of vice president by the Democratic Party.



July 18, 2016 on this Day in Presidents History

1940 — Franklin Delano Roosevelt is nominated for an unprecedented third term as President of the United States and would eventually be elected to an even greater greater historic record of four terms in office.

1947 — President Harry S. Truman signs the Presidential Succession Act placing the Senate Pro Tempore as next in line of presidential succession after the vice president.

1995 — Senator Barack Obama's memoir, Dreams of My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is published.







July 16

1999 — John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy along with her elder sister, Lauren, died when his plane crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Often called JFK Jr. or John John, he was only surviving son of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy, and brother of Caroline Kennedy.

John F. Kennedy Jr. was a lawyer, magazine publisher, journalist, and a man with amazing grace. Ted Kennedy, his uncle, saw JFK Jr. as a future president of the United States. In an elegant eulogy, Ted spoke: "From the first day of his life, John seemed to belong not only to out family, but to the American family. The whole world knew his name before he did."



















1861 — President Abraham Lincoln orders Union troops on a 25-mile march into Virginia in the first major land batle of the American Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run.


July 15

1992 — Aretha Franklin sings the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention.

1979 — President Jimmy Carter states that one of the greatest threats to America is "the loss of unity of purpose."

1971 — President Richard M. Nixon announces his goal to seek "normalization of relations with China."


July 14, 2016

2009 — President Barack Obama addresses the challenges facing the future of America's urban and metropolitan areas highlighting innovative solutions.

1970 — President Richard M. Nixon throws out the first ball at the All-Star major league game.

1911 — Harry N. Atwood, a Wright Brothers exhibition pilot, lands on the lawn of the White House and is subsequently awarded a gold medal award from President William Taft.

1798 — The Sedition Act passes making it a federal crime to communicate false or malicious statements about the United States government.


July 13, 2016

1985 — Vice President George H. W. Bush is Acting President for the day when Ronald Reagan undergoes colon surgery.

1960 — John F. Kennedy wins the Democratic nomination for president beating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson.

1793 — The Continental Congress established governing rules for the Northwest Territory by enacting the Northwest Ordinance.

1754 — George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity in southwestern Pennsylvania to the French at the beginning of the French and Indian War.



July 12, 2016 on This Day in U.S. and Presidents History

President Abraham Lincoln Watches the The Battle of Fort Stevens
1864 — Inside Fort Stevens,
President Abraham Lincoln cracked his knuckles, tugged at an ear, and on July 12, 1864, heard the cracks and whistles of sniper fire upon Fort Stevens from Confederate Whitworth sharpshooters as he and his wife, Mary, were abruptly ordered to take cover. On July 11, Confederate troops under command of Lt. General Jubal Anderson Early had reached the outskirts of Washington, testing Washington's fragile defenses by Union clerks, convalescing troops, and Home Guards. In cover of night, Union VI Corps veteran troops arrived on transports, marched northward though the streets of Washington, bolstered defenses, and on July 12, sortied and drove Confederate skirmishers back from advanced positions. Early withdrew his troops, ended his Maryland invasion attempt, and told staff officers, "We didn't take Washington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like Hell." - T. Giannini, WHGS






July 10, 2016

2009 — President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are Greeted in the Sala dei Santi Pietor e Paolo, Room of Saints Peter and Paul, then escorted to the pope's private library, President Barack Obama meets Pope Benedict at the Vatican and discuss combating poverty, interfaith dialogue, the Middle East peace process, aid to Africa, and nuclear arms control.







2000 — President George W. Bush speaks to the NAACP and states that slavery is "a stain" yet to be cleaned."




1991 — Citing "profound transformation" toward human equality, President George H. W. Bush lifts economic sanctions against South Africa.

1919 — The U.S. Senate hand-delivers the Treaty of Versailles to President Wilson. 1832 — Concerned about centralization of financial power in a private organization, President Andrew Jackson vetoes the Bank Recharter Bill for privately held Bank of the United States and orders the removal of government deposits.

Unless the corrupting monster should be shraven with its ill gotten power, my veto will meet it frankly & fearlessly.
President Andrew Johnson to John Coffee
February 19, 1832

1850 — On July 9, 1850, President Zachary Taylor dies following a severe intestinal ailment contracted on the Fourth of July. On July 10, 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore is sworn is as 13th president of the United States.

1777 — Rhode Island Patriot Colonel William Barton captures British General Richard Prescott from his bed and Prescott becomes the only British general to be twice captured during America's War for Independence.



July 9 on This Day in U.S. and Presidents History

2009 — President Barack Obama Proclaims July 9, 2009 National Summer Learning Day.




THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 9, 2009, as National Summer Learning Day. I call upon all Americans to support students as they participate in summer learning.I encourage students, parents, educators, and the non-profit community to engage in summer learning activities so that youth return to school poised for academic advancement. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth. BARACK OBAMA

2003 — President George W. Bush Meets with South African President Mbeki in Pretoria to Discuss the U.S.-Africa Partnership, AIDS, the war on terror, and resolving the economic crisis in Zimbabwe.





1991 — President George Bush Presents the National Medal of Art to Roy Acuff.

1971 — Henry Kissinger secretly visits Cina and meets with Premier Zhou Enlai.




1951 — President Harry S. Truman asks Congress to formally declare end the war between the United States and Germany.

1850 — Zachary Taylor, 12th President in office for only 16 months, dies in office at the age of 55 and is succeeded by Millard Fillmore.

1776 — The Declaration of Independence is read aloud in New York to George Washington's troops.



July 7 on This Day in U.S. and Presidents History


1981 — President Ronald Reagan announces his nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor (served September 25, 1981 - January 31, 2006) as the first female Supreme Court Justice.


Sandra Day O' Connor


The Better Angels of Nations

1983 — Samantha Smith (June 29, 1972 - August 25, 1985), known as the ten-year old ambassador flew to Moscow at the invitation of Soviet Secretary General Yuri Andropov.

In 1982, Samantha, a fifth-grader, wrote a questioning letter to Yuri Andropov in which she asked —"Are you going to vote to have a war or not?" The Soviet Secretary General sent a personal reply and invited Samantha to visit the Soviet Union. Her letter was published in Pravda. Thereafter, in both the United States and also the Soviet Union, Samantha became known as "America's Youngest Ambassador." Samantha was not new to letter writing, at the age of five she wrote an admiring letter to Queen Elizabeth II.

Two years later in 1985, Samantha co-starred in Lime Street, an ABC production, but only the pilot and three episodes were completed when Samantha Smith died at the age of 13 in the Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 crash. Over 1,000 people attended her funeral, she was eulogized as a peace champion in Moscow, President Ronald Regan wrote a condolence letter to Samantha's mother, and Mikhail Gorbachev's letter was read in Washington D.C. by Vladimir Kulagin.


* * *

Letter from Samantha Smith to Soviet Secretary General Yuri Andropov

Dear Mr. Andropov,

My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight.

Sincerely,

Samantha Smith









Letter to Samantha Smith from Soviet Secretary General Yuri Andropov

Dear Samantha,

I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world.

It seems to me—I can tell by your letter—that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling Becky, the friend of Tom Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain. This book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and girls.

You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.

Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.

Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.

Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.

In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on this earth—with those far away and those near by. And certainly with such a great country as the United States of America.

In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons—terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world that never—never—will it use nuclear weapons first against any country. In general we propose to discontinue further production of them and to proceed to the abolition of all the stockpiles on earth.

It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second question: "Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?" We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country—neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government—want either a big or "little" war.

We want peace—there is something that we are occupied with: growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and flying into space. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.

I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp—"Artek"—on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples.


Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life.


Y. Andropov






President Ronald Reagan:
"Perhaps you can take some measure of comfort in the knowledge that millions of Americans, indeed millions of people, share the burdens of your grief. They also will cherish and remember Samantha, her smile, her idealism and unaffected sweetness of spirit."


Michael Gorbachev:
"Everyone in the Soviet Union who has known Samantha Smith will forever remember the image of the American girl who, like millions of Soviet young men and women, dreamt about peace, and about friendship between the peoples of the United States and the Soviet Union".


1865 — Four convicted conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged in Washington D.C.





July 6 on This Day in U.S. and Presidents History


2013 — President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama travel to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania to reinforce the U.S. economic relationship with African nations and the importance of investing in the next generation of African leaders.



2002 — President Jimmy Carter begins his Venezuela peace mission.

1976 — The United States Naval Academy admits women for the first time in its history.

1945 — President Harry S. Truman signs the order creating the Presidential Medal of Freedom.







1921 — Future First Lady Nancy Reagan is born.



Nancy Regan


1946 — Future President George Walker Bush is Born in New Haven, Connecticut.





1854 — The republican Party formally organized and held its first convention that endorsed a platform of candidates under the name "Republican" in Jackson, Michigan. In 1856, the first Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


The First Republican Group Meeting was in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854


1775 — Congress Issues the "Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms" against British authority in the American colonies.


July 5 on this Day in U.S. and Presidents History

2005— President Bill Clinton campaigns for his friend Senator Joseph Lieberman.



1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson invites the Four Seasons to perform at the White House.

1935 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act authorizing collective bargaining.



July 4 on this Day in U.S. and Presidents History

1831 & 1826 — On July 4, Thomas Jefferson (3rd), John Adams (2nd), and James Monroe (4th), three of the first five presidents of the United States, died. Adams and Jefferson died on three hours and five minutes apart on July 4, 1826 with Adams' last words: "Thomas Jefferson still survives." Monroe died five years later on July 4, 1831.


July 3 on this Day in U.S. and Presidents History

1991 —President George H. W. Bush inaugurates the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.


1986 —President Ronald Reagan presides over the ceremony in New York Harbor for the relighting of the Statue of Liberty.

1979 — President Jimmy Carter signs the directive to provide aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan.

1952 — The U.S. Congress approves the Constitution of Puerto Rico.

1938 — At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial lights the Gettysburg Battlefield eternal flame.

1852 — Congress creates the San Francisco Mint, the second in the United States.

1890 — Idaho becomes the 43rd state.

1775 — General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.

July 2 on this Day in U.S. Presidents History

2016 - Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1986, Holocaust survivor, human rights advocate, author of "Night" has died at the age of 87 on July 2, 2016.



2011 — President Barack Obama addresses the nation about creating jobs by making vital investments in education, research, technology, and in the context of Independence Day speaks to the rights of "every human being."


"On Monday, we celebrate Independence Day, the day we declared a new nation, based on revolutionary idea: that people ought to determine their own destiny; that freedom and self-governance weren’t gifts handed to us by kings or emperors, but the rights of every human being. We’ve learned in the years since that democracy isn’t always pretty. We have arguments. We disagree. But time and again we’ve proven that we could come together to solve problems. We remember that while we may not see eye-to-eye on everything, we share a love for this country and a faith in its future. That’s the spirit we need to harness now. That’s how we’ll meet this challenge and reach a brighter day. Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful fourth of July."

1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, enforces the right to vote, desegregation of schools, and requires equal access to employment and public places.









1881 — In office for less than four months, President James A. Garfield is shot and dies of complications related to the shooting after an eighty day struggle.


1776 — Congress votes for independence on July 2, 1776 in Philadelphia and adopts the resolution of Richard Henry Lee for independence from Great Britain.


July 1 On this Day in U.S. and Presidents History

2015 - President Obama opens ties with Cuba as both countries agree to re-open embassies.

2000 - Vermont implements its civil union law.

1978 - Former President Richard M. Nixon gives his first public speech since his resignation as President in 1974.

1971 - Washington becomes the first state to ban gender discrimination.

1966 - Medicare is implemented.

1963 - The U.S. Postal Service implements the zip code system (Zone Improvement Program).

1944 - General Eisenhower, future 34th President of the United States, visits the military front in Normandy.

1943 - The first withholding tax is deducted from American workers paychecks.

1932 - New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt is nominated for President at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.

1929 - The U.S. Immigration of 1924 is implemented.

1907 - The U.S. Army establishes the world's first air force.

1902 - Congress passes the Philippines Government Act which legislates the governance of the Philippines will be by a commission appointed by the President and that Filipinos are considered citizens of their own country.



June 30 — On This Day in U.S. Presidents History

2011— President Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert M. Gates, 22nd Secretary of Defense, at the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute honoring Secretary Gates who served under seven Presidents in an illustrious career spanning over four decade.





The Presidential Medal of Freedom Citation to Robert M. Gates

Our nation’s 22nd Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, has selflessly dedicated his life to ensuring the security of the American people. He has served eight Presidents of both parties with unwavering patriotism. As a champion of our men and women in uniform and their families, he has led the Department of Defense with courage and confidence during our nation’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ensured our Armed Forces are better prepared for the conflicts of today and tomorrow. The United States honors Robert M. Gates for his extraordinary leadership and for a lifetime of service and devotion to our nation.



2006 — President George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, take a private tour of Graceland with Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley as their tour guides.











2000 — President Bill Clinton signs the E-Signature bill making electronic signatures legal.


1921 — President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.

1813 — On June 30, 1813, John Adams (2nd President) wrote to Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) a letter in which the subject of "terrorism" featured significantly. Of note is a passage by Adams regarding the reference by Adams of the use of "terrorism" as a means to excite artificial terrors for party purposes.


"The real terrors of both Parties have allways been, and now are; The fear that they shall loose the Elections and consequently the Loaves and Fishes; and that their Antagonists will obtain them. Both parties have excited artificial Terrors and if I were summoned as a Witness to Say upon Oath, which Party had excited, machiavillialy, the most terror, and which had really felt the most, I could not give a more Sincere Answer, than in the vulgar Style “Put Them in a bagg and Shake them, and then See which comes out first." - John Adams










June 29 Events in Presidents and U.S. History

1972 - The U.S.Supreme Court rules the death penalty under certain circumstances could "constitute cruel and unusual punishment."

1956 - On June 29, 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower creates the U.S. Interstate Highway System with an initial 41,000-mile system. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was deemed "essential to the national interest." One of President Eisenhower's early command experiences involved the now iconic Route 66 when as a young Army Captain his command got bogged down in mud on Route 66 near Fort Riley, Kansas.



U.S. Route 66, Will Rogers Highway, Main Street of America, the Mother Road: One of the Original Highways in the National Highway System


1951 - The U.S. invites the Soviet Union to attend the Korean peace talks.

1950 - President Harry S. Truman orders a sea blockade of Korea.

1776 - Virginia adopts its constitution and Patrick Henry becomes governor.

1652 - Massachusetts declares itself an independent commonwealth.



June 28 in Presidents and U.S. History

1836 — James Madison, Jr. of Virginia dies (March 16, 1751 - June 28, 1836) and was in office from May 2, 1801 to March 3, 1809. Madison, preceded by Thomas Jefferson, was the 4th President of the United States, a political theorist, statesman, and the "Father of the Constitution" because of his role in drafting as well as strongly promoting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Madison along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay authored The Federalist Papers. As President Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State (1801-1809), Madison helped double the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase.

Madison, while a prodigious thinker with his classical education in Latin,Greek, philosophy, mathematics, rhetoric, Hebrew, political philosophy, geography, and science was described by Washington Irving as "a withered little apple-john" for Madison never weighed more than 100 pounds and at a height of 5'4" is America's slightest of build president but one of America's greatest Constitutional, political, and presidential thinkers.









1972 — President Nixon announces that no draftees will be sent to Vietnam.


June 27 in U.S. Presidents History

2010 At the G-20 Press Conference in Toronto, Canada, President Barack Obama speaks about the world economy and highlights the strong alliance between the United States and Japan.

1998 President Bill Clinton and China's President Jiang Zemin in a joint news conference openly state differences on Tibet, human rights, and free trade.

1993 President Bill Clinton orders the launch of 23 Tomahawk missiles against the Iraqi Intelligence Service as a "firm and commensurate" response against those in Iraq who planned to assassinate former president George Bush. In a televised address, Clinton stated his intent to send three messages to Iraq's leaders: We will combat terrorism. We will deter aggression. We will protect our people."

1980 President Jimmy Carter reinstates the draft.

1973 President Richard Nixon vetoes a U.S. Senate ban on bombing in Cambodia.

1950 President harry S. Truman orders the Air Force and Navy into combat in Korea.


June 26 in U.S. Presidents History

2009 President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel Pledge a Common Front to Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons.





More Moments on June 26

2015 Citing the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, in a 5 to 4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have a right to marriage.

1963 At the Berlin Wall, President John F. Kennedy expresses solidarity with German citizens and states, "I am a Berliner."

1959 President Dwight Eisenhower attends ceremonies opening the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1934 President Franklin D.Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act allowing the creation of credit unions.

1945 Delegates of 50 nations sign the United Nations Charter to help prevent another World War.



June 25

1964 — Freedom Summer Murders






1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 200 naval personnel to search for three missing civil rights volunteers in Mississippi. On June 21-22, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were chased in their car, abducted, and shot at close range for helping prepare and register African Americans to vote in Mississippi.


1950 — The Korean War (1950 - 1953) begins as North Korean forces smash and tanks rumble across the 38th parallel into South Korea. On Tuesday, 27 June 1950, President Truman issues a grave and forceful message ordering United States military forces to fight in support of non-Communist South Korea.







June 27, 1950 Statement by President H. S. Truman

In Korea the Government forces, which were armed to prevent border raids and to preserve internal security, were attacked by invading forces from North Korea. The Security Council of the United Nations called upon the invading troops to cease hostilities and to withdraw to the 38th parallel. This they have not done, but on the contrary have pressed the attack. The Security Council called upon all members of the United Nations to render every assistance to the United Nations in the execution of this resolution. In these circumstances I have ordered United States air and sea forces to give the Korean Government troops cover and support.

The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war. It has defied the orders of the Security Council of the United Nations issued to preserve international peace and security. In these circumstances the occupation of Formosa by Communist forces would be a direct threat to the security of the Pacific area and to United States forces performing their lawful and necessary functions in that area.

Accordingly I have ordered the 7th Fleet to prevent any attack on Formosa. As a corollary of this action I am calling upon the Chinese Government on Formosa to cease all air and sea operations against the mainland. The 7th Fleet will see that this is done. The determination of the future status of Formosa must await the restoration of security in the Pacific, a peace settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations.

I have also directed that United States Forces in the Philippines be strengthened and that military assistance to the Philippine Government be accelerated.

I have similarly directed acceleration in the furnishing of military assistance to the forces of France and the Associated States in Indochina and the dispatch of a military mission to provide dose working relations with those forces.

I know that all members of the United Nations will consider carefully the consequences of this latest aggression in Korea in defiance of the Charter of the United Nations. A return to the rule of force in international affairs would have far-reaching effects. The United States will continue to uphold the rule of law.

I have instructed Ambassador Austin, as the representative of the United States to the Security Council, to report these steps to the Council.

1997 — President Bill Clinton tightens standards for air pollution in the U.S.

1973 — John Dean, White House Counsel, admits that President Nixon had knowledge of the Watergate cover-up.

1844 — John Tyler becomes the first U.S. President to marry while in office when he and and Julia Gardiner marry on June 24, 1844.


June 24 & 23

1966 — In Mississippi, Civil Rights marchers are dispersed with tear gas.




1966 — The U.S. Senate passes the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act — a landmark auto safety bill.


1964 — Henry Cabot Lodge resigns as the United States envoy to Vietnam.

1953 — Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy (future 35th President) and Jacqueline Bouvier announce their engagement.










1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces his support for the Soviet Union following the German invasion of the U.S.S.R. on June 22, 1941.


1947 — In an X-Files moment, Kenneth Arnold, an American pilot, describes the strange objects he saw near Mt. Rainier, Washington, as "saucers skipping across the waters" — the origin of the term "flying saucers." In 1997, also on this day, The U.S. Air Force releases The Roswell Report regarding the incident in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 when reports were filed concerning Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and alien bodies.









1908 — Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President (1885-1889 and 1893-1897) dies in Princeton, New Jersey.

1862 — President Abraham Lincoln meets with a hero of the Mexican War and commander of Union forces at the onset of the Civil War — General Winfield Scott.

1860 — The U.S. Secret Service is created to protect the President and the U.S. money supply from counterfeiters.

1683 — William Penn and the Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania sign a friendship treaty.

1647 — Pioneer American feminist, Margaret Brand, demands a seat in the Virginia Assembly and is rejected.


June 22

1944 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944) as the last of his New Deal reforms. The American Legion veteran's organization successfully fought for many of the GI Bill's benefits. In 1932, over 20,000 veterans without jobs and their families gathered in protest in Washington D.C.

