1. The era of the “hands-off” president.
The Late 1800’s
The era of the “hands-off” president.

2. Born: December 29, 1808 in Raleigh N.C.
Andrew Johnson #17
Born: December 29, 1808 in Raleigh N.C.
Andrew Johnson was born into a modest family in Raleigh N.C.
His father died when he was a small boy, and the family was left in poverty.
Andrew was apprenticed to a tailor when he was about 10 years old. He hated this situation and he ran away with his brother to East Tennessee.
In Tennessee, Johnson also took work as a tailor.
Andrew Johnson was illiterate until he was a young man, teaching himself to read and write.

3. Early Career
Andrew Johnson owned his own tailor shop and worked hard to improve his station in life.
Johnson’s first political office was that of Alderman in Greenville Tennessee in 1829.
He was Mayor of Greenville from
Served two terms in the Tennessee Legislature in 1835, but lost re-election in In 1839 he was re-elected to the same position.
In 1841 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate.
Governor of Tennessee

4. National Politics
Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate from , the only Southern senator to remain loyal to the Union.
From 1862 to 1865 Johnson was appointed by Lincoln to be the military governor of Tennessee.
Nominated for Vice President by the National Union Party in 1864.
In 1864 Johnson became Lincoln’s Vice President.
Johnson became president on April 15, 1865, after the assassination of president Lincoln.

5. Presidency
Johnson’s presidency occurred in the period following the civil war, known as Reconstruction.
Johnson had made early speeches indicating that he wished to be hard on the ex-Confederates, but in most circumstances he was not, including when he called for the easy restoration of Southern States.
Johnson ended up pardoning many former Confederate leaders.
In 1865 he allowed restored states to hold elections, when they elected many ex-Confederate leaders (who the senate refused to seat)

6. Presidency
The governments of the South instituted Black Codes, prompting congress to block their readmission to the Union and to develop a Civil Rights Bill and re- new the Freedman’s Bureau.
Johnson vetoed both of these measures, although the Republicans in congress were able to over-ride his veto of the Civil Rights Bill.
Congress chose to over-ride Johnson’s veto of the Tenure of Office Act, which prohibited Johnson from removing officers without the consent of the Senate.

7. Impeachment
To test the constitutionality of the Tenure of office act, Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and replaced him.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach him on grounds that he intentionally violated the Tenure of Office Act.
Johnson was acquitted in the Senate by one vote, allowing him to remain president.

8. Other Notes
Johnson approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia, which at the time was referred to as “Seward’s Folly” (Seward was the Secretary of State)
Johnson issued general amnesty to all ex-Confederates on Christmas Day 1868.

9. Outlook
Johnson had a very strong bias against the wealthy planter class in the South
Johnson was a slaveholder, and owned as many as 8 slaves in his life.
Johnson was always in favor of white supremacy, and he worked to stop the ratification of the 14th Amendment.

10. Legacy
Johnson is considered to be among the worst presidents in history.
He was the first president to be impeached, and came within one vote of being removed from office (it should be pointed out that the Tenure of Office Act did violate the Constitution)
Johnson is known for having made Reconstruction a more difficult process, because he refused to work with moderate Republicans, and because he didn’t do enough to protect freed black people.
Johnson was the last president to be Independent, or not Republican or Democratic.

11. #19 Rutherford B. Hayes Born in Delaware, Ohio in 1822.
Father died before he was born. He was raised by a single mother, with the help of a wealthy uncle.
He was valedictorian at Kenyon College, and graduated from Harvard Law School.
He fought in the Civil War rising to Major General and was wounded 5 times.
Member of the House and Governor of Ohio.

12. Hayes’ Presidency
In one of the most controversial and closest presidential elections Hayes managed to become the 19th President.
He was the Only president whose election was decided by a congressional commission.
Hayes sought out to institute some modest Civil Service reform.
He removed Federal Troops from the South, some said as part of the “bargain” that got him elected.
He used Federal Troops to put down the Great Railroad Strike.
He returned the nation to a strict gold standard.
He was the 1st president to have a typewriter and telephone in office.
The 1st president to travel to the West Coast during his presidency.

