Herbert Hoover's Life

Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. His father, Jessie Clark Hoover, died of typhoid fever when Herbert was six and his mother, Hulda Randall (Minthorn) Hoover died of pneumonia when Herbert was nine years old. Both of his parents were parents were Quakers. He moved to Newberg, Oregon and lived with his uncle, Dr. Henry Minthorn, where he attended a Quaker academy. When he was sixteen years old he enrolled in Leland Stanford,a new university in Palo Alto, California. He graduated in 1895. Herbert Hoover married Lou Henry in 1899 and together they had two sons, Herbert Hoover, Jr. and Allan Hoover. In 1927, a British company hired him to manage its gold in Australia where he lived for two. He was the only President to be a millionaire, so he was rich enough to retire when he was only forty years old. In 1928 Calvin Coolidge decided not to run for another full term so Hoover was in the presidential race with New York governor Alfred E. Smith. Herbert won in a landslide victory. As President of the United States, he tried to improve the standards of radio broadcasting, aviation and housing. Seven months into his administration, the stock market crashed which leaded to the Great Depression. He established a few programs to combat the crisis, but he oppose aid through federal bureaucracy, so Hoover didn't provide enough relief and he was defeated in the 1932 election to FDR. Hoover died on October 20, 1964 in New York City a the age of 90.

Calvin Coolidge's Life

John Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, the 96th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, in Plymouth, Vermont. He attended school in a one-room schoolhouse. He was raised on a farm and enrolled in Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vermont when he was 13. He was admitted to Amherst College in Massachusetts after graduation in 1895, he decided to become a lawyer. He took a job in a law office in Northampton, Massachusetts. While working he studied for the bar exam  and was admitted to the bar in 1897. he opened his own office in the same city, Northampton. In 1898, he was elected city councilman. Calvin Coolidge married Grace Goodhue in 1905 and together they had two boys, Calvin and John. In 1907, Coolidge was elected to the Massachusetts legislature. Three years later he was voted Mayor of Northampton. In 1912, he was a Massachusetts state senator. He was electeda Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1916. Calvin was elected governor in 1917. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1920. Three years later, Warren Harding died on August 2, 1923 and Coolidge was sworn in as President of the United States on August 3. The next year in 1924, he ran for a full term and won. He served his full term and left office in 1929. Calvin Coolidge returned to his two sons and wife and lived a quiet life until he died of a stroke on January 5, 1933 in Northampton at age sixty. Note: Coolidge was President from 1923 through 1929 and the Vice President was Charles Gates Dawes. 

Warren G. Harding's Life

Warren Gamaliel Harding was born on November 2, 1865 in Corsica, Ohio. He was the twenty-ninth President. He helped his father on their farm and attended school. He was the oldest of eight of the Harding children and his father was a doctor for a living. At the age of 14, he enrolled in Ohio Central College in Iberia, Ohio. He graduated and took a job as a schoolteacher but quit after one year of teaching. He moved to Marion and studied law, but did not become a lawyer because he didn't like law. He borrowed some money from his dad and with two friends bought a newspaper, the Marion Star. His partners left the business and he ran it himself.  Warren Harding married a widow named Florence Kling de Wolfe in 1891 who helped him make his newspapers more successful. In 1899 the Grand Old Party (GOP) nominated Harding to the State Senate and won. In 1903 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and kept that occupation for three years. He returned to Marion to work on the newspaper. In 1910, he ran for Governor of Ohio and lost unfortunately. In 1914 he was elected to the United States Senate and served for one full term. The GOP nominated Harding for President of the United States and in the 1920 election he won. During his administration the first nonstop transcontinental airplane flight was made and the first commercial radio broadcast took place. Harding established a budget system for the federal government but hsi administration was marred by the Tea Pot Dome scandal; federal oil reserves were illegally rented to private businesses. In June, 1923 President Harding and First Lady Florence Harding took a trip around the United States. He became ill from food poisoning. Soon he developed pneumonia and died on August 2, 1923. Note: Harding was President from 1921 through 1923 and the Vice President was Calvin Coolidge.

