20th Century United

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20th Century United States Presidents
Created For Cody Kurtzs 5th grade U.S. History
class
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Table of Content
Background Information
Theodore Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy
William H. Taft
Lyndon Johnson
Woodrow Wilson
Richard M. Nixon
Warren G. Harding
Gerald Ford
Calvin Coolidge
Jimmy Carter
Herbert Hoover
Ronald Reagan
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George H. W. Bush
Harry S. Truman
Bill Clinton
Dwight Eisenhower
Quiz
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The United States in the 20th century was far
different than it is today. But why should we
have to know about some dead Presidents? This is
a good question to ask, however in order to know
more about the future, we have to know about the
past. We should always remember to learn from
our mistakes. And the most powerful men in the
free world have had to keep that in mind whenever
they make decisions about the future. Did you
know? President William H. Taft was so large
that he could not fit in the White House tub.
Taft was also the tallest president measuring
62 and weighed the most at 314 pounds! He was
so large that the very first time he sat in the
White House tub, he got stuck! Now that Ive
got your attention, its time to learn some more
interesting facts about the 18 Presidents of the
United States that held office in the 20th
century! So hold on to your seat, and lets
begin!
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Theodore Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919)

• Born in New York City
• 26th President of the United States of America
  (1901-1909)
• Acts of Legislation under President
• Reclamation Act of 1902 (Newlands Act)
• Made possible Federal Irrigation Projects
• -Bill establishing the U.S. Department of
  Commerce and Labor (1903)
• -Elkins Act (1903)
• Put an end to freight rebates by railroads
• -Hepburn Act (1906)
• Brought back Interstate Commerce Commission and
  authorized
• greater governmental authority over railroads
• -Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act
  (1906)

-Fought to conserve the nations natural
resources -Added millions and millions of acres
of land to public ownership -Sought to regulate
big business

