U.S. PRESIDENTS - Jim Colyer

The American experience can be explained in terms of 43 presidents. 43 George Walker Bush - 2001-09 Texas in The White House! It was a war cabinet from day one. Vice-president Dick Cheney was elder Bush Secretary of Defense. Colin Powell was the big General in The Gulf War. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was an ex-wrestler who worked for Nixon and Ford. Television dug up footage from The Gulf War as soon as the Bush administration came in. For nearly 8 months, Bush's group had no purpose. After 9/11, it had all the purpose in the world. No one saw 9/11 coming. Blaming either party is absurd. Bin Laden and al Qaeda attacked all America. Any American could have been inside the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center on that day: Republican, Democrat, white, black or Hispanic. It was both an act of terror and the beginning of a crusade by Muslim extremists against Christians and Jews. George W. rose to the challenge. 9/11 changed him. He became a man of steel, a man of faith. He developed the same self-deprecating sense of humor that Reagan had. He appointed minorites. He proclaimed the civil rights of every American and freedom for all. He pledged to nominate qualified people to serve as judges. Bush views the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a larger War on Terror. Saddam Hussein boasted he would fight and die in Baghdad. When Saddam was captured, he was found hiding in a hole like an animal. It is too easy to call him a coward. There are plenty of radical Muslims willing to die for their cause. Bush named an "evil axis" composed of Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Iran is trying to enrich uranium while North Korea claims to have nuclear weapons. North Korea wanted to talk to the United States one on one while Bush insisted on multi-lateral talks involving 6 nations. It would be advantageous to do both. Democrats criticized Bush for going into Iraq and taking the focus off al Qaeda. Bin Laden is thought to be in the mountains near the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. He remains a threat because of his hatred for the United States and everything that smacks of civilization. Better intelligence is needed. It is imperative that terrorists not gain access to nuclear weapons. There is a down side to Bush 43 when it comes to domestic policies. He has gotten his way because of 9/11. Without a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he might have been a one-termer like his father. Voters were reluctant to change during war time. Bush has implemented tax cuts for his oil buddies. He is the president of the rich. Education and science have suffered at the expense of religion. Still, Bush's speech about going to Mars coincided with a NASA plan to return to the moon by 2018. The price of gasoline has doubled under Bush. Never before has this happened from one president to the next. The Republican Congress has given oil companies the go ahead for drilling in Alaska's wildlife refuge. Alternative enegry sources are discussed. Many Americans see the middle class as shrinking, the population dividing into upper and lower income groups. Bush wanted to privatize Social Security. To privatize Social Security would be to turn it into something else. It would no longer be Social Security. Social Security is a government program stemming from the FDR era, a response to the Great Depression. It was not designed to be a pension fund. It was designed to be a safety net for the aged and disabled who are unable to take care of themselves. If Bush can appoint judges to the Supreme Court who can overturn Roe v. Wade, it will be a monumental achievement. 46 million babies have been aborted since 1973 in what has become an American Holocaust. John Roberts and Sam Alito could move us away from national suicide. George Bush spoke of a "coalition of the willing" when he invaded Iraq. This is in his favor. Saddam caused his own downfall. The United States has the right to defend itself as long as that defense is made by the willing. No one has been drafted and sent to Iraq. The soldiers there are volunteers. Their courage and loyalty to their country can not be questioned. It is a dangerous mission. As I write, there have been 2,245 Americans killed in Iraq. This is a high price to pay. 41% approve of the way Bush is handling the war due to recent speeches and the election of a permanent Iraqi Parliament. I empathize when he says it is his job to defend the American people. It is imperative that Americans stand together against an enemy who would destroy us all. George Bush insists on total victory. He is doing what he said he would. He has kept America safe after 9/11 and has brought democracy to Iraq. Al Qaeda and its terrorists had America surrounded. Bush distracted them by taking the fight to the desert. It was a standoff between the Bushes of Texas and the Husseins of Baghdad going back to the Gulf War of 1990-91. One family had to go down just as Roosevelt or Hitler had to go down in World War II. America is the leader of the free world and must rise to its destiny. 