Born: 1884, Lamar, MO
Died: 1972

Missourian Harry Truman was a gutsy and straight-talking politician who suffered chiefly from having to fill the shoes of a giant, FDR. Truman ran the family farm until World War I sent him to the French front. After the war he married and launched an unsuccessful clothing store. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1934, he gained national recognition through his unflinching investigation of war contracts. Chosen as FDR’s running mate in 1944, Truman became President when Roosevelt died four months after the election.

Noted for his candor and wit, Truman originated the line, “The buck stops here.” Indeed, President Truman faced up to difficult decisions. When Japan vowed to continue fighting after Germany surrendered, he authorized the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing the war to an end. In the Cold War that followed, he stood firm against the Soviets. In Greece, Turkey, West Berlin and South Korea, Truman carried out a policy of “containment.” In domestic affairs, his Fair Deal proposals included civil rights legislation and a national health program. He won a surprise victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election, living up to his campaign cheer, “Give ‘em hell, Harry!” He retired at the end of his term.

Thirty-Third President
Democrat

Born: 1882, Hyde Park, NY
Died: 1945

Franklin Delano Roosevelt led America through some of its darkest hours. A cousin and admirer of Teddy Roosevelt, FDR became a New York State Senator, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy and finally the Democrats’ unsuccessful Vice-Presidential candidate in 1920. In 1921 he was crippled by polio, but after intensive therapy was able to walk with crutches. His vigor undimmed, he became New York Governor in 1928, then President.

Inaugurated at the height of the Depression, FDR inspired Americans with the words, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He launched the New Deal, instituting social security and unemployment benefits. His public works projects included the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Works Progress Administration. His mobility hampered, he reached millions by radio in his “fireside chats” while his wife, Eleanor, tirelessly toured the country. FDR was re-elected in 1936, 1940 and 1944. In 1940, he responded to Hitler’s aggression in Europe by sending the British 50 destroyers in exchange for military bases, followed by massive “Lend-Lease” aid. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and America entered World War II. With Stalin and Churchill, Roosevelt laid the groundwork for the post-war world, and the creation of the United Nations. But he did not live to see it, dying of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945.

Thirty-Second President
Democrat

Born: 1874, West Branch, IA
Died: 1964

An austere childhood demanded self-reliance and discipline of Herbert Hoover, values he championed throughout his life. A son of Iowa Quakers, he was orphaned at nine, joined relatives in Oregon, and eventually put himself through Stanford University, becoming a mining engineer. He earned a fortune working around the world, and also earned a reputation as a humanitarian for directing American relief efforts in Europe during World War I. After serving as Commerce Secretary under Harding and Coolidge, he became the 1928 Republican Presidential nominee. Aided by the nation’s prosperity, plus anti-Catholic sentiment against Democrat Al Smith, Hoover swept to victory.

On October 29, 1929, “Black Tuesday,” the stock-market crash plunged thousands of businesses and individuals into bankruptcy, ushering in the most protracted economic downturn in American history, the Great Depression. Hoover cut taxes, increased public works and created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make government loans. But he drew the line at direct loans to individuals, even though 12 million Americans were unemployed. Shanty towns of homeless families became known as “Hoovervilles,” and the beleaguered President was turned out of office in the 1932 election. Fifteen years later, President Truman appointed him to head the European food program after World War II.

Thirty-First President
Republican

Born: 1872, Plymouth, VT
Died: 1933

John Calvin Coolidge, the son of a Vermont storekeeper, earned a law degree and moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, where a casual interest in politics soon turned into a career. He was serving as Governor when Harding asked him to be his running mate in 1920. Harding died two years later and Coolidge’s father, a notary public, swore him in as President.

“Silent Cal” had a reputation for honesty that served him well when the Harding scandals came to light. He moved swiftly to restore confidence in the White House, and otherwise followed his conviction that “the business of America is business.” The country was enjoying high productivity and low unemployment when he faced the electorate in 1924, with the slogan “Keep cool with Coolidge.” He won handily, but the dour and frugal tee-totaler from New England was utterly out of step with the Jazz Age. As bootlegging, corruption, and stock-market speculating became rampant, Coolidge, who preferred to lead by example, tended to administrative affairs and quietly trimmed $2 billion from the national debt. He did not seek re-election. On leaving office Coolidge said, “one of the most important accomplishments of my Administration has been minding my own business.”

Thirtieth President
Republican

Born: 1865, Marion, OH
Died: 1923

Warren Harding gained popularity and political savvy as the publisher of an Ohio newspaper. In 1914, after serving as a State Senator and Lieutenant Governor, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. A deadlocked Republican nominating convention finally settled on the likeable and attractive Harding as its Presidential candidate in 1920. He promised a “return to normalcy” in the aftermath of World War I, and his champion, Harry Daugherty, proclaimed that indeed the candidate “looked like a President.” He won 60 percent of the popular vote.

President Harding followed the Congressional Republicans’ lead, approving bills that cut taxes, raised tariffs, ended wartime controls and restricted immigration. In the two years following his election, America seemed to be on the road to prosperity. Then, in 1923, during a campaign visit to San Francisco, Harding died suddenly of a heart attack and the nation was stunned by revelations of widespread corruption in his Administration. Several Harding appointees had been taking bribes and stealing millions in public funds. It was now all too evident that the President had been in earnest when he remarked that his enemies were no bother, but his friends kept him awake at night.

Twenty-Ninth President
Republican

Born: 1856, Staunton, VA
Died: 1924

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Woodrow Wilson was a progressive reformer and idealist. He was also remote and rigid — righteous to a fault. After attending Princeton and practicing law briefly, he returned to his alma mater as a professor of political science, becoming president of the University in 1902. In 1910, Wilson was elected Governor of New Jersey and in 1912 he became the Democrat’s Presidential nominee on the 46th ballot.

Backed by a Democratic majority in Congress, President Wilson pushed through numerous reforms, including a graduated income tax, a lower tariff, laws restricting child labor, and the Federal Reserve Act. In 1916 the war in Europe was the major issue of the day — Wilson opposed intervention and narrowly won re-election. Soon after, Germany’s mounting aggression against the U.S. forced the President to declare war, to “make the world safe for democracy.”

In his “Fourteen Points” peace plan, Wilson called for a “League of Nations” after the Allied victory. But Congress, by then Republican and isolationist, failed to ratify the League’s Treaty (of Versailles). Wilson suffered a stroke while on a national tour promoting the League, which had become his passion. In 1920 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Twenty-Eighth President
Democrat

Born: 1857, Cincinnati, OH
Died: 1930

William Howard Taft, the son of a distinguished judge, became a lawyer after graduating from Yale, his goal one day to sit on the Supreme Court. He was appointed a federal judge at 34, but left the law for politics when President McKinley named him Governor of the Philippines. Taft then served as Secretary of War under President Roosevelt. With Teddy’s support, “Big Bill” Taft won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1908.

Roosevelt quickly discovered that although he could influence the affable Taft, he could not mold him in his own image. While Roosevelt had been a dynamic, vigorous and visible President, his protege was more restrained. Taft admitted the job intimidated him. Even so, he introduced budgetary controls, an eight-hour work day for government employees, and a campaign-spending disclosure bill. His Administration prosecuted numerous companies under the anti-trust laws. All the while, Taft drew mounting criticism from Roosevelt, who branded Taft an ineffectual puppet of big business. Teddy bolted from the Republican Party in 1912 to oppose Taft on the Bull Moose ticket, splitting the Republican vote. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won easily, and Taft was released from the office he loathed. In 1921, President Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Years later Taft commented, “I don’t remember that I ever was President.”

Twenty-Seventh President
Republican

Born: 1858, New York, NY
Died: 1919

The son of a wealthy banker, “Teddy” Roosevelt was a sickly youth who overcame his frailty through exercise and sheer grit. After graduating from Harvard he entered politics as a Republican reformer, but when his wife and mother both died on the same day, he temporarily left public life to become a rancher in the Dakota Territory. He remarried in 1886 and went to work on the Civil Service Commission, then became New York’s Police Commissioner. Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President McKinley, Teddy led the Rough Rider Regiment in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Elected New York Governor in 1898, he was McKinley’s running mate in 1900.

Upon McKinley’s assassination, the progressive new President tackled the industrial monopolies, earning the label “trust-buster.” A passionate defender of the wilderness, he expanded the National Parks. In foreign policy he said, “speak softly and carry a big stick,” and he helped create the Panama Canal. The nation liked his Square Deal and elected him in a landslide in 1904. In 1906 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War. He retired in 1908, but resurfaced in 1912 to head the Bull Moose ticket. Although he lost, Teddy showed his usual flair. Shot in the chest while campaigning, he delivered his hour-long speech before going to the hospital.

Twenty-Sixth President
Republican

Born: 1843, Niles, OH
Died: 1901

William McKinley was a peace-loving man, whose very docility placed America in the hands of jingoists and big-business interests. A major in the Civil War, McKinley became a lawyer and was elected to Congress at 34. He served 14 years, sponsoring the protectionist McKinley Tariff Act of 1890. Supported by wealthy businessmen, he was twice elected Governor of Ohio and then chosen as the 1896 Republican Presidential candidate.

From his “front porch” in Ohio, McKinley spoke of “a full dinner pail.” He supported a high tariff and the gold standard. His opponent, fiery Nebraska populist Williams Jennings Bryan, appealed to farmers and the less fortunate, advocating “free silver” to increase the money supply. Aided by an economic upturn, McKinley won. Congress increased the tariff in 1897 and adopted the gold standard in 1900. The Spanish-American War, ignited by the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, ended in swift victory for America with territorial gains in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. McKinley paved the way for an “open door” trade policy with China, and sponsored annexation of the Hawaiian Territory in 1898. Easily re-elected in 1900, he was shot by an anarchist the following year and died eight days later.

Twenty-Fifth President
Republican

Born: 1833, North Bend, OH
Died: 1901

The grandson of President William Henry (“Tippecanoe”) Harrison, Benjamin Harrison was a conservative Indiana lawyer and a staunch advocate (some said pawn) of big business. He served as a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1881, where he supported a high tariff. Chosen as the Republican Presidential candidate in 1888, Harrison received substantial campaign contributions from American manufacturers who favored his protectionist stance.

President Harrison sponsored the first Pan-American Congress. In domestic affairs, he supported the McKinley Tariff Act, which increased import duties; a new Pension Act and other appropriation bills; the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which regulated monopolies; and the Silver Purchase Act, which authorized the minting of additional silver coins. In all, Congress spent over $1 billion in a single session, setting a peacetime record. While manufacturers benefited from high tariffs under Harrison, they did not pass the benefits on to labor. Faced with mounting resentment among industrial workers, and a depressed farm economy, Harrison lost his big for a second term to former President Grover Cleveland — the same man he had defeated four years before.

Twenty-Third President
Republican