United States Presidents and Historic Milestones

Vocabulary flashcards covering key United States presidents, their political affiliations, major achievements, landmark legislation, and historic events from the lecture notes.

George Washington

The 1st U.S. President, a Federalist from Virginia, who presided over the Revolutionary War, signed the Naturalization Act of 1790 and Slave Trade Act of 1794, created the United States Mint and first bank, and gave the shortest inaugural speech at 135 words.

Naturalization Act of 1790

An early U.S. federal law signed by President George Washington regulating citizenship process.

Thomas Jefferson

The 3rd U.S. President, a Democratic-Republican from Virginia, who drafted the Declaration of Independence, doubled the nation's size via the Louisiana Territory purchase, sent Lewis and Clark to explore the West, and banned slave trading.

Louisiana Territory

A 827,000 square mile territory acquired by Thomas Jefferson for $15 million dollars, doubling the geographic size of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th U.S. President from Kentucky who signed the Homestead Act, created the Department of Agriculture, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.

Homestead Act

Legislation signed into law by Abraham Lincoln that enabled all United States citizens to acquire land.

Theodore Roosevelt

The 26th U.S. President, a Republican from New York with the slogan 'Square Deal,' who ensured construction of the Panama Canal, created early FDA food/medicine safety legislation, established national parks, and won the Nobel Prize.

Mount Rushmore

A granite monument in the Black Hills of Keystone, South Dakota, spanning 1,278 acres at 5,725 ft. elevation, featuring 60 ft. sculptured heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Gutzon Borglum

The sculptor who led the creation of Mount Rushmore, succeeded by his son Lincoln upon his death.

John Adams

The 2nd U.S. President, a Federalist from Massachusetts, who opposed the Stamp Act of 1765, helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, and died on July 4, 1826.

James Monroe

The 5th U.S. President, a Democratic-Republican from Virginia, who issued the Monroe Doctrine, signed the Treaty of 1818 and Missouri Compromise, and died on July 4, 1831.

Monroe Doctrine

The first foreign policy statement of the United States, articulated by James Monroe, asserting opposition to European interference in North and South America.

Missouri Compromise

A legislative agreement signed by James Monroe admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

John Quincy Adams

The 6th U.S. President, a Democratic-Republican from Massachusetts and son of John Adams, who completed the Erie Canal, secured Florida and Oregon from Spain, and argued in the 1840 Amistad trial.

James Madison

The 4th U.S. President, a Democratic-Republican from Virginia known as the 'Father of the Constitution,' who wrote the Federalist Papers, introduced the Bill of Rights, and led during the War of 1812.

Woodrow Wilson

The 28th U.S. President, a Democrat from Virginia, who proposed the Fourteen Point Plan and League of Nations, signed the Federal Reserve Act, and received the Nobel Prize.

Fourteen Point Plan

An international peace plan delivered by Woodrow Wilson to end World War I, calling for mild terms on defeated nations and the creation of a League of Nations.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The 32nd U.S. President, a Democrat from New York elected four times, who implemented the New Deal, introduced Social Security and the Civilian Conservation Corps, and led the U.S. during World War II.

Emergency Banking Act

A law signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt temporarily closing U.S. banks to stop panic withdrawals during the Great Depression.

Yalta Conference

A World War II conference where Big Three leaders Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin met to coordinate postwar plans.

Harry S. Truman

The 33rd U.S. President, a Democrat from Missouri, who oversaw the atomic bomb deployments, the end of World War II in Europe, the Potsdam Conference, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and the formation of NATO.

Marshall Plan

An initiative overseen by Harry S. Truman to rebuild and stimulate economic recovery in Western Europe after World War II.

Dwight David Eisenhower

The 34th U.S. President, a Republican from Texas and West Point graduate, who served as a 4-Star General and commanded Operation Overlord in Normandy.

Operation Overlord

The Allied military invasion of Normandy commanded by Dwight David Eisenhower that dismantled the Nazi stronghold in Western Europe.

Ulysses S. Grant

The 18th U.S. President, a Republican from Ohio and Civil War 4-Star General, who created Yellowstone Park, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and suspended habeas corpus to combat the Ku Klux Klan.

Panic of 1873

A major economic collapse and wave of bankruptcies occurring during Ulysses S. Grant's administration.

Rutherford B. Hayes

The 19th U.S. President, a Republican from Ohio, who assumed office through the Compromise of 1877, vetoed the total ban on Chinese immigration, and introduced the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Compromise of 1877

A political resolution to the disputed 1876 election, creating an Electoral Commission that awarded Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in exchange for concessions to southern political interests.

Stephen Grover Cleveland

The 22nd and 24th U.S. President, a Democrat from New Jersey and former Governor of New York, who served two non-consecutive terms, executed 414 vetoes, and modernized the U.S. Navy.

Benjamin Harrison

The 23rd U.S. President, a Republican from Ohio and Civil War General, who signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and oversaw federal takeover of immigration processing at Ellis Island.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

An 1890 federal statute signed by Benjamin Harrison designed to prohibit trade monopolies.

Ellis Island

A federal immigration processing center in New York established in 1892 under Benjamin Harrison that processed over 12 million people prior to closing in 1954.

William McKinley

The 25th U.S. President, a Republican from Ohio, whose tenure included the Spanish-American War, acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, the Open Door Policy, and his assassination by an anarchist.

Herbert Clark Hoover

The 31st U.S. President, a Republican from Iowa, who presided over the Wall Street Crash of October 29, 1929, and the initial years of the Great Depression.

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929, the day of the severe Wall Street stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression.