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United States Politics
A historical timeline of the United States political landscape from 1784-2017 -
Treaty of Paris is ratified by Congress
The Revolutionary War officially ends. -
George Washington elected President
The first president of the United States. He shaped the the chief executives duties and refused to run for a third term. He was in office from 1789-1797. -
John Adams is elected President
John Adams was the second president of the United States. He was the first president to live in the White House. He was a Federalist and his term lasted from 1797-1801 -
Thomas Jefferson is elected President
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He wrote the Declaration of Independence and also approved the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, which nearly doubled the size of the U.S. His term lasted from 1801 to 1809 -
James Madison is elected President
James Madison is the fourth president of the United States. He is considered the father of the Bills of Rights. His term lasted from 1809 to 1817 -
James Monroe is elected President
James Monroe is elected the fifth president of the United States. His term lasted from 1817-1825 and his term was called the "Era of Good Feeling" because there was little partisan fighting. He formulated the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Americas off limits to European meddling. -
John Quincy Adams is elected President
John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States. He was the son of John Adams. His term lasted from 1825-1829. After his presidency, he served nine terms in the House of Representatives until his death in 1848. -
Andrew Jackson is elected President
Andrew Jackson is the seventh president of the United States. He was apart of the Democratic party and was in office from 1829-1837 -
Martin Van Buren is elected President
Martin Van Buren is elected the eighth president of the United States. He is apart of the Democratic party and was the first president to be born an American citizen rather than a British subject. His presidency was marred by an economic depression that led to bank failures and food riots. His term was from 1837-1841 -
William Henry Harrison is elected President
William Henry Harrison is elected the ninth president of the United States. He delivered a marathon inaugural speech during which he caught a cold and died a month later. He was the first president to die in office and served the briefest term, last only in 1841 -
John Tyler elected President
John Tyler is elected the 10th president of the United States. He serves from 1841 to 1845. He had 15 children, more than any President. He made enemies in Congress and was the first President to be threatened with impeachment. The effort failed. -
James K. Polk elected president
James K. Polk is elected the 11th president of the United States. He was apart of the Democratic part and was president from 1845 to 1849. He is the only president to have served as Speaker of the House. -
Zachary Taylor is elected President
Zachary Taylor is elected the 12th president of the United States. He serves from 1849 to 1850. He threatened to use force to keep the South from leaving the Union. After his death, a compromise allowed slavery to continue in the South -
Millard Fillmore is elected President
Millard Fillmore is elected the 13th president of the United States. He is in office from 1850 to 1853. Fillmore approved the Compromise of 1850, allowing slavery in the South. However neither the North or South was happy with it and Fillmore was blamed for the laws failure. -
Franklin Pierce is elected the 14th president
Franklin Pierce is elected the 14 President of the United States. He was president from 1853-1857. He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
James Buchanan is elected president
James Buchanan is elected the 15th president of the United States. He is a democrat and was the only bachelor to ever serve in the White House. He served from 1857-1861 -
Abraham Lincoln is elected president
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States. He led the Union into the Civil War to preserve the nation and end slavery. He was assassinated 5 days after the Confederate armies surrendered. He served from 1861-1865 -
Andrew Johnson is elected president
Andrew Johnson is elected the 17th president of the United States. He was stuck in bitter battles with Congress over reconstruction. He was impeached and tried by the Senate, but was acquitted by one vote. He was also the only southern senator to stay loyal to the Union. He served from 1865-1869. -
Ulysses S. Grant is elected president
Ulysses S. Grant is elected 18th president of the United States. He was the top Union military hero of the Civil War. He served from 1869-1877 -
Electoral Commission
A temporary body created by Congress to resolve the disputed United States election of 1876. It consisted of 15 members. The election was contested by the democratic ticket, Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, and the Republican ticket, Rutherford B. Hayes and William A Wheeler. -
