APUSH Major Government Acts/Orders/Legislation Notes

Colonial Era

Mayflower Compact (1620): First documented instance of self-government in the colonies.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639): First written constitution in America.
Act of Toleration (1649): Granted religious freedom among Christians in Maryland.
Acts of Navigation: Mercantilist policies that restricted trade between English colonies and England.

Revolutionary Era

Proclamation of 1763: Restricted colonial expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains to prevent conflicts with Native Americans.
Sugar Act (1764): Revenue tax on colonial merchants to help offset debt from the French and Indian War.
Stamp Act (1765): Direct tax on colonists for legal documents and newspapers.
Tea Act (1773): Designed to create a monopoly for the British East India Company, threatening colonial merchants and leading to the Boston Tea Party.
Intolerable Acts (1774): Also known as the Coercive Acts, limited colonial representation as a response to the Boston Tea Party.
Olive Branch Petition (1775): Last attempt by the colonies to seek peace with King George III, who rejected it and deemed the colonies in rebellion.
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (1775): British offer of freedom to slaves who fought against the colonists.
Declaration of Independence (1776): Justified colonial independence by outlining natural rights and grievances against King George III and Parliament.
Treaty of Paris (1783): Britain recognized American independence, and the U.S. gained lands east of the Mississippi River.

Constitutional Period

Articles of Confederation: A loose alliance of states with a weak central government featuring a unicameral legislature that couldn't tax or regulate interstate commerce. Shay's Rebellion highlighted its weaknesses.
Land Ordinance of 1785: Established a grid system for townships in the territory north of the Ohio River.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Established a process for territories to become states and prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory.
Virginia Plan: Proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation based on state population.
New Jersey Plan: Proposed a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state.
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise/Plan): Created a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on proportional representation and the Senate based on equal representation (2 senators per state).
Three-Fifths Compromise: Determined that each slave would count as 3/5 of a person for representation and taxation purposes; slave importation was to end by 1808.
Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, which were required by Anti-Federalists for ratification of the Constitution.

George Washington (1789-1797)

Judiciary Act of 1787: Established a lower federal court system with district courts in each state.
First Bank of the United States (1791): A central banking system created to establish U.S. credit and manage finances. The nation’s capital was located in the South as a deal for the bank.
Eleventh Amendment (1795): States that a citizen may not sue another state without the state’s consent.
Jay’s Treaty (1794): Secured American sovereignty in the Northwest Territory and favorable trade status with Britain.
Pinckney’s Treaty (1795): Spain recognized American trade rights on the Mississippi River and in New Orleans.
Washington’s Farewell Address (1797): Advised against permanent alliances and the formation of political parties.

John Adams (1797-1801)

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798): Increased naturalization requirements, allowed for the deportation of enemy aliens, and prohibited criticism of the federal government. These were a reaction to the XYZ Affair and designed to weaken the Democratic-Republicans.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions: In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, these resolutions established the concept of states’ rights and the potential nullification of federal laws.
Judiciary Act of 1801: Increased the number of federal court positions, which Adams filled with Federalist “Midnight Judges” before leaving office.

Age of Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

Marbury v. Madison (1803): Established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional.
Louisiana Purchase (1803): Acquired land west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains from France for 15M.
Twelfth Amendment (1804): Revised the Electoral College to use separate ballots for President and Vice President.
Embargo Act of 1807: Prohibited foreign trade in response to impressments, leading to an economic recession.

James Madison (1809-1817)

Nonintercourse Act of 1809: Prohibited foreign trade with belligerent nations Britain and France.
Macon’s Bill No. 2 (1810): Prohibited foreign trade with either Britain or France if one promised to cease impressments and seizing American ships.
Fletcher v. Peck (1810): First case to rule a state law unconstitutional, reinforcing the Contracts Clause.
Treaty of Ghent (1814): Restored the status quo ante bellum (the state of things before the war) prior to the War of 1812.
Tariff of 1816: First major protectionist tariff to promote domestic industries.
Second Bank of the United States (1816): Established to stabilize the economy.

