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The 1976 Presidential Election

Gerald R. Ford (Republican) v. Jimmy Carter (Democrat)   The 1976 presidential election was the first held in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had consumed the Nixon presidency and resulted in Gerald R. Ford becoming president. Ford had first become Vice President by congressional confirmation in the wake…

The Civil War Amendments

The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, passed between 1865 and 1870, the five years immediately following the Civil War. This group of Amendments are sometimes referred to as the Civil War Amendments. The Amendments were intended to restructure the United States…

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883)

An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States. Be it enacted...That the President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three persons, not more than two of whom shall be adherents of the same party, as Civil Service…

The First Grover Cleveland Administration: 1885-1889

Early Political Career In 1884, Grover Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected president since the Civil War. He was also the second, elected again in 1892 after the White House had returned to Republican rule for four years in the 1888 election. Cleveland is generally considered one of…

Manipulating Minds: The World War I Propaganda Machine

Until the advent of the Cold War in the 1950s, America traditionally maintained a relatively small standing army.  Whenever war broke out, it was necessary for the country to mobilize—to recruit (and sometimes draft) troops, to train them, and to produce the arms, equipment, and supplies needed to fight.  In…

The Assassination of William McKinley

While attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, President William McKinley was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. McKinley and his wife arrived at the exposition on September 5, 1901. He held several private receptions, a military review, and then delivered a speech. On the morning of September…

How The Other Half Lives, by Jacob Riis

This pioneering work of photojournalism by Jacob Riis focused on the plight of the poor in the Lower East Side, and greatly influenced future "muckraking" journalism. Riis mostly attributed the plight of the poor to environmental conditions, but he also divided the poor into two categories: deserving of assistance (mostly…

Hoover & the Depression: The Bonus Army

The saga of the Bonus Army was born out of the inequality of the Selective Service Act (1917), the failure of the government to provide any meaningful benefits to the veterans of the First World War, and the fear and anxiety produced by the Great Depression. During WWI, for the…

The Iran-Contra Affair

The foreign-policy scandal known as the Iran-contra affair came to light in November 1986 when President Ronald Reagan confirmed reports that the United States had secretly sold arms to Iran. He stated that the goal was to improve relations with Iran, not to obtain release of U.S. hostages held in…