All right! It's time to start my new series of presidential reviews! Inspired by my recent article, Andrew Johnson: Worst President or Victim of Circumstance? Link , I will be reviewing the presidencies of everyone from Washington to Hoover (to go any further would be too heavy a workload, and might spark a controversy, which is not my goal). And, of course, we start with the very first president of our little United States, George Washington. The biggest thing about Washington's presid...

With the very, very long article on George Washington out of the way, it is time to move on to John Adams. The only president to ever be elected under the Federalist party, Adams served March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801. He was the first president to be denied reelection. When Adams took office, relations with France had deteriorated badly due to Washington's pro-British foreign policy. Despite the popular calls for war, Adams sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerr...

Starting earlier than usual, it is time for John Quincy Adams. Adams was technically elected under no party, because the destruction of the Federalists also meant the dismantling of the Democrat-Republicans. However, his election marked the rebirth of the two-party system, as charges that he and Henry Clay struck a corrupt bargain to win the presidency coalesced around Andrew Jackson and formed the Democratic party. He was the only president to be elected without a majority of the electo...

While running out of different ways to say the series is continuing, we go to James Monroe. Washington was the only president to be elected unanimously, but Monroe came pretty close running for his second term. He got all but 1 electoral vote because an elector cast his vote for John Quincy Adams. He was the last Revolutionary War Officer to become president. Monroe's election marked the end of the Federalist party. A Boston newspaper coined the term for Monroe's presidency, "The Era of Go...

James Madison is up next in my continuing series. Madison was the first president to not be nominated unanimously by his party's caucus. He was also the least physically impressive president of all time. He stood at only 5 ft. 4 in., and weighed a scant 100 pounds. He was the first president to declare a war. He served March 4, 1809 to March 3, 1817. Shortly before leaving office, Jefferson approved the Non-Intercourse Act, but it was left to Madison to enforce it. The Non-Intercourse Act ...

Andrew Johnson is often considered the worst president ever. On top of being impeached, some are against his veto of various Civil Rights bills. While not going so far as to say he was good, I don't think Johnson is deserving of the title "Worst President Ever." Johnson attempted very hard to continue the lenient terms of Reconstruction started by Abraham Lincoln. His plan was given very little chance, though, as the Radical Republican-controlled Congress wouldn't let him. Despite his best...

We now move on to Franklin Pierce. Pierce was the last president to run against the Whig party when it was a major party. His election marked the last nail in the coffin for a party bitterly and fatally divided over the slavery issue. During the campaign, there was a rather clever Democratic slogan, "We Polked you in 1844; we shall Pierce you in 1852!" Pierce is considered to be the most handsome president of all time. His Secretary of War was Jefferson Davis, who streamlined the army th...

On the unlucky 13th article, there is Millard Fillmore. Fillmore was the last president under the Whig party. He was the second Vice President to ascend from the death of the President. He was also the last to do so until Andrew Johnson. He approved the Compromise of 1850, which cost him Northern Whig support, and with them, the nomination. He had one last hurrah in 1856, when he ran for president under the Know-Nothing party. He served July 10, 1850 to March 3, 1853. In an attempt to...

The next president up is Zachary Taylor. Taylor was the second president to die in office; the first to die in office but actually do something. After him, there was no president from the Deep South again until Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976. He was one of only 4 presidents to serve in the Whig party. Taylor owed his election to the 3rd-party bid of Martin Van Buren, who drew enough anti-slavery Democrats from Democratic nominee Lewis Cass to give the election to Taylor. He served Marc...

First of all, sorry for the delay, I've been busy. Anyway, now is James Knox Polk. Polk is the most expansionist president we ever had. He acquired almost the entire West and some of the Midwest. He is also the first nominee to be nominated unexpectedly, which is known as a dark horse candidate. He was also the first president to only run once. He served March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1849. Both Great Britain and the U.S. had a claim on the Oregon Territory. At first, Polk would settle for...

Reaching the milestone 10th article, it is time for John Tyler. Tyler was the first Vice President to succeed to the presidency. Tyler was never elected in his own right, as his opposition to Whig policies, despite being a Whig, cost him the presidential nomination in 1844. He was the first president to serve without a Vice President. Tyler served April 6, 1841 to March 3, 1845. As the first Vice President to become president because of the death of a president, Tyler began his term a...

Settling in for a long write, the series now reaches William Henry Harrison. Harrison's election is considered the first modern election, complete with songs, themes, and hoopla. Harrison was portrayed as a simple frontiersman, despite being from a grand manor on a plantation in Virginia. In order to convey this appearance, he gave a long Inaugural in the cold without a jacket, which later proved to be his downfall. He was the first president to die in office, and the first president und...

Leaving behind my favorite president, I now type of Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the handpicked successor of Andrew Jackson. He was the first president to run against the Whig party. The third president to serve only one term, he was defeated by William Henry Harrison in 1840. He was the first former-president to run under a third-party, running under the Free-Soil Party in 1848. Van Buren served March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1841. Two months after the inauguration of Van Buren, banks ...

Going forward with the series, we now approach Andrew Jackson. Jackson was the founder of the Democratic Party, and the first Democratic president. He was the first president from the West, and is often considered the first president of the people. His election was one of the fiercest and bitterest of all time; in fact, attacks on her character even contributed to the death of Rachel Jackson, the president's wife. After Jackson, no president again served 2 full terms until Grant. He serv...

Having a case of deja vu, we move on to Grover Cleveland. Is there anything left to say in this paragraph? Let's see...well, Cleveland had the youngest First Lady in history. He was the last Democrat elected to the presidency that was truly conservative. Um...I'm out. He served March 4, 1893 to March 3, 1897 for his second term. Cleveland condemned American involvement in the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii and withdrew the annexation treaty from consideration by the Senate....