2004-05 was a test for Bush. He passed the test. He survived the Michael Moores, John Kerrys, Cindy Sheehans, Jane Fondas, Ted Kennedys and Harry Reids. History can only acknowledge George W. Bush's greatness and his legacy of freedom to all humankind. I rank him #3. 42 Bill Clinton - 1993-2001 Republcans blame Bill Clinton for 9/11, saying he cut the military and weakened the intelligence community. It is just as valid to say the Republicans weakened the country by impeaching Clinton and trying to destroy his presidency. We have reached a point where each party puts itself ahead of the country as a whole. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, comes on television and praises the Democrats for their greatness. Problem is, we can not have a democracy without two parties. Looking back on the Clinton presidency, it is hard to think of anything he did. He kept the peace. He said his goal was to have no major wars. His goal of universal health coverage failed. In retrospect, his 8 years seem to be a series of scandals from Jennifer Flowers to Whitewater to Monica Lewinsky. Clinton learned from Nixon's mistake. He knew that if he hung on, the impeachment process would wear itself out. The country did not need another Watergate or another president resigning. Republicans were blind to this, seeking revenge for Watergate. One thing about Clinton, he had charisma. His womanizing ruined Al Gore. His bridge to the 21st century turned out to be a bridge back to the Bushes of Texas! 41 George Herbert Walker Bush - 1989-93 "Read my lips!" the elder Bush said when he promised no raise in taxes. When taxes were raised, David Duke said it meant, "Kiss my hips!" The door opened for a stampede on the Oval Office from Pat Buchanan to Ross Perot. Perot was an eccentric billionaire feeling his oats. "You want jobs? Here's the deal!" He got scared he was going to win and dropped out. He re-entered and still got 19% of the vote as his Reform Party's candidate. The legacy of Bush 41's term was his confrontation with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Saddam invaded oi-rich Kuwait in 1990. Bush put together a coalition that drove him out in early 1991. Bush said it was not about oil. If it was not about oil, it was not about anything. Americans do not care about Kuwaitis or Iraqis. They care about driving SUVs to and from sporting events, getting home to their wives and kids and putting food on the table. The truth! Bush made enemies across the Muslim world. Americans who wanted to take out Saddam's regieme in 1991 would get their chance. Bush kept looking at his watch when he debated Clinton. He underestimated him. 40 Ronald Reagan - 1981-89 Ronald Reagan was the first successful president since Eisenhower. He got credit for winning the Cold War. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!" Indeed, the Berlin Wall came down shortly after Reagan left office. East and West Germany united, and The Soviet Union dissolved. Ronald Reagan was as popular when he left office as he was when he came in. He was a Democrat in his younger days, so his vision of America appealed to all. He was a movie star. He really did see America as a shining city on a hill. His humor was infectious. When he took a bullet in an assassination attempt, he joked that he forgot to duck. The attempt on Reagan's life slowed him. He had critized Roe v. Wade during his campaign but failed to speak of it later. He appointed the first woman to the Supreme. All presidents are human, and Reagan suffered from Alzheimer's in his final years. First lady Nancy called it "a very long goodbye." There was talk of putting Reagan's picture on the $10 bill, not a bad idea. How many Americans care that Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury? Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. 39 Jimmy Carter - 1977-81 "I'll never lie to you" was Jimmy Carter's promise in the wake of Watergate. The peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia was the antithesis of Richard Nixon. He was honest, naive. He did an interview with Playboy Magazine in which he admitted that he had "lusted in his heart." After his "malaise speech," people perceived him as a moral man but a weak president. The Iranian hostage crisis sealed it. The Ayatollah Khomeini rendered him helpless and opened the door for Ronald Reagan. I saw Carter speak in Nashville in the fall of 1978. Karen and I were in a wax museum in Gatlinburg the following spring. The wax statue of Carter reminded us Howdy Doody. We still laugh about it. #26 was a young man when he left office. He started the Carter Center in Atlanta and has spent the rest of his life proving himself. 