Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation out of depression. With his new economic reforms, including Roosevelt's New Deal, the United States experienced an economic revival. He believed that spending more many than the country had would help improve the economy, and he was right. He set limitations for was businesses could do, and that helped to drag America out of the Depression. His ideas paved the way for a successful and safe economic future. In terms of foreign policy, Roosevelt's most major achievement was being able to eventually get America to join the allied cause against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The Lend-Lease Act was Roosevelt's main idea to supply Britain and other allied nations with the equipment needed to keep fighting. America would not actually fight the war under the terms of this act, He was not able to get America to take a firm stand against the Japanese or the Nazis until after Dec 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler declared war on America a few days later. Roosevelt's greatest accomplishment was nothing that can be measured by an analysis of what he outright did. Roosevelt restored American confidence and created sense of optimism in America during the Depression. He always sounded hopeful that things would get better and did his best to let the people know what he was going to do to fix the problem through his "fire-side chats" over the radio. Many in America had great confidence in Franklin D. Roosevelt and supported him greatly. It's argued that, in Roosevelt's 12 year term, he did not do enough for the Jews in Europe. It seems that Roosevelt's main focus was defending America and its allies, and not going to the measures needed to ultimately protect everybody. He's criticized and called selfish, but he had the good of America in mind and didn't want to risk more lives. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt started the construction of the Panama Canal. This canal would provide a different and faster route than going all the way around South America. The Panama Canal became an essential and convenient passage way for imports and exports, as well as for military use. Another accomplishment of President Theodore Roosevelt was the Square Deal. The domestic program was formed upon three basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The three demands are sometimes called the '3 Cs' of Roosevelt's Square Deal. The deal was aimed at helping middle class citizens protected business from extreme demands of organized labor. Roosevelt, a Republican, believed in government action to lessen social evils. Legislation that stated that meat had to be processed safely with proper sanitation, that food and drugs couldn't be mislabeled, and that consumers couldn't be deliberately misled, was passed. Roosevelt also strongly battled for conservation of land, and protected a lot of wilderness from commercial use. A third achievement of Roosevelt was the Great White Fleet. The Great White Fleet was a nickname that became popular for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a trip around the globe. The fleet was ordered to do so by Roosevelt to demonstrate America's growing naval power, and the 14 month voyage proved a success. The fleet's success established a sense of pride in American citizens and let other countries now that the United States was growing stronger. A failure of Theodore Roosevelt was that he did nothing for civil and equal rights amongst African Americans and whites. While Roosevelt had many successes and accomplishments during his presidency, his failure to acknowledge civil rights more than he did puts a lasting tarnish on his image. |
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan had a very successful presidency. Before Reagan, Carter left office with American hostages in Iran. One of the first things Reagan did was find a way to release those hostages and bring them back to safety. He successfully did that, and his nickname "the Great Communicator" began to shine forth even more. Another one of Reagan's successes is that he created 15 million new jobs during his Presidency. President Carter had left America with an 11% unemployment rate when he left office, and Reagan introduced "Reaganomics" to save his country from another possible depression. Reagan rebuilt the military, which he believed was necessary because he believed in peace through force when it came to foreign policies. Reagan is also credited for bringing the end of the Soviet Union through intimidation. A third accomplishment of Ronald Reagan is that he restored America's faith in their government. He squelched fears and helped to make America strong and proud again. Reagan reclaimed America's place as world leader, which helped to create a sense of national unity and pride as well. His greatest asset in his presidency was his ability speak and connect directly with the American people. He gained American citizen's trust and love through his charming smile and eloquence. A failure of Ronald Reagan is initiating an arms race with the Soviet Union. This failure is debatable however, because it eventually led to the collapse of the USSR. Reagan's goal was to force the Soviet Union to over spend on their military, which they did, so I wouldn't consider this a failure. I can understand why people do, however, because had Reagan's plan failed, the results could've been disastrous. Dwight D. Eisenhower
In Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency, he successfully brought an armed peace to North and South Korea with the Korean Armistice Agreement. This brought a cease-fire and led to a calming of the fire of the Korean War at that time. North Korea and South Korea both agreed to the armistice and the guns were put down for then. Eisenhower was sure to keep the pressure on the Soviet Union during his presidency. He made nuclear weapons as a defense a priority because at that time, a nuclear war with the USSR was a possibility. He also launched the Space Race, where the United States and the Soviet Union were top competitors. Eisenhower did an excellent job at pressuring and pushing the Soviet Union. Another achievement of Dwight D. Eisenhower was that he started the Interstate Highway System. It was a network of United States highways that connected major cities of the 48 contiguous states together. It's estimated that it carried about a fifth of the nations traffic, and made traveling from state to state much easier. The U-2 Incident is considered to be a failure of President Eisenhower. The U-2 Incident happened on May 1, 1960. An American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The American government attempted to cover up this incident with a story of a plane veering and crashing, but when the Soviet Union came forth with intact wreckage of a U-2 plane and a very much alive pilot, Eisenhower was forced to admit to this incident. |