1. Important Presidents in
American History

2. George Washington:
Road to Presidency
 From Mount Vernon, VA.
 Served in the Virginia House of
Burgesses.
 He served as a senior officer in the
French and Indian War.
 The only president to have a unanimous
vote by the electoral college.
(The White House)

3. George Washington:
Presidency (1789-1797)
 He introduced the cabinet system
 He was precedent for future presidents, and
did not infringe on his powers.
 He sought to preserve liberty and reduce
regional tension.
 He promoted nationalism.
(Fagan)
 He stayed neutral in the war between France
and England.
 Retired after eight years in office. (The White House)

4. Thomas Jefferson:
Road to Presidency(1801-
1809)
 He is from Albemarle County, VA
 He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
 He practiced law.
 He was the Author of the Declaration of
Independence.
 He was elected as the Secretary of State
 He wrote a bill that established religious
freedom.
(The White House)

5. Thomas Jefferson:
Presidency
 He cut the national budget
 He eliminated the tax on whisky and cut
the national debt by 1/3.
 He made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803,
gaining western territory.
(Fagan)  He stayed out of the Napoleon wars.
(The White House)

6. Abraham Lincoln:
Road to Presidency
 He was from Hardin County, KY.
 He grew up poor and struggled.
 He was determined and self-educated.
 He was a captain in the Black Hawk War.
 He ran for senator, but lost.
 He served eight years in the Illinois
legislature.
(The White House)

7. Abraham Lincoln:
Presidency (1861-1865)
 Lincoln led the Union cause of abolishing slavery.
 Led a victorious fight against the confederacy.
 He announced the emancipation proclamation and
the 13th amendment, banishing slavery.
 After the Civil War, he sought to keep peace in the
South to prevent succession.
(Fagan
)  He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in
1865.
(The White
House)

8. Woodrow Wilson:
Road to Presidency
 He was from Virginia
 He studied at the University of Virginia
Law School.
 He became the president of Princeton.
 He was governor of New Jersey in
1910 on the progressive platform.
(The White
House)

9. Woodrow Wilson:
Presidency (1913-1921)
 He was an advocate for Individualism and state
rights.
 He lowered tariffs.
 He enacted the Underwood Act.
 He enacted the Federal Reserve-Act.
 He passed Child Labor laws.
 He entered the US into WWI, defeating the
(Fagan) Germans.
 Came up with his Fourteen Points.
(The White
House)

10. Franklin D. Roosevelt:
Road to Presidency
 He was from Hyde Park, NY.
 Studies at Harvard and Columbia Law
School.
 He was the New York senator in 1910.
 He was the Assistant Secretary of the
Navy.
 He was diagnosed with Polio.
 He was the Governor of New York in
(The White
1928. House)

11. Franklin D. Roosevelt:
Presidency (1933-1945)
 He helped America recover after The
Depression by using the New Deal and
his “hundred day plan”.
 He provided relief to business, agriculture,
and the unemployed.
 He introduced social security.
(Fagan)  He used a “good neighbor policy”.
 He coined the word United Nations.
(The White
House)

12. Henry Truman:
Road to Presidency
 He was from Lamar Missouri.
 He was a farmer.
 He served as a captain in WWI in field
artillery.
 He was a judge of the Jackson County
Court.
 He was also a senator for Missouri.
(The White
House)

13. Henry Truman:
Presidency (1945-1953)
 He signed the United Nations.
 He introduced the Fair Deal.
 He used the Marshall Plan to provide
economic recovery to Europe.
 He aided West Berlin using the Berlin Airlift.
 He made the call to drop the atomic bombs
(Fagan) that ended WWII
 He kept the Korean War small in fear of was
with China or Russia. (The White
House)

14. George W. Bush:
Road to Presidency
 He was born in New Haven, CT.
 His family moved to Midland, TX.
 He got a degree at Harvard.
 He served in WWII.
 His father was also President after he ran
an oil exploration business.
 He was the Governor of Texas in 1995.
(The White
House)

15. George W. Bush:
Presidency (2001-2009)
 He was the president during the terrorist
attack on 9/11.
 He enacted the Homeland Security Act.
 Started a “war on terror”.
 He sent troops to Afghanistan to break up the
Taliban.
(Fagan)  He started the Iraq War.
 He imposed Tax cuts as promised in his
campaign. (The White
House)

16. Works Cited
 Fagan, Chas. "Portrait Galleries." American
Presidents: Life Portraits. C-SPAN, 2012. Web.
28 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.americanpresidents.org/ gallery/ >.
 The White House. USA gov, n.d. Web. 28 Feb.
2012. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/
presidents>.