38 Gerald Ford - 1974-77 Gerald Ford became president without a single vote. Nixon put him in office as someone who would grant him a pardon. Ford became known for his clumsiness, tripping or bumping his head at every opportunity. He put his foot in his mouth during his debate with Jimmy Carter when he declared that Poland was not dominated by the Soviet Union. 37 Richard Nixon - 1969-1974 Nixon had a dark side. His Checkers speech in 1952 in which he used a dog as a prop should have alerted Americans to his character. His loss to John Kennedy in 1960 left him with an inferiority complex. He hated the Kennedys and would not have been president if Kennedy were not assassinated. Nixon did some good things. He stood up to Krushchev. He opened up China. He ended The Vietnam War by Vietnamization even if it took 4 years. He was loyal to a fault. He denied knowledge of the burglary at the Democratic Headquarters inside the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. It brought him down. It made Richard Nixon and Watergate synonymous. Nixon became the only president to resign as impeachment proceedings were underway. It is ironic that his signature is on the moon plaque left by Apollo 11 astronauts. It was not his policies which put men on the moon. Nixon and Johnson were the worst presidents of the 20th century. 36 Lyndon Johnson - 1963-69 Lyndon Johnson was destroyed by his obsession with Vietnam. He was out-of-step when he succeeded Kennedy, failing to connect with emerging Baby Boomers. In light of the assassination, he felt compelled to do something. Johnson used the Domino Theory and the Gulf of Tonkin incident to send combat troops to Vietnam in March, 1965 with the pretext of containing Communism. Communism was the long-term result of the 19th century economic and political ideas of German Karl Marx. Marx's Utopia was a place where the State controlled everything. His ideas failed in Germany but took hold in Russia under Nikolai Lenin and in China under Mao Tse-tung. The United States stopped South Korea from going Communist, and Johnson vowed to do so in South Vietnam. The U.S. sent 2 1/2 million men to Vietnam. 59,000 died. In 1968, public opinion turned against the war. Hippies and peace advocates demanded an end. Johnson broke. He came on TV and announced he would not seek re-election. His great society became a sick society. At #41, LBJ would be our worst president if not for Lincoln. Communism was never the threat it was perceived to be. China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Cuba are the only remaining Communist countries. Communism is as much a result of poverty as anything. Its systems view themselves as Socialists, not pieces of an evil empire. Socialism's failure lay in its devotion to ideology and militarism. The solution is hard work, developing agriculture and the technology and commerce which derive from it. That way lies prosperity. World peace is the responsibility of all mankind. Man is one species. His choices are clear. He can blow himself up in a nuclear holocaust or learn tolerance for his neighbors. If he learns, his descendants will colonize the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. 35 John Kennedy - 1961-63 The 1960 election was one of the closest. John Kennedy was Catholic, and many voters were against him for that reason. Kennedy's critics still question whether the Vietnam War would have been fought if Nixon had won in 1960. It may not have been. On the other hand, there may have been a nuclear war. We will never know. It is part of the confusion and controvery of those years. Kennedy is best remembered for his moon speech to Congress in 1961: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." In 1962, he backed Krushchev down over Cuba. The U.S. could not permit Soviet missles 100 miles off the coast of Florida. John Kennedy and First Lady Jackie brought an elegance to the White House that was emulated by their successors, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The Kennedy assassination in Dallas in 1963 is something America is still dealing with, like Pearl Harbor before it and 9/11 after it. Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he assassinated Kennedy. All those conspiracy theories are false. The grassy knoll is a product of the imagination. Oswald was a loner and a misfit. He was a wierdo like the guys who shot John Lennon and Ronald Reagan. He was a marksman. He shot Kennedy from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository as the motorcade passed below. He fled and hid in a theater but was quickly apprehended. Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald while he was in custody. He said he did it out of sympathy for Jackie. There was no reason not to believe him. 34 Dwight Eisenhower - 1953-61 Being the big General in Europe in World War II was enough to get him two terms as president and a #13 ranking. He played golf as bomb shelters were dug. Grade-schoolers ducked beneath their desks in drills as if they would shield them from atomic and hydrogen bombs. Elvis Presley ushered in modern music, Civil Rights and the Sexual Revolution. Eisenhower's greatest contribution was the Interstate Highway System. The Interstates transformed this country. Odd numbers like I-65 run north and south. Even numbers like I-40 run east and west. 33 Harry Truman - 1945-53 The buck stopped with Harry Truman when FDR died in office. Truman dropped two Atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. He did what he had to do and what had to be done to end the worst war in the history of the planet. Truman sent troops to Korea as a means of containing Communism and ended racial segregation in the military. He fired General Douglas MacArthur who wanted to nuke the Chinese. 32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt - 1933-45 The New Deal, Social Security, World War II. FDR was the greatest president of the 20th century. He was a polio victim who wore braces on his legs. Perhaps America needed such a leader to get it through the Great Depression and the war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. We have seen the video of FDR addressing Congress following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. "December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy!" Americans volunteered for military service in droves. They fought the Japanese island by island. Army engineers built the Alaska Highway stretching 1500 miles from Dawson Creek, Canada to Fairbanks. After Pearl Harbor, the fear was that Japan might take Alaska. Japan did bomb the two western-most Aleutian Islands. Roosevelt was president the same years Adolph Hitler was in power in Germany, 1933-45. Roosevelt and his staunch British ally, Winston Churchill, proved tougher than Hitler. Roosevelt was elected 4 times as there was no two-term limit. Roosevelt's archrival, Hitler, was born in 1889 in the Austrian town of Braunau. In his youth, Hitler wanted to be an artist. He lived and struggled in Vienna. It was there that he came to hate Jews and Communists. He believed in an Aryan master race. He fought in World War I against Britain. He joined the Nazi Party and went to prison after a failed coup. Hitler dictated Main Kampf (My Struggles) to Rudolf Hess in prison. Upon his release, he reorganized the Nazi Party and surrounded himself with men like Himmler, Goebbels and Goering. Hitler became German chancellor in 1933. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, World War II began. Germany occupied France, bombed London and attacked Russia. The United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Americans landed at Normandy Beach on the coast of France on June 6, 1944, D Day, and drove the Germans back. Americans met their Russian allies who poured in from the east to crush the Nazis. Hitler and his long-time companion, Eva Braun, committed suicide. It came to light that 6 million Jews had been exterminated in what is now called the Holocaust. America helped to rebuild western Europe with its Marshall plan. Donald Rumsfeld's "Old Europe" became a suberb of the U.S. in light of a Soviet nuclear threat. If the U.S is going to police the world, should not the world pay for protection? Police can not work for free. The time has come for the United States to put itself first. Government is about war and money. It is too often a group of thugs terrorizing its own people. Government should exist to serve. Its best form is democracy, not totalitarian, neither fascist, nor Communist. Government needs to foster education, promote arts and sciences and care for the aged and disabled. It must encourage agriculture. It must facilitate transportation and communication. FDR knew this. 31 Herbert Hoover - 1929-33 Hoover is blamed for the Great Depression. He was incompetent at handling the Federal Reserve, New York Stock Exchange and the nation's farmers. 7 months into his term, the stock market crashed. By 1932, 12 million were out of work. The one good thing to come from his term was Hoover Dam. It was a monumental project and is located in Black Canyon 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The hydroelectric dam harnasses the Colorado River to produce electricity for Arizona, Nevada and California. Water drives 17 turbines. There was controversy about the dam's name. Democrats wanted it called Boulder Dam because of Hoover's failed presidency and because it was originally to be built across Boulder Canyon upriver. 30 Calvin Coolidge - 1923-29 Coolidge took over when Harding died. He said, "The chief business of the American people is business." We prospered in his Roaring '20s. 29 Warren G. Harding - 1921-23 Harding was a Republican and a member of the Ku Klux Klan in a decade when the Klan boasted many members. He died in office. 28 Woodrow Wilson - 1913-21 Woodrow Wilson is the only President to have a P.H.D. He is a modern president in that he argued America must enter World War I to make the world "safe for democracy." German militarism had grown in Europe since the unification of Germany under Otto von Bismark. America and its allies temporarily held it in check with the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson proposed 14 Points which included that a League of Nations be established to prevent future wars. The Sentate rejected the idea. World War II proved him prophetic, and the United Nations was established. #9 was worn out by his effort. He died from a stroke 3 years after leaving office. 27 William Howard Taft - 1909-13 Taft hated being President. He later became a Chief Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. He weighed 300 pounds. 26 Theodore Roosevelt - 1901-09 The man who said "Speak softly and carry a big stick" was a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War. Teddy Roosevelt broadened executive power and pursued an aggressive foreign policy. He started the Panama Canal. He was a conservationist who created public lands in the west. It is in the west that his legacy is felt. T.R. was born in New York to a wealthy family and was sickly in his childhood. His ranching years in South Dakota restored his health and taught him respect for natural resources. He designated 5 National Parks, 18 National Monuments and 150 National Forests. 25 William McKinley 1897-1901 America emerged as a world power. After the Civil War, the idea spread that it was better to fight on foreign soil. America fought the Spanish-American War under McKinley in 1898. Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines were freed from Spain. Hawaii was annexed. Alaska's highest mountain and the highest in North America was named for McKinley although the state of Alaska prefers to call it by its Indian name, Denali. McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist named Leon Franz Czolgosz. 24 Grover Cleveland - 1893-97 The only President to serve two non-consecutive terms and the only one whose wedding took place in the White House. Cleveland and his young wife stayed together until his death. The Baby Ruth candy bar was named for their daughter Ruth, not Babe Ruth. 23 Benjamin Harrison - 1889-93 The grandson of Tippecanoe and the man who split Cleveland's two terms. 22 Grover Cleveland - 1885-89 Cleveland was known for his honesty and admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock. At 49, he married a 21-year-old. She became popular, the Jackie Kennedy of her day. 21 Chester Arthur - 1881-85 Arthur took charge when Garfield was killed. He signed a bill making Washington's birthday a federal holiday. For this, I put him #23 20 James A. Garfield - 1881 Assassinated in his first year in office, Garfield brought integrity to the presidency following the disgrace of Reconstruction. Johnny Cash had a song, "Mr. Garfield's been shot down." 19 Rutherford B. Hayes - 1877-81 With Grant out of office and the withdrawal of Union troops from the South, modern America began to take shape. 18 Ulysses S. Grant - 1869-77 #40 was known for his drunkeness. He accepted Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, to end the Civil War. There were no treason trials. 17 Andrew Johnson - 1865-69 For a southern Democrat and a believer in states rights, the presidency was a tough job following the Lincoln assassination. When Johnson opposed Reconstruction plans, the House voted to impeach him. He was acquitted by one vote. The good thing that happened under Johnson was that his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. In 1867, an American flag was raised at Sitka, the former Russian Capitol. Seward was ridiculed. Alaska was called "Seward's Icebox." Andrew Johnson was born, December 29. He and I have the same birthday. 16 Abraham Lincoln - 1861-65 I had a teacher in college who spent almost the whole semester on the Civil War. We were supposed to come from the Civil War to the present. I suppose she taught what she enjoyed. I always felt that if Lincoln were such a great president he would have held the country together. He would have found a way to prevent north and south from fighting. Slavery had to go. We know that. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky. My son was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Kentucky remained in the Union. Tennessee was part of the Confederacy. I have driven between Louisville and Nashville for 30 years. It is my "tale of two cities." I am conscious of the invisible line between Louisville and Nashville. Louisville looks north to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago. Nashville looks south to Atlanta and New Orleans. George W. Bush has identified with Lincoln as a fellow president who was tested. Presidents stick together. It is an exclusive club. Presidents do not criticize one another. Martin Luther King made his "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. It was Ronald Reagan who signed legislation making King's birthday a national holiday. I rank Lincoln #42 because even a halfway decent president would have prevented the Civil War. 15 James Buchanan - 1857-61 The president leading up to the Civil War was unable to deal with secession. He was happy to get out of the White House and go home. 14 Franklin Pierce - 1853-57 Among the forgotten Presidents, Pierce was a general in the Mexican War. The Democrats refused to renominate him. 13 Millard Fillmore - 1850-53 Fillmore became president when Taylor died. He was a member of the Whig Party and quite forgotten. 