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Washington Administration

Washington Administration

.]] George Washington was elected as President of the United States twice, serving eight years from 1789 to 1797 before retiring to his Mount Vernon plantation.

1789 election

The 1789 presidential election took place on February 15, 1789. The two main canidates were George Washington and John Adams. It was left up to each state to determine how to choose its electors for the Electoral College. Of the 13 states, only ten cast electoral votes, and of these only five held a general election for president. Each of the 69 electors who carried out their duties cast two votes, one of which had to be for a candidate from outside the voter's state. Washington, who garnered 69 electoral votes, was a unanimous choice, and remains the only person ever to be elected president unanimously (a feat which he duplicated in 1792). As runner-up with 34 votes, John Adams became Vice President-elect. Congress certified the results of the election on April 6, and though it was originally planned for March 4, Washington took the oath of office on April 30 on the portico outside the U.S. Senate chamber at Federal Hall in New York City.

Establishing protocol

Washington's election was a disappointment to Martha Washington, the First Lady, who wanted to continue living in quiet retirement at Mount Vernon after the war. Nevertheless, she quickly assumed the role of hostess, opening her parlor and organizing weekly dinner parties for as many dignitaries as could fit around the presidential table. The puzzle was how to balance the ornate protocols and titles typical of European courts with the plain simplicity demanded of a republican state. The compromise was to minimize formality and to call the president, "your excellency." Since the Constitution was vague about the structure of the executive branch, Congress created the first three departments and the order has ever since been the order of priority: State (July), War (August), and Treasury (September). Congress also set up the offices of Attorney General and Postmaster General, without departments. Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson to State, Henry Knox to War, Alexander Hamilton to Treasury, and Edmund Randolph Attorney General. At first he met privately with each man, but by late 1791 he was convening formal Cabinet meetings of the four. They were marked by a growing tension between Hamilton, who had an elaborate program, and Jefferson, who usually opposed. But Hamilton usually had Washington's support and he won the intense battles over a National Bank, funding the state debts, and a tariff. Jefferson won the location of the new capital (in what became Washington D.C.) Hamilton formed a network of "friends of the administration" in Congress and in each states; it soon emerged as the Federalist Party. Jefferson and James Madison built a counter-network called the Republican Party. (Historians usually call it the "Democratic-Republican" party to avoid confusion with the major party of 1854 to present.) These were the first political parties in the United States, or the world. They both set up newspapers and local clubs to support their programs and villify their opponents, and to help elect their candidates.

Whiskey Rebellion

In 1791, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, part of Hamilton's program. The Revenue Act of 1789 already dealt with federal debt, but the decision to pay off state debts as well meant that additional taxes were required. This tax was highly unpopular on the American frontier, especially with settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains. It affected farmers who grew grain that was made into whiskey. Notably, the farmers whom the tax adversely affected were Democratic-Republicans and supporters of Jefferson, and Hamilton promoted taxing them instead of merchants, which made up his base of support. Large producers were assessed a tax of six cents per gallon. However, smaller producers, many of whom were Scots-Irish and lived in more remote western areas, were taxed at the higher rate of nine cents a gallon. In addition, farmers lacked any practical means to get their grain to market other than fermenting and distilling it into relatively portable distilled spirits. From Pennsylvania to Georgia, the western counties engaged in a campaign of harassment of the federal tax collectors. "Whiskey Boys" made violent protests in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Washington and Hamilton, remembeing Shays' Rebellion just eight years before, decided to make Pennsylvania a testing ground for federal authority. Washington ordered federal marshals to serve court orders requiring the protesters to appear in U.S. district court. By the summer of 1794, the protests became a rebellion; one group disguised as women assaulted a collector, tarred and feathered him, cropped his hair, and stole his horse. They also engaged in mail theft and disruption of court proceedings. In July 1794, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a federal marshal was attacked by a mob and a regional inspector's house was burned. On August 1, about 7000 rebels convened to discuss a possible assult on Pittsburgh but decided aganist it when learning of the town's heavy fortifications. On August 7, Washington invoked the Militia Law of 1792 to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia and several states. The rebel force they sought was likewise composed of Pennsylvanians, Virginians, and possibly men from other states. In October and November, Washington (with Henry Lee) personally led a force of 13,000 to western Pennsylvania to suppress the unrest, which was centered around the Monongahela Valley area. The rebels hid in the woods and the army found no organized resistance. Twenty barefoot civilians were captured and paraded down Market Street in Philadelphia. The men were imprisoned, where one died, while two were convicted of treason and sentenced to be hanged. Washington however, issued a presidential pardon them on the grounds that one was a "simpleton" and the other "insane." In leading the military force aganist the rebels Washington became the only president to personally lead troops in battle while commander-in-chief. It also marked the first time under the new constitution that the federal government had used strong military force to exert authority over the states and citizens.