13. #20 James A. Garfield Born in Orange, Ohio in 1831.
His father died when he was young, and he grew up in poverty where his mother worked in the fields and did laundry.
His mother scraped together money to send him to a seminary where he worked as a janitor, carpenter, and teacher to pay his tuition.
He eventually graduated from what is now Hiram College, and became a preacher and a teacher, before becoming a lawyer and entering Republican Politics.
Garfield fought in the Civil War, rising to rank of Major General.
He went on the U.S. House of Representatives.

14. Garfield’s Politics and Presidency
Garfield had been a Radical Republican who wished to punish the South, but after the war his views changed.
He advocated for some political reform of Progressive Republicans, like the gold standard, Civil Service Reform (basically ending the power of the spoils system and corruption in machine politics), and free trade. However, he did befriend some of the traditionally corrupt Republicans, known as Stalwarts. This may have resulted in his involvement in political corruption, such as Credit Mobilier,
Garfield’s one important action as president was to challenge the stranglehold of Senator Roscoe Conkling on the Port Authority of New York.
Garfield had unwittingly nominated a man for the Port Authority that the powerful Conkling did not support.
The boss tried to persuade other Senators to join him against the President, but when the president refused to back down, they bailed on Conkling, giving Garfield the victory.
Garfield served only four months before he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally unstable office seeker, claiming to be a Stalwart who felt that he was owed a position. Most modern historians think the assassin was simply mentally ill.

15. #21 Chester A. Arthur Born in Farfield, Vermont in 1829.
His father was a minister who moved around Vermont frequently and eventually settled in Up-state New York.
Arthur became a teacher, and eventually went into law.
He became active in Republican politics.
Through his political allies he became a Brigadier General in the Civil War, acting as a quartermaster.

16. Arthur’s political career
Arthur settled in New York City after the Civil War, and became an important member of the Republican Political machine dominated by Senator Roscoe Conkling.
He held the position of the Customs Collector of New York City, a highly lucrative job plagued by corruption. In Hayes’ attempts to reform corruption he fired Arthur.
Arthur was a true politician, good at slapping backs and barroom politics. He spent late nights out socializing and was known as a fancy dresser.
Despite the allegations of corruption, Arthur managed to become the Vice President of James Garfield, in an attempt to placate Stalwart Republicans.
Arthur’s wife, Ellen, died in 1880, and he never remarried.

17. Arthur’s Presidency
Arthur became president when Garfield was assassinated.
Ironically, despite his past in corrupt politics, his most important action was signing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which required most federal employees to pass an examination.
Arthur vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act that would forbid immigration from China for 20 years, though he signed a revised act that would only exclude Chinese immigrants for 10 years.
Arthur signed a bill which built new modern ships for the Navy, improving that military branch.
Arthur agreed with a bill to lower tariffs, but ensured that the tariff was only lowered by 1.47% because he, like most Republicans agreed with high rates to protect American business.
Arthur vetoed the 1882 Rivers and Harbors Act which would spend millions on internal improvements because he felt the projects were too local and open for corruption.
Arthur agreed to open the Crow Creek Indian reservation to white settlers in 1885.
Throughout his presidency Arthur suffered from Bright’s Disease, but did his best to conceal his failing health.

18. Grover Cleveland #22 and #24
Born in Caldwell N.J., moving to upstate New York before he was 5.
His father was a Presbyterian minister, but died when Grover was 16.
Grover could not finish school, but his uncle arranged for him to study law in Buffalo, and he was admitted to the bar when he was 22

19. Career
Cleveland worked as a lawyer early on, gaining a reputation as a solid attorney.
He hired a Polish immigrant to be his substitute during the Civil War, because he felt bound to continue working to support his widowed mother and brothers and sisters.
Cleveland served as sheriff of of Erie County
Cleveland was mayor of Buffalo briefly before moving on to become governor of New York in 1882.
Cleveland was known to be honest and above the corruption that was common in New York. He especially became an enemy of Tammany Hall.

20. Election
To win the presidency Cleveland had to defeat James G. Blaine.
Blaine was thought by many to be corrupt, especially regarding a scandal in which he profited from the building of two western railroads. Many reform minded Republicans, called Mugwumps, supported Cleveland for his known honesty.
Blaine’s campaign accused Cleveland of having a child out of wedlock. Cleveland admitted paternity, although the woman was known to have several lovers, and paternity could not be proven. People respected his honesty.