Woodrow Wilson's Life

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Virginia. He was the twenty-eighth President. He attended private schools in Georgia and South Carolina. He attended Davidson College in North Carolina and then enrolled in Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He studied law at the University of Virginia and then he went on to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where he graduated with a PhD in philosophy in 1886. In 1887, Woodrow Wilson married Ellen Axson and together they had three children. He taught in Bryn Mawr College in PA and at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Wilson later taught constitutional law at Princeton University and after that, he became President of Princeton University and served from 1902 to 1910. In 1911, he became Governor of New Jersey. The Democrats nominated Woodrow for President of the United States and won. He became President in 1913 during World War I. During his two-term administration, 1,000,000 automobiles were produced. As President, Woodrow reduced tariffs and created an income tax. The US became involved in World War I when Germany ambushed Lusitania. The armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 also during his presidency. Wilson was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1919. He left office in 1921 after serving two terms as US President. He passed away of a stroke while on a speaking tour in the capital to promote the League of Nations on February 3, 1924 at age sixty-seven. Note: Wilson was President from 1913 to 1921 and the Vice President was Thomas Riley Marshall.

William Taft's Life

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was a judge and William was a great student. He entered Yale College in 1874 and graduated 4 years later in 1878. In 1881 he was appointed assistant prosecutor in a county court. He went on to become an official in the Bureau of the Internal Revenue Service. He did not like his occupation in the Bureau and resigned from it. William Taft married Helen Herron in 1886 and together they had three kids, Robert, Helen, and Charles. The following year, 1887, Taft was named a judge in the Ohio Superior Court. In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison offered William the post of Solicitor General of the US, the second largest job of the Department of Justice. In 1892 he resigned to become a federal circuit judge. President William McKinley picked Bill to become head of a special commission to overlook the government of the Philippines. In 1904, President Teddy Roosevelt appointed Taft Secretary of War. He was nominated by the Republicans for President and won. He helped establish the sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which allows Congress to collect income tax. He served one term and in 1912 he went against former President Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. He lost to Wilson. He was appointed Chief Justice in 1921 by President Warren Gamaliel Harding. His administrative work as a Supreme Court justice is considered his greatest contribution to public. He retired nine years later due to poor health and died the same year on March 8, 1930. Note: Taft was President from 1909 to 1913 and the Vice President was James Schoolcraft Sherman.

Theodore Roosevelt's Life

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City, New York. He graduated from Harvard College. Theodore Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee on his birthday in 1880. He enrolled in Columbia University to study law. He was elected to the New York State Assembly and abandoned his studies. In his third term in 1884 his mother and wife died on Valentine's Day. Alice died two days after she had a baby girl. He served until the end of his term and moved to the Dakota Territory to his ranch on the Little Missouri River. He married Edith Carow in 1886 and they had five children together. He accepted an appointment to the United States Civil Service Commission serving for six years until he was appointed President of the New York City board of police commissioners. He resigned from the Board of Police to become assistant Secretary of the Navy. A year later during the Spanish-American War, he organized and then commanded the first United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. In 1899, he was elected Governor of New York. He was inaugurated Vice President of the United States on March 4, 1901 after Garret Augustus Hobart died in office as Vice President on November 21, 1899. He was also inaugurated as President of the United States on September 14, 1901 after William McKinley was shot that day in Buffalo, New York. Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. Theodore invented the teddy bear after his nickname, "Teddy." After he left office on March 4, 1909, he traveled to Africa, stayed there for one year, and returned to New York to organize the Bull Moose Party to run for President in 1912. However, in the election, he lost to Woodrow Wilson. He wrote his autobiography and then he traveled to South America in 1913. Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep in Long Island, New York on January 6, 1919 at age sixty. Note: Roosevelt was President from 1901 to 1909 and the Vice President was Charles Warren Fairbanks.

William McKinley's Life

William McKinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio. He went to school in Poland, Ohio and then went to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.When William was 17, he left college before he graduated and started to teach in a rural school. The Civil War broke out in 1861. McKinley was the last Chief Executive (president) to fight in the Civil War. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865 after Robert Edward Lee was defeated by Ulysses Grant. After the Civil War, McKinley returned to Ohio and studied law. William McKinley married Ida Saxton in 1871. They had two daughters that died before they were two years old. His wife suffered from epilepsy and needed special attention. In 1876 McKinley was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served for seventeen years. In 1892, William was elected 39th Governor of Ohio. He served one term as Governor and then the Republican party nominated McKinley as President. He won and he was a popular president. He was popular for being the fifth President to die in office and the third to be assassinated. He guided the nation during the Spanish-American War that lasted one hundred days. He was elected to serve a second in November 1900. He did not know that his second term would only last six and a half months. William was shot by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York and there, the President died on September 14, 1901. He was buried in Canton, Ohio. Note: McKinley was President from 1897 to 1901 and the Vice Presidents were Garret A. Hobart and Teddy Roosevelt.