James Monroe (1817-1825)

Rush-Bagot Treaty (1818): Demilitarized the Great Lakes between the U.S. and Great Britain.
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Upheld the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States under the Necessary and Proper Clause and affirmed that Maryland could not tax the bank due to the Supremacy Clause.
Dartmouth College v. Woodard (1819): Upheld the colonial charter of Dartmouth College under the Contracts Clause.
Adams-Onis Treaty (1819): Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. and established the western U.S. border.
Missouri Compromise (1820): Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power in the Senate; established the 36°30′ line, north of which slavery would be prohibited.
Monroe Doctrine (1823): Declared that the Western Hemisphere was closed to European interference and further colonization.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): Expanded the definition of interstate commerce to include navigation, increasing federal power over interstate commerce.

John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

Tariff of Abominations (Tariff of 1828): A high protective tariff that triggered the Nullification Crisis with South Carolina.

Age of Jackson

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Indian Removal Act of 1830: Facilitated land-exchange treaties with Native American tribes east of the Mississippi River, leading to forced relocation and the Trail of Tears.
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831): Ruled that Native American tribes were not foreign nations but were dependent nations subject to federal jurisdiction.
Worcester v. Georgia (1832): Held that states were prohibited from violating the sovereignty of Native American tribal lands.
Force Bill (1833): Authorized President Jackson to use military force against South Carolina to enforce the Tariff of 1828, leading to a tariff compromise.
Specie Circular (1836): Required that land sales be paid in gold or silver, contributing to the Panic of 1837.

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837): A states' rights victory holding that existing private contracts could not impede public improvements and benefit.

Antebellum Era

William Henry Harrison (1841)

John Tyler (1841-1845)

Commonwealth v. Hunt (1841): The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that labor unions were legal organizations and strikes were legal actions.
Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842): Established the northern boundary and Great Lakes border with Great Britain/Canada.
Texas Annexation (1845): Annexed Texas via a joint resolution, leading to a border dispute and the Mexican-American War.

James K. Polk (1845-1849)

Oregon Treaty (1846): Settled the Oregon boundary dispute with Great Britain, establishing the 49th parallel as the boundary.
Wilmot Proviso (1846): Proposed to prohibit slavery in the Mexican Cession, but it was rejected.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): Ended the Mexican-American War, with Mexico ceding California and the American Southwest to the U.S. for 15M.

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850): Established a joint American-British effort to build a canal in Nicaragua.

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

Compromise of 1850: Admitted California as a free state, reinforced the Fugitive Slave Law, established popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession, and prohibited the slave trade in D.C.

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

Gadsden Purchase (1853): Acquired territory on the U.S.-Mexican border to facilitate the construction of a southern transcontinental railroad.
Ostend Manifesto (1854): A secret negotiation attempting to acquire Cuba as a slave state from Spain.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Stephen Douglas negotiated popular sovereignty in the Nebraska Territory and Kansas Territory; it effectively dissolved the Missouri Compromise and led to Bleeding Kansas, the end of the Whig Party, and the beginning of the Republican Party.
Convention of Kanagawa (1854): Opened up trade between Japan and the U.S. as a result of Commodore Perry’s Expedition.

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Ruled that blacks were not citizens, slaves were property, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
Lecompton Constitution (1857-1858): A pro-slavery Kansas constitution supported by Buchanan but rejected by Congress.
Crittenden Compromise (1860): A last-minute compromise proposal to divide the nation into a free North and a slave South, but it was rejected.

Civil War/Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

Ex Parte Merryman (1861): Ruled that Congress, not the President, may suspend habeas corpus.
Confiscation Acts (1861-1862): Authorized Union generals to confiscate properties (slaves) as a means to free them.
Trent Affair (1862): A Union ship captured and arrested Confederate diplomats on British ships but released them to avoid war with Britain.
Morrill Land Grant Act (1862): Created land-grant colleges for agriculture and mechanics education.
Homestead Act of 1862: Sold federal lands for 10 for 160 acres, with full ownership after five years of improvements.
Pacific Railway Act (1862): Authorized construction of a railroad between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to complete the first transcontinental railroad.
Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Freed all slaves in Confederate territories.
Enrollment Act of 1863: Established conscription, allowing for substitutions and 300 commutations.
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863): Proposed the Ten Percent Plan and pardons for Southerners, excluding leaders and generals.
Wade-Davis Bill (1864): Required 50% of voters to take an ironclad oath of allegiance.
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865): A federal government assistance program for displaced former slaves and whites.