Rutherford B. Hayes is elected president
Rutherford B. Hayes is elected the 19th president of the United States. He was one of only three presidents to lose the popular vote but win the office. He won the election by one electoral vote. He served from 1877-1881. -
Democratic convention in Cincinnati
6 men were offically candidates for nomination at the convention, and several more also received votes. Leading candidates were Hancock and Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware. Bayard was a conservative senator and Hancock was a career soldier and Civil War Hero. -
Chester A. Arthur is elected president
Chester A. Arthur is elected the 21st president of the United States. He helped create the Civil Service. He served from 1881-1885 -
James A. Garfield is elected president
James A. Garfield is elected the 20th president of the United States. He set out to reform the 'spoils system' by which politicians gave their friends low level political offices. He was assassinated by a disappointed office seeker. He was only in office for the year 1881 -
Republicans regain Senate control
The democratic party lost 5 seats in the United States Senate. The Republicans had the slightest majority - 30 our of 76. -
Grover Cleveland is elected president
Grover Cleveland is elected the 22nd president of the United States. He is the only president to be elected to 2 non consecutive terms. He expanded the Civil Service and ended wasteful government programs but an economic depression wrecked his second term. He served from 1885-1889 then 1893-1897 -
Dawes Act and Interstate Commerce Act pass
Targeted unfair practices in the railroad industry by attempting to eliminate discrimination against small markets, outlawing pools and rebates, and establishing a reasonable and just price standard. It was created by the act to enforce these regulations and investigate allegations of fraud, deception, and discrimination. -
Union Labor Party convention at Cincinnati
Formed in Cincinnati, Ohio by some 300 to 600 delegates at a convention called the Industrial Labor Conference. Founding members include the Knights of Labor, the Agricultural Wheel, the Farmers Alliance, the declining Grange, and the defunct Greenback Party. -
Democratic convention in St. Louis
Held June 5th to 7th, in the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis won the convention after a presentation in February 1888. Stephen M. White served as temporary chairman and Patrick A. Collins served as the conventions permanent president. -
Republican convention held in Chicago
Presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois. It resulted in the nomination of former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for President and Levi P. Morton of New York, a former Congressman and minister to France, for Vice President. During the convention, Frederick Douglass was invited to speak and became the first african american to have his name put foward for a presidential nomination in a major parts roll call vote from Kentucky on the 4th ballot. -
Thomas B. Reed (ME) elected as speaker
A U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889-1891 and also from 1895-1899 -
Benjamin Harrison is elected president
Benjamin Harrison is elected the 23rd president of the United States. His grandfather was President William Henry Harrison. He served from 1889-1893 -
McKinley Tariff passes in Congress
Introducted by U.S. House of Representative, William McKinley from Ohio. It was a tariff bill, where taxes places on foreign goods by federal governments. By placing the taxes on foreign goods, these products become more expensive. -
Presedential Elections: Popular Vote Electoral Vote
Glover Cleveland (Democratic) 46.1 277
Benjamin Harrison (Republican) 43 145
James B. Weaver (People's) 8.5 22 -
Republican National Convention
Held at the Industrial Exposition Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The party nominated President Benjamin Harrison for re-election on the first ballot and Whitelaw Reid of New York for Vice President. -
Presedential Elections: Popular Vote Electoral Vote
William M. McKinley (Republican) 51.1 271
William J. Bryan (Democratic) 47.7 176 -
Democratic national convention in Chicago opposes silver men
Held at Chicago Coliseum with the scene of William Jennings Bryans nomination as the democratic president candidate for the 1896 U.S. presidential election. Bryan was the youngest presidential nominee in american history, at 36 years old. -
William McKinley is elected president
William McKinley is elected the 25th president of the United States. He led the U.S. during the Spanish-American War. The U.S. won several important overseas colonies. He was assassinated and served from 1897-1901 -
Theodore Roosevelt elected as governor of New York
Was governor of New York before becoming U.S. vice president. At age 42, Teddy Roosevelt became the youngest man to assume the U.S. presidency after the President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. He won a second term in 1904 -
Theodore Roosevelt is elected the president
