United States Presidents 1 to 10

Washington, George - 1st U.S. President

• Winning the first presidency by a unanimous vote, with some individuals having wished to make Washington king, it seems unusual that he did not really want the position of president.
• Although a successful general and president, Washington remained interested in farming throughout his presidency. He bred animals, specializing in the breeding of mules and helped to raise the quality of stock across the nation.
• As the first president, Washington had many new tasks to accomplish with trial and error as the only available method for accomplishing them. After appointing people to head the four executive departments, he tried to meet with each head, or ] secretary, individually. This proved to be daunting. As a result he had the secretaries meet with him as a group, forming the government's first cabinet.
• New York was the nation’s first capital, but people felt that the capital should be outside the territory of any states. George Washington selected the site for our current capital between the states of Maryland and Virginia. While the new capital was being built, Washington led the country from Philadelphia, which served as a temporary capital.
• George Washington - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Adams, John - 2nd U.S. President

• As a boy growing up in Braintree, Massachusetts John Adams enjoyed shooting marbles, making toy boats, and flying kites.
• As a delegate to the Continental Congress, Adams nominated George Washington in 1775 to be commander-in-chief.
• Although able to keep the United States out of an official war with France, he played a large role in what became known as the Quasi-War. Having attempted and failed to negotiate with France using three unidentified diplomats, known only as X,Y, and Z, Adams managed to make arrangements with the British navy to protect the U.S. transatlantic shipping. Later in 1800 he agreed to increase trade with France thus negotiating the end of the Quasi-War.
• Adams and his family were the first to move into the nation’s new capital. At the time they move into the White House it was still unfinished and they stayed only a year.
• John Adams - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Jefferson, Thomas - 3rd U.S. President

• Before Jefferson became president, he helped to enact a law in 1786 in his own state of Virginia which guaranteed religious freedom.
• In 1801 the French had won the Louisiana Territory from the Spanish. Jefferson feared that the French might not allow U.S. ships to use the Mississippi River so he sent two men, James Monroe and Robert Livingston, to negotiate free passage for the U.S. as well as the purchase of New Orleans. However, the French foreign minister offered the whole Louisiana Territory for fifteen million dollars, which was about four cents an acre. In 1803 the land was purchased, doubling the size of the United States.
• As a young man, at the age of 33, Jefferson had been asked to and succeeded in writing the Declaration of Independence. He had included a passage attacking slavery, but it was edited out of the final version. Although he did not have enough support to outlaw slavery itself, he was able to convince congress to ban slave importation in 1808.
• Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to explore the Louisiana Territory. They left on may 14, 1804 accompanied by a Native American Shoshone woman, Sacagawea, who acted as a guide and interpreter for their trip.
• Books for Children
• Thomas Jefferson A Picture Book Biography by James Cross Giblin - A comprehensive and colorful biography. ( amazon.com has it )
• Thomas Jefferson - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Madison, James - 4th U.S. President

• At the time Madison was elected to office, the U.S. was still having trouble with shipping goods to and from England and France. Madison tried many different strategies including the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 and Macon’s Bill Number Two, both of which failed.
• Madison did not want to go to war. However, in 1810 almost half the Congressmen elected were new. These new members were refered to as the War Hawks since they had promised to declare war if they were elected. Eventually Madison succumbed to Congress and the U.S. entered the War of 1812. It was during this war that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the "Star Spangled Banner".
• On August 24, 1814 the British set fire to the Capital. Most officials and President Madison had fled beforehand, having witnessed the brief battle before the British took over. A storm eventually forced the British out of Washington.
In December of 1814, the war was ended after Madison had accepted an offer for peace talks from the British minister. Despite this agreement, the last battle of that war actually happened in January of 1815 in New Orleans, because word that the war had ended took so long to travel that far.
• James Madison - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Monroe, James - 5th U.S. President