The GI Bill included veterans benefits for tuition, business loans, low-interest home loans, education funds including tuition money, books, supplies, and living expenses. Prior to the GI Bill and before WWII, only 10 to 15 percent of Americans could afford college with a university education realistic in cost only to a privileged class of young Americans. By the end of 1946, military veterans comprised nearly 50% of of America's college enrollments and by 1950 nearly a half-million students graduated from American universities in contrast with scarcely 160,000 in 1939.

Never in American history has one legislated veterans action resulted in such sweeping socioeconomic balance and expansions. The GI Bill helped create new American leaders among them former presidents George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, former Vice President Al Gore, senators John Warner, Daniel Inouye, Bob Dole, Congressman Charles Rangel, Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens, Byron White, William Rehnquist, entertainers Steve McQueen, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Carson, Paul Newman, Johnny Cash, Clint Eastwood, and most importantly hundreds of thousands of veterans whose own successes writ large in the sciences and arts were made possible by the signing of the GI Bill on June 22, 1944 — a legislative act that showed the power of education as a unitary force to positively transform the social and economic balance of America by helping those who served and serve with honor, bravery, distinction, and often great sacrifice.











June 21

2009 — President Obama tells the Iranian government: "The whole world is watching ... We call on the Iranian government to stop all violence and unjust actions against it own people."





2005 — President George W. Bush meets at the White House with Republic of Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. On the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, the leaders discuss new ways to further strengthen bilateral ties between the U.S. and Vietnam.





President George W. Bush Expands Ties with Vietnam in 2005


1940 — Future president Richard M. Nixon marries future First Lady Patricia Ryan.



Future President Richard M. Nixon and Pat Nixon (Patricia Ryan) Recently Married (1940)


1810 — Future president Zachary Taylor marries future First Lady Margaret Smith.




Margaret Taylor when First Lady


1788 — The Constitution of the United States is ratified and becomes the law of the land.



The Constitution of the United States


June 20

1990 — President George H. W. Bush suspends talks between the U.S. and Palestinians after an attempted attack on Israel by on Palestinian commandos.

1963 — The United States and Soviet Union agree to eastablish a communication "hot line" to reduce tensions and potential nuclear conflicts.

1938 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the 3.75 billion Emergency Relief Appropriation Act.

1863 — West Virginia enters the Union as the 35th U.S. state.

1782 — After six years of design and discussion, Congress approves and adopts the Great Seal of the United States.


June 18

1985 — President Ronald Reagan calls for the immediate and unconditional release of American hostages held on TWA Flight 847.

1979 — President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev limit nuclear arms with the signing of the Salt II pact.

1873 — Susan B. Anthony attempts to vote for a U.S. president in the 1872 presidential election and is fined $100.00 for illegal voting in United States v. Anthony, Case No. 14,459.


Circuit Justice Ward Hunt proclaimed: "The Fourteenth Amendment gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting by Miss Anthony was in violation of the law."

On sentencing day, Susan B. Anthony responded to Judge Hunt: "Yes, your honor, I have many things to say; for in your ordered verdict of guilty, you have trampled underfoot every vital principle of our government ... My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject; and not only myself individually, but all of my sex, are, by your honor's verdict, doomed to political subjugation under subjection under this, so-called, form of government. Ratified on August 18 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote and represents a starting rather than an end-point for equal rights.


Susan B. Anthony



Susan B. Anthony


1812 — The United States declares war against Great Britain and the War of 1812 formally begins on June 18, 1812 and ends on February 18, 1815.

On the eve of January, 2012, the U.S. Army comprised only 4,00 officers and troops. The Navy's fleet consisted of five frigates, seven brigs, and three sloops. Fortunately, Britain's forces were engaged in a war with France under Napoleon. In January 1812, Congress acted to increase the U.S. Army to 30,000 officers and troops, 30,000 one-year volunteers, and support by state militias. Few in America had a desire for war or were more focused on a potential war with France. President Madison, however, reasoned that since 1807 the British had seized 389 American ships and while the French had seized 558 vessels — only the British had impressed American sailors into compulsory service. On June 1, 1812, President Madison requested Congress to declare was on Great Britain. By a vote of 19 to 13, on June 17, Congress voted and issued a Declaration of War against Great Britain. Since 1776, Congress has declared war only 11 times with only three declarations not associated with countries involved in World War I or World War II.






Declaration of War Against Great Britain (June 17, 1812)



British Impressment of U.S. Sailors

1778 — After nine months of occupation, 15,000 British troops abandon and flee Philadelphia. With France's entry in support of America, the British forces in Philadelphia led by General Sir Henry Clinton fled by land to New York to avoid the French fleet.



June 17

Today's Featured Presidential Moment: Abraham Lincoln — A House Divided Cannot Stand

On June 16, 1858 in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln accepts the nomination for the U.S. Senate as a Republican and declares that "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Lincoln strongly believed that the Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court (Dred Scott v. Stanford, 60 U.S. 393) would result in slavery legalization in all states.

The Dred Scott v. Sanford decision concluded:


"Upon these considerations, it is the opinion of the court that the act of Congress which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void; and that neither Dred Scott himself, nor any of his family, were made free by being carried into this territory; even if they had been carried there by the owner, with the intention of becoming a permanent resident ..."



to which Lincoln retorted:


"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.
" - Abraham Lincoln





Abraham Lincoln in 1858



COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF LINCOLN'S HOUSE DIVIDED SPEECH



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention:



If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.


Have we no tendency to the latter condition?


Let anyone who doubts carefully contemplate that now almost complete legal combination -- piece of machinery, so to speak -- compounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider, not only what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapted, but also let him study the history of its construction and trace, if he can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace the evidences of design and concert of action among its chief architects, from the beginning.


The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the states by state constitutions and from most of the national territory by congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced the struggle which ended in repealing that congressional prohibition. This opened all the national territory to slavery and was the first point gained.


But, so far, Congress only had acted; and an endorsement by the people, real or apparent, was indispensable to save the point already gained and give chance for more.


This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of "squatter sovereignty," other-wise called "sacred right of self-government," which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this: That if any one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to object. That argument was incorporated into the Nebraska Bill itself, in the language which follows:


It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into an territory or state, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people there-of perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.


Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of "squatter sovereignty" and "sacred right of self-government." "But," said opposition members, "let us amend the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the territory may exclude slavery." "Not we," said the friends of the measure; and down they voted the amendment.


While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, a law case, involving the question of a Negro's freedom, by reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a free state and then into a territory covered by the congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave for a long time in each, was passing through the United States Circuit Court for the district of Missouri; and both Nebraska Bill and lawsuit were brought to a decision in the same month of May 1854. The Negro's name was Dred Scott, which name now designates the decision finally made in the case. Before the then next presidential election, the law case came to, and was argued in, the Supreme Court of the United States; but the decision of it was deferred until after the election. Still, before the election, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the Senate, requested the leading advocate of the Nebraska Bill to state his opinion whether the people of a territory can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; and the latter answers: "That is a question for the Supreme Court."

The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the endorsement, such as it was, secured. That was the second point gained. The endorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly 400,000 votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing President, in his last annual message, as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people the weight and authority of the endorsement. The Supreme Court met again, did not announce their decision, but ordered a reargument.

The presidential inauguration came, and still no decision of the Court; but the incoming President, in his inaugural address, fervently exhorted the people to abide by the forthcoming decision, whatever it might be. Then, in a few days, came the decision.

The reputed author of the Nebraska Bill finds an early occasion to make a speech at this capital endorsing the Dred Scott decision, and vehemently denouncing all opposition to it. The new President, too, seizes the early occasion of the Silliman letter to endorse and strongly construe that decision, and to express his astonishment that any different view had ever been entertained!


At length a squabble springs up between the President and the author of the Nebraska Bill, on the mere question of fact, whether the Lecompton constitution was or was not in any just sense made by the people of Kansas; and in that quarrel the latter declares that all he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or voted up. I do not understand his declaration, that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or voted up, to be intended by him other than as an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the public mind -- the principle for which he declares he has suffered so much and is ready to suffer to the end. And well may he cling to that principle! If he has any parental feeling, well may he cling to it. That principle is the only shred left of his original Nebraska doctrine.


Under the Dred Scott decision, "squatter sovereignty" squatted out of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding; like the mold at the foundry, served through one blast and fell back into loose sand; helped to carry an election and then was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the Republicans against the Lecompton constitution involves nothing of the original Nebraska doctrine. That struggle was made on a point -- the right of a people to make their own constitution -- upon which he and the Republicans have never differed.


The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection with Senator Douglas' "care not" policy, constitute the piece of machinery in its present state of advancement. This was the third point gained. The working points of that machinery are:


First, that no Negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no descendant of such slave can ever be a citizen of any state in the sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States. This point is made in order to deprive the Negro, in every possible event, of the benefit of that provision of the United States Constitution which declares that "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states."


Second, that, "subject to the Constitution of the United States," neither Congress nor a territorial legislature can exclude slavery from any United States territory. This point is made in order that individual men may fill up the territories with slaves, without danger of losing them as property, and thus enhance the chances of permanency to the institution through all the future.


Third, that whether the holding a Negro in actual slavery in a free state makes him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave state the Negro may be forced into by the master. This point is made, not to be pressed immediately but, if acquiesced in for awhile, and apparently endorsed by the people at an election, then to sustain the logical conclusion that what Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott in the free state of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with any other one, or 1,000 slaves, in Illinois or in any other free state.


Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mold public opinion, at least Northern public opinion, not to care whether slavery is voted down or voted up. This shows exactly where we now are; and partially, also, whither we are tending.


It will throw additional light on the latter to go back and run the mind over the string of historical facts already stated. Several things will now appear less dark and mysterious than they did when they were transpiring. The people were to be left "perfectly free," "subject only to the Constitution." What the Constitution had to do with it, outsiders could not then see. Plainly enough, now, it was an exactly fitted niche for the Dred Scott decision to afterward come in and declare the perfect freedom of the people to be just no freedom at all.


Why was the amendment expressly declaring the right of the people voted down? Plainly enough, now, the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche for the Dred Scott decision. Why was the Court decision held up? Why even a senator's individual opinion withheld till after the presidential election? Plainly enough, now, the speaking out then would have damaged the "perfectly free" argument upon which the election was to be carried. Why the outgoing President's felicitation on the endorsement? Why the delay of a reargument? Why the incoming President's advance exhortation in favor of the decision? These things look like the cautious patting and petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him when it is dreaded that he may give the rider a fall. And why the hasty after-endorsement of the decision by the President and others?



We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations are the result of preconcert. But when we see a lot of framed timbers, different portions of which we know have been gotten out at different times and places and by different workmen -- Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, for instance -- and when we see these timbers joined together and see they exactly make the frame of a house or a mill, all the tenons and mortises exactly fitting, and all the lengths and proportions of the different pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too many or too few, not omitting even scaffolding, or, if a single piece be lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared yet to bring such piece in -- in such a case, we find it impossible not to believe that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James all understood one another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or draft drawn up before the first blow was struck.



June 16: Other Moments in Presidential and White House History

1982 — Diane Sawyer interviews former President Richard M. Nixon on The CBS Morning News.

1972 — The beginning of the Watergate affair begins when five men working for the reelection of President Nixon are arrested for burglary in the Watergate complex, Washington D.C.

1955 — Selective Service is extended until 1959 by the House of Representatives.

1935 — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal legislation is passed by Congress.

1861 — President Abraham Lincoln witnesses the use of a gas ballon by Dr. Thaddeus Lowe.


June 16

1884 — America's first roller coaster opens at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. President Kennedy and his children enjoyed amusement park rides at Lincoln Park, Massachusetts (opened 1894) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) and his children enjoyed the famous "Giant" roller coaster at Paragon Park, Largo, Maryland.






1981 — President Ronald Reagan awards Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor the Congressional Gold Medal for helping six Americans escape Iranian captivity during the hostage crisis in Iran (1979 -1981).


June 15

2010 — President Barack Obama addresses Americans about the unprecedented scope of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.

1992 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules (United States v. Alvarez) the permissibility of the U.S. to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries for trial in the U.S. without permission of other governments.

1916 — President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill creating the only youth organization with federal charter — Boy Scouts of America.






1983 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules against state and local restrictions on abortion.

1898 — Congress approves the annexation of Hawaii.

1849 — James Knox Polk dies (eleventh President of the United States).

1864 — U.S. Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, 200 acres for the Arlington National Cemetery.

1846 — The Oregon Treaty establishes the border between the United States and Canada at the 49th parallel.

1836 — Arkansas becomes the 25th U.S. state.

1775 — The Second Continental Congress appoints George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. 1607 — Early colonists complete the construction James Fort in Jamestown, Virginia.


June 14

2012 — President Barack Obama speaks in Cleveland, Ohio about the U.S. economy.






2004 — Former President Ronald Wilson Reagan is Remembered on the Cover and in An Article in Time Magazine.




1989 — Former President Ronald Reagan is knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

1966 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Coulee Dam bull creating the world's largest power facility.

1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the order to add "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

1941 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt freezes all assets of Italy and Germany.

1922 — President Warren G. Harding becomes the first U.S. president to address the nation on radio in a dedication of the Francis Scott Memorial, Fort McHenry.



June 13

TODAY'S PRESIDENTIAL FEATURE

1957 — Future President Ronald Reagan becomes the first and only person to substitute for Ralph Edwards the beloved host of "This is Your Life" and "Truth or Consequences." Regan hosted two episodes honoring Constanca Hop (public relations specialist) and Hugh Barr Miller (a Navy Commander).



2006 — President George W. Bush visits Iraq and meets with U.S. troops and the Iraqi prime minister.

2004 — President George H. W. Bush parachute jumps 13,000 feet over his presidential library in College Station, Texas.

2002 — Artifacts from the Watergate burglary that led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon are on display at the National Archives.

1967 — Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black Supreme Court Justice (nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson).








1886 — The ouse of Representatives passed the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting citizenship "to all persons born or naturalized in the United States," forbids states from denying any person "life, liberty or property without due process of law," or "to deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The 14th Amendment extended rights granted to former slaves by the Bill of Rights. The "right to equal protection of the laws" provision of the 14th Amendment has formed the theory and basis for modern Supreme Court decisions including racial discrimination (Brown v. Board of Education), gender discrimination (Reed v. Reed), racial quotas (University of California v. Blake), election results (Bush v. Gore), reproductive rights (Roe v. Wade), exclusion of blacks from from primary elections for political candidates (Nixon v. Condon, Smith v. Allwright), Terry v. Adams).

1774 — Rhode Island is the first colony to prohibit slave importation.


June 12

Ronald Reagan and the Berlin Wall

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan in his now iconic speech at the Brandenburg gate in West Berlin issued his imperative to the Soviet Union and its leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Berlin Wall, officially titled the "Anti-Fascist Protective Wall" fell on November 9, 1989 after 28 years of dividing the nation of Germany with guard towers, attack dogs, tanks, traps, tripwires, death strips, anti-vehicle trenches, machine guns, and 700,000 tons of concrete and steel. The physical demolition of the Berlin Wall began on June 13, 1990 and completed in 1992.

On September 19, 2012, Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit unveiled a plaque set near the very spot where President Ronald Reagan issued his imperative "Tear down this wall."

















June 11

2004 — President George W. Bush delivers a eulogy at the funeral for former President Ronald Reagan and ends the eulogy with "May God bless Ronald Reagan, and the country he loved."













1963 — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. attempts to eat at the Monson Motor Lodge restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida and at the steps of the restaurant is arrested on a trespassing charge.




1963 — President John F. Kennedy delivers a televised address to Americans on civil rights stating that segregation is both legally and also morally wrong. Kennedy announces new civil rights legislation.







Transcript

John F. Kennedy

Address on Civil Rights (June 11, 1963)


Good evening, my fellow citizens:

This afternoon, following a series of threats and defiant statements, the presence of Alabama National Guardsmen was required on the University of Alabama to carry out the final and unequivocal order of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama. That order called for the admission of two clearly qualified young Alabama residents who happened to have been born Negro.

That they were admitted peacefully on the campus is due in good measure to the conduct of the students of the University of Alabama, who met their responsibilities in a constructive way.

I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Viet-Nam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops.
It ought to be possible for American consumers of any color to receive equal service in places of public accommodation, such as hotels and restaurants and theaters and retail stores, without being forced to resort to demonstrations in the street, and it ought to be possible for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without interference or fear of reprisal.

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case.

The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much.
This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone. It is better to settle these matters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but law alone cannot make men see right.

We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution.

The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?

One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.
We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is a land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or cast system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?

Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them.
The fires of frustration and discord are burning in every city, North and South, where legal remedies are not at hand. Redress is sought in the streets, in demonstrations, parades, and protests which create tensions and threaten violence and threaten lives.
We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people. It cannot be met by repressive police action. It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets. It cannot be quieted by token moves or talk. It is a time to act in the Congress, in your State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives.
It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the fact that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all.

Those who do nothing are inviting shame as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right as well as reality.
Next week I shall ask the Congress of the United States to act, to make a commitment it has not fully made in this century to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law. The Federal judiciary has upheld that proposition in a series of forthright cases. The executive branch has adopted that proposition in the conduct of its affairs, including the employment of Federal personnel, the use of Federal facilities, and the sale of federally financed housing.
But there are other necessary measures which only the Congress can provide, and they must be provided at this session. The old code of equity law under which we live commands for every wrong a remedy, but in too many communities, in too many parts of the country, wrongs are inflicted on Negro citizens and there are no remedies at law. Unless the Congress acts, their only remedy is in the street.
I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments.

This seems to me to be an elementary right. Its denial is an arbitrary indignity that no American in 1963 should have to endure, but many do.
I have recently met with scores of business leaders urging them to take voluntary action to end this discrimination and I have been encouraged by their response, and in the last 2 weeks over 75 cities have seen progress made in desegregating these kinds of facilities. But many are unwilling to act alone, and for this reason, nationwide legislation is needed if we are to move this problem from the streets to the courts.
I am also asking Congress to authorize the Federal Government to participate more fully in lawsuits designed to end segregation in public education. We have succeeded in persuading many districts to de-segregate voluntarily. Dozens have admitted Negroes without violence. Today a Negro is attending a State-supported institution in every one of our 50 States, but the pace is very slow.

Too many Negro children entering segregated grade schools at the time of the Supreme Court's decision 9 years ago will enter segregated high schools this fall, having suffered a loss which can never be restored. The lack of an adequate education denies the Negro a chance to get a decent job.

The orderly implementation of the Supreme Court decision, therefore, cannot be left solely to those who may not have the economic resources to carry the legal action or who may be subject to harassment.

Other features will be also requested, including greater protection for the right to vote. But legislation, I repeat, cannot solve this problem alone. It must be solved in the homes of every American in every community across our country.

In this respect, I want to pay tribute to those citizens North and South who have been working in their communities to make life better for all. They are acting not out of a sense of legal duty but out of a sense of human decency.

Like our soldiers and sailors in all parts of the world they are meeting freedom's challenge on the firing line, and I salute them for their honor and their courage.

My fellow Americans, this is a problem which faces us all—in every city of the North as well as the South. Today there are Negroes unemployed, two or three times as many compared to whites, inadequate in education, moving into the large cities, unable to find work, young people particularly out of work without hope, denied equal rights, denied the opportunity to eat at a restaurant or lunch counter or go to a movie theater, denied the right to a decent education, denied almost today the right to attend a State university even though qualified. It seems to me that these are matters which concern us all, not merely Presidents or Congressmen or Governors, but every citizen of the United States.

This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents.
We cannot say to 10 percent of the population that you can't have that right; that your children can't have the chance to develop whatever talents they have; that the only way that they are going to get their rights is to go into the streets and demonstrate. I think we owe them and we owe ourselves a better country than that.

Therefore, I am asking for your help in making it easier for us to move ahead and to provide the kind of equality of treatment which we would want ourselves; to give a chance for every child to be educated to the limit of his talents.
As I have said before, not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or an equal motivation, but they should have the equal right to develop their talent and their ability and their motivation, to make something of themselves.

We have a right to expect that the Negro community will be responsible, will uphold the law, but they have a right to expect that the law will be fair, that the Constitution will be color blind, as Justice Harlan said at the turn of the century.

This is what we are talking about and this is a matter which concerns this country and what it stands for, and in meeting it I ask the support of all our citizens.

Thank you very much.