• Roosevelt picture

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William H. Taft (1857-1930)
-Born in Cincinnati -27th President of the
United States of America (1909-1913) -Acts of
Legislation under President -Favored
Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act (1909) -Lowered 650
tax schedules, raised 220, and left
unchanged 1,150 -Postal Savings Bank
(1910) -Department of Labor (1911) -Parcel-Pos
t System (1912) -After his Presidency, Taft
taught law at Yale University from 1912 through
1921 -In 1921, President Harding appointed him
Chief Justice -Contributed administrative
efficiency to the Supreme Court Taft
picture
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Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) -Born in Staunton,
Virginia -28th President of the United States
of America (1913-1921) -Acts of Legislation
under President -Underwood Tariff Act
(1913) -Reduced tariff schedules -Instated
the Federal Reserve System (1913) -Central
banking system of the United States -Federal
Trade Commission (1914) -Kept American
business competition free and fair -La Follette
Seamans Act (1915) -Regulated labor
conditions aboard ships -Adamson Act
(1916) -Established 8-hour work day for
railroad employees -Federal Farm Loan Act
(1916) -Provided loans to cooperative farm
associations -17th Amendment -Provided a
direct popular election of U.S. Wilson
picture Senators
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Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) continued
-18th Amendment -Provided a law to
institute prohibition -19th Amendment -Provi
ded women the right to vote
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Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) -Born in Blooming
Grove (Corsica), Ohio -29th President of the
United States (1921-1923) -Acts of Legislation
under President -Only one significant
achievement- Calling of the Washington
Conference (1921-1922) -Treaties limited
the capacity of aircraft carriers -Treaties
made U.S., France, and Great Britain
eliminate some of their ships -Scandals
plagued his presidency in the Veterans Bureau,
the Office of the Alien Property Custodian,
Department of the Interior, and the Department
of Justice -Died in August of 1923 in San
Francisco on his return from a trip to
Alaska -Presidency was one of the most corrupt
terms in American history Harding picture
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Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) -Born in Plymouth,
Vermont -30th President of the United States of
America -Acts of Legislation under
President -Twice vetoed the McNary-Haugen
bill to aid agriculture (1927 and
1928) -Pocket-vetoed a bill for government
operation of the Muscle Shoals hydroelectric
plant (1928) -He sought for reckless stock
market speculation which preceded the un
prepared economic collapse (late
1920s) Coolidge picture
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Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) -Born in West
Branch, Iowa -31st President of the United
States of America (1929-1933) -Acts of
Legislation under President -Established
Federal Farm Board -Called for tariff
revision -Later renamed Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Act -Increased tariff rate on farm
products -Established Reconstruction Finance
Corporation (1932) -Gave loans not attainable
elsewhere -Simulated industry
business Hoover picture
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Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) -Born in Hyde
Park, New York -32nd President of the United
States of America (1933-1945) -Acts of
Legislation under President -National
Industrial Recovery Act (1933) -It was an
emergency measure designed to encourage
industrial recovery and help combat
widespread unemployment -NRA -Drew up
industrial codes Roosevelt picture
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Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) -Born in Lamar,
Missouri -33rd President of the United States
of America -Acts of Legislation under
President -Taft-Hartley Labor Act
(Labor-Management Relations Act)
(1947) -Established control of labor disputes
on a different basis enabling the union or
employer must, before termination of
collective-bargaining agreement, give notice
to the other person or persons and to
the government mediation service -Marshall
Plan (1947) -Effected the economic
reconstruction of Europe -Point Four Program
(1949) -Supplied technical aid to
underdeveloped countries -North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) (1949) -Wanted to
safeguard the freedom of the Atlantic
community Truman picture
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Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) -Born in Denison,
Texas -34th President of the United States of
America -Acts of Legislation under
President -Contained Communism -Signed an
armistice in Korea after threatening to use
nuclear warfare -Defense treaties
signed -Agreement with South Korea
(1953) -Agreement with Taiwan
(1954) -Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(1954) -Ceased expansion of Communism in
China -School Desegregation (1957) -Eisenhower
Doctrine (1957) -Proposed to send military
and financial aid to Middle Eastern nations
to deter Communism -Permitted preparations for
invasion of Cuba (1961) -Also referred to as
the Bay of
Pigs Invasion Eisenhower
picture
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John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) -Born in Brookline,
Massachusetts -35th President of the United
States of America (1961-1963) -Acts of
Legislation under President -Set a new
domestic program known as the New Frontier
(1961) -Included tax reform, federal aid to
education, medical care for the aged under
Social Security, enlargement of civil rights
through executive action, aid to depressed
areas, and an accelerated space program
-Approved Bay of Pigs invasion
(1961) -Cuban exiles trained by the United
States Central Intelligence
Agency -Criticized by many in
government -Alliance for Progress
(1961) -This gave economic aid to Latin
American countries Kennedy picture
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John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) continued
-Established the Peace Corps
program(1961) -Sent U.S. volunteers to work in
developing countries -Blockade placed on Cuba
(1962) -Reconnaissance planes found Soviet
missile bases in Cuba -Prevented more weapons
from entering Cuba
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Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973) -Born in Stonewall,
Texas -36th President of the United States of
America (1963-1969) -Acts of Legislation under
President -Enacted an 11 billion tax cut
(1964) -Enacted the Great Society
(1964) -Called for a nationwide war against
poverty and outlined a program of economic
and social welfare legislation -A prosperous
nation that overcame racial divisions -Enacted
Medicare -A bill that gave free medical care
to the elderly under Social
Security -Enacted the Voting Rights Act of
1965 -Provided new safeguards for
African-American voters -Enacted the Tonkin
Gulf Resolution -Gave Johnson right to take
actions to protect troops stationed in
Vietnam Johnson picture
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Richard M. Nixon (1913-1964) -Born in Yorba
Linda, California -37th President of the United
States of America (1969-1974) -Acts of
Legislation under President -Cease-fire
agreement with North Vietnam (1973) -Happened
only with ongoing strikes in Cambodia (1970)
and Laos (1971) as well as heavy bombing in
North Vietnam -Watergate
affair -Occurred when the Democratic national
headquarters were broken into and records
were taken and destroyed -Caused Nixon to
resign as the President on August 9,
1974 Nixon audio Nixon picture
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Gerald Ford (1913-____) -Born in Omaha,
Nebraska -38th President of the United States
of America (1974-1977) -Acts of Legislation
under President -Proposed tax cuts
(1975) -Proposed limited social spending with
continued high defense spending -Proposed
heavy taxation on imported oil Ford
audio Ford picture
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Jimmy Carter (1924-____) -Born in Plains,
Georgia -39th President of the United States of
America (1977-1981) -Acts of Legislation under
President -Panama Canal Treaties
(1977) -Established a time table for passing
control of the canal to Panama -Persuaded
Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of
Israel to sign the first peace treaty between
Israel and an Arab state -First peace treaty
between Israel and an Arab state -Started a
trade embargo and a boycott of the 1980 Moscow
Summer Olympic Games Carter
audio Carter picture
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Ronald Reagan (1911-____) -Born in Tampico,
Illinois -40th President of the United States
of America (1981-1989) -Acts of Legislation
under President -Strategic Defense Initiative
(1983) -An expensive space-based defense
system -Successfully invaded the Communist
island of Grenada Reagan audio Reagan
picture
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George H. W. Bush (1924-____) -Born in Milton,
Massachusetts -41st President of the United
States of America (1989-1993) -Acts of
Legislation under President -Signed nuclear
disarmament agreements (1991, 1992,
1993) -Wanted cuts in nuclear arms -Removed
General Manuel Noriega from power in
Panama -Stood trial for drug trafficking
-North American Free Trade Agreement
(1992) -United States, Mexico, and Canada
created a trade-free zone -Persian Gulf War
(1991) -Resulted when Iraq invaded Kuwait in
what Dictator Hussein said because of an
overproduction of oil in Kuwait which had
caused 14 million when the oil
prices dropped Bush audio Bush picture
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Bill Clinton (1946-____)
-Born in Hope, Arkansas -42nd President of
the United States of America (1992-2000) -Acts
of Legislation under President -Passed
National Service Program, tax increases, and
spending cuts to reduce national
deficit -Restored diplomatic relations with
Vietnam (1995) -Combined tax cuts and
reductions in spending to produce the
first balanced budget in 30 years
(1997) -Worked for peace in the Middle
East -Helped unite Israelites and Palestinians
(1997, 1999) -Set back with more violence in
2000 Clinton audio Clinton picture
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Using your knowledge you have attained from this
PowerPoint program, I want you to take this 5
question quiz. It is just for practice so
dont get too worried. I just want to see if
you were paying attention and know how to move
through this instructional program. So put
on your thinking cap, sit up straight, and click
the navigational button at the bottom right of
the page.
Let the FUN begin!
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Question 1 Which President, in 1913, instated
the Federal Farm Board?
William Taft
Herbert Hoover
Woodrow Wilson
Bill Clinton
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Question 2 Which President, after serving his
term in office, taught law at Yale University?
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Johnson
Gerald Ford
William Taft
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Question 3 Which President passed a bill to
desegregate public schools?
Calvin Coolidge
Dwight Eisenhower
Theodore Roosevelt
George H. W. Bush
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Question 4 Which President set up a new
domestic program known as the New Frontier?
John F. Kennedy
George W. Bush
Jimmy Carter
Harry S. Truman
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Question 5 Which President restored
diplomatic relations with Vietnam?
Warren G. Harding
Lyndon Johnson
Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan
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How did you do?
Hopefully, you scored a 4 or a 5. But if not,
this is just the beginning of our study, so dont
get frustrated. We will go more in depth with
the subject of the 20th Century Presidents of the
United States of America.
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Correct!
Herbert Hoover instated the Federal Farm Board to
increase the tax rate on farm products.
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Correct!
William Taft taught law at Yale University from
1912 through 1921.
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Correct!
Dwight Eisenhower, in 1957, voted to desegregate
public schools in the United States.
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Correct!
John F. Kennedy, in 1961, set a new domestic
program known as the New Frontier. This policy
included tax reform, federal aid to education,
medical care for the aged under Social Security,
enlargement of civil rights through executive
action, aid to depressed areas, and an
accelerated space program
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Correct!
Bill Clinton reinstated diplomatic relations with
Vietnam back in 1995 during his first term as
President of the United States of America
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WRONG
Sorry, you are . Please
try again.