War on the frontier

The United States had acquired title to the Northwest Territory from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, but the American Indians who lived there were not consulted. Initially the United States proceeded as if the Indians had lost their land in the war by siding with the British. This proved unrealistic, since the U.S. government had neither the troops nor the money to enforce the policy. Instead, Washington's administration, under the direction of Secretary of War Henry Knox, shifted to a policy of acquiring the land only through purchase in treaties. This also proved difficult to enforce, since U.S. settlers and states wanted to acquire land of their own at a faster rate, and Native American leaders who signed treaties rarely spoke on behalf of all natives who used the land. Violence often resulted, the largest conflict being the Northwest Indian War, in which the Indians won victories until being defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.

Foreign Affairs

In 1793, the revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt, who attempted to turn popular sentiment towards American involvement in the war against Great Britain. Genêt was authorized to issue letters of marque and reprisal to American ships and gave authority to any French consul to serve as a prize court. Genêt's activities forced Washington to ask the French government for his recall.

Jay's Treaty of 1794

Discussion of Jay's treaty with Great Britain to settle outstanding issues. It was strongly attacked by supporters of France, led by the Jeffersonians. It remained in effect until the War of 1812. The British had to clear out of their forts around the Great Lakes.

Party Formation

Hamilton uses Federal patronage to set up a national network of friends of the Administration. This develops into a full-fledged party, with Hamilton the key leader. The Federalist party elected John Adams president in 1796.

Farewell Address and Two-Term Tradition

Washington's Farewell Address was the defining statement of Federalist party principles and one of the most influential statements of American political values. Hamilton made major suggestions for Washington's draft, as did John Jay. It was not a speech but a public letter issues in September, 1796, in time to influence the presidential election. Most of the Address dealt with the dangers of bitter partisanship in domestic politics. True republicans, Washington argued, are in fact in true harmony, and should transcend local, state and regional interests. Above all domestic politics should be isolated from foreign affairs. Washington counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, and warned sternly against involvement in European wars. Long-term alliances should be avoided, but he said the 1778 alliance with France had to be observed. By refusing a third term Washington established a firm but unwritten rule. It was broken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940, but after his death made part of the written Constitution.

Scholarly Secondary Sources


- Bemis, Samuel Flagg. Jay's Treaty (1923).
- Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (2004).
- Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Knopf, 2004. ISBN 1400040310.
- Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism. (1994), by far the leading scholarly history of the 1790s.
- Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensable Man. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. ISBN 0316286168 (1994 reissue). Single-volume condensation of Flexner's four-volume biography.
- Freeman, Douglas. S. Washington: An abridgement in one volume by Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman (1968), the standard scholarly biography.
- [Lodge, Henry Cabot]. George Washington (vol 2, 1899 covers 1783-99) [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12653 online at Project Gutenberg] old but generally accurate.
- McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of George Washington. (1988)
- Nettels, Curtis P. The Emergence of a National Economy, 1775-1815 (1962). The standard economic history.
- Sharp, James. American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis. (1995)
- White, Leonard D. The Federalists (1949), the best coverage of how the departments were created and operated.
- Wilentz, Sean. Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848: Documents and Essays (1992), good collection of primary documents and secondary scholarly essays.

Primary Sources


- [http://www.gwu.edu/~ffcp/exhibit/p13/p13.html Birth of the Nation, 1789-1791] original documents

Cabinet


Supreme Court appointments

As the first President, Washington appointed the entire Supreme Court, a feat almost repeated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his four terms in office (1933-1945). Washington appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- John Jay - Chief Justice - 1789
- James Wilson - 1789
- John Rutledge - 1790
- William Cushing - 1790
- John Blair - 1790
- James Iredell - 1790
- Thomas Johnson - 1792
- William Paterson - 1793
- John Rutledge - Chief Justice, 1795 (an associate justice since 1790)
- Samuel Chase - 1796
- Oliver Ellsworth - Chief Justice - 1796

Major Presidential Acts


- Signed Judiciary Act of 1789
- Signed Indian Intercourse Acts, starting in 1790
- Signed Residence Act of 1790
- Signed Bank Act of 1791
- Signed Coinage Act of 1792
- Signed Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
- Signed Naval Act of 1794

States admitted to the Union


- North Carolina (1789)
- Rhode Island (1790)
- Vermont (1791)
- Kentucky (1792)
- Tennessee (1796)

First President?