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Abolished slavery.
Ex parte Milligan (1866): Ruled that citizens may not be tried in military tribunals if civilian courts are functioning.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867: Placed former Confederate states in military districts, requiring them to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment for readmission.
Alaska Purchase (1867): Acquired Alaska from Russia; known as Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox.
Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Established the Citizen Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause, applying them to the states; punished former Confederate states that did not apply Civil War amendments; and prohibited pardons for Confederate leaders.

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

Fifteenth Amendment (1869): Granted blacks the right to vote.
Slaughterhouse Cases (1873): Ruled that privileges and immunities only applied to the federal government, not the states.
Coinage Act of 1873: Removed silver from circulation, becoming known as the “Crime of 1873.”
Civil Rights Act of 1875: Provided equal protection for blacks in public accommodations and transportation and prohibited jury service exclusion.
Munn v. Illinois (1877): States were allowed to regulate private businesses in matters of public interest; Granger laws.
Compromise of 1877: Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) became president, and federal troops were removed from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

Gilded Age

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

Bland-Allison Act (1878): Reintroduced silver coinage.

James Garfield (1881)

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): Banned Chinese labor immigration for ten years and placed limitations on other Chinese immigrants.
Pendleton Act (1883): Established the Civil Service Commission and civil service exams.
Civil Rights Cases (1883): Ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, stating that segregation may be practiced by private businesses.

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)

Wabash v. Illinois (1886): Limited states in regulating interstate commerce and overruled Munn v. Illinois.
Interstate Commerce Act (1887): Established the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate railroad industries.
Dawes Severalty Act (1887): Provided land grants to individual Native Americans from tribal lands and established assimilation programs.

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Dependent Pension Act (1890): Provided pensions for Civil War veterans and their dependents.
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Aimed to limit trusts and monopolies and unfair competition; primarily used against labor unions.
Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890): The federal government purchased silver to increase the money supply due to the Free Silver movement, assisting farmers and debtors.
McKinley Tariff (1890): Established record peacetime protectionist tariffs.

Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)

In re Debs (1895): Upheld the federal government's use of federal troops and court injunctions in regulating interstate commerce, a result of the Pullman Strike.
United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895): Ruled that manufacturing was not included in interstate commerce regulation, weakening the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Established the “separate but equal” doctrine, legitimizing segregation and Jim Crow laws.

Progressive Era

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Hawaii Annexation (1898): Annexed Hawaii as a U.S. territory.
Teller Amendment (1898): Stated that the U.S. would not acquire Cuba if victorious against Spain.
Treaty of Paris (1898): Ended the Spanish-American War, with the U.S. acquiring Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
Open Door Policy (1899): A U.S.-led policy to provide equal trade in China among great powers and respect Chinese territory and spheres of influence.
Platt Amendment (1901): Allowed American unilateral influence in Cuban affairs and established Guantanamo Bay.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

Insular Cases (1901-1903): Ruled that constitutional provisions did not automatically apply to territories without Congressional consent; “Constitution does not follow the flag.”
Newlands Reclamation Act (1902): Established federal-funded irrigation projects for Western states.
Elkins Act (1903): Prohibited railroad rebates, strengthening the ICC.
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903): Established the Panama Canal Zone and allowed the U.S. to construct the Panama Canal.
Northern Securities Co. v. United States (1904): Prevented the formation of a railroad monopoly.
Roosevelt Corollary (1904): Expanded the Monroe Doctrine to allow the U.S. to intervene in Latin America to protect American interests.
Treaty of Portsmouth (1905): Theodore Roosevelt negotiated peace between Japan and Russia after the Russo-Japanese War; won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Lochner v. New York (1905): Ruled a ten-hour workday for bakers unconstitutional.
Hepburn Act (1906): Established bookkeeping regulations for railroad industries.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): Prohibited mislabeling on consumer products and medicines.
Meat Inspection Act (1906): Ensured sanitary conditions in meat processing plants.
Gentleman’s Agreement: Japan agreed to limit unskilled labor immigration in return for desegregated public schools in California.
Muller v. Oregon (1908): Authorized shorter working hours for women for maternal reasons.

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909): Increased protectionist tariffs despite the intent to lower them.
Mann-Elkins Act (1910): Expanded the ICC’s powers to regulate telecommunication industries.
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States (1911): Broke up the Standard Oil Trust into 33 companies.
Lodge Corollary (1912): Extended the Monroe Doctrine to include all foreign powers from interfering in the Western Hemisphere.
Sixteenth Amendment (1913): Enacted a federal income tax.

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Underwood Tariff (1913): Lowered tariffs.
Federal Reserve Act (1913): Established the Federal Reserve (“The Fed”) to regulate monetary policy.
Seventeenth Amendment (1913): Provided for the direct election of U.S. Senators.
Federal Trade Commission (1914): Enforced antitrust legislation and promoted consumer protection.
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Reinforced antitrust legislation and was not applied to labor unions.
Adamson Act (1916): Established an eight-hour workday and overtime for railroad workers.
Keating-Owen Act (1916): Prohibited the sale of interstate commerce goods produced by companies using child labor.
Selective Service Act of 1917: Authorized the government to draft men for World War I without substitutions.
Espionage Act of 1917: Prohibited interference in military operations and drafts, support for enemies, and promotion of insubordination.
Sedition Act of 1918: Forbade disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the U.S. government.
Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918): Determined the Keating-Owen Act unconstitutional.
Schenck v. United States (1918): Ruled that freedom of speech is not absolute if it presents a “clear and present danger.”
Fourteen Points (1918-1919): Promoted self-determination, free trade, freedom of the seas, and a League of Nations.
Eighteenth Amendment (1919): Prohibited the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol.
Volsteadt Act (1919): Enforced Prohibition and the 18th Amendment.
Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Granted women suffrage.

Roaring Twenties

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

Emergency Quota Act (1921): Established a quota of 3% of the 1910 Census immigrant populations.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922): Increased peacetime protectionist tariffs.
Washington Naval Conference (1922-1923): Five Power Treaty: naval armament limitations of 5:5:3:1.75:1.75 applied to the U.S., Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

National Origins Act (1924): Established a quota of 2% of the 1890 Census immigrant populations.
Mellon’s Tax Bill (Revenue Acts of 1924, 1926, 1928): Decreased tax rates for businesses and the upper class to support trickle-down economics.
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928): An international agreement outlawing war as an offensive measure.

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Federal Farm Board (1929): Designed to stabilize and lower prices by holding on to farm surpluses.
Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930): A record-high protectionist tariff, leading to retaliatory tariffs from other nations.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932): Provided federal-backed loans for banks and corporations to stimulate the economy.

Great Depression/New Deal/World War II

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

Twentieth Amendment (1933): A lame-duck amendment moving inauguration from March to January.
Emergency Banking Relief Act (1933): The federal government shut down banks, examined solvency, and reopened strong banks to ensure consumer confidence; part of the Bank Holiday.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (1933): The federal government hired young men for conservation projects to provide income to families.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) (1933): The federal government provided farmers subsidies to limit production.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (1933): A federal government-backed private corporation to develop Tennessee Valley infrastructure, creating jobs, building dams, and generating cheap electricity.
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) (1933): Established the NRA to enforce business codes for fair competition and PWA to provide state and local relief jobs.
Glass-Steagall Act (1933): Established banking regulation and the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure commercial deposits and prevent bank runs.
Twenty-First Amendment (1933): Repealed Prohibition and the 18th Amendment.
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) (1934): Established stock market regulations.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) (1934): The federal government backed low-interest mortgages.
Indian Reorganization Act (1934): Reversed the Dawes Severalty Act and returned to local self-government for individual tribes.
Schecter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935): Ruled NIRA unconstitutional, violating the Congressional interstate commerce power delegated to the executive branch.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) (1935): Federal-funded state and local infrastructure projects and humanities projects (Federal One).
National Youth Administration (NYA) (1935): Federal-funded part-time jobs for students.
Rural Electrification Administration (REA): Federal-funded effort to electrify the rural sector through private electric companies.
Social Security Act (1935): Established a federal social insurance program for retired workers, the disabled, and dependents, funded through payroll taxes.
Wagner Act (1935): Legitimized collective bargaining for labor unions.
Neutrality Acts (1935, 1937): Proclaimed neutrality, prohibited loans to belligerent nations, and established cash-and-carry.
United States v. Butler (1936): Ruled AAA unconstitutional, violating Reserved Powers of the 10th Amendment.
Justice Reorganization Bill (1937): Roosevelt’s court-packing scheme to appoint more New Deal-friendly justices.
Fair Labor Standards Act (1938): Legalized an 8-hour workday, overtime compensation, a national minimum wage, and prohibited child labor.
Hatch Act (1939): Restricted civil service employees from partisan political activity.
Neutrality Act of 1939: Cash-and-carry provisions applied to belligerent nations (France and Britain).
Selective Service Act of 1940: First peacetime conscription for males aged 21-35, eventually 18-65 during the war.
Destroyers-for-Bases (1940): Old American warships exchanged to Britain for land rights in British territories.
Lend-Lease Act (1941): The U.S. provided loans and war materials to Allied nations during World War II.
Executive Order 9066: Authorized the internment of Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (G.I. Bill) (1944): Provided federal-funded college or vocational education for veterans.
Korematsu v. United States (1944): Ruled Japanese internment camps constitutional as a wartime measure.
Smith v. Allwright (1944): Ruled white primaries unconstitutional.