• With the Capital still not fully restored from the war of 1812, Monroe decided to tour the country while the work was finished. His trip lasted 15 weeks and allowed him to get familiar with much of the country.
• During Monroe’s Presidency, hostility grew between the North and the South over slavery. When Missouri wanted to join the Union, the government was at a loss to decide if it should be a free or slave state, and nobody was even sure if the government could decide such a thing. It wasn’t until Maine also wanted to join that the Missouri Compromise was reached. Both territories could join the Union, Maine as a free state, Missouri as a slave state.
• Initially founded as a colony in Africa for freed slaves, Liberia had originally been named Monrovia. When it became an independent republic in 1848 and changed its name, the capital kept the name Monrovia in honor of James Monroe.
• On December 2, 1823 President Monroe gave a speech which later became known as the Monroe Doctrine. He warned Europe against trying to further colonize the United States, but allowed those colonies that were already established to continue as before.
• James Monroe - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Adams, John Quincy - 6th U.S. President

• John Quincy Adams was the only president to have a father also serve as president. His father was John Adams, the second president of the United States.
• During the end of Adams’ term in July of 1828 work began on the first U.S. steam powered railroad, the B&O.
• Adams believed in a strong central government and partially because of this he was able to successfully pass two public works projects, despite opposition from Congress. The extension of the Cumberland Road into Ohio was one and construction of a canal between the Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River was the other.
• Following his presidency, John Quincy Adams continued his work in politics. He won a seat in the House of Representatives, becoming the first president to serve in Congress after his term in office.
• John Quincy Adams - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Jackson, Andrew - 7th U.S. President

• Jackson had a hard early life. His father died before he was born. At thirteen years of age after having lost an older brother, Jackson served in the Continental Army as a messenger. He became a prisoner of war where he lost his last brother to small pox. His mother died that same year leaving 14 year old Jackson alone.
• Jackson, who was not fond of banks, ordered all federal funds to be withdrawn from the federal bank called the Second Bank. The first two Secretaries of Treasury refused, so Jackson dismissed them. He then appointed Roger Taney as the Secretary of Treasury, and Taney withdrew the funds. This eventually closed the Second Bank, sending money to smaller state banks which lent money more easily. This contributed to new westward expansion.
• In 1836 Texas won its battle for independence from the Mexican government. On July 4 of that year, Congress agreed to recognize Texas as a new republic, thus setting the stage for Texas to join the Union.
• Before leaving office, Jackson issued the Specie Circular. This new law said that federal land could only be purchased with gold or silver coinage. Paper money would not be accepted.
• Andrew Jackson - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Van Buren, Martin - 8th U.S. President

• In 1837, during Van Buren’s first year in office, Samuel Morse displayed the first working model of the telegraph. He convinced the government to fund its development by sending a message from Baltimore to Washington and receiving an immediate reply.
• At the time Van Buren took office, the nation was entering an economic depression from the destruction of the Second Bank. The depression lasted about a decade and hurt Van Buren when he ran for reelection.
• Van Buren refused to allow Texas into the Union. Although he believed slavery should be the choice of each individual state, he was afraid to upset the balance of power that existed in the United States at that time. Texas wanted to join as a slave state.
• Canadian rebels loyal to the British burned and sent the U.S. steamship Caroline over Niagra Falls. In response to this attack, Van Buren sent troops to the Canadian border, but stopped short of declaring war on Britain. Over opposition, he declared the U.S. would maintain neutrality in the Canadian rebellion.
• Martin Van Buren - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Harrison, William Henry - 9th U.S. President

• Harrison’s father, Benjamin Harrison, was one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
• Before being elected as president, Harrison served as a professional soldier and as governor of the Indian Territory in 1811. As governor he led an army against the Shawnee village and won the battle at Tippecanoe Creek. This earned him the nickname, Old Tippecanoe. His campaign slogan was Old Tippecanoe and Tyler Too, with John Tyler as his runningmate for vice president.
• After just one month as president, Henry Harrison became ill and died of pneumonia on April 4, 1841. This left John Tyler as acting president after only one month in office.
• William Henry Harrison - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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Tyler, John - 10th U.S. President

• Vice president to William Henry Harrison, the 9th U.S. president. When President Harrison died in April, 1841, John Tyler assumed the role of president without a vice president.
• He was the first president to serve in office without a party, because the Whigs abandonded him after his second veto of a bill to bring back a national bank.
• He signed a joint resolution of Congress that admitted Texas to the Union, only three days before leaving office in 1845.
• John Tyler - portrait and biographical information at the White House web site.

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