12 Zachary Taylor - 1849-50 "Old Rough and Ready" grew up in Kentucky. He died in office and is buried in Louisville. 11 James K. Polk - 1845-49 Polk is the most underrated President. I rank him #8. The idea of manifest destiny flourished under him. Polk believed that it was the manifest destiny of the United States to own all the lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Texas was annexed and became a state in 1845. The Mexican War was fought under Polk. The treaty in 1848 added California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. The U.S. stretched from sea to shining sea. Polk accomplished everthing he set out to do. He decided not to run for a second term and died not long after leaving office. He was from Tennessee. Manifest destiny played out in Vietnam. The paradox is that if you go west far enough you will be east, back where you started. 10 John Tyler - 1841-45 Tippecanoe and Tyler too! Tyler was Harrison's vice-president and took over when he died. 9 William Henry Harrison - 1841 Harrison was called Tippecanoe because he fought Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He died of pneumonia after a month in office. 8 Martin Van Buren - 1837-41 Van Buren was 5'6" tall. The presidents in the years before the Civil War are not well-known. It was not a good thing to be associated with slavery. 7 Andrew Jackson - 1829-37 Jackson was so popular that Jacksonian Democracy is still spoken of. He was called Old Hickory. He was an Indian fighter and a hero. He defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, putting to rest all notions Britain had of regaining power in North America. Jackson's Nashville home is called The Hermitage. 14 million people have toured The Hermitage since it became a museum in 1889. I worked in the Andrew Jackson Building in downtown Nashville while working for the State of Tennessee. Those 3 equestrian statues of Jackson are in Nashville, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. Jackson wanted to do away with the Electoral College. I put him at #4 despite a modern tendency to misjudge him on the Trail of Tears story. 6 John Quincy Adams - 1825-29 The only president's son to hold the office until George W. Bush. 5 James Monroe - 1817-25 The Monroe Doctrine warned European countries to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. 4 James Madison - 1809-17 The War of 1812 was fought with Great Britain. The British captured Washington and burned the White House. Madison fled. He is known as the father of the Constitution and wrote the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments. The First Amendment guarantees free speech. This founding father is #5. 3 Thomas Jeferson - 1801-09 Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. As president, he made the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to open up the west. The Lewis and Clark expedition left St. Louis and headed northwest up the Missouri River. They took on an interpreter named Charbonneau and his Indian wife, Sacagawea. They reached the Columbia River and sailed through Oregon Country to the Pacific Ocean. It was a 3 year journey. Thomas Jefferson was a scientist and a product of the Enlightenment. 2 John Adams - 1797-1801 Washington's vice-president served one term. He built the White House. 1 George Washington - 1789-97 Who's your daddy? George Washington's birthday, February 22, should be a federal holiday. The generic President's Day is meaningless. It is wrong to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday and not George Washington's. King did not create the United States. Washington did. After 9/11, it is clear there are people in the world that hate the United States and would destroy it. It is time we went to our roots. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security is a step. The Patriot Act is a step. The reinstitution of Washington's birthday as a holiday needs to be a step. It took guts to break away from Great Britain in the late 18th century. The original 13 colonies were owned by Great Britain. Americans were British subjects. The American Revolutionary War went on 6 years, ending when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. The United States became a nation in 1776. The electoral college elected George Washington as its first President. Washington came from a family of Virgina planters. He pursued knowledge and upheld moral principles. He fought in the French and Indian War to loosen France's grip on the continent. He believed in westward expansion. He cared about foreign policy. As President, he distanced the United States from the squabbles between England and France. He warned against extremism in political parties.
Contact: jim@jimcolyer.com