21. Cartoon

22. Presidency Cleveland supported the maintenance of the gold standard.
Cleveland believed in lowering tariffs and fought to get this done. In the end this helped cost him re-election the first time, as it angered business interests and skilled working men.
Cleveland did not intervene in international matters, and felt the U.S. should not do so, so he abandoned support for a canal in Nicaragua.
Cleveland ordered the U.S. Army to keep settlers out of Crow territory, reversing Arthur’s decision.
Established the Department of Agriculture.

23. Presidency Continued
During his second term Cleveland tried to reform the McKinley Tariff passed while he was out of office. He succeeded, but the victory was limited, because of numerous “riders” attached.
Cleveland put down labor unrest using federal troops, most notably during the Pullman Strike, in which Railroad workers were striking.
Cleveland dealt with the Panic of 1893 by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. While this measure led to improvement, it was a slow process, resulting in little support for Cleveland.
While Cleveland repealed the Silver Purchase Act, J.P. Morgan arranged a huge loan of $62 billion to reinforce the gold reserves.
Cleveland demanded arbitration between Great Britain and Venezuela over a territorial dispute, earning him supporters in Latin America and the U.K.
Cleveland conducted and investigation of the annexation of Hawaii under Harrison. The findings of the investigation were negative, and Cleveland asked Congress to stop annexation. However, the Queen was not restored, and the Republic of Hawaii was established.

24. Conservative Beliefs
“I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood”

25. Marriage
Cleveland married Frances Folsom while she was a student at Wells College, and he was in his first term.
She was just 21 years old, and is still the youngest First Lady ever.
They had a baby in the White House named Ruth, who became the darling of reporters.
While people at first rejected the marriage due to age differences, they eventually came to like Frances and Baby Ruth.

26. Francis

27. Legacy
Cleveland is thought by many to be one of the most conservative presidents in U.S. History.
He was a staunch supporter of the constitution, and used his veto power a record 414 times in one term, to protect what he thought were it’s principles.
Cleveland was against imperialism when most Western leaders supported it.
Over all Cleveland was an honest, if not fantastic president, as he was unable to heal all of the problems of the Panic of 1893.
Cleveland has also come to be seen as hostile to the labor movement.

28. #23 Benjamin Harrison
Born in North Bend, Ohio on a 600 acre farm his family inherited from his grandfather, 9th president William Henry Harrison.
His father was a U.S. Congressman.
Harrison attended Miami University, in Oxford, where he studied law.
He worked as a prominent Indianapolis attorney for many years.

29. Political Life Admitted to the BAR in 1854.
He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, rising to the rank of Brigadier General.
He worked as a successful lawyer for most of his life.
Harrison was a Republican, and was loyal to the Party Bosses and their pro-business agenda.
He ran for governor of Indiana in 1876, and lost.
Elected to the U.S. Senate and served until 1887, taking few strong positions, thus making him in-offensive to anyone, easy for the bosses to control, and a prime candidate for president.

30. Campaign
In 1888, Harrison received the republican nomination for president.
“He” selected Levi Morton as his running mate, though it was really the big party bosses that made the decision.
His opponent was the incumbent Grover Cleveland, and his campaign used Cleveland’s lack of Civil War experience against the Democrat, who had fought against many Civil War Pensions as president.
Harrison Lost the popular vote, but barely won the electoral college.

31. Actions as President
Passed the Sherman Anti-Trust act. Stopped trusts and monopolies, but was not used during his presidency (Teddy Roosevelt made use of it, a bunch though).
He passed the disastrous McKinely Tariff, which sought to protect industry
Passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which wrought havoc on the monetary system because it required to government to purchase more silver, which Populists hoped would create inflation, thereby allowing farmers to pay high debts. Unfortunately the government paid for the silver with notes that could be redeemed for gold or silver. Most investors redeemed for gold, which gutted that market and created the terrible Panic of 1893.
Passed dependent and disability pension act. Helped give benefits to war veterans who were disabled.
Lost to Cleveland in 1892 election as prices skyrocketed for consumers after McKinley Tariff.

32. Legacy
Harrison’s legacy is largely one of mediocrity, he is remembered as an average at-best president.
He was little more than a tool of the Republican party bosses, and his policies reflected that.
He did care much for his fellow Civil War veterans, and wished to compensate them well for their service.
Harrison was the only grandson of a president to become president.