Benjamin Harrison's Life

Benjamin Harrison was born on August 20, 1833 in North Bend, Ohio, the grandson of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States. He attended school in a log cabin and at the age of fourteen, he attended the Farmer's College near Cincinnati. Three years later, he transferred to Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. Harrison moved on to study law and he was admitted to the bar. Benjamin Harrison married Caroline Scott in 1853 and they had two children. Harrison joined the Union Army in 1862 during the Civil War and earned the position of general. After the war ended on April 9, 1865 he returned to his law practice. In 1876 Ben ran unsuccessfully in an election for Governor of Indiana. In 1881 Harrison was elected to the Senate and served the six-year term. The Republicans nominated Harrison as President of the United States against Grover Cleveland and Ben won. During his presidency Montana, Idaho, Washington state, North Dakota, and South Dakota were admitted to the Union. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1890 as well as American women being allowed to vote in Wyoming. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The first gasoline-powered automobile was built in 1893 by the Duryea brothers. But before that, Caroline Scott Harrison died in 1892 before the election where Harrison was defeated by former President Grover Cleveland who served again as President. After Caroline's death, Ben returned to Indianapolis, Indiana where he married Mary Scott Lord Dimmick in 1896 and they had one child together. Benjamin Harrison died on March 13, 1901 at age sixty-seven. Note: Harrison was President from 1889 through 1893 and the Vice President was Levi Parsons Morton.

Grover Cleveland's Life

Stephen Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey. His family moved to Fayetteville, New York where he was educated in a one room schoolhouse. In 1850, they moved to Clinton, New York where he attended a Liberal Institute. At age eighteen he visited an uncle in Buffalo, New York to help him on his farm in return for getting him a job in a law office. Four years later when he was twenty-two, Cleveland was admitted to the bar. He passed the bar exam and in 1863 Grover became assistant district attorney of Erie County for 2 years. His honesty and fairness led to his election as sheriff of Erie County also for two years. In 1882, Grover was elected Mayor of Buffalo. He held that job for two years until the Democrats nominated him for Governor of New York and he won. In 1884, Cleveland was nominated President of the United States against Chester Alan Arthur and Cleveland won the election. Grover Cleveland married Frances Clara Folsom on June 2, 1886 during a White House ceremony. He lost the 1888 re-election bid to Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States. Benjamin Harrison was President for four years before he lost his re-election bid to Grover Cleveland. Cleveland is the only President so far that has served two nonconsecutive terms as President. He served one term after Harrison's term. He was not elected a second term because he did not support the expansion of the U.S. into Hawaii and Cuba. His party turned to William Jennings Bryan, who lost to William McKinley in 1896. Grover returned home to Princeton, New Jersey where he lived until he died on June 24, 1908 at age seventy-one. Note: Cleveland was President from 1885 through 1889 and the Vice President was Thomas Andrews Hendricks until Hendricks died in November, 1885. He was elected President again from 1893 through 1897 and the Vice President that time was Adlai Ewing Stevenson I.

Chester A. Arthur's Life

Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. His father was a teacher and minister. Arthur entered Union College in Schnectady, New York at age fifteen. He taught school to pay for his education and graduated with honors in 1848. He then went on to study law while continuing to teach to support himself until 1853 when he went to New York City to start his career as a lawyer. He took on two very controversial and groundbreaking cases. His law firm gained freedom for eight runaway slaves. He also represented Lizzie Jennings in a segregation case. She was told not to ride on a New York City streetcar because she was black; she was awarded five hundred dollars in damages. The court decision stated that Negroes had the same rights to ride on a New York City streetcar as anyone else. Chester A. Arthur married Ellen Lewis Herndon in 1859. During the Civil War Arthur was appointed quartermaster general of New York state, supplying food, guns, and tents to to the soldiers. Fifteen years later, Chester Arthur was elected Vice President under James Abram Garfield. In 1881, James A. Garfield was assassinated on September 19. The next day on September 20, 1881, Chester succeeded former President Garfield as the twenty-first President of the U.S. He only served a partial term because in 1884, Chester was not re-elected as President. He was the last President to not have a Vice President. After he left office, he had a kidney disease. He died twenty months later on November 18, 1886. Note: Chester Alan Arthur was President from 1881 to 1885 and since he was completing Garfield's term, there was no Vice President.