June 9

2010 — President Barack Obama briefs reporters following his meetings with the Palestinian Authority's President Abbas regarding peace in the Middle East, a two-state solution which recognizes an "Israel that is secure and fully accepted by its neighbors, and a Palestinian people that have their own state, self-determination, and the ability to chart their own destiny."

1998 — President Bill Clinton issues Executive Order 13088 declaring a national emergency consequent of actions by FRY and the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo.

1948 — President Harry S. Truman begins a two day whirlwind tour in Washington with campaign nuances as the fall presidential election nears.

1865 — President Andrew Johnson moves into the White House two months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.


June 8

2009 — President Obama and Vice President Biden articulate plans and goals for the next 100 days of the American Recovery Act.

1915 — William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State, resigns consequent of a disagreement over the U.S. handling of the Lusitania sinking.

1864 — At the Republican Party convention in Baltimore, Maryland, Abraham Lincoln is nominated for his second term as president.

1845 — Andrew Jackson, seventh president, dies at age 78 in Nashville, Tennessee.


June 7

1979 — President Jimmy Carter (D) in Office January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981) celebrates the Black Music Association's history on the White House South Lawn where he and First Lady Rosalyn Carter met legendary musicians including Chuck Berry, Patti La Belle, Barry White, Curtis Mayfield, and 800 celebrants. Carter met with praise for his stance toward Rhodesia.







1769 — Today is "Boone Day" as celebrated by the Kentucky Historical Society because on this day in 1769 Daniel Boone first saw the rolling hills and lush valleys of what would in 1753 be recorded as Kentucky (formerly a province of Virginia).

1775 — The United Colonies officially change their name to the United States.

1712 — Pennsylvania bans the import of slaves.



June 6

2004 — President Ronald Reagan (Republican, 40th U.S. President, In Office January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989) dies at age 93.

At age 26, Reagan completed 14 home study Army extension courses leading to his commission on May 25, 1937 as a second lieutenant in the calvary Officers Reserve Corps. A masterful communicator, interpersonal thinker, and politically minded, Ronald Reagan was a radio announcer in Des Moines, Iowa for the Chicago Cubs baseball games, a successful Hollywood actor, a union leader, president of the Screen Actors Guild, 33rd governor of California (1967 - 1975), and 40th President of the United States. He married Nancy Davis (1921-2016) of whom he once wrote "whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn't have you."

As President, Regan implemented extensive supply-side economic policies known as "Reaganomics." His focus on individual freedom, reduction of reliance upon government, and reinvigoration of Americans became known as the Reagan Revolution. A central principle of Reagan's foreign policy was "peace through strength." Today, Ronald Reagan is the exemplar and measure of what it means to be a Republican.


President Ronald Reagan

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan








June 5

2009 President Obama meets with German Chancellor Merkel, Elie Wiesel, and he places a rose at the Buchenwald concentration camp gate building near Weimar, Germany.


President Barack Obama Places a Rose at Buchenwald Concentration Camp

2004 — U.S.S.. Jimmy Carter is christened in the U.S. Navy

1948 — President Harry S. Truman lays a wreath on Father Flanagan's tomb at Boys Town.

1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt takes the U.S. off the gold standard.


June 4

2009 — President Barack Obama delivers a speech entitled "A New Beginning" at Cairo University, Egypt.

President Obama at Cairo University, June 4, 2009


2000 — President Bill Clinton concludes talks for two days in Moscow with Russia's President Vladimir Putin with narrowly defined but important agreements to mutually destroy 34 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium sufficient to to produce tens of thousands of nuclear bombs.


1947 — The House of Representatives approves the Taft-Hartley Act allowing the President of the United States intervention authority in labor disputes.


1919 — The U.S. Senate passes the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right to vote to all American women.





1754 — George Washington, 22 year-old lieutenant colonel in the Virginia Militia, begins construction of Fort Necessity.



June 2
2009 — President Barack Obama signs the order to begin the bin Laden operation that results in the killing of 9/11 terrorist organizer Osama bin Laden.






2011 — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney announces his bid for presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

1987 — President Ronald Reagan announces the nomination of economist Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board replacing Paul Volcker.

1954 — Senator Joseph McCarthy creates controversy by charging that communists have infiltrated the atomic weapons industry and the CIA.

1924 — Congress enacts the Indian Citizenship Act granting citizenship to U.S. born Native Americans but the right to vote is governed by states until 1957.

1886 — Grover Cleveland weds Frances Folsom and becomes the first president to marry in the White House.





June 1


2009 — President Barack Obama addresses plans to restructure and save the American auto industry.

1988 — President Ronald Reagan arrives in Moscow — the first American president to visit in 14 years.

1955 — The U.S. Supreme Court orders states to end racial segregation "with all deliberate speed."

1913 — The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified providing for direct election of senators. —

1909 — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, conducts its first conference.

1781 — Thomas Jefferson is forced to flee Monticello, his home near Charlottesville, Virginia, narrowly escaping capture by the British. Anthony Giannini, who tended gardens and vineyards for Jefferson at Monticello, also departs and serves briefly in the Virginia Militia.

1779 — The Virginia legislature elects Thomas Jefferson as the state's governor.




May 28


2009 President Barack Obama meets in the Oval Office with Palestinian President Abbas and states his belief in a two-state solution for Israeli and Palestiinian peace.

1985 Vanity Fair releases its first magazine issue and features a kiss on the cover between President Ronald Reagan and and First Lady Nancy Reagan.

1956 President Eisenhower signs a bill allowing the government to store agricultural surplus.

1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt presses an alert button in Washington D.C. allowing the first vehicular traffic to cross the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge in California.


May 27


2016 - President Barack Obama makes an historic visit to Hiroshima, Japan.

1986 - President Ronald Reagan orders the dismantling of two Poseidon-class submarines.

1967 - Jacqueline Kennedy christens the Navy carrier USSS John Fitzgerald Kennedy

1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency."

1945 - President Harry S. Truman is away from the White House for the first time since taking office.





1916 - President Woodrow Wilson states his willingness to join an organization to protect small countries from aggression and ensure the freedom of the seas.


May 26


2009 President Barack Obama announces the nomination of federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1868 President Andrew Johnson is acquitted of all charges of impeachment at the end of a two-month trial.


May 24

2009 — President Barack Obama addresses a Joint Session of Congress "to speak frankly and directly" about the economic crisis in America and present solutions for recovery and prosperity.

1964 — President John F. Kennedy, the youngest president to win the White House, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, bid farewell to Prince Ranier III and Princess Grace following a luncheon at the White House in their honor.

1900 — Sgt. William H. Carney becomes the first African-American to receive the Medal of Honor.

1775 — John Hancock becomes president of the Second Continental Congress, a convention of representatives of the Thirteen Colonies that soon declared the American Revolution had begun.



May 22

2009 — President Barack Obama signs the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act to end unfair rate spikes and hidden fees.

1947 — The Truman Doctrine provides aid to Greece and Turkey, a doctrine stated in 1947 declaring it is the foreign policy of America to assist any country threatened by communism.

1882 — During the administration of President Chest A. Arthur, on May 22, 1882, Congress passes the Edmund Act excluding bigamists and polygamists from voting and holding office.

1882 —The United States formally recognizes Korea.

1804 — The Lewis and Clarke Expedition departs from St. Charles Missouri officially as the Corps of Discovery and is the first American expedition to explore the western regions of the United States traveling more than 8,000 miles in less than 2.5 years at a cost of $40,000.



May 21


1832 — The Democratic Party holds its first national convention in Baltimore from May 22 to May 23.

1506 — Christopher Columbus dies.


May 20

2009 President Barack Obama signs the Helping Families Save Their Homes of 2009 to help families caught in the economic crisis.

1995 President Bill Clinton closes Pennsylvania in front of the White House for security.

1956 The U.S. tests an advanced airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll.

1862 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act offering 250 million acres of free land to western settlers.

1861 North Carolina becomes the first colony to declare independence and in 1861 becomes the last state to secede from the Union.

1778 In the Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania, Marquis de Lafayette thwarts attempts by British forces to trap 2,200 Continentals defending Valley Forge at Barren Hill now Lafayette Hill.

1774 The ports of Boston close when Parliament enforces the Coercive Acts punitive to colonists for anti-British speech.

1768 Dolley Madison, first lady and wife of President James Madison is born.

1506 Christopher Columbus, the first European to explore the Americas, dies in Valladolid, Spain.


May 19

2009 — President Barack Obama announces plans for vehicle higher fuel efficiency to curve emissions and reduce global warming.

1994 — Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, former First Lady, died in New York.

1992 — Congress is prohibited from giving itself midterm pay raises as the 27th Amendment to the Constitution goes into effect.


1962 — Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy.

1964 — For the first time, U.S. planes bomb Hanoi.

1964 — 40 microphones are found planted in the American Embassy, Moscow.

1921 — Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas for immigrants.


1925 — African-American activist Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) is born.

1856 — Senator Charles Sumner voices his disdain of slavery.

1858 — Charles Hamilton and his pro-slavery band execute unarmed Free State men on the Kansas-Missouri border.

1864 — The last attacks between Union and Confederate armies occur at Spotsylvania, Virginia.

1864 — President Abraham Lincoln writes that widows and children of soldiers regardless of race should be given equal treatment. 1643 — Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut colonies meet to for the New England Confederation. In 1866 H.R. 406, Section 13 was introduced to assure equal treatment of the dependents of black soldiers.

1780 — In an X-Files moment — near absolute darkness falls upon New England at noon — no explanation is found.



May 18



2009 — President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet with Osrael Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

1901 — President William McKinley attends the launch of battleship Ohio.


1896 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of separate-but-equal facilities on intrastate railroads in Plessy v. Ferguson but this decision was overturned unanimously on May 17, 1954 in Brown v. the Board of Education stating that segregation violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. American History


1863 — Ulysses S. Grant, Union General, surrounds Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant had made attempts to capture Vicksburg beginning the winter of 1862. During the siege, the military and people of Vicksburg suffered daily food rations of 1/12 quart of peas, 1/50 gallon of molasses, 1/4 pound of bacon, 1/4 pound of flour, and 1/50 gallon of molasses. Soldiers and civilians racked by hunger ate horses, mules, dogs, and in hopeless moments — shoe leather. Vicksburg residents dug tunnels into hills to escape continual Union bombardment. The campaign killed or wounded 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate. The Confederate army surrendered Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. The Union now controlled the Mississippi River isolating Arkansas, Louisiana. and Texas from the South. The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the resting place of 17.000 Union and Confederate soldiers killed in the battles of Vicksburg.


Vicksburg National Cemetery



May 17


Presidents History on May 17

2009 — President Barack Obama repeals the ban on stem cell research and is praised by U.S. scientists.


"When it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced into what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research - and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." - President Barack Obama


2010 — President Barack Obama signs the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act.

"All around the world there are enormously courageous journalists and bloggers who, at great risk to themselves, are trying to shine a light on the critical issues that the people of their country face; who are the frontlines against tyranny and oppression. And obviously the loss of Daniel Pearl was one of those moments that captured the world’s imagination because it reminded us of how valuable a free press is, and it reminded us that there are those who would go to any length in order to silence journalists around the world."- President Barack Obama

1996 — President Bill Clinton signs Meagan''s Law requiring neighborhood notification of resident sex offenders.

1818 — President Thomas Jefferson on the importance of reading:


" ... my repugnance to the writing table becomes daily & hourly more deadly & insurmountable. in place of this has come on a canine appetite for reading. and I indulge it: because I see in it a relief against the taedium senectutis; a lamp to lighten my path thro’ the dreary wilderness of time before me, whose bourne I see not. losing daily all interest in the things around us, something else is necessary to fill the void. with me it is reading, which occupies the mind without the labor of producing ideas from my own stock."


American History on May 17

2004 — America;s first same sex marriage occurs at City Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts between Marcia Kadish and Tanya McCloskey.

1983 — The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents related to the largest mercury pollution event in world history at Oak Ridge, Tennessee in which 4.2 million pounds of Mercury were spilled into the environment or lost — 1.3 million pounds of mercury are still missing today.

1987 — The USS Stark guided missile frigate is struck by two Exocet missiles fired by an Iraqi aircraft — 37 sailors die and 21 are wounded.

1973 — The U.S. Senate begins the Watergate Hearings.

1969 — Apollo 10 is ready for its final test in anticipation of America's manned landing on the moon later in the year.

1954 — The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decides in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (named after Linda Brown who had been denied admission based on color to her local public elementary school) that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional.

1936 — Truman seizes control of U.S. railroads to delay a strike by engineers and trainmen.

1849 — St. Louis, Missouri is nearly burned to the ground by a large fire.

1881 — Frederick Douglas is named recorder of deeds in Washington D.C.

1875 — The first Kentucky Derby runs in Louisville, KY and Aristides wins.

1863 — Union General Ulysses S. Grant pushes to Vicksburg at the Battle of the Big Black River Bulge.

1792 — The New York Stock Exchange forms under the Buttonwood Agreement.

1775 — The Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.



May 16


2009 — President Barack Obama names John Huntsman Jr., U.S. Ambassador to China.

2000 — Hillary Rodham Clinton is nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for New York senator.

1868 — President Andrew Johnson is acquitted from Senate impeachment by one vote.

1860 — Abraham Lincoln is nominated as the Republican Party candidate for president.


May 15

2009 — President Barack Obama honors World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies at the White House.

1991 — President George W. Bush attends an Oakland A's Baltimore Oriel game.

1970 — President Richard Nixon announces the appointments of the first two female Army generals — Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth Paschel Hoisington. In 2008, Elizabeth Ann Dunwoody becomes the first woman in U.S. military history to attain the rank of four-star general.

1940 — British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a note to President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting U.S. participation in the war against Germany.

1928 — President Calvin Coolidge signs the Jones-Reid bill allotting $340 million for flood control.

1776 — George Washington orders Friday the 17th to supplicate and ask for the mercy of God to establish peace and freedom in the United States Colonies.

George Washington
May 15, 1776
Head Quarters, New York, May 15, 1776.

Parole Barre. Countersign Dublin.

The Continental Congress having ordered, Friday the 17th. Instant to be observed as a day of "fasting, humiliation and prayer, humbly to supplicate the mercy of Almighty God, that it would please him to pardon all our manifold sins and transgressions, and to prosper the Arms of the United Colonies, and finally, establish the peace and freedom of America, upon a solid and lasting foundation"--The General commands all officers, and soldiers, to pay strict obedience to the Orders of the Continental Congress, and by their unfeigned, and pious observance of their religious duties, incline the Lord, and Giver of Victory, to prosper our arms.

The regiment of Artillery to be mustered, Sunday morning, at eight o'clock, upon the Common, where the Commissary General of Musters will attend.

The Company of Artillery commanded by Capt. Hamilton, to be mustered at Ten o'Clock, next Sunday morning, upon the Common, near the Laboratory.

Lieut. Howe and Ensign Kennedy of Col Wards regiment, with the same non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, who were employed by the orders of the 8th. Instant in cutting picketts, are to parade at Genl. Putnams quarters, to morrow morning at sun rise, with four days provisions ready dressed to go upon the same duty as before.

The Officers of all guards, are to make their reports to the Colonel of the picquet, by nine o'clock in the morning--The Colonel of the picquet to make a report of all those reports, collected in one, to the Brigadier of the day at to o'clock precisely.





May 13


1969 — President Richard Nixon calls for a draft lottery.

1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway.


May 12

2009 — President Barack Obama meets and conducts a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

2002 — President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro — the first visit by a U.S. president, incumbent or former, since the 1959 revolution.

1963 — President John F. Kennedy sends troops into Birmingham, Alabama consequent of riots.

1915 — President Woodrow Wilson sends a formal protest to the German government over the sinking of the British liner the Lusitania.


May 10


2010 — President Barack Obama appoints Elena Keagan as his Supreme Court nominee.

1872 —
Victoria Woodhull was born on September 23, 1838, in Homer, Ohio. In 1870, she created Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly, publications in which she expressed her ideas on a range of reform topics. Woodhull also published the first English translation of Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto. She ran for the U.S. presidency on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872 and later moved to England where she wrote more activist works. Victoria Woodhull died in England in 1927, a woman ahead of her time, trailblazer, first woman to run for president, publisher, supporter of an eight hour workday, graduated income tax, modern social reforms, equal education for women's right to make their own health decisions, and women's right to vote.



Victoria Woodhull






1776 — When Congress passes John Adam's resolution charging states to create independent state governments and to write constitutions — years later Adams calls this action Congress' declaration of independence.



May 9


2009 — President Obama speaks at the White House Correspondent's dinner.

1916 — President Woodrow Wilson orders Texas militias to mobilize on Mexico's border.



May 7

2003 — President George W. Bush lifts sanctions against Iraq and states: "The regime that the sanctions were directed against no longer rules Iraq."

1975 — President Gerald Ford declares an end to the Vietnam War.

1928 — Herbert Hoover announces his intention to campaign using radio and other media if he decides to run for president and in his reelection campaign of 1932 becomes the first incumbent president to actively campaign and "go out and stump" but lost the election to Franklin D. Roosevelt whose "New Deal" visions engaged Americans with 1932 general election results of 57.41% for Roosevelt and 39.65% for Hoover.

1914 — Eleanor Wilson (daughter of President Woodrow Wilson) is married in the White House.

1789 — The first presidential Inaugural Ball is held in New York City one week after the Inauguration of President George Washington. However, the Inauguration Ball tradition began in 1809 when First Lady Dolley Madison hosted a gala event with four hundred tickets sold with a $4.00 ticket price.


May 6

2009 — President Barack Obama holds a White House summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

1960 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

1957 — President John F. Kennedy is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "Profiles in Courage"

1950 — President Harry S. Truman in the interest of national security wants Hawaii and Alaska admitted as states .

1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order creating the Works Progress Administration helping 3 million jobless Americans.


May 5

2009 — President Barack Obama meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres to discuss the prospects of a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

2010 — President Obama signs the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010.

2011 — President Obama visits firefighters and police in New York City and lays a wreath at Ground Zero.

1972 — Chicago, Carol King, and Paul Simon perform at a benefit for George McGovern, historian, author, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, the Democratic Party presidential nominee, known for his prodigious debate skills, and populist.

"If you stir up a hornet's nest, you better be ready to be stung by the bees."

"I hope someday that we will have banished hunger in the United States, and that we've been able to bring nutrition to the whole world."

"When I was small, my most serious handicap was a painful bashfulness in the presence of strangers."

- George McGovern

1961 — President John F. Kennedy signs the Fair Labor Standards Act raising the minimum wage to $1.15

1939 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza.


May 4

2010 — President Barack Obama discusses the urgent need to pass Wall Street reform to protect consumers and prevent future financial crises in America.

2010 — President Obama meets with Elie Wiesel in the White House private dining room.

1960 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a wheat pact with India comprising the largest sale of food in U.S. history.

1916 — President Woodrow Wilson demands that Germany limit is submarine warfare and Germany agrees.

1906 — President Theodore Roosevelt warns that Standard Oil is in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

1865 — President Abraham Lincoln is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois



May 1

2011 —
Mid-afternoon in the United States, May 1 (May 2 in Abbottabad, Pakistan), Osama bin Laden, terrorist and al Qaeda leader, is killed by U.S. Special Forces. On April 28, President Obama in a final meeting weighs diverse assessments for the bin Laden operation from top Cabinet members Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mullen, and counterterrorism advisor Mike Mullen. The next morning, April 29, Obama stops a briefing in progress and saysIt's a go.





President Barack Obama addresses the world:

11:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.


Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

END 11:44 P.M. EDT



April 29


2009 — President Obama holds his third news conference marking his 100th day in office.

2004 — The National World War II Memorial opened in Washington D.C. on April 29, 2004 honoring 16 million men and women who served as part of the Greatest Generation. Located on 7.4 acres between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, you can see the Capitol Dome, east, and Arlington Cemetery, west, across the Potomac River. The monument, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, receives over 4.4 million visitors per year.


1974 — Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of the United States, addresses the Nation to answer the House Judiciary Committee subpoena for additional presidential tape recordings.

1974 — President Nixon presents Duke Ellington the Medal of Freedom at Ellington's 70th birthday party at the White House,

1945 — American soldiers liberate the prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp, Germany.



April 28


2011 — President Barack Obama names Leon Panetta as Defense Secretary and General David Petraeus as CIA Director.

1965 — Lyndon B. Jonson, 36th President of the United States (1963-1969) orders troops into the Dominican Republic.