Some have wondered why national leaders of the United States prior to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution are not recognized as the President of the United States. Some people argue that the Presidents of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation should be retroactively recognized as the true first Presidents of the United States. Politically, the two positions are different in that one was simply a chairman of a Congress that controlled a loose confederation while the other is an active executive official who heads a true federal government. Given this, historians generally believe that the positions should not be considered the same and therefore, the first "true" U.S. President (in the sense of being America's full Head of State) is indeed Washington. [http://www.snopes.com/history/american/hanson.htm] However, Washington himself, in correspondence, congratulated John Hanson on becoming the first President of the Continental Congress (1781-1782), using the phrase "President of the United States" in referring to Hanson. Category:George Washington

President of the United States

The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The full title is President of the United States of America. Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on Earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government. Many countries with a parliamentary system also have an office named "president", but the roles of this office vary widely, and the President in such systems usually has far more limited powers than the Prime Minister. The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term ran from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005; his second term began on January 20, 2005 and ends on January 20, 2009; and President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy. Critics argue that this requirement arbitrarily excludes some highly qualified candidates for the Presidency. They also charge that supporters fail to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Proponents of the requirement argue that the requirement helps to ensure that the President fully understands and is a part of the American people and their outlook. Proponents also argue that the clause helps protect the country from foreign interference—another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials, such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA; born in Austria) and Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI; born in Canada), are barred from the presidency because they were not natural-born citizens. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

Election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Old system

Originally, each elector voted for two people for President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) became President, while the individual who was in second place became Vice President.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Inauguration and oath of office

mass media Since 1933, with the ratification of Amendment XX, a newly elected President, or a re-elected incumbent, is sworn into office on January 20 of the year following the election, an event called Inauguration Day. Although the Chief Justice of the United States usually administers the presidential oath of office, the Constitution does not specify any requirements; thus, anyone with the legal authority to administer oaths can perform the duty. In accordance with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 8 of the Constitution, upon entering office, the President must take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Only presidents Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover have chosen to affirm rather than swear. The oath is traditionally ended with, "So help me God," although for religious reasons some Presidents have said, "So help me", or "and thus I swear." On Inauguration Day, following the oath of office, the President customarily delivers an inaugural address which sets the tone for his administration. These addresses can reach the level of high oratory, from such stand-alone lines as Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," to entire speeches, such as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

Term(s) of office

Under the Constitution, the President serves a four-year term. Amendment XXII (which took effect in 1951 and was first applied to Dwight D. Eisenhower starting in 1953) limits the president to either two four-year terms or a maximum of ten years in office should he have succeeded to the Presidency previously and served two years at most completing his predecessor's term. Since then, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Incumbent President George W. Bush would become the fourth if he completes his current (and second) term in 2009. (Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it.)

Succession

The United States presidential line of succession is a detailed list of government officials to serve or act as President upon a vacancy in the office due to death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and conviction). impeachment, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy]] The line of 17 begins with the Vice President and ends with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Legislation to add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the line of succession is pending in Congress. The Constitution provided that, if a President were to die, resign, or be removed from office, the "powers and duties" of the office would devolve upon the Vice President, Article II, Section 1 (which seems to imply the position of acting president), and that he [Vice President] shall "exercise the office of President of the United States," Article I, Section 2 (which seems to imply actual assumption of the presidency itself). People did not agree as to the exact meaning and intention of the text, and whether the Vice President would succeed to the office of President or merely act as President. After the death of William Henry Harrison, however, Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had become the President, not merely Acting President, and this precedent was followed in all subsequent cases. The 25th amendment eliminated this ambiguity by confirming that the Vice President fully becomes President, not Acting President, if the presidency becomes vacant. It sets the Vice President first in the line of succession and spells out a process for him to serve as Acting President should the President become temporarily disabled. A provision of the United States Code () establishes the rest of the succession line. To date, no officer other than the Vice President has been called upon to act as President.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President may make treaties, but the Senate must ratify them by a two-thirds supermajority. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. (Washington, already a successful man, refused to accept his salary.) Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised as well. While far higher than the median wage in the United States, in modern times the President's salary is paltry compared to the Chief Executive Officers of many publicly-listed companies, and indeed modern Presidents have typically earned far more in the corporate world after the end of their term than they did as President.

Residences

Chief Executive Officer Among the many non-salary benefits are living and working in the White House mansion in Washington, DC The President's principal workplace and official residence is the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. His official vacation or weekend residence is Camp David in Maryland. Many presidents have also had their own homes.

Travelling

While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially built Boeing 747s, known as Air Force One. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, often referred to informally as "Cadillac One," equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area or on presidential trips, the President travels aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One. The President also has the use of: Army One, Coast Guard One, Executive One, and Navy One. Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a retreat which is occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former Presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the President's death. The last President to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Benefits after Presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy other benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

Officeholders

: See: List of Presidents of the United States.