Theodore Roosevelt is elected the 26th president of the United States. He accomplished many things including the building of the Panama Canal, cracking down on business monopolies, and creating many national parks. He was the first president to visit a foreign country while in office. He served from 1901-1909 -
William Howard Taft is elected president
William Howard Taft is elected the 27th president of the United States. He continued many of Roosevelts policies. A conservative, he alienated the progressive wing of his party and lost reelection. He served from 1909-1913 -
Woodrow Wilson is elected president
Woodrow Wilson is elected the 28th president of the United States. He led the U.S. into the war and drafter the peace plan that ended it. Wilson then fought to create the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations. He was a democrat and served from 1913-1921 -
Warren G. Harding is elected president
Warren G. Harding is elected the 29th president of the United States. He died in office just as a massive corruption in the Teapot Dome scandal was about to become public. His election was the first in which women voted. He was a republican and served from 1921-1923 -
Calvin Coolidge is elected president
Calvin Coolidge is elected the 30th president of the United States. He was a republican and he served from 1923-1929 -
Herbert C. Hoover is elected president
Herbert C. Hoover is elected the 31st president. He is a republican who was in office from 1929-1933. The stock market crashed a few months into Hoovers term, the Great Depression that followed was widely blamed on him. He organized relief efforts in Europe after both World Wars. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected the 32nd president. He was a democrat and served in office from 1933-1945. He led the nation during the Great Depression of the 1930s and to victory in World War ll. He also greatly expanded the size and role of the federal government through his New Deal social programs. He was the only president elected four times. -
Harry S. Truman is elected president
Harry S. Truman is elected the 33rd president. He was a democrat and was in office from 1945-1953. He made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. World War ll ended a couple of days later. He also led the U.S. during the Korean War. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected the 34th president. He was a republican and was in office from 1953-1961. A former World War ll general and hero, he also helped end the Korean War and steered a moderate course during the Cold War. -
John F. Kennedy is elected president
John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th president. He was a democrat and served in office from 1961-1963. He was assassinated in this third year of his term. Only Roman Catholic to become president. -
Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president
Lyndon B. Johnson is elected the 36th president. He was a democrat and was in office from 1963-1969. He passed sweeping antipoverty and civil rights programs. He was sworn into office on an airplane after the Kennedy assassination. -
Richard M. Nixon is elected president
Richard M. Nixon is elected the 37th president. He was a republican and served in office from 1969-1974. During his first term he improved relations with the Soviet Union and China and wound down the Vietnam War. But the Watergate scandal forced Nixon to resign before Congress could impeach him. Only U.S. President in history to resign his office. -
Gerald R. Ford is elected president
Gerald R. Ford is elected the 38th president. He was a republican and was in office from 1974-1977. He became president after Nixons Vice President resigned in disgrace, and President after Nixon resigned. -
James E. Carter is elected president
James E. Carter is elected the 39th president. He was a democrat and was in office 1977-1981. He promoted Middle East peace. -
Ronald W. Reagan is elected president
Ronald W. Reagan is elected the 40th president. He was a republican and served in office from 1981-1989. He is the only president to survive after being wounded by a would-be assassin. -
George H. W. Bush is elected president
George H. W. Bush is elected the 41st president. He is a republican and was in office from 1989-1993. During his term the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. He also led the U.S. in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. -
William J. Clinton is elected president
William J. Clinton is elected the 42nd president. He is a democrat and was in office from 1993-2001. He achieved goals such as passage of the NAFTA trade agreement and cuts in the budget deficit. -
George W. Bush is elected president
George W. Bush is elected the 43rd president and was a republican. He was in office from 2001-2009. He led the U.S. into war against Iraq. -
Barack Obama is elected president
Barack Obama is elected the 44th president and was the first African American president of the U.S. He is a democrat and was in office from 2009-2017 -
Donald Trump is elected president
Donald Trump is elected the 45th president. He is a republican and in still currently in office.