1980 — President Jimmy Carter accepts the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance because of Vance's opposition to the rescue mission to free American hostages in Iran.

1818 — President James Monroe confirms naval disarmament on Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.

1788 — Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1758 — Birth: James Monroe (April 28, 1758 - July 4, 1831) 5th president of the United States (1817 - 1825).


April 27


1968 — Hubert Humphrey (D) announces his candidacy for the presidential nomination.

1822 — Ulysses S. Grant is born in Point Pleasant, Ohio and will grow to become commanding officer of the Union Army and 18th President of the United States (1869 - 1877).


April 26


2016 — First Lady Michelle Obama honors National College Signing Day which she started in 2014 and inspires students across America to aim high.


"
Today, I’m proudly wearing my alma mater’s apparel to mark College Signing Day. That’s because, as First Lady, I’ve made it my priority to celebrate every high school senior who announces plans for their higher education -- not just athletes signing letters of intent. National College Signing Day is a tradition I started in 2014 as part of my Reach Higher initiative. Together with celebrities, athletes, families, and young people, we aim to lift up the students across our country who are pursuing their future studies. Their decisions today will mean a better tomorrow for all of us." — Michelle Obama in an E-mail dated April 26, 2016.


2014 — President Barack Obama visits Malaysia to seek closer trade ties to Asia. He is the first U.S. leader since 1966 to visit that country and is on a four nation tour including Japan, South Korea, and the Phillippines.

1954 — Vaccine trials to eliminate polio begin. Historical note: President Franklin Roosevelt, severely struck with polio in 1921, age 39, spirited national awareness and a mission to end polio in America. Roosevelt was a co-founder of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis — now known as the March of Dimes. The 2015 White House Gift Shop commemorative honors Roosevelt's role in the March of Dimes as a clear example of how national resolve starting at the level of a president can lead to a cure of a crippling disease and also honors Roosevelt's vision and creation of the program for Social Security. Every American president faces a unique set of vital national questions and his or her visions, answers, means, and successes or failures confluent with national costs largely determine the legacy of a presidency.


1865 — John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Lincoln on April 14, is captured and killed in Port Royal, Virginia.


April 25

1898 — War is formally declared against Spain precipitated by the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor conflated with the Monroe Doctrine which viewed intervention in America as a threat to U.S. national security.

1919 — Nearly a century before text messaging, Instagram, and Facebook, future President Harry S. Truman sends a Western Union telegram to his future wife and first lady Besse Wallace.






1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that Gen. William Westmoreland will become head of MACV, U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, in charge of all American military forces in Vietnam.

2013 — The George W. Bush Presidential Center is dedicated on the campus of Southern Methodist University with President Barack Obama in attendance and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.


April 24

1789 — George Washington invites Abigail Adams to attend a play.

George Washington to Abigail Adams

Tuesday November 24 [1789]

The President of the United States having understood that Mrs Adams intends visiting the Theatre this evening, he presents his Compliments to Mrs Adams, and requests her acceptance of a Ticket for his Box.

1897 — William Price becomes the first titled White House news reporter.

1945 — On this day in 1945, President Harry Truman learns for the first time the full details of the Manhattan Project which thrusts Truman into an anguishing position — to use or not to use the world's first nuclear weapon of mass destruction if not annihilation.


1945 — In the first documented correspondence between Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower in which Hoover seeks the assistance of Eisenhower in gathering historical documents to add to the "War Library." No evidence exists of a response by Eisenhower.






April 23

2003 — President George W. Bush authorizes the first coin design change in 65 years — a planned two year change to the 5-cent coin in commemoration of the Louisiana Purchase.

2004 — President George W. Bush eases sanctions against Libya because of Moammar Ghadafi's agreement to abandon weapons of mass destruction.

1995 — President Bill Clinton shares and expresses the grief of all Americans in response to the bombing in Oklahoma City.

1996 — Sotheby's in New York begins auctioning possessions of Jacqueline Kennedy.

1983 — Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan honor the seventeen Americans killed when Hezbollah detonates a bomb at the U.S. Embassy, Beirut .

1975 — President Ford speaks about the fall of South Vietnam at Tulane University, states that the U.S. will not intervene in the crisis, and six days later Saigon falls with the last Americans evacuated from the U.S. embassy.

1945 — With less than 14 days in office following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Harry S. Truman takes a tough stance with the Soviets and talks sternly to Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister.


1969 — Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death (later reduced to life in prison) for the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy.

1908 — President Theodore Roosevelt creates the U.S. Army Reserve.

1865 — "Panic has seized the country," Confederate President Jefferson Davis to to his wife, Varnia.


1898 — President McKinley seeks 125,000 volunteers to fight the war with Spain.

1791 — James Buchanan (D) is born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania and will grow to become the future 15th President of the United States (1857 - 1861).

1789 — President-elect George Washington moves to the Franklin House in New York City — the first executive mansion of the United States.



April 22

1994 — The thirty-seventh president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, dies at age 81 having suffered a stroke four days earlier.

1864 — Congress authorizes "In God We Trust" for placement on U.S. coins.


1792 — President George Washington proclaims neutrality in the war in Europe.

Transcript of Washington's Proclamation, April 22, 1793


Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, on the one part, and France on the other;
and the duty and interest of the United States require, that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial towards the belligerent powers:

I have therefore thought fit by these presents, to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid towards those powers respectively; a
and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition.

And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations,
by committing, aiding or abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any of them, those articles which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further that I have given instructions to those officers to whom it belongs, to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons, who shall, within the cognizance of the Courts of the United States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the powers at war, or any of them.




April 21

1943 — President Roosevelt announces the execution of Doolittle pilots by the Japanese.

1865 — President Lincoln's funeral train leaves Washington D.C.

1789 — John Adams becomes the first Vice President.


April 20



1865 — Cities across America observe a day of mourning and 3,000 people per hour pass by President Lincoln's coffin in the United States Capitol.


1970 — President Nixon pledges to withdraw 150,000 troops from Vietnam based on the progress of the Vietnamization program announced June 1969/

1981 — Consequent of a recent assassination attempt, Secret Service advises President Ronald Reagan not to appear at the White House Easter Egg Roll.




April 19

1775 — The siege of Boston, April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776 begins and is the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. In March 1776, General George Washington liberates Boston which is a key theme of the 2016 ornament of the White House Gift Shop® entitled George Washington and the Merit Badge the Order of the Purple Heart with a portrait of Washington, on-center, with the liberation of Boston in the background.

George Washington: Liberation of Boston & Order of Purple Heart





1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues his proclamation that removes the U.S. gold standard.

1951 — "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." — General Douglas MacArthur addresses Congress after having been relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman.

1865 — President Abraham Lincoln's funeral is held.

1861 — Lincoln issues an order for the blockade of southern ports.



April 18


1994 — President Richard M. Nixon suffers a stroke and dies four days later.

1938 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt throws the first ball at the season opening between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics.

1865 — From 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 20,000 to 30,000 grieving Americans filed past President Abraham Lincoln's open coffin with so many mourners turned away that another viewing occurred two days later at the Capitol.



April 17


1970 — Johnny Cash performs "A Boy Named Sue" at the White House by invitation of President Richard M. Nixon.

1976 — President Gerald Ford is a guest on Saturday Night Live.


April 15 1861


1861 — President Lincoln mobilizes the army.

1865 — Abraham Lincoln dies from an assassins bullet.

1783 — The United States Continental Congress ratifies the preliminary peace treaty to officially conclude the Revolutionary War with Great Britain

1945 — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is buried at his home in Hyde Park, New York.

1952 — President Harry S. Truman signs the the peace treaty with Japan.



April 14

1865 — President Abraham Lincoln is fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C.

1986 — President Ronald Reagan makes public the U.S. air assault on terrorist and military targets in Libya.



April 12

1945 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at Warm Spring, Georgia and Harry S. Truman becomes president.


April 11


1898 — President William McKinley seeks congressional approval for a declaration of war with Spain.

The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war with 11 formal declarations approved including the first declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812. Congress also influences U.S. military policy and actions through authorizations, oversight, and appropriations.


1951 — President Truman dismisses General Douglas MacArthur.

1968 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

1981 — President Ronald Reagan returns to the Oval Office having recovered from wounds sustained in an assassination attempt.


April 10


1790 President George Washington signs into law the Patent Act of 1790.

1880 Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, becomes the first woman appointed as a cabinet member.

1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson replaces General William Westmoreland in Vietnam with General Creighton Abrams.



April 9


1866 — Despite a veto by President Andrew Johnson the Civil Rights Bill is passed.



April 7


1971 — President Richard M. Nixon pledges to withdraw 100,000 troops from Vietnam.

2000 — President Bill Clinton signs the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act allowing senior citizens to work without losing Social Security retirement benefits.




April 6


1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes ground operations in Vietnam.



April 4


1841 — President William H. Harrison, ninth president, sworn into office only one month earlier, succumbs to pneumonia becomes the first president to die in office.

1984 — President Ronald Reagan proposes an international ban on all nuclear weapons.



April 2


1877 — The first Egg Roll and Egg Hunt is held on White House grounds.

1917 — President Woodrow Wilson presents to Congress a declaration of war against Germany.



April 1

1987 President Ronald Reagan declares AIDS public health enemy number one.

1970 President Richard Nixon signs a bill banning cigarette advertising.




March 31


1980 President Jimmy Carter deregulates the banking industry.



March 30



1981 — "Honey, I forgot to duck," he said to Nancy then quipped to his surgeons — "Please tell me you're Republicans." Also shot during the assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan, March 30, 1981 were White House Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahaney. This moment of wit dampened, though, when Reagan learned that James Brady had been gravely shot in the head and faced a long road to recovery. James Brady and his wife, Sarah, eventually began a three-decade mission to protect others from gun violence by promoting reasoned gun control laws culminating in the passage of the Brady Gun Violence Prevention Act enacted on November 30, 1993.



March 29

1961 — Residents of Washington D.C. are allowed to vote in presidential elections with the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1790 — John Tyler, is born and will grow to become the 10th president of the United States.

In a forthcoming original article series in May, we will explore the formative cognitive, emotional, and social forces during childhood of presidents of the United States. Also in May, this section of the White House Gift Shop will be redesigned to become an online magazine and journal with original news reporting and analysis of national and global events.



March 28


1969 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States,
dies.

1921 — President Warren Harding names Howard Taft as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1865 — President Abraham Lincoln, 150 years ago today, meets with top military leaders aboard the River Queen at City Point, Virginia.







March 23

2010 — President Obama signs into law the Health Care Reform Bill.

1983 — President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative known as "Star Wars" missile defense.

On this day 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln met with much of his top military leadership aboard theRiver Queen at City Point, Virginia. William Tecumseh Sherman recalled the meeting years later in his memoirs.


March 18


1959 President Eisenhower signs the bill making Hawaii a state.

1911 President Theodore Roosevelt opens the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona.

1837 Grover Cleveland is born and will grow to become the 22nd and the 24th President of the United States.



March 16

1964 — President Lyndon B. Johnson asks Congress to fund a war on poverty with $1.0 billion.

1751 — James Madison is born and will grow to become the fourth president of the United States.



March 15

1965 — President Lyndon B. Johnson seeks legislation to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans.

1943 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt sets aside 221,000 public acres for the Jackson Hole National Monument.

1913 — President Woodrow Wilson holds the first open news conference. 1767 — Andrew Jackson is born and will become the 7th President of the United States.



March 12

1933 — On March 12, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first "fireside chat" broadcast from the White House and begins his address: "I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." A worried nation with nearly 33 percent unemployed, panicked to mass account withdrawals consequent of bank failures, and demoralized about the roiling economic forecasts — listened and would listen to 30 more "fireside chats" between March 1933 and June 1944 reaching 90 percent of American households with radios.



March 12, 1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Fireside Chat



March 11


1941 — President Franklin Roosevelt authorizes the Lend-Lease Act to provide Allies with war supplies.

1930 — President Howard Taft is the first president buried at the National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

1779 — Congress established the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.



March 10


1849 Abraham Lincoln applies for a U.S. patent for a design using inflated cylinders to lift vessels over shoals and will receive patent approval on May 22, 1849.


Abraham Lincoln's Floating Dock Design for His Patent Application





March 8

2016 — Former first lady Nancy Reagan's funeral will be held today, Friday, March 8, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. First lady Michelle Obama will be attending the funeral.

2001 — House of Representatives approves President George W. Bush's $1.0 trillion dollar tax cut within 48 days of his taking office.

1930 — William Howard Taft, 27th President, dies.

1880 — President Rutherford B. Hayes declares jurisdiction over any canal built across the Panama isthmus.

1983 — President Ronald Reagan delivers an address to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida in which Reagan presents his assessment of the Soviet Union's totalitarian leadership and lack of religious faith — citing these differences as the heart of the conflict between America and the Soviet Union.

1874 — Millard Fillmore, 13th President, dies.



March 7


2000 — Al Gore (D) and George W. Bush (R) win their respective caucuses and primaries for the presidential election.

1977 — President Jimmy Carter meets with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin


Today's Featured Administration: President Jimmy Carter


Jimmy Carter became the 39th President of the United States (1977 - 1981) with Walter Mondale, Vice President (1977 - 1981).


The major national challenge for America as President Carter entered office was America's energy crisis. During a televised speech on April 18. 1977 —

"
Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem unprecedented in our history. With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly. It is a problem we will not solve in the next few years, and it is likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century."
- President Jimmy Carter



Economics at the Time of Carter's Inauguration
:

Inflation Rate: 6.5% to 11.0% (varying estimates)
Dow Jones Average: 831
Average Cost of a New House: $49,300.00
Average Annual Income: $15,000.00 with Median Income $13,572
Cost of a Gallon of Gasoline: 0.65 cents
Cost of a Gallon of Milk: $1.68
Cost of a Dozen Eggs: 0.82 cents
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1998 Dollars: $2,026.90 billion
Federal Debt: $706.4 billion
Federal Spending: $409.22 billion
Unemployment: 7.1%
Cost of a First-Class Stamp: 0.13 cents
Consumer Price Index (CPI): 60.6
Average Cost of a New Car: $3,800.00
Average Cost of College Tuition (based on all institutions): $2,411.00


Remembering Those Who Served — Cabinet Officers During the Carter Administration


Secretary of State
Jan. 23, 1977-Apr. 20, 1980 - Cyrus R. Vance
May 8, 1980-Jan. 20, 1981 - Edmund S. Muskie

Attorney General
Jan. 26, 1977-Jul. 19, 1979 - Griffin B. Bell
Aug. 16, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Benjamin R. Civiletti

Secretary of the Treasury

Jan. 23, 1977-Jul. 19, 1979 - W. Michael Blumenthal
Aug. 6, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - G. William Miller

Secretary of Defense
Jan. 21, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Harold Brown

Secretary of the Interior
Jan. 23, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Cecil D. Andrus

Secretary of Agriculture
Jan. 23, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Bob S. Bergland

Secretary of Commerce
Jan. 23, 1977-Oct. 4, 1979 - Juanita Morris Kreps
Jan. 9, 1980-Jan. 20, 1981 - Philip M. Klutznick

Secretary of Labor
Jan. 27, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Ray Marshall

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
Jan. 25, 1977-Jul 19, 1979 - Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

Secretary of Health and Human Services
Aug. 3, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Patricia Roberts Harris

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Jan. 23, 1977-Aug. 3, 1979 - Patricia Roberts Harris
Sep. 24, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Moon Landrieu

Secretary of Transportation
Jan. 23, 1977-Jul. 20, 1979 - Brock Adams
Sep. 24, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Neil Goldschmidt

Secretary of Energy
Aug. 5, 1977-Jul. 20, 1979 - James R. Schlesinger
Aug. 24, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Charles W. Duncan, Jr.

Secretary of Education
Dec. 6, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Shirley Mount Hufstedler

U. S. Representative to the United Nations
Jan. 30, 1977-Aug. 15, 1979 - Andrew J. Young
Sep. 23, 1979-Jan. 20, 1981 - Donald F. McHenry

Director, Office of Management and Budget
Jan. 23, 1977-Sep 21, 1977 - Thomas Bertram ("Bert") Lance
Mar. 24, 1978-Jan.20, 1981 - James T. McIntyre, Jr.

Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors
Jan. 23, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Charles L. Schultze

Advisor to the President on National Security Affairs

Jan. 23, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981 - Zbigniew Brzezinski



March 6


1973 — President Richard M. Nixon imposes oil and gas price controls.

1967 — President Lyndon B. Johnson announces a military draft lottery.


March 4


1933 — On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the height of the Great Depression is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States. Roosevelt states "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and introduces his "New Deal."


March 2


2005 — President George W. Bush awards the Congressional Gold Medal to the widow of Jackie Robinson.

1877 — President Rutherford B. Hayes becomes president one day before the official inauguration.



March 1

1961 — President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.



February 26 1966


1966 — President Lyndon B. Johnson visits Elvis Presley during the filming of Presley's movie Spinout.

1929 — President Calvin Coolidge creates the Grand Teton National Park.

1863 — President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act. The goals of the Act are creation of a national bank system, a uniform national currency, and secondary channels to market Treasury securities.




February 25

1793 — At the first U.S. cabinet meeting on February 25, 1793, President George Washington presided amidst acrimony especially between Hamilton and Jefferson who debated "like two fighting cocks." Members present included Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of the Treasury), Henry Knox (Secretary of War), and General Edmund Randolph (Attorney General). The purpose of the first cabinet meeting was to discuss the debt of the United States to France. Origin of the Cabinet derives from Washington's advisory meetings in his kitchen.


Attendees of the First Cabinet Meeting





Cabinet Opinion on the United States Debt to France


[Philadelphia] Feb. 25. 1793.

The President desires the opinions of the heads of the three departments and of the Attorney General on the following question, to wit.

Mr Ternant having applied for money equivalent to three millions of livres to be furnished on account of our debt to France at the request of the Executive of that country, which sum is to be laid out in provisions within the U.S. to be sent to France, Shall the money be furnished?

The Secretary of the Treasury stated it as his opinion that making a liberal allowance for the depreciation of assignats, (no rule of liquidation having been yet fixed) a sum of about 318,000 Dollars may not exceed the arrearages equitably due to France to the end of 1792. and that the whole sum asked for may be furnished, within periods capable of answering the purpose of mister Ternant’s application, without a derangement of the Treasury.

Whereupon the Secretaries of State & War & the Attorney General are of opinion that the whole sum asked for by mister Ternant ought to be furnished: the Secretary of the Treasury is of opinion that the supply ought not to exceed the abovementioned sum of 318,000. Dollars.

Th: Jefferson
Alexandr Hamilton
H. Knox
Edm: Randolph.




February 24

1868 — The House of Representatives impeaches then acquits President Andrew Johnson because of his attempts to dismiss Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.


February 23


On February 23, 1861, Abraham Lincoln arrives in Washington D.C. President-elect Lincoln anguishes the roiling manifestations of civil war with seven states already in secession. On April 12, 1861 the Civil War will begin and over 620,000 soldiers will have died by war's end on May 9, 1865.



February 22



1991 President George H. W. Bush gives Iraq 24 hours to withdraw from Kuwait.

1924 President Calvin Coolidge delivers the firs radio address from the White House.

1861 Allen Pinkerton uncovers a plot to assassinate President Lincoln in Baltimore.

1732 George Washington Becomes the first President of the United States.

The Official Ornament for 2016 of the White House Gift Shop Honors
President George Washington and the Badge of Military Merit: The
Order of the Purple Heart.



February 21


1972 President Richard M. Nixon visits China.



February 20

1792 — President George Washington Signs the Postal Service Act creating the U.S. Postal Service to serve a growing population of approximately 4 million Americans.
The cost of sending a letter in 1792 was as little as 6 cents. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Postal Service relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1800.


February 19


1942 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Presidential Proclamation No. 2537; Aliens from enemy countries must register with the U.S. Department of Justice; Certificates of Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality will issue; Massive internment of Japanese Americans will soon begin. See Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).





February 18


1992 George H. W. Bush in the Republican primary defeats Pat Buchanan.

1988 Anthony M. Kennedy is sworn is as Supreme Court Justice.

1970 President Richard M. Nixon unveils what became known as the Nixon Doctrine.



February 17

1972 President Richard M. Nixon travels to China.

1801 In an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr — the U.S. House of Representatives breaks the tie with Jefferson elected President and Burr, Vice President.



February 16 1962


President John F. Kennedy invites peace marchers to meet with his aides inside the White House.



February 15


Today is Presidents Day 2016

Signed into law in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Presidents Day was established as a new American holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday in February although this day remains designated as Washington's Birthday, section 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code. Presidents Day celebrates all American presidents present and past.

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt escapes an assassination attempt and Mayor Anton J. Cermak of Chicago is killed in the attack.

1879 Female attorneys are allowed to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court when President Rutherford B. Hayes signs the bill into law.



February 13


2002 President George W. Bush considers options including military strikes to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson approves the sustained bombing of North Vietnam and announces Operation Rolling Thunder.



February 12



1915 The cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial is set in Washington, D.C.

1892 Abraham Lincoln's birthday is declared a national holiday.

1808 Abraham Lincoln is born in Hodgenville, Kentucky.


February 9


1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy charges that the Communists riddle the State Department.

1825 U.S. House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as president — no candidate receives the majority of electoral votes.

1773 William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States, is born in Charles County, Virginia




February 8


1986 President Ronald Reagan is a guest on Saturday Night Live.

1980 President Jimmy Carter proposes the reintroduction of draft legislation.

1922 The White House begins using radio after President Harding installed it.



February 7


1962 President John F. Kennedy imposes a trade embargo on Cuba.

1948 General Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Army Chief of Staff.

1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes the flag of the Office of the Vice President.



February 6


2000 First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton declares her candidacy for the U.S. Senate from the State of New York.

1998 Washington National Airport with the signing of a bill by President Bill Clinton is renamed for President Ronald Reagan.

1900 President McKinley appoints future president W. H. Taft as commissioner for report on the Philippines.





February 5



1998 Stevie Wonder and Elton John perform at the White House.

1937 President Franklin Roosevelt proposes enlarging the U.S. Supreme Court.

1865 On February 5, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln poses for a photograph as the basis for his official portrait Two months later, April 14, 1865, Lincoln is assassinated in Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C.





February 3



1988 U.S. House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid the Nicaraguan Contras.

1994 President Bill Clinton announces the lifting of the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam.


1962 President John F. Kennedy bans trade with Cuba.

1908 U.S. Supreme Court rules against union sponsored boycotts and applies the Sherman Antitrust Act to labor and capital.

1924 Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, dies at age 67 in Washington D.C.

1913 The 16th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified and provides for a federal income tax.

1865 President Abraham Lincoln meets with a Confederate delegation at Hampton Roads, Virginia to discuss a possible peace agreement but the meeting ends within hours.


1809 The Territory of Illinois is created.

1783 Spain recognizes the independence of the United States.

1620 The first paper money in America is issued in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.



January 31


1950 President Harry S. Truman announces his support to develop the hydrogen bomb.



January 29


1979 Following establishment of diplomatic relations with China, President Jimmy Carter formally welcomes Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House.

2002 - President George W. Bush gives his State of the Union address in which he labels Iraq, Iran and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil."


January 27

1862 U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, which relocates Eastern Indians and the "Trail of Tears."

1862 President Abraham Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 which sets in motion the Union armies.

1916 - President Woodrow Wilson addresses the first annual meeting of the Motion Picture Board of Trade.

1939 President Franklin Roosevelt approves sale of U.S. war planes to France.

1981 - President Reagan greets the 52 former American hostages released by Iran.

1998 The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves the nomination of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court

2004 John Kerry wins the New Hampshire Democratic Primary



January 24


1791 President George Washington announces the permanent location of the nation's capital, a diamond-shaped triangle of ten miles at the confluence of the Potomac and Eastern Branch Rivers.

[From the Archives of the Department of State]

January 24, 1791

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the general assembly of the State of Maryland, by an act passed on the 23d day of December, A. D. 1788, intituled "An act to cede to Congress a district of 10 miles square in this State for the seat of the Government of the United States," did enact that the Representatives of the said State in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New York on the first Wednesday of March then next ensuing, should be, and they were thereby, authorized and required on the behalf of the said State to cede to the Congress of the United States any district in the said State not exceeding IO miles square which the Congress might fix upon and accept for the seat of Government of the United States;

And the general assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, by an act passed on the 3d day of December, 1789, and intituled "An act for the cession of 1O miles square, or any lesser quantity, of territory within this State to the United States in Congress assembled, for the permanent seat of the General Government," did enact that a tract of country not exceeding 1O miles square, or any lesser quantity, to be located within the limits of the said State, and in any part thereof, as Congress might by law direct, should be, and the same was thereby, forever ceded and relinquished to the Congress and Government of the United States, in full and absolute right and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil as of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution of Government of the United States;

And the Congress of the United States, by their act passed the 16th day of July, 1790, and intituled "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the IJnited States, " authorized the President of the United States to appoint three commissioners to survey under his direction and by proper metes and bounds to limit a district of territory, not exceeding IO miles square, on the river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Connogocheque, which district, so to be located and limited, was accepted by the said act of Congress as the district for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States:

Now, therefore, in pursuance of the powers to me confided, and after duly examining and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the several situations within the limits aforesaid, I do hereby declare and make known that the location of one part of the said district of 1O miles square shall be found by running four lines of experiment in the following manner, that is to say: Running from the court-house of Alexandria, in Virginia, due southwest half a mile, and thence a due southeast course till it shall strike Hunting Creek, to fix the beginning of the said four lines of experiment.

Then beginning the first of the said four lines of experiment at the point on Hunting Creek where the said southeast course shall have struck the same, and running the said first line due northwest IO miles; thence the second line into Maryland due northeast 1O miles; thence the third line due southeast 1O miles, and thence the fourth line due southwest 1O miles to the beginning on Hunting Creek.

And the said four lines of experiment being so run, I do hereby declare and make known that all that part within the said four lines of experiment which shall be within the State of Maryland and above the Eastern Branch, and all that part within the same four lines of experiment which shall be within the Commonwealth of Virginia and above a line to be run from the point of land forming the upper cape of the mouth of the Eastern Branch due southwest, and no more, is now fixed upon and directed to be surveyed, defined, limited, and located for a part of the said district accepted by the said act of Congress for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States (hereby expressly reserving the direction of the survey and location of the remaining part of the said district to be made hereafter contiguous to such part or parts of the present location as is or shall be agreeable to law).

And I do accordingly direct the said commissioners, appointed agreeably to the tenor of the said act, to proceed forthwith to run the said lines of experiment, and the same being run, to survey and by proper metes and bounds to define and limit the part within the same which is hereinbefore directed for immediate location and acceptance, and thereof to make due report to me under-their hands and seals.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents and signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 24th day of January, A. D. 1791, and of the Independence of the United States the fifteenth.

GO WASHINGTON.
By the President:
TH: JEFFERSON.



More President Events on January 24

1943
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill conclude a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.




Today is January 23, 2016



2016 President Obama at work in the Oval Office as Heavy Snows Fall on Washington, January 22



1973
President Richard M. Nixon announces an accord to end the war in Vietnam.



January 22


1917 President Woodrow Wilson pleads to end the war in Europe, "peace without victory." The following April, the United States enter the war.

1950 Alger Hiss, former advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is convicted of perjury for denying contacts with a Soviet agent. He is convicted to five years in prison.

1973 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, thirty-sixth president, dies.



President
Lyndon B. Johnson



January 19


1957 - Pat Boone sings at Dwight Eisenhower's presidential inauguration ball.

1977 - Aretha Franklin sings "God Bless America" an inaugural concert for President-elect Jimmy Carter.

1977 - U.S. President Ford pardons the "Tokyo Rose" — Iva Toguri D'Aquino

1993 - Fleetwood Mac reunites to perform at Bill Clinton's inauguration.

1999 - President Bill Clinton in his State of the Union address outlines his program to save Social Security


January 18

Martin Luther King Day, January 18, 2015

At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, creating a federal holiday to honor Reverend Martin Luther King. It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986 and occurs on the third Monday of January each year.

When on August 28, 1963, amidst a national outpouring of 250,000 civil rights marchers, Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel —

Tell 'em about the dream, Martin, tell 'em about the Dream! —

Dr. King pushed aside the text of his speech and began

"I have a dream, my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."



Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream"




Reverend Martin Luther King




Mahalia Jackson



Nonviolence, Reverend Martin
Luther King



Text of Martin Luther King's I have a Dream Speech


August 28 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"




January 15

1942 On January 15, 1942,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt Asks the baseball commissioner to continue to play ball for national morale.
during World War II



President Roosevelt opening
the 1934 baseball season in
Washington, D.C.




More American History Moments on January 15


1861 General John A. Dix is appointed Treasury Secretary

1938 Solicitor General Stanley Reed is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court

1953 President Harry S. Truman becomes the first president to use radio and television to give a farewell address to the nation.


1976 Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald Ford

1973 President Richard M. Nixon Suspends all U.S. Offensive Actions in North Vietnam

2010 President Barack Obama appoints former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead fund-raising to aid people in earthquake ravaged Haiti.





January 14

1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders all aliens in the U.S. to register with the government

1943 A meeting occurs at Casablanca, Morocco, to review the direction of World War II, attending are Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Charles DeGaulle.

1961 President Dwight D. Eisenhower via Executive Order prohibits any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction from holding gold abroad with the exception of gold coins with collector's value.

1979 President Jimmy Carter Proposes that Martin Luther King Day be a National Holiday

1994 President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin Accord, ceasing the programmed aiming of nuclear missiles towards targets in the United States or Russia as well as providing for the dismantling of the nuclear arsenal in the Ukraine.






January 13


1794 President George Washington approves the addition of two starts and stripes to the American flag representing the admission to the Union of Vermont and Kentucky. The number of stripes was subsequently reduced to the original thirteen.

1990 Douglas Wilder (State of Virginia) is the first elected and inaugurated black governor.

1996 Robert C. Weaver, Secretary of Housing, becomes the first black Cabinet member when appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.





January 12, 2016

President Barack Obama Addresses the Nation

Address to the Nation by the President

Oval Office

**Please see below for a correction, marked with an asterisk.

8:01 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. On Wednesday, 14 Americans were killed as they came together to celebrate the holidays. They were taken from family and friends who loved them deeply. They were white and black; Latino and Asian; immigrants and American-born; moms and dads; daughters and sons. Each of them served their fellow citizens and all of them were part of our American family.

Tonight, I want to talk with you about this tragedy, the broader threat of terrorism, and how we can keep our country safe.

The FBI is still gathering the facts about what happened in San Bernardino, but here is what we know. The victims were brutally murdered and injured by one of their coworkers and his wife. So far, we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas, or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home. But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West. They had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition, and pipe bombs. So this was an act of terrorism, designed to kill innocent people.

Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. In the process, we’ve hardened our defenses -- from airports to financial centers, to other critical infrastructure. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots here and overseas, and worked around the clock to keep us safe. Our military and counterterrorism professionals have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks overseas -- disrupting safe havens in several different countries, killing Osama bin Laden, and decimating al Qaeda’s leadership.

Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we’ve become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society. It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009; in Chattanooga earlier this year; and now in San Bernardino. And as groups like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria, and as the Internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers.

For seven years, I’ve confronted this evolving threat each morning in my intelligence briefing. And since the day I took this office, I’ve authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad precisely because I know how real the danger is. As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.

Well, here’s what I want you to know: The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That’s what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power.

Here’s how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies -- including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom -- have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL.

Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we’re deploying Special Operations Forces who can accelerate that offensive. We’ve stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and we’ll continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground.

Third, we’re working with friends and allies to stop ISIL’s operations -- to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting more fighters. Since the attacks in Paris, we’ve surged intelligence-sharing with our European allies. We’re working with Turkey to seal its border with Syria. And we are cooperating with Muslim-majority countries -- and with our Muslim communities here at home -- to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL promotes online.

Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process -- and timeline -- to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war. Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every country, including our allies, but also countries like Russia, to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL -- a group that threatens us all.

This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by our military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition. And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done. That’s why I’ve ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa *Waiver program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that’s why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

Now, here at home, we have to work together to address the challenge. There are several steps that Congress should take right away.

To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.

We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies -- no matter how effective they are -- cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we can do -- and must do -- is make it harder for them to kill.

Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they’ve traveled to warzones. And we’re working with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that.

Finally, if Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL, it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists. For over a year, I have ordered our military to take thousands of airstrikes against ISIL targets. I think it’s time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people are united, and committed, to this fight.

My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can take together to defeat the terrorist threat. Let me now say a word about what we should not do.

We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like ISIL want. They know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq. But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops, draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits.

The strategy that we are using now -- airstrikes, Special Forces, and working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their own country -- that is how we’ll achieve a more sustainable victory. And it won’t require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil.

Here’s what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world -- including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology. Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate.

That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront, without excuse. Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al Qaeda promote; to speak out against not ju

st acts of violence, but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity. But just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans -- of every faith -- to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It’s our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes -- and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.

My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history. We were founded upon a belief in human dignity -- that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law.

Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I and future Presidents must take to keep our country safe, let’s make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional. Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear; that we have always met challenges -- whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks -- by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail.

Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

END

8:14 P.M. EST




January 11, 2016

1908 On January 11, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declares the Grand Canyon a national monument.




January 10, 2016



On Democracy: 1918 Passage by Congress of a Constitutional Amendment Granting Women the Right to Vote


By a count of 274 to 136. Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to serve in Congress, implored her colleagues to support passage of legislation granting women the write to vote. Imploring her colleagues with self-evident human and democratic rights, Rankin admonished: “How shall we answer the challenge, gentlemen: how shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted for war to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?” Despite Rankin's moral press, the Senate failed to pass the amendment in the 65th Congress of 1917–1919, was reintroduced in the House in the 66th Congress of 1919–1921, passing on May 21, 1919 with a vote of 304 to 90, with the the Senate concurring with the 19th Amendment sent to the states for a vote and finally ratified in August 1920.




Representative Jeannette
Rankin, Montana

























More Moments in American History on January 10

1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt is the first U.S. President in wartime to visit a foreign country, Casablanca, Morocco.

1951 United Nations headquarters opens in downtown Manhattan, New York

1984 United States establishes diplomatic relations with the Vatican after 117 years.

2007 President George W. Bush Announces plans to increase U.S. military in Iraq by 21,500.




January 8, 2016



2011 Jared Lee Loughner attempts to assassinate Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, killing six and wounding 3.




Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords



2008 New Hampshire: The Democratic Caucuses choose Hillary Rodham Clinton as presidential candidate for election in November and the Republican Caucuses choose John McCain.

2002 President George W. Bush sings into law the No Child Left Behind Act.

1992 President George H. W. Bush becomes ill at a televised state dinner in Japan.

1986 President Ronald Reagan freezes all Libyan assets in the United States.

1975 Ella T. Grasso is sworn-in as Governor of Connecticut becoming the first U.S. female governor who did not attain office by succeeding a husband.

1963 President John F. Kennedy attends the unveiling of the Money Lisa.

1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty"

1954 President Dwight Eisenhower considers stripping convicted Communists of their U.S. citizenship.

1946 President Harry S. Truman affirms his support of the Yalta accord of self-determination for the Balkans.

1947 General George Marshall becomes Secretary of State.

1835 The national debt is zero for the first time in U.S. History



Today is January 7, 2016


1789 George Washington wins the first presidential election. Voters select state electors by cast ballots. Only property owning white men are allowed to vote. Washington is sworn into office on April 30, 1789.




Inauguration of George Washington on April 30, 1789






January 6, 2016

No Entries Today



Today is January 5, 2016

1815 Angered by the War of 1812, Federalists demand changes in the U.S. Constitution.

1920 GOP women at the Republican National Convention, June, 1920, demand equal representation.


1925 The first woman governor in the United States, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is Sworn In.

1928 Born: Walter Mondale (D), future 42nd Vice President of the United States.

1933 Calvin Coolidge, thirteenth President, dies.

1952 President Harry S. Truman confers in Washington with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

1969 President Richard M. Nixon appoints the Paris Peace Talks negotiator, Henry Cabot Lodge.

1971 President Richard M. Nixon names Robert Dole as Republican National Party Chairman.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon orders development of the space shuttle.

1974 President Richard M. Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1987 President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery.

2016 President Barack Obama Addresses the Nation from the East Room Announcing Executive Action for Gun Safety Measures.



Today is January 4, 2016


1863 President Abraham Lincoln directs Union General Henry Halleck to order General Ulysses Grant to revoke General Order No. 11 expelling Jews from his operational area.


2007 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) becomes the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.



Today is January 3, 2016


1938 The March of Dimes, originally the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, is established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.


1993 President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Moscow.



Today is January 2, 2016


1903 President Theodore Roosevelt Closes the Indianola, Mississippi Post Office for its Refusal to Accept the Appointment of Minnie Cox as Postmaster Because She Was Black.


1960 - Senator John F. Kennedy announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1974 President Richard M. Nixon signs a bill requiring all states to lower the maximum speed limit to 55 MPH to conserve gasoline supplies consequent of an embargo imposed by Arab oil-producing countries.



Today is the First Day of the New Year, Jan 1, 2016

1863 President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that all slaves in the rebel states are free.


1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue the "United Nations" declarations, vowing along with 26 signatory countries the creation of an international peacekeeping organization, post-World War II.






December 30


December 30, 1790, George Washington to the Chickasaw Indians



December 30, 1790.

Brothers: You have been informed that last Spring, I sent Major Doughty, one of the warriors of the United States, to brighten the Chain of friendship with the Chickasaw nation, and to assure them of the firm adherence of the United States to the treaty of Hopewell. You know the disaster which befell him by the attack of some bad Indians on the Tenasset, who violated the white flag of peace.

Brothers: I now repeat to you my assurances respecting the treaty of Hopewell, that the United States will adhere thereto, and consider it as binding on them.

The United States do not want any of your lands, if any bad people tell you otherwise they deceive you, and are your enemies, and the enemies of the United States.

Mr. Vigo, the bearer, will bring to you goods conformably to the treaty of Hopewell, and I shall take other measures early in the next year, to convince you of the further kindness of the United States. In the meantime hold fast the Chain of friendship, and do not believe any evil reports against the justice and integrity of the United States.




December 29


Frequently Asked Question by Readers: When is the Presidential Election for 2016?

The 58th quadrennial United States presidential election of 2016 is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Presidential primary elections and caucuses will take place between February and June 2016.


December 28


1832 - John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president of the United States to resign, citing differences with President Jackson.



December 26


1972 President Harry S. Truman Dies

From the Front Page of the New York Times on Monday, December 26, 1972

TRUMAN, 33D PRESIDENT IS DEAD; SERVED IN TIME OF FIRST A-BOMB, MARSHALL PLAN, NATO AND KOREA, Funeral to Be Tomorrow In Independence Library

By B. Drummond Ayers Jr. Special To The New York Times KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec 26 -- Harry S. Truman, the 33d President of the United States, died this morning. He was 88 years old.

Mr. Truman, an outspoken and decisive Missouri Democrat who served in the White House from 1945 to 1953, succumbed at 7:50 A.M., central standard time, in Kansas City's Research Hospital and Medical Center. He had been a patient there for the last 22 days, struggling against lung congestion, heart irregularity, kidney blockages, failure of the digestive system and the afflictions of old age. In the more than seven years he was President, from the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death suddenly elevated him from the Vice Presidency until he himself was succeeded by Dwight David Eisenhower, Mr. Truman left a major mark as a world leader. He brought mankind face to face with the age of holocaust by ordering atomic bombs dropped on Japan, sent American troops into Korea to halt Communist aggession in Asia, helped contain Communism in Europe by forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and speeded the postwar recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan.

His domestic record was somewhat less dramatic, for his proposals were often premature. He ended up on the losing sides of fights other Presidents later won -- Federal health care, equal rights legislation, low income housing. His other legacies were perhaps less tangible but no less remembered -- the morning walk, the "Give 'em hell" campaign that nipped Thomas E. Dewey at the wire, the desk plaque that proclaimed "The Buck Stops Here!" and the word to the timid and indecisive "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Towards the end of his struggle for life, the former President weakened steadily. Early yesterday his doctors warned that death might come "within hours." When it came, the doctors announced that the cause was "a complexity of organic failures causing a collapse of the cardiovascular system." A state funeral will be held Thursday in nearby Independence, Mr. Truman's hometown, to mark his passing. Much of the ceremony will be subdued and private at the family's request. State funerals are conducted only for former commanders in chief, although the President can direct that a state funeral be held for an individual. Modifications in state funerals, which usually cover 4 or 5 days with considerable ceremony, are made at the request of the family, as in this case. President Nixon has declared the day of burial, Thursday, to be a day of national mourning. The American flag is to be flown at half-mast for thirty days. The former President's body will lie in state at the Truman Library in Independence from 1:35 P. M. tomorrow until 11 A. M. Thursday. Burial will follow on the Library grounds at a spot chosen by Mr. Truman himself. President Nixon will fly to Kansas City tomorrow afternoon, then go to the library to lie a wreath at the base of Mr. Truman's coffin. Although it was understood that the President's name was included on the official list of persons invited to attend the funeral, it was expected that, in keeping with the subdued and private nature of the ceremony, he would not stay overnight for the funeral service and burial.

Tomorrow morning the coffin will be transported to the Library on a route that will pass the Victorian Truman home on the way from the Carson Funeral Home a few blocks away. The service, scheduled to begin at 2 P. M. Thursday, will be held in the Library's 250-seat auditorium. Attendance will be by invitation. Burial will follow immediately. A memorial service for Mr. Truman here will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington for Federal and foreign dignitaries. No date has been set, but the State Department said it would be within two weeks.




President Truman with
"Truman's Balcony" in
Background




December 25

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & Prosperous New Year!



The National Christmas Tree









December 24

1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints General Dwight D. Eisenhower as supreme commander of Allied forces.

December 23

1783 Having disbanded his army following the Revolutionary War, George Washington returns to Mt. Vernon.




George Washington Disbands Army & Returns to Mt. Vernon



More Moments in President History on December 23


1913 Woodrow Wilson signs into law the Federal Reserve Bill establishing the twelve Federal Reserve Banks.

1921 Warren G. Harding frees political prisoners Eugene Debs and twenty-three others.

1947 Harry S. Truman pardons 1,523 evaders of the World War II draft.

1944 General Dwight D. Eisenhower affirms the death sentence of Private Eddie Slovik, shot for desertion.

1987 Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of President Ford, escapes from the Alderson Federal Prison for Women in West Virginia and is recaptured in two days.



December 22

1963 The 30-day National Mourning Period for President John F. Kennedy Ends










More President Events on December 22

1864 Gen. William T. Sherman messages President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets in Washington for a wartime conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

December 21

1970 Elvis Presley Volunteers to Help President Richard M. Nixon Fight The Nation's Drug Problems, Gives Nixon a Chrome-plated Colt .45 and President Nixon gives Elvis a Narcotics Bureau badge.





December 20

On December 20, 1792, President George Washington signs the Postal Service Act and creates the U.S. Postal Service.



December 18

On December 18, 1620, the British ship Mayflower docked at Plymouth, Massachusetts with Ancestors of Future U.S. Presidents


Among the 102 passengers, John Howland, amidst a storm, washed overboard. Grabbing a topsail halyard, the ancestor of future American presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Presidents Bush - John Howland hung on until a sailor pulled him back aboard. The other descendant presidents of the Mayflower Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony settlers are: John Adams; John Quincy Adams; Zachary Taylor; James Garfield; Ulysses S. Grant, and President Barack Obama, a 13th-generation descendant of Thomas Blossom, one of Plymouth colony’s earliest settlers.





December 16


1998 President Bill Clinton, 42nd President (January 20th, 1993- January 20th, 2001) orders Operation Desert Fox air attack on Iraq.


On December 16, 1998, President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Desert Fox air strikes carried out against Iraq consequent of refusal to cooperate with United Nations (U.N.) weapons inspectors. At the time, Iraq was developing technology to build weapons of mass destruction. These included nuclear, chemical and biological agents. In 1997, the U.N sent in weapons inspectors due to the growing fear surrounding Saddam Hussein’s hostility towards his own people, which revealed his capacity in using these types of weapons against his own people. After Sadam Hussein had repeatedly refused the inspectors access to certain sites, Clinton resorted to air strikes in an attempt to make Hussein cooperate.












More Moments in Presidential History on December 16


1950 President Harry Truman proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"

1953 1st White House Press Conference (President Eisenhower & 161 reporters)

1978 Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of China PR

1997 President Clinton names his Labrador retriever "Buddy"




December 15


1969 Richard Nixon, 37th President (January 20th, 1969-August 9th, 1974) announces additional U.S. troop withdrawals.

On December 15 1969, President Richard Nixon announced that 50,000 U.S. troops would be pulled out of South Vietnam by April 15, 1970. This was the third reduction of troops since the June Midway conference where Nixon announced his Vietnamization program. In this program, South Vietnamese forces would receive increased training and new equipment. The goal was to see South Vietnamese forces gradually assume responsibility for the war. Nixon simultaneously announced the process of bringing U.S. troops back home. The third announcement of troop reductions would bring total troop presence to 115,000. By January 1972, only roughly 70,000 U.S. troops remained in South Vietnam. However, in March of 1972, with a steady withdrawal of American forces, the North Vietnamese launched a massive invasion of South Vietnam. With support from American advisers and U.S. airpower, the South Vietnamese forces ultimately prevailed, despite the overwhelming odds. On January 27th, 173, after many negotiations, along with additional “motivation” by Nixon’s bombing of North Vietnam in December 1972, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and his North Vietnamese counterpart, Le Duc Tho, developed a cease-fire and peace agreement. Although the United States exited the war, fighting intensified between North and South Vietnam. In March of 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a deadly new offensive against South Vietnam. Fifty-five days later, South Vietnam fell.






More Moments in Presidential History on December 15

1938 Franklin D. Roosevelt presided over the ground-breaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC

1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into practice Bill of Rights Day

1978 Jimmy Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with Taiwan



December 14

1799 George Washington, 1st President (April 30th, 1789- March 4th, 1797) dies at Mount Vernon.


George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His family owned land, slaves, built mills, and grew tobacco, most noteably up the Potomac River, Little Hunting Creek Plantation, (later renamed Mount Vernon). At age 20, Washington became the head of the plantation at Mount Vernon and would gradually increase his landholdings there to about 8,000 acres. Washington viewed farming and land expansion as one of the most honorable professions. George Washington was the first President of the United States (1789–97), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was greatly admired for his leadership qualities and presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which developed a new form of federal government for the United States. Known by many as the “father of our country”, Washington’s incumbency established many precedents, such as the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President. Although George Washington was unanimously elected President in the first two national elections, his retirement from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles (Trenton and Princeton), and claimed New Jersey. Following unanimous election as President in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. While in power, his use of national authority pursued many ends, especially the preservation of liberty, reduction of regional tensions, and promotion of a spirit of American nationalism. He supported Alexander Hamilton’s programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state. Washington also established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank while in office. While avoiding war with Great Britain, Washington provided a decade of peace and profitable trade to the country by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795. George Washington retired from the presidency in 1797, to return to his home and plantation at Mount Vernon. During his Farewell Address, Washington warned against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. On December 14th 1799, George Washington died at his Mount Vernon home. During his eulogy, Henry Lee spoke of Washington’s legacy as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history.















More Moments in Presidential History on December 14


1990 President Bush said he would nominate Lynn Martin to succeed Elizabeth H. Dole as labor secretary

1990 President Bush prodded Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to agree to talks on the Persian Gulf crisis by January 3.

1991 President Bush and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, meeting at Camp David, Md., renewed their commitment to conclude quickly the North American Free Trade Agreement.

1992 President-elect Clinton opened a two-day conference in Little Rock, Ark., on the nation's economic problems.

2000 President Clinton spoke in England and urged the US and other rich countries to end farm subsidies, spend money on fighting disease in the 3rd World and to cut emissions to thwart global warming.

2008 President George W. Bush made his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist.





December 13


1918 Woodrow Wilson, 28th President (March 4, 1913- March 4, 1921) makes first U.S. presidential trip to Europe

Woodrow Wilson traveled nine days at sea aboard the SS George Washington, until reaching Brest, France, on December 13, 1918. Once reaching Versailles by land, President Wilson led the American delegation to the peace conference that sought an end to World War I. Even though Wilson worked tirelessly during the proceedings to orchestrate an agreement that encourage lasting peace in Europe, the president’s political opponents criticized his European visit as a sign of egotism. This was the first official visit by a U.S. president to Europe. Wilson’s goal was to establish a “League of Nations”, which he saw as an international organization designed to seek diplomatic solutions to future conflicts. Our very first President of the United States, George Washington, established models in every aspect of his administration, including diplomacy. Washington believed that negotiation was vastly preferable to any other pursuit. During Wilson’s visit to Versailles, the president had hoped for a “just and stable peace”, but was opposed by the other victorious Allies. The final treaty called for stiff war reparations from the former Central Powers and was ultimately regarded with resentment in Germany in the following years to come. In 1920 President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to Europe.









More Moments in Presidential History on December 13

1921 Britain, France, Japan and the United States signed the Pacific Treaty.

1951 After meeting with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, President Harry S. Truman vowed to purge all disloyal government workers.

2000 President Clinton spoke in Northern Ireland and urged compromise to push forward the peace process. Disputes over police reform, British military installations and IRA weapons stayed unresolved. Clinton ended his last presidential visit to Northern Ireland after meeting for nearly three hours with members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

2000 Vice President Al Gore conceded the 2000 Presidential election to Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The Florida electoral votes were won by only 537 votes, which decided the election. The election had been contested up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which said that the Florida recount (supported by the Florida Supreme Court) was unconstitutional .

2001 President George W. Bush served formal notice to Russia that the United States was withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

2002 President Bush announced he would take the smallpox vaccine along with U.S. military forces, but was not recommending the potentially risky inoculation for most Americans.

2010 President Barack Obama signed into law the $4.5 billion Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, part of an administration-wide effort to combat childhood obesity. Thousands more children would get into school-based meal programs and those lunches and dinners would become more nutritious.

December 12

1963 President John F. Kennedy, 35th President (January 20th, 1961- November 22, 1963) memorial album sets record for sales.

On this day in 1963 Premier label released John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Memorial Album. The LP reached record sales with 4 million copies sold in the first six days of its release. The Premier record included recordings of Kennedy’s most memorable speeches, as well as memorial tributes in the aftermath of his assassination on November 22, 1963. The recordings included key passages from his inaugural address, "And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." Included are campaign debates with Richard Nixon, and highlights from speeches on a variety of topics such as civil rights, space exploration, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. During one of his most celebrated speeches, delivered at the Berlin Wall during the Cold War, Kennedy shows his solidarity with Berliners through the words through the words "as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner!“ I am a Berliner, thus applauding their spirit and dedication to democracy. The LP's back cover has the memorial service eulogy given by Cardinal Richard Cushing of Massachusetts and the lying in state remarks of House Speaker John McCormack (of Boston), Chief Justice Earl Warren (former Gov. of CA.) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (MT).

"There was a sound of laughter; in a moment, it was no more. And so she took a ring from her finger and placed it in his hands. There was a husband who asked much and gave much, and out of the giving and the asking wove with a woman what could not be broken in life, and in a moment it was no more. And so she took a ring from her finger and placed it in his hands, and kissed him and closed the lid of a coffin. A piece of each of us died at that moment. Yet, in death he gave of himself to us. He gave us of a good heart from which the laughter came. He gave us of a profound wit, from which a great leadership emerged." - Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield The proceeds of the album, costing 99 cents each, went to the Joseph Kennedy, Jr., Foundation for Mental Retardation. Although Kennedy remains one of the most cherished and documented presidents in American history, the album itself has not accumulated much value as a collector’s item since so many copies were issued to the public. Today, many of Kennedy’s speeches are accessible through the Internet.









More Moments in Presidential History on December 12

1800 Washington, DC, was established as the capital of the United States.

1975 Sara Jane Moore pled guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San Francisco the previous September.

1984 In a telephone conversation with President Reagan, William J. Schroeder complained of a delay in his Social Security benefits. Schroeder received a check the following day.

1998 The House Judiciary Committee rejected censure, and approved the final article of impeachment against President Clinton. The case was submitted to the full House for a verdict.

2000 The U.S. Supreme Court found that the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court in the 2000 U.S. Presidential election was unconstitutional. U.S. Vice President Al Gore conceded the election to Texas Gov. George W. Bush the next day.

2001 President George W. Bush signed the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act of 2001 at The National Women's Museum in the Arts.





December 11

1815 President James Madison, 4th President (March 4th, 1809- March 4th, 1817) presents trade agreement to Congress

On December 11, 1815, President James Madison (1809-1817) presented Congress a trade agreement with Great Britain that would regulate commerce between the two countries. The agreement came just one year after the signing of the treaty that ended the War of 1812. Resentment between Britain and the United States left over from the American Revolution (1775-1783) erupted into a second full-scale war when Britain began firing on and boarding American navy or merchant ships while patrolling the seas. To add insult to injury, the British “impressed” or involuntarily drafted American sailors to serve on British warships. America’s autonomy was being tested which led Madison to ask Congress for a declaration of war against Britain in 1812. In 1814, the British captured the city of Washington and burned the White House. Luckily, Madison’s wife, Dolley, saved a portrait of George Washington from the vandals. When the U.S. emerged victorious in this “second war of independence” against Britain, the nation gained confidence in its military capabilities ensuing in a stronger sense of national identity. The commerce agreement secured America’s autonomy on the high seas, but more importantly, it signified Britain’s acceptance of America as a separate nation with the will and capacity to defend its interests. During the ensuing peace negotiations, Madison’s administration extended an olive branch to the British, suggesting that the two countries shared mutual interests and ought to be collaborating in commerce rather than endangering “their future harmony.” Although Madison described the 1815 maritime trade agreement as “conciliatory,” he also emphasized America’s insistence that American navigation be “confined to American seamen,” free from international (i.e. British) interference. This was a clear signal from Madison to the world that America would vigorously defend her territory and economic interests.


James Madison, 4th President of the United States




More Moments in Presidential History on December 11

1980 President Jimmy Carter signed into law legislation creating $1.6 billion environmental "superfund" that would be used to pay for cleaning up chemical spills and toxic waste dumps.

1998 Majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment against U.S. President Clinton.

2001 It was announced that President George W. Bush would withdraw the U.S. from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.




December 10


1920 President Wilson, 28th president (March 4th, 1913- March 4th 1921st) awarded Nobel Peace Prize

On December 19, 1920, the Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for his work in ending the First World War and creating the League of Nations. Since Wilson could not attend the award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, the U.S. Ambassador to Norway, Albert Schmedeman, delivered a telegram from Wilson to the Nobel Committee. When Wilson learned of his win, he was a lame-duck president battling the residual effects of a paralyzing stroke he suffered in October 1919; he was therefore unable to accept his award in person. In his telegram to the Nobel Committee, Wilson said he was grateful and “moved” by the recognition of his work for the cause of peace but emphasized the need for further efforts to “rid [mankind] of the unspeakable horror of war.” In January of 1918, Wilson laid out his “Fourteen Points” plan to help prevent future international conflict. The plan addressed territorial issues in Europe, arms reduction, equal trade conditions, and national sovereignty for former colonies of Europe’s weakening empires. However, the primary purpose of his policy was to create an international organization that would arbitrate peaceful solutions to conflicts between different nations. It proved to be successful in the agreement between Britain, France and Germany at the end of World War I. It also created the initial foundation for American foreign policy in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Although the League of Nations never materialized, or ratified by the U.S. Congress, it served as the blueprint for the United Nations, which was established after World War II.







More Moments in Presidential History on December 10

1832 President Andrew Jackson issued the Nullification Proclamation. It forbade state and local governments from nullifying federal laws. While Jackson believed in states' rights, he also believed that power granted to the federal government by the Constitution was supreme.

1906 President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.




December 9

1861 Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War created to monitor both military progress and President Abraham Lincoln’s administration (16th president, March 4t 1861- April 15, 1865).

On December 9, 1861 Congress created the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. This committee was an effort made to monitor both military progress and President Abraham Lincoln’s administration. The War Committee was established after the disastrous Battle of Ball’s Bluff in Virginia on October 1861. The committee was designed to be an objective check over the executive branch’s management of the war. However, the committee was predominately Radical Republicans and staunch abolitionists, often biased in their approach towards an investigation in the Union war effort. The War Committee also held investigations into government war contracts, the treatment of Union prisoners held in the South, alleged atrocities committed by Confederate troops against Union soldiers, and the massacre of Native Americans at Sand Creek, Colorado in November 1864. The War Committee was very critical of Lincoln’s administration. Especially since the beginning of the war, Lincoln’s administration did not have the eradication of slavery as one of its goals. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, the committee still found fault with many of the administration’s decisions. Although the committee did help to uncover fraud in war contracts, the lack of military expertise by its members often simply complicated the Northern war effort.






More Moments in Presidential History on December 9


1975 Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.

1992 Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. President George H.W. Bush later pardoned George.




December 8

1863 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (March 4th, 1861- April 15th, 1865) issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

On December 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln offers his peacemaking plan for reunification of the United States with his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

By this point in the Civil War, it was clear that Lincoln needed to begin drawing up the preliminary plans for postwar reconstruction. After the Union armies had captured large sections of the South, many states were ready to have their governments rebuilt. President Lincoln addressed three main areas of concern within the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. First, it would allow a full pardon to all engaged in the rebellion. In addition, there was an allowance on restoration of property. The only exception would be for the highest Confederate officials and military leaders. Second, it allowed for a new state government to be formed when 10 percent of the eligible voters had taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Third, the Southern states admitted in this fashion were encouraged to enact plans to assist freed slaves so long as their freedom was not compromised. The terms President Lincoln outlined in this plan were quite easy for most Southerners to accept. Lincoln’s overall plan was reasoned and reflective of a reunified America, considering the costliness of the war. The emancipation of slaves from the Confederates was extremely important for the President. With the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, Lincoln seized the initiative for reconstruction from Congress. Although a few of the Republicans felt the plan was too easy on the South, others accepted it based on the president’s prestige and leadership. The disagreements over the postwar reconstruction policy led to a heated battle between the next president, Andrew Johnson, and Congress after Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865.











More Moments in Presidential History on December 8

1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war on Japan

1966 North Vietnam rejects Lyndon Johnson’s prisoner exchange proposal

1969 Richard Nixon declares Vietnam War is ending




December 7


1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President (March 4th, 1933- April 12th, 1945) reacts to news of Pearl Harbor bombing.

At 7:55 a.m. on December 7th 1941, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. 360 Japanese warplanes bearing the follow and quickly descend on the U.S. navel base at Pearl Harbor. This surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet drew the United States conclusively into World War II. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base that day. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time and no alarm was sounded. The Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable when diplomatic negotiations with Japan broke down. Unfortunately, security measures weren’t made at the Pearl Harbor naval base. Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless after the attack: Three destroyers, five of eight battleships, and seven other ships were either sunk or severely damaged. More than 200 aircraft were also in the attack. On that day 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were injured, while courageously attempting to response to and repulse the surprise attack. Japan’s losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. Six months later at the Battle of Midway, these giant aircraft carriers had their revenge against Japan and claimed victory against the previously invincible Japanese navy. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before Congress and declared, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941–a date which will live in infamy–the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government reciprocates, formally entering the war in Europe. The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.













More Moments in Presidential History on December 7

1796 John Adams was elected to be the second president of the United States.

1836 Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.

1987 Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time. Gorbachev had come to the U.S. for a Washington summit with U.S. President Reagan.




December 6



1884 Washington Monument Completed, Once the Tallest Structure in the World

On December 6,1884, in Washington, D.C., workers placed the final piece of architecture, a nine-inch aluminum pyramid, on the peak of a truly impressive white marble monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the U.S. Congress decided that a statue of the great Revolutionary War general, George Washington, should be placed near the new Congressional building. When the new federal capital was planned on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the National Mall. Thirty-three years after Washington’s death, in 1832, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. A design competition was held and officials selected architect Robert Mills’s elaborate Greek temple-like design. Soon after, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue’s construction. These efforts, which even included contributions from the nation’s schoolchildren, raised nearly $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Even though their financial goal was not met, construction began on July 4, 1848. Representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble. Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain famously described the unfinished monument as looking like a “hollow, oversized chimney.” It was until 1876, during the centennial of American Independence, when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed. Around its time of completion in 1884, the roughly 36,000 blocks of stacked marble and granite soared at 555 feet in the air, the tallest structure in the world at the time. Six months after the opening ceremony, 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator transports over 800,000 people each year to the top of the Washington Monument. In 1910 a city law was passed that restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C. and a tribute to the man known as the “Father of His Country.”






More Moments in Presidential History on December 6


1865 13th Amendment ratified

1923 1st US Presidential address broadcast on radio by President Calvin Coolidge

1941 Roosevelt to Japanese emperor: “Prevent further death and destruction”




December 5



1782 Martin Van Buren, 8th President (March 4th, 1837 – March 4th 1841) is born.

On December 5, 1782, Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York. In 1807 Van Buren married his Dutch cousin, Hannah Hoes and settled in Albany, New York. Together Hannah and Van Buren raised a Dutch household of five children before Hannah died from tuberculosis in 1819. Two years later, Van Buren won his first political election and gained a seat in the U.S. Senate. Shortly after, Van Buren became governor of New York, but left that office within the first four months as governor to accept President Andrew Jackson’s offer to serve as secretary of state. He resigned the office in 1831 to accept a commission as minister to Great Britain; Congress, however, ultimately rejected his nomination. In 1832, Van Buren was elected vice president under Andrew Jackson.

Van Buren was very effective at uniting the disparate factions of the Democratic Party- eventually winning the presidency in 1836. Although Van Buren was known for his political fortune and accomplishments, the financial crisis in 1837 plunged the country into depression. His ineffective response to the crisis, along with his refusal to pursue annexation of Texas and his anti-slavery leanings, caused the pro-slavery, pro-expansionist Democratic Party to split during the election of 1840. Van Buren lost that campaign to Whig William Henry Harrison. He tried and failed to get the Democratic nomination in 1844 and in 1848 ran as the Free-Soil Party candidate on an anti-slavery, anti-annexation platform, but lost again. Defeated, Van Buren retired to his hometown of Kinderhook, New York in 1849. He died in 1862.


More Moments in Presidential History on December 5

1792 George Washington re-elected as president

1804 Thomas Jefferson re-elected President, George Clinton Vice President

1832 Andrew Jackson re-elected President

1946 President Harry Truman creates Committee on Civil Rights by Executive Order #9808



December 4

1992 President George H. W. Bush, 41st President (January 20th, 1989– January 20th, 1993) orders 25,000 U.S. troops into Somalia.

On December 4 1992, civil war and drought created famine conditions that threatened one-fourth of Somalia's entire population with starvation. The United Nations began a humanitarian mission but found it difficult to distribute food in the war-ravaged nation, so the U.S. agreed to help support the mission with military aid. President George H. W. Bush ordered 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, describing the mission as “God’s work” in order to save more than a million Somali lives. Five days later, the first U.S. Marines landed in the first phase of “Operation Restore Hope.” President Bush reassured Americans that “this operation is not open-ended” and that “we will not stay one day longer than is absolutely necessary.” On June 5, 1993, soldiers under Somali warlord General Mohammed Aidid massacred 24 Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers. U.S. and U.N. forces actively searched for Aidid, and in August, and additional 400 elite U.S. troops from Delta Force and the U.S. Rangers arrived to help aid in the search for the Somali warlord. Two months later, 18 of these soldiers were killed and 84 wounded during a disastrous assault on Mogadishu's Olympia Hotel. As many as 1,000 Somalis were killed during a 17-hour firefight. Three days later, with Aidid still at large, recently inaugurated President Bill Clinton ordered a U.S. withdrawal. With the aid of U.S. military troops and forces from other nations, the U.N. succeeded in distributing desperately needed food to many starving Somalis. However, with factional fighting continuing, and the U.N. without an effective agenda to resolve the political conflict, there seemed no clear end in sight to Operation Restore Hope when President Bill Clinton took office in January 1993. On March 25, 1994, the last U.S. troops left Somalia, leaving 20,000 U.N. troops behind to facilitate “nation-building” in the war-torn country. The U.N. troops departed in 1995 and political strife and clan-based fighting continued in Somalia into the 21st century.





More Moments in Presidential History on December 4

1816 James Monroe elected 5th U.S. President, defeating Federalist Rufus King

1844 James Knox Polk elected 11th US President

1918 President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, 1st President to travel outside US while in office

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration

1981 – President Reagan issues Executive Order on Intelligence (No.12333) that allows CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence



December 3

1989 President George H. W. Bush, 41st President (January 20th, 1989– January 20th, 1993) and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev suggest Cold War is coming to an end.

On December 3rd, 1989 President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met off the coast of Malta to issue statements strongly suggesting that the long-standing animosities of the Cold War could be coming to an end. Commentators in both the United States and Russia went quickly declared that the Cold War was finally over. The summit talks between the two leaders were the first of it’s kind. Even though President Bush and his advisers were cautiously optimistic about the summit, his administration was quite eager to follow up on the steps toward arms control taken by the preceding Reagan administration. Gorbachev was very insistent about his desire for better relations with the United States during the summit. The Soviet leader wanted to pursue his domestic reform agenda and these talks marked an important first step toward ending the Cold War. The Russian leader stated, “The characteristics of the Cold War should be abandoned.” He continued by saying, “The arms race, mistrust, psychological and ideological struggle, all those should be things of the past.” Bush was somewhat more restrained in his statement: “With reform underway in the Soviet Union, we stand at the threshold of a brand-new era of U.S.-Soviet relations. It is within our grasp to contribute each in our own way to overcoming the division of Europe and ending the military confrontation there.” Although the rhetoric of the summit was positively spun in the public eye, little of substance was accomplished. Ultimately, both sides agreed to work toward a treaty dealing with long-range nuclear weapons and conventional arms in 1990. Gorbachev and Bush met during a second summit in June 1990, in Washington, D.C.









More Moments in Presidential History on December 3


1776 Washington arrives at the banks of the Delaware

1828 Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States



December 1


Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (March 4th, 1861- April 15th, 1865) delivers State of the Union address.

December 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln addressed the U.S. Congress and spoke some of his most memorable words as he discussed the Northern war effort along with a moderate message concerning his policy towards slavery. Ten weeks prior, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. This declaration stated that as of January 1, 1863, slaves in territories still in rebellion would be free.

Lincoln's State of the Union address presented a more moderate position on emancipation since the November 1862 elections were widely interpreted as a condemnation of the emancipation plan. In his speech, Lincoln appealed to many moderates and conservatives by mentioning the gradual, compensated emancipation of slaves, while at the same time asserting that the slaves liberated by Union armies would remain forever free.





More Moments in Presidential History on December 1


1779, President Washington establishes winter quarters at Morristown

1824, As no presidential candidate had received a majority of the total electoral votes in the election of 1824, Congress decides to turn over the presidential election to the House of Representatives, as dictated by the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers agree to a two-phase bombing plan for North Vietnam.




November 30


1993
Bill Clinton, 42nd President (January 20, 1993 –January 20, 2001) signs the Brady Bill into law.

On November 30, 1993 President Bill Clinton signed the Brady handgun-control bill into law. James S. Brady was present during the White House ceremony. The Brady Bill requires a prospective handgun buyer to wait five business days while the authorities check on his or her background, during which time the sale is approved or prohibited based on an established set of criteria. In 1981, James Brady, who served as press secretary for President Ronald Reagan, was shot in the head by John Hinckley, Jr., during an attempt on President Reagan’s life outside a hotel in Washington, D.C.

President Reagan was shot in his left lung, but recovered and returned to the White House. Brady, the most seriously injured in the attack, was momentarily pronounced dead at the hospital but survived and began an impressive recovery from his debilitating brain injury. With rapid and swift action, Special Agent in Charge, Jerry Parr, pushed President Reagan into the limousine saving Reagan from being shot in the head. A Secret Service Agent, Timothy McCarthy, was shot in the abdomen when with his body he covered President Reagan. District of Columbia officer Thomas Delahanty was shot in his neck as he turned to protect the president.


During the 1980s, Brady became a leading proponent of gun-control legislation. In 1987 he succeeded in getting a bill introduced into Congress. The Brady Bill was opposed by many congressmen, who, in reference to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, questioned the constitutionality of regulating the ownership of arms. In 1993, with the support of President Bill Clinton, an advocate of gun control, the Brady Bill became law.

In a speech at an event marking 10th anniversary of this deadly event, Reagan endorsed the Brady Act:

"Anniversary" is a word we usually associate with happy events that we like to remember: birthdays, weddings, the first job. March 30, however, marks an anniversary I would just as soon forget, but cannot... four lives were changed forever, and all by a Saturday-night special – a cheaply made .22 caliber pistol – purchased in a Dallas pawnshop by a young man with a history of mental disturbance. This nightmare might never have happened if legislation that is before Congress now – the Brady bill – had been law back in 1981…

If the passage of the Brady bill were to result in a reduction of only 10 or 15 percent of those numbers (and it could be a good deal greater), it would be well worth making it the law of the land. And there would be a lot fewer families facing anniversaries such as the Bradys, Delahantys, McCarthys and Reagans face every March 30.










More Moments in Presidential History on November 30

1782
The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.

1950
President Harry S. Truman announces during a press conference that he is prepared to authorize the use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea.

1965
Following a visit to South Vietnam, Defense Secretary McNamara reports in a memorandum to President Lyndon B. Johnson that the South Vietnamese government of Nguyen Cao Ky “is surviving, but not acquiring wide support or generating actions.”

1972
White House Press Secretary Ron Zeigler announces to the press that the administration will make no more public statements concerning U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam since the level of U.S. presence had fallen to 27,000 men.

1986 – “Time” magazine published an interview with U.S. President Reagan. In the article, Reagan described fired national security staffer Oliver North as a "national hero."




November 29

1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President (January 20th, 1953 – January 20th, 1961) goes to Korea

While newly elected, Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Korea to make good on his dramatic presidential campaign promise to end the Korean War. During the presidential campaign of 1952, Eisenhower was critical of the Truman administration’s foreign policy, particularly its inability to bring an end to the conflict in Korea. On October 24th, President Truman challenged Eisenhower on to come up with an alternate policy. Eisenhower responded that if he were elected, he would personally go to Korea to gain a true understanding of the situation. Eisenhower’s popularity soared which led to the defeat of Democratic candidate Adlai E. Stevenson. Shortly after his election, Eisenhower fulfilled his campaign pledge, even though he was not very specific about what he hoped to accomplish.

Eisenhower’s “get-tough” policy toward the communists in Korea included “unleashing” the Nationalist Chinese forces on Taiwan against communist China, as well as a slightly veiled message of using any force necessary to bring the war to an end unless peace negotiations began to move forward. Exhausted by more than two years of war, the Chinese finally agreed to terms and an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The United States suffered over 50,000 casualties in this “forgotten war,” and spent nearly $70 billion. The most frustrating war in U.S. history had come to an end. America’s first experience with a “limited war,” one in which the nation did not seek (and did not obtain) absolute victory over the enemy, did not bode well for the future. Conflict in Vietnam was just around the corner.















More Moments in Presidential History on November 29


1963 President Johnson establishes Warren Commission

1990 President George H. Bush signed the US Immigration Act of this year allowed up to 10,000 foreign citizens to gain an "employment creation" visa if they would put up $1 million in a job creating enterprise. Immigrant Investor Program, also known as EB-5, was set up to lure foreigners by giving them the right to live and work in the US if they created jobs.

1995 President Clinton opened a five-day European trip in London, where he met with Prime Minister John Major and addressed the British Parliament.

1999 President Clinton signed the Satellite Television Home Viewers Act which allowed satellite companies to compete with cable TV. It was part of a $391 billion spending bill.

2004 President George Bush nominated Carlos Gutierrez, head of Kellogg Co., to serve as Secretary of Commerce.


November 28


1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President (March 4th, 1933 – April 12th, 1945) attends Tehran Conference

On November 28th in 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at a conference in Iran to discuss strategies for winning World War II along with potential terms for a peace settlement. Tehran, Iran, was chosen due to its strategic importance to the Allies. At the time Germany controlled most of Europe, the Balkans and North Africa. Iran became a viable route for the United States to get supplies to the Soviets, especially since German U-boat attacks made it extremely difficult on Allied shipping through the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea.
Roosevelt was in his third term as president in 1943. According to biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin, Roosevelt was eager to see his friend Churchill. He also expressed excitement at the prospect of meeting Stalin for the first time and relished the challenge of bringing the stern, forbidding Soviet leader into the Pacific war against Japan. The “Big Three” discussed ways to defeat Nazi Germany and agreed upon an invasion of Normandy. On June 19944, Operation Overlord was launched. In return for America’s help in defeating Germany on the eastern front, Stalin promised to help the United States win its war against Japan.
The meeting went so well that Churchill later expressed unease at Roosevelt’s extraordinary effort to charm and accommodate Stalin. Churchill would have preferred an indirect assault on Germany to Operation Overlord, and mistrusted Stalin. Stalin wanted a territorial buffer between the Soviet Union and Germany, made up of the former Baltic nations, Poland and part of Germany, to be part of any post-war peace settlement. In a joint declaration issued December 1, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt recognized “the supreme responsibility resting upon us and all the United Nations to make a peace which will command the goodwill of the overwhelming mass of the peoples of the world and banish the scourge and terror of war for many generations.” After the Tehran meeting, Roosevelt and Churchill traveled back to Cairo, where they discussed how General Dwight D. Eisenhower would lead Operation Overlord. Eisenhower would later become the 34th president of the United States in 1953








More Moments in Presidential History on November 28


1963 – President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that Cape Canaveral would be renamed Cape Kennedy in honor of John F. Kennedy. The name was changed back to Cape Canaveral in 1973 by a vote of residents.

1964 - The U.S. launched the space probe Mariner IV from Cape Kennedy on a course set for Mars

1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson advised to bomb North Vietnam




November 27


1911, Howard Taft’s, 27th President (March 4th, 1909- March 4th, 1913) housekeeper frets over the commander in chief’s ever-expanding waistline.

On November 27th 1911, Elizabeth Jaffray, a White House housekeeper, wrote in her diary about a conversation she’d had with President William Howard Taft and his wife about President Taft’s expanding waistline. In her diary, Jaffray describes President Taft’s daily breakfast: “two oranges, a twelve-ounce beefsteak, several pieces of toast and butter and a vast quantity of coffee with cream and sugar.” When she and Taft’s wife, Nellie, commented on his eating habits, he responded that he was planning to go on a diet, and was reported to have said “things are in a sad state of affairs when a man can’t even call his gizzard his own.” At 5′ 11″, President Taft weight fluctuated between 270 pounds and 340 pounds over the course of his adult life. According to his biographers, his shoes were often tied by his valet and often got stuck in the White House bathtub. Once, while visiting the czar of Russia, Taft split his pants seam while getting out of a carriage. However, President Taft’s weight did not stop him from serving a full term as president, nor did it prevent him from accepting a subsequent appointment as chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1921. Taft was the first and only president to hold both offices simultaneously. Once Taft left the White House, his weight dropped down to 270 pounds. Although he rarely drank more than the occasional beer and did not smoke, his obesity and a lifelong struggle with severe sleep apnea eventually took its toll. In March 1930 Taft retired as chief justice due to his poor health. He died the following month from heart failure.


President Howard Taft



Howard Taft, 27th U.S. President




More Moments in Presidential History on November 27

1963 – President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress.

1973 - The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president after the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew.




November 26

Have A Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Day!


President Barack Obama Pardons the Thanksgiving Day Turkey


Complete Proclamation by by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H Seward Setting Apart the Last Thursday of November Next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise

A Proclamation.

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with his guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while he has opened to us new sources of wealth, and has crowned the labor of our working men in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of Freedom and Humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, hereby, appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day, which I desire to be observed by all my fellow—citizens wherever they may then be as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do farther recommend to my fellow—citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of Peace, Union and Harmony throughout the land, which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[L.S.]

Done at the city of Washington this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty four, and, of the Independence of the United States the eighty—ninth.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WILLIAM H SEWARD Secretary of State.


November 26


1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President (March 4th, 1933 – April 12th, 1945) signs a bill on officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies. Post-harvest holidays were regularly celebrated on the weekday, known as “Lecture Day”. These were midweek church meetings where sermons were presented. In the autumn of 1621, Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival. The festival was held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.

Throughout the remainder of the 17th century Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England. In 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. President George Washington, in 1789, officially proclaimed a Thanksgiving holiday, at the request of Congress, to be on November 26, a Tuesday. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.





President F. D. Roosevelt, Thanksgiving 1941



More Moments in Presidential History on November 26

1789
President Washington set aside this day to observe the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

1942 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing to begin December 1.

1985
The rights to Richard Nixon’s autobiography were acquired by Random House for $3,000,000.

1986 – President Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Sen. John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff after the Iran-Contra affair. The 3-person Tower Commission exposed an elaborate network of official deception, private profiteering and White House cover-up in Reagan’s administration. The Tower Commission investigated the scandal in which weapons were secretly sold to Iran for the release of American hostages with the proceeds then illegally funneled to the Nicaraguan contras.

1989
George H. W. Bush pardons a turkey and begins the annual Thanksgiving presidential tradition. While the ceremony of presidents pardoning the turkey has roots dates to the 1940s, the pardoning of the turkey on George H. W. Bush's first Thanksgiving in the White House caught the national imagination.



November 25

1963, John F. Kennedy, 35th President (January 20th, 1961- November 22nd, 1963) is laid to rest in Arlington, TX.

On November 25th 1963, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated three days earlier, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Approximately 250,000 people paid respect that day in front of the closed and flag draped coffin. The next day, television and movie cameras recorded the historic funeral procession. Kennedy’s wife Jackie, his brothers Robert and Ted, political leaders and foreign dignitaries led the procession from behind Kennedy’s coffin as it was transferred atop a horse-drawn caisson to St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Approximately 1 million people lined the route between the Capitol and the cathedral. Kennedy’s son, John Jr., who turned three that day, was filmed saluting his father’s coffin. Although Kennedy had not specified where he wanted to be buried, most assumed his gravesite would be in his home state of Massachusetts. In March 1963, though, President Kennedy had made an unscheduled tour of Arlington and had reportedly remarked to a friend on the view of the Potomac River from the cemetery’s Custis-Lee Mansion, saying it was “so magnificent I could stay forever.” Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, suggested Arlington be Kennedy’s final resting place. Jackie went to the site on November 24 and made the final decision, saying “he belongs to the people.”
















More Moments in Presidential History on November 25th

1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a stroke

1973 - U.S.A. Energy Crisis 25th November, 1973: House speaker Carl Albert criticized President Richard Nixon very harshly. Albert believed that Nixon was deceiving the American people and not telling them about the real cause and severity of the energy crisis. Moreover, Albert did not think that Nixon was advocated adequate enough energy conservation measures.

1986 - U.S. President Ronald Regan and Attorney Gen. Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to rebels in Nicaragua. National Security Advisor John Poindexter resigned and Oliver North was fired.

1941 - Adm. Harold R. Stark, U.S. chief of naval operations, tells Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, that both President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull think a Japanese surprise attack is a distinct possibility.



November 24

November 24th 1784, Zachary Taylor, 12th President (March 4th, 1849 - July 9th, 1850), is born .

On November 24, 1784, future President Zachary Taylor is born in Barboursville, Virginia.

Zachary Taylor was a distant relative of founding father and America’s fourth president, James Madison. His parents owned a plantation in Kentucky and at age twenty-three, Zachary left home to become a soldier in the U.S. Army. Taylor served in the War of 1812, the Blackhawk War (1832) and second Seminole War (1835-1837).

As President of the United States, Taylor only served for 16 months due to a supposed outbreak of cholera. Although historians do not know the exact cause of his death, on July 9, 1850, it is likely that Taylor succumbed to a case of cholera from Fourth of July festivities in Washington D.C. According to several reports that day, Taylor consumed a large quantity of iced milk and cherries and several glasses of water. At the time, outbreaks of cholera were frequently reported in the hot, humid months of Washington during the 1800’s. The deadly combination of heat and sewage helped cultivate the dangerous bacteria that was most likely present in the water or iced milk Taylor drank. It appears that no one at the time even suggested foul play, despite Taylor’s controversial stance on slavery.

At the time of his death, President Taylor was unfortunately best known for his failure to address the divisive issue of slavery—although he adamantly opposed slavery and vowed to personally lead a military attack against any state that threatened to secede from the Union.


Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States



More Moments in Presidential History on November 24

1963 Lyndon B. Johnson continues Kennedy policy in Vietnam

1963 Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald who killed President Kennedy




November 23

1804, Franklin Pierce, 14th President (March 4th, 1853- March 4th, 1857) is born.


1804, On this day in 1804, Franklin Pierce, America’s 14th president is born in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Pierce was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1832 and fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) for which he received military honors. As president, Pierce facilitated the acquisition of the territories that now make up the states of Arizona and New Mexico through the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. He also improved trade relations with Canada in exchange for greater U.S. fishing rights along the continent’s North Atlantic coast. However, he is best remembered for his endorsement of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether they would allow slavery or outlaw the practice.



Franklin Pierce, 14th President




November 22

1963, John F. Kennedy, 35th President (January 20th, 1961- November 22nd, 1963) is assassinated.

On November 22nd, 1963 John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, along with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, sat in a Lincoln convertible during a 10-mile motorcade parade through the streets of downtown Dallas, TX. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. He was 46.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson was only three cars behind President Kennedy during the time of the assassination and was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. while aboard Air Force One at the Dallas Love Field Airport. Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her husband’s blood, was present along with 30 other witnesses. Less than an hour after Kennedy was shot, Oswald killed a policeman who questioned him on the street near his rooming house in Dallas. Thirty minutes later, Oswald was arrested in a movie theater by police.

On November 24, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby while being transferred from the basement of the Dallas police headquarters to a more secure county jail. During the transfer, live television cameras caught the incident between Ruby and Oswald. Within a large crowd of police and press, Jack Ruby emerged and shot Oswald with a concealed .38 revolver. Ruby was immediately detained and claimed that the rage felt from Kennedy’s murder was the main motif.








More Moments in Presidential History on November 22

1943, President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the measures for defeating Japan.

1972, President Richard M. Nixon lifted a ban on American travel to Cuba. The ban had been put in place on February 8, 1963.

1990, President George H.W. Bush, his wife, Barbara, and other congressional leaders shared Thanksgiving dinner with U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.



November 21

1864, According to legend, on November 21, 1864, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Lydia Bixby, a widow and mother of civil war casualties. Known as The Bixby Letter, it was published in the Boston Evening Transcript on November 25 but the original letter has never been found.






2000, The Florida Supreme Court granted Al Gore's request to keep the presidential recounts going.


More Moments in Presidential History on November 21


1962, President Kennedy terminated the quarantine measures against Cuba

1963, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline, arrived in San Antonio, TX They were beginning an ill-fated, two-day tour of Texas that would end in Dallas

1973, Richard Nixon, 37th President (January 20th, 1969- August 9th, 1974) and his attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 ½ minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal as a result of the June 17th, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. The scandal led to his resignation as President of the United States in August 1974.

Nixon's
accomplishments included the end of the military draft, quest for world stability, a significant environmental program, treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons, Israeli, Egyptian and Syrian disengagement agreements, and an accord with North Vietnam to end U.S. military involvement in Indochina.




Watergate Tapes


Richard M. Nixon, 37th President



November 20

1962, John F. Kennedy, 35th President (January 20th, 1961- November 22nd, 1963), announces fair housing legislation.

On November 20, 1962, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 11063, which mandates an end to discrimination in housing. The order was passed during the Civil Rights movement and prohibited federally funded housing agencies from denying housing or funding for housing to anyone based on their race, color, creed or national origin. Since the 1950s, American minorities, particularly African Americans, had been largely relegated to living in overcrowded inner-city ghettos or impoverished rural areas. The “American Dream” of owning a house in the suburbs, or even a small apartment in a safe city neighborhood was unobtainable for many minority families because federally funded lending agencies often refused to give minorities home loans. Kennedy vowed to do more for civil rights than his predecessors when he took office in 1960. Issued 1962, Kennedy called discrimination in federal housing agencies unfair, unjust and inconsistent with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Kennedy saw the housing that most African Americans and other minorities were forced to live in disgraceful, substandard, unsafe and unsanitary housing. Although Kennedy’s order was a symbolic landmark, the policy was never enforced. The order left it up to the individual housing and funding agencies to police themselves, leaving much room for non-compliance from state to state. After his assassination in 1963, civil rights activists continued to lobby for integrated neighborhoods. It took Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, 6 additional years to get a majority of Congress to support a fair housing law.



John F. Kennedy Signing Executive Order 11063




Pen Used by John F. Kennedy




More Moments in Presidential History on November 20

1969, The Nixon administration announced a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phase out of the substance.

2001, The U.S. Justice Department headquarters building was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy building by President George W. Bush. The event was held on what would have been Kennedy's 76th birthday.



November 19

1863, Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (March 4th, 1861 – April 15th 1865), delivers Gettysburg Address.


On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most iconic speeches in American history during the American Civil War. Although only lasting a few minutes, roughly 272 words, Lincoln’s speech was part of a dedication ceremony for a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lincoln eloquently reminded a war-weary and torn public why the Union had to fight and win the Civil War.

His iconic speech began with a reference to the Declaration of Independence, "Four score and seven years ago”. In doing so, Lincoln examined the founding principles of the United States in the context of the Civil War. His speech memorialized the sacrifices of those who gave their lives at Gettysburg while also placing great importance on the survival of America's representative democracy, a "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The Battle of Gettysburg was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. In just three days of battle, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. However, this specific battle was the turning point of the war. General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army’s ultimate decline.


Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg




Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address



More Moments in Presidential History on November 19

1985, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev hold their first summit meeting in Geneva

1931, Future President James A. Garfield is born

2001, President George W. Bush signed the most comprehensive air security bill in U.S. history




November 18th

1886, Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President (September 19th, 1881 - March 4th 1885), succumbs to complications from Bright's Disease in New York.

Chester Alan Arthur, on November 18th 1886, succumbs from Bright’s Disease - a chronic inflammation of the kidneys. Some historians suggest that the lethargy Arthur displayed as president was the result of his struggle with Bright’s Disease. This type of disease causes swelling, high blood pressure, and eventually kidney failure. It can be brought on by infection and in 1882 Arthur was reportedly diagnosed with a case of malaria while vacationing in Florida. Although being officially diagnosed by his doctors, the case was kept secret since it was not in an advanced stage.

It was suggested in some social circles at the time that Arthur’s heavy drinking and eating was his way of alleviating his heartbreak over his beloved wife, Ellen. In 1880 Ellen became ill and lapsed into a coma. Arthur was away in upstate New York when he was notified of her illness, but had returned to be by her side by the time of her death. He never remarried. Arthur served only one term from 1881 to 1885 and upon retirement returned to his home in New York. After leaving the White House, his battle with Bright’s Disease turned critical. He passed away on November 18, 1886.



Ellen Arthur, Beloved Wife of President Chester A. Arthur



Chester A. Arthur, 21st President


More Moments in Presidential History on November 18

1987,
The U.S. Congress issues the Iran-Contra Affair report citing wrongdoing by aides to President Ronald Reagan.

1988, President Reagan signs legislation allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.

2004, Bill Clinton's presidential library opens in Little Rock, AR.



November 17

2004,
President Bill Clinton opens the William J. Clinton Presidential Center


1962, President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington's Dulles National Airport

1751, Future President George Washington Battles Smallpox and writes "Was strongly attacked with the smallpox."

George, age nineteen, had traveled to the island of Barbados with his brother, Lawrence. George hoped that the trip would help Lawrence overcome chronic coughing and lung congestion, symptoms of consumption, tuberculosis. The day after their November 2, 1751 landing on Barbados, George and Lawrence dined with Gedney Clarke, a merchant and slave trader. With trepidation, George attended this dinner and later wrote "We went ... with some reluctance, as the smallpox was in his family." On November 17, the virus, post-incubation, manifested, smallpox hit George hard, and his journal entries stop for twenty-four days. A month later, George returned to Virginia while Lawrence remained in the Caribbean. On July 26, 1752, Lawrence died of tuberculosis.

George Washington was the first President of the United States from 1789 - 1797 and during his lifetime was called the "father of his country."





George Washington, 1st President


November 14, 2015 in Presidential History


1979, President Jimmy Carter freezes all Iranian assets in response to the hostage taking at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran

1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims the Philippine Islands a free commonwealth.


November 13 in Presidential History

2014, President Barack Obama issues a statement in the White House Briefing Room calling the terrorist attacks in Paris an "attack on all humanity."


November 12 in Presidential History

1979, President Jimmy Carter orders the
cessation of all Iranian oil imports in response to 63 American hostages taken at the United States embassy in Tehran on November 4. Carter was 39th President of the United States from January 20, 1997 - January 20, 1981

President Carter created the Department of Education, Department of Energy, strongly stood for human rights, initiated the Camp David Accords, Panama Canal Treaties, Second Round of SALT II, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, a national energy policy, and sought for social security and civil service reforms. Jimmy Carter is the archetype for the continued humanitarian use of the powers of a president, post-presidency, through his philanthropic visions and actions as elder statesman, crisis mediator, global health advocate, and The Carter Center.



Jimmy Carter, 39th President



November 10 in Presidential History

1775

On November 10, 1775, Future President John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (March 4, 1797 - March 4,
sponsors a resolution establishing the Continental Marines.

The Marine Corps celebrates its birthday on each and every 10th day of November with a ball, ceremony, and cake.


Resolved by the Second Continental Congress:

That two battalions of Marines be raised, consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken, than no persons appointed to office, or enlisted into said Battalions, but such are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the war between Great Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress: that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered as part of the number which the Continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of. Ordered, That a copy of the above be transmitted to the General. Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775.



Resolution by 2nd Continental Congress Creating the Marine Corps





- President John Adams



November 9 in Presidential History

1906

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President (
September 14, 1901 - March 4, 1909)
Departs for Panama to Assess Canal Progress and Becomes the First U.S. President to Embark on Foreign Travel



President Theodore Roosevelt Visits Panama Canal 1906






Theodore Roosevelt, Panama Canal




November 8 in Presidential History

1892, Grover Cleveland (D) Elected 24th President of the United States

On November 8, 1892, former President Stephen Grover Cleveland won the popular vote for the third time, making him the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms in office (elected in 1884, 1887, and 1892). A bachelor at the time of his first election in 1884, when Cleveland and Frances Folsom wed on June 2, 1886, he became the only President married in the White House.





November 6 in Presidential History

1860, Abraham Lincoln Wins Election, 16th President (March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865)

1888, Benjamin Harrison Wins Election on Electoral Vote and Loses on Popular Vote, 23rd President (March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893)

1900, President McKinley Wins Reelection, 25th President (March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901)

1956, President Eisenhower Wins Reelection, 34th President (January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961)


November 5 in Presidential History


1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt Elected to Unprecedented 3rd Term






November 4 in Presidential History

2008, Barack Obama Wins Election

On November 4, 2008, amidst a roiling economic crisis in America, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is elected 44th President of the United States. When Obama takes office, the American economy is already in free-fall. Job loss is over 800,000 per month. One month after his Inauguration on January 20, 2009 — on February 17, 2009, President Obama signs into law the American Investment and Recovery Act. Signs of economic recovery manifest as early as the summer of 2009.





November 3 in Presidential History


1868, Ulysses S. Grant Wins Election, 18th President of the United States (March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877)

Ulysses S. Grant, on November 3, 1868, won the first postbellum United States presidential election. Grant's presidency, however, is now recognized for his fight to protect the rights of African Americans. Grant fought hard for passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to recognize the rights of blacks to vote.




Grant Election Banner



November 2 in Presidential History

1792, George Washington, 1st President of the United States (April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797)

George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College process to his second presidential term during the 2nd quadrennial election of 1792 held from November 2 to December 5, 1792. The 2nd quadrennial was the first election by electors of the original 13 states and the states of Kentucky and Vermont.





November 1 in Presidential History

1950, Truman Assassination Attempt at Blair House

During the White House renovation, President Harrry S. Truman and his family resided in Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue. On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to shoot their way into Blair House. In the ensuing gun battle, White House Police Officer Leslie William Coffelt was killed and officers Joseph Davidson and Donald Birdzell were injured while defending President Truman. On November 1st, each year, the men and women of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division honor the anniversary of Officer Coffelt's supreme sacrifice with a wreath laying ceremony at Blair House.


Officer Leslie William Coffelt



USSS UD Honoring Officer Coffelt


Blair House



October 31 in Presidential History

1800, Vice President Thomas Jefferson Defeats President John Adams

Something new was under the sun in American election history. Four years prior, during the 3rd quadrennial presidential election of 1796, Americans elect a President, John Adams, and a Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, from opposite tickets. During the 4th quadrennial election of 1800, commencing on October 31, 1800, Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeats President John Adams in what Jefferson calls the "Revolution of 1800." Nonetheless, in his inaugural address, Jefferson declares "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Read more about this unique period in American election history in the premier issue on March 1, 2016 of The American Presidency, the online magazine of the White House Gift Shop, Est. 1946.


President Thomas Jefferson




President John Adams



October 30 in Presidential History

1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President, November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969

On October 30, 1968, in a televised address, President Johnson announces the cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam. Johnson's legacy, often overshadowed by the conflict in Vietnam, is significant: Civil Rights Act of 1964, vision for a Great Society, War on Poverty, Revenue Act of 1964 (realization of the tax cuts envisioned by John F. Kennedy), Economic Opportunity Act (led to creation of the Job Corp and Community Program, a program to fight poverty at the community level), extension of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, expansion of education and healthcare programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and Headstart. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. on November 22, 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.



















October 29

1947, President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights, established by Executive Order 9808, publishes To Secure These Rights, a milestone civil rights report documenting egregious racial discrimination in the United States. Among numerous recommendations, the President's Committee called for desegregation of the armed forces. On February 1, 1948, Truman in a special address to Congress calls for a permanent commission on Civil Rights and establishing a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice.











October 28


1980, It was today in Presidential history, October 28, 1980, when President
Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Republican presidential candidate, debated in Cleveland, Ohio before a nationwide television audience. It is worth pondering the juxtaposition of 1980 to America and American politics in 2015, for the central issues and themes remain relevant of the 1980 Carter - Reagan debate: nuclear proliferation, American military presence in the Gulf region, health care, terrorism, jobs, the economy, minority inequalities, hostage crisis in Iran, energy, and the Iran - Iraq war. During the debate, Reagan retorted with civility and dignity his now famous declarative to President Carter: "There you go again."



October 27

1964, Future President Ronald Reagan delivers what was to become known as “The Speech.” Reagan's title for the speech was "A Time for Choosing" and is considered the speech that launched Reagan's political career. Reagan electrified Americans with a clear statement of conservatism: "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing ... You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream – the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order – or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."



October 25

1764, John Adams, future President, marries Abigail Smith. Their marriage lasts 54 years and President Adams calls her a “constant feast.”

1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower envisions the future of television for an informed citizenry and conducts the first televised Cabinet meeting.

1973, President Richard M. Nixon orders the U.S. military on high alert to send a message that America will not allow the Soviet Union to interject its military into the Middle East. This action was not without consequences: Potential nuclear confrontation escalated to a level not seen since the Cuban missile crisis, the international economy went into oil price shock when Arab countries established an embargo on oil shipments to the United States and other countries resulting in a per barrel oil price increase from $3.00 per barrel to nearly $12.00, and Japan and several other countries took opposition to U.S. policy in the Middle East. With the recognition that oil had become an economic weapon, the U.S. realizes its vital and strategic need for oil and energy independence.




October 24

President Roosevelt's Vision: United Nations

1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not live to see the realization of his vision for a world body of nations chartered to preserve peace through international diplomacy. On October 24, 1945, Roosevelt’s vision of the creation of the United Nations with strong U.S. leadership became reality when the UN charter was ratified by a majority of signatories including the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, China and 46 others. Roosevelt coined the phrase, “United Nations” in 1941 and first used this name in a crucial 1942 document entitled Declaration of the United Nations, a document pledging its signatories to united efforts in World War II and against making a separate peace.






October 23

1995, President Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin reach a crucial agreement for a joint peacekeeping effort in war-torn Bosnia.


President Clinton is noted for his interpersonal intelligence. On American-Russian relations President Clinton said: “Of course, we have ... our differences, but the starting point for our relationship has always been how Russia and America can work together to advance our common interests.”




President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin


October 22

1962, President John F. Kennedy reveals on television to Americans the discovery by U.S. spy planes of Soviet medium-range missile bases under construction in Cuba, missiles capable of striking major cities in the United States including Washington D.C.

Kennedy considers options including warnings to Cuba, air strikes on the missile sites followed by an invasion of Cuba, or a naval quarantine of Cuba: Kennedy opts for the middle-ground wisdom of a naval quarantine of Cuba. On October 28, Russia accedes: Missiles will be removed, IL–28 bombers will be removed, missile installations will be dismantled. On November 20, 1962, the United States lifts the naval quarantine of Cuba.



A
erial view of the San Cristobal, Cuba, Missile Site






President Kennedy Addresses Americans, October 22, 1962





October 21

1921, President Warren G. Harding on October 21, 1921 delivers a speech in Alabama in condemnation of the lynching of blacks. Harding avowed full civil rights for African Americans as well as suffrage for women. During 1920, alone, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) reported, on average, the murder by lynching of at least two African Americans each week. While the anti-lynching bill was approved in the House of Representatives, it died in the Senate. Efforts failed for a half-century to pass similar Civil Rights Laws. Civil Rights for blacks did not become law until Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.





President Warren G. Harding




October 20

1864, As we near the holiday season, do you recall that President Abraham Lincoln created the holiday of Thanksgiving?

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, hereby, appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day, which I desire to be observed by all my fellow—citizens wherever they may then be as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.


Photograph of Abraham Lincoln taken by Mathew Brady on January 8, 1864

Complete Proclamation by by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H Seward

A Proclamation.

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with his guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while he has opened to us new sources of wealth, and has crowned the labor of our working men in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of Freedom and Humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, hereby, appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day, which I desire to be observed by all my fellow—citizens wherever they may then be as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do farther recommend to my fellow—citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of Peace, Union and Harmony throughout the land, which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[L.S.]

Done at the city of Washington this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty four, and, of the Independence of the United States the eighty—ninth.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WILLIAM H SEWARD Secretary of State.


October 19

President Lincoln's Beard

On October 19, 1860, President Lincoln wrote to young Grace Bedell, age eleven, who had written in support of his candidacy and to advise Lincoln that a beard would help win more votes. Lincoln responded with an interrogative, thus keeping the option open for whiskers. He wrote: "As to the whiskers having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?’

While contiguity in time is not causality, soon thereafter, Lincoln sported his now iconic beard.


Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Grace Bidlell





Grace Bidell Letter to Abraham Lincoln


Last Known Photo of Lincoln Without a Beard







1860 Early Photo of Lincoln with a Beard


October 18

1867, During the administration of President Andrew Johnson, the American flag flew in Alaska for the first time when the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. Nearly twice the size of Texas, William Seward, Johnson's Secretary of State, had closed the deal with Russia at $7.2 million, approximately 2 cents per acre. The acquisition of Alaska increased the size of the U.S. by 586,412 square miles. Russia had several reasons for selling Alaska, one of which was its belief that the sale would cause the United States to buffer the goals of Russia's strategic rival in the Pacific, Great Britain. For three decades subsequent to the purchase, the U.S. gave scant attention to Alaska; However, this changed in 1869 with the discovery of significant gold deposits in the Yukon. Moreover, Alaska's vital geostrategic importance to the United States became manifest during World War II. On January 3, 1959, Alaska became a state.




The Signing of the Alaskan Treaty


October 17

1823, President James Monroe wrote a letter requesting Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy advice regarding Great Britain's proposed joint declaration warning Spain and France not to intervene in the affairs of Central and South America. Concurrently, John Quincy Adams, Monroe's Secretary of State, was concerned by Russia's encroachment on the western coast of North America and expressed his concern to Monroe. During a cabinet meeting on November 7, 1823, Adams framed his perspective: "It would be more candid, as well as more dignified, to avow our principles explicitly to Russia and France, than to come in as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war." On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe in his seventh annual message to Congress articulated what would eventually be known as the Monroe Doctrine — obligating European powers to respect the Western Hemisphere as the sphere of interest of the United States.












October 16

1962, President John F. Kennedy confronted what became known as the Cuban missile crisis when he was informed by U.S. Intelligence that reconnaissance photographs revealed the presence of Russian sponsored missile bases in Cuba. President Kennedy's response was yet another example of his "profile in courage."






October 15

1860, Grace Bedell, age eleven, wrote to Abraham Lincoln, then a presidential candidate, and advised Mr. Lincoln to grow a beard.

1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill creating the Department of Transportation.

1993, President Clinton enforced trade sanctions imposed on Haitian military rulers by sending U.S. warships.



October 14

On October 14, 1960 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy suggested formation of a Peace Corps during a talk at the University of Michigan