Republican Presidents

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1.  Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was President from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865.  He is known for leading the country through the Civil War and for his work toward ending slavery in the country.

2.  Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses Grant was the 18th President of the U.S. from March 4, 1869 to March 3, 1877.  He was a respected Army General during the Civil War, but was criticized for tolerating corruption among his friends and colleagues in the White House.

3.  Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford Birchard Hayes succeeded Grant as the 19th President from 1877 to 1881.  During his one term, he ended the Reconstruction Period and retreated military forces from the South.

4.  James A. Garfield

James Abram Garfield became President after Rutherford Hayes, taking over the office in 1881.  He was assassinated on September 19, 1881, making his total term in office just six months and 15 days.

5.  Chester A. Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur replaced James Garfield after he died. During his term as President until 1885, he passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act that played a key role in removing corruption in high political offices and making it mandatory for people to pass tests before entering these offices.   The passing of a civil service reform act was one of the major goals of James Garfield as well.

6.  Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President and was sworn into office in 1888 after defeating Democrat Grover Cleveland.  He was responsible for increasing tariffs on imports to fund the government and encourage protectionism among Americans. He was defeated by Grover Cleveland in the next Presidential election in 1893.

7.  William McKinley

William McKinley defeated Grover Cleveland in 1897 and became the 25th President.  He was elected for a second term in 1900, but was assassinated a year later.  He is known for beginning United States’ era of imperialism by starting the Spanish-American War.  He supported tariffs on countries trading with the U.S. as well.

8.  Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was vice-president to McKinley, and he became president after McKinley’s death in 1901. Roosevelt remained in office until 1909.  He is known for building the Panama Canal, brokering peace between the Japanese and Russian empires, and promoting the ‘Square Deal’ ideology.

9.  William Howard Taft

Taft became President in 1909, and during his term until 1913 he expanded the civil service, fixed the Postal Service, and started the tradition where the President pitches the first ball of baseball season.

10.  Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding was sworn in as president in 1921, and he played a major role in bring the U.S. back to normal after World War I.  He supported a limited government and regulation of the economy and lowered taxes.

11.  Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the U.S. from 1923 to 1929.  His belief in federalism was criticized by many, especially when he refused federal subsidies for farmers after the Mississippi flood of 1927, stating that such problems should be solved by the state and local government.

12.  Herbert Hoover

Hoover was elected as President in 1929 after a landslide victory over Al Smith.  Unlike Coolidge, he believed that federal government needed to take action, especially during the Great Depression, which had just begun sometime after taking over office.  He increased taxes and looked to created jobs through government programs, one of them being the construction of a dam that later became the Hoover Dam.  He was criticized for his mistakes in dealing with the Great Depression, support for prohibition of alcohol, and lack of charisma.

13.  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower was already a popular figure across the world for his role in World War II as an Allied Commander, and he was elected the 34th President in 1953.  He played a major role in ending the Korean War, creating NASA, and intimidating the Soviet Union in a policy now known as brinkmanship.

14.  Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was President from 1969 to 1974, and he was very successful in foreign relations, especially with the Soviet Union and China. However, he was criticized for secretly bombing Vietnam and Cambodia while promising to withdraw troops and ending the Vietnam War.  He became the only President to resign from office following the infamous Watergate scandal.

15.  Gerald Ford

Ford became president after Nixon’s resignation in 1974 and remained in office until his close loss to Jimmy Carter in 1977.  He was considered a good president but he lost popularity after pardoning Nixon in 1974.

16.  Ronald Reagan

Reagan was elected into the Presidential office in 1981, and during his Presidency he lowered taxes by 25 percent and focused on supply-side economics.  He lowered inflation from 14 percent to 4 percent, and towards the end of his second term he helped peacefully end the Cold War.

17.  George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President from 1989 to 1993.  He is known for signing important laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, but was criticized for starting the Gulf War, invading Panama, and triggering a recession.

18.  George W. Bush

The 43rd President of the U.S., George Walker Bush was the son of former president George H. W. Bush.  He signed large tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act for education reform.  He was, however, criticized for attacking Afghanistan in 2002 and later Iraq on charges of hidden WMDs.  He also signed the Patriot Act that was seen as an attack of the American citizens’ freedoms.

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