Post-World War II

Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)

Taft-Hartley Act (1947): Restricted labor unions by outlawing closed shops and requiring prior notification of strikes.
National Security Act (1947): Reorganized the military under the Department of Defense and established the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Executive Order 9981 (1948): Desegregated the federal government and military.
NSC-68 (1950): Recommended a foreign policy concentrated on an expanded military and government to contain communism.
Twenty-Second Amendment (1951): Established a limit of two presidential terms.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Ordered the desegregation of schools, overruling “separate but equal.”
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956: Authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System.
Civil Rights Act of 1957: Aimed to enforce voting rights for blacks; Strom Thurmond’s filibuster.
Civil Rights Act of 1960: Reinforced the voting rights provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

Great Society/Civil Rights Era

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

Twenty-Third Amendment (1961): Granted the District of Columbia three electoral votes in presidential elections.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Applied the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures to the states.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Ruled that the accused must be provided counsel (6th Amendment).
Clean Air Act (1963): Authorized a federal government agency to monitor air pollution.

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969)

Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964): Prohibited poll taxes.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964): A joint resolution authorizing President Johnson to use any conventional military force to assist South Vietnam against the Viet Cong.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Outlawed major forms of discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and nationality.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Outlawed various disenfranchisement laws and aimed to enforce the 15th Amendment.
Immigration Act of 1965: Rescinded the quota laws.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965): Provided federal funding for public and private education.
Social Security Act of 1965: Established Medicare (health care for the elderly) and Medicaid (health care for low-income families).
National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act (1965): Provided federal grants to promote the fine arts and humanities projects.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Ruled that the accused must be made aware of their rights prior to arrest and interrogation.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967): Addressed presidential succession.
Public Broadcasting Act (1967): Established the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) for non-commercial programming.
Civil Rights Act of 1968/Fair Housing Act (1968): Prohibited discrimination in acquiring property.
Bilingual Education Act (1968): Provided federal grants to assist local and state governments in implementing education programs for non-English-speaking students.

Contemporary Era

Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969): Ruled that black armbands protesting the Vietnam Conflict were protected as symbolic speech.
Vietnamization (1969-1975): A policy to assist South Vietnamese to take over military operations and reduce U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Reorganization Plan No. 3 (1970): Established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970): Established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971): Granted citizens 18 years and older the right to vote.
New York Times v. United States (1971): Ruled that prior restraint is only legal if the government can prove “grave and irreparable damage”; Pentagon Papers.
War Powers Act (1973): Required the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of using military force for a period of 60 days, with a 30-day withdrawal period.
Roe v. Wade (1973): Legalized abortion.
United States v. Nixon (1974): Ruled that executive privilege does not extend to evidence in a criminal investigation (Watergate Tapes).

Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

Camp David Accords (1978): Negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel.
University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978): Ruled that race quotas were unconstitutional, but race may be considered for admission.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

Tax Reform Act of 1986: Simplified the tax code, reduced tax brackets, and lowered income taxes.
Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986): Stated that employers could not knowingly hire illegal immigrants and granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who arrived before January 1982.

George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

Americans with Disabilities Act: Prohibited employers from discriminating against qualified candidates with disabilities.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

Family and Medical Leave Act (1993): Provided protection and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (1993): Military recruits and service personnel may not be asked about sexual orientation and should not divulge their sexual orientation or risk discharge.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994): Established free trade between Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
**Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act/Welfare Reform