Timeline


- Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first president who was not born a British subject. Interestingly, he is also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
- John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All presidents born before him were eligible to be president because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, before the Constitution was adopted).
- Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first president born in the 19th century. (Millard Fillmore was born January 7, 1800, the last year of the 18th century.)
- Warren Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first president born after the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865.
- John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first person born in the 20th century to become president (1961).
  - Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908. Three other Presidents who followed Johnson in office were also born before Kennedy (in order of birth, Reagan, Nixon, and Ford).
- Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become president.
  - George H. W. Bush, who succeeded Carter's successor, was born on June 12, 1924.
- Bill Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first person born after World War II to become president.
  - Clinton's successor, George W. Bush, was born July 6, 1946.

Life after the Presidency

1946, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and their wives at the funeral of President Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.]] After a president of the U.S. leaves office, the title "President" continues to be applied to that person the rest of his life. Former presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers:
- John Quincy Adams enjoyed a prosperous career in the House of Representatives after his term in the White House.
- Andrew Johnson was elected to the same Senate that tried his impeachment, although he died before he could take office.
- Theodore Roosevelt wrote many books, went on safari, toured Europe, ran again for President in 1912, went on an expedition into the Brazilian jungle where he discovered the Rio Roosevelt, and was widely believed to be the front-runner for the 1920 presidential elecion when he died in 1919.
- William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the United States.
- Jimmy Carter has been a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer.
- George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton teamed together to appeal for donations from Americans after the Asian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As of 2005, there are four living former presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased President is Ronald Reagan, who died in June 2004. There have never been more than five former presidents alive at any given time in American history. There have been three periods during which five former presidents were alive:
- From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living (during the Lincoln Administration, until the death of Tyler).
- From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living (during the Clinton Administration, until the death of Nixon).
- From January 20, 2001 to June 5, 2004, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were living (during the G.W. Bush Administration, until the death of Reagan). There have been six periods in American history during which no former presidents were alive:
- (beginning of time) – March 3, 1797: until the first President left office, there could be no former presidents, alive or otherwise.
- December 14, 1799 – March 3, 1801: from the death of former President George Washington until incumbent President John Adams left office (no former president would die until Adams and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, both did so on July 4 1826).
- July 31, 1875 – March 3, 1877: from the death of former President Andrew Johnson until incumbent President Ulysses Grant left office (no former president would die until Grant did so in 1885 although incumbent President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881).
- June 24, 1908 – March 3, 1909: from the death of former President Grover Cleveland until incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt left office (no former president would die until Roosevelt did so in 1919).
- January 5, 1933 – March 3, 1933: from the death of former President Calvin Coolidge until incumbent President Herbert Hoover left office (no former president would die until Hoover did so in 1964 although incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945 and incumbent President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963).
- January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of former President Lyndon Johnson until incumbent President Richard Nixon resigned (no former president would die until Nixon did so in 1994). Herbert Hoover had the longest post-presidency, 31 years. He left office in 1933 and died in 1964. Still alive today is Gerald Ford, who has been an ex-president for 28 years, as of 2005. James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency. He died on June 15, 1849, a mere three months after the expiration of his term. Between the birth of George Washington in 1732 and the birth of Bill Clinton in 1946, future presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. Between the death of George Washington in 1799 and the present, presidents or ex-presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s.

Presidential facts

Transition events


- Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office:
  - Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
  - James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died due to subsequent incorrect medical care)
  - William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
  - John F. Kennedy in 1963, officially by Lee Harvey Oswald alone[http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/warren_commission/warren_commission_report_chapter1.html] although many theories suggest additional gunmen or a different person altogether. [http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/house_select_committee/committee_report_gunmen.html]
- Four others died in office of natural causes:
  - William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
  - Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850. Taylor's body was exhumed in 1991 to test if he had died of arsenic poisoning. It was determined he did not.
  - Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923. There has been speculation that [http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1374.html Harding was poisoned]—in particular, Gaston Means had a book ghost-written that spread that notion—but that theory appears to be baseless.
  - Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
- One President resigned from office:
  - Richard Nixon in 1974
- Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:
  - Andrew Johnson in 1868
  - Bill Clinton in 1999
- Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:
  - John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
    - However, in six of the then twenty-four states in 1824, the electors were chosen by the state legislature, with no popular vote.
  - Rutherford B. Hayes - trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
  - Benjamin Harrison - trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
  - George W. Bush - trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election (http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm)
  - A possible addition to this list is John F. Kennedy, who may have trailed Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. The precise gap in votes is difficult to determine because voters in Alabama were not given Kennedy as an option on their ballot - they could only vote "Democratic", without choosing a candidate. So, when the Democrats won Alabama, half of the state's electoral votes were pledged to Kennedy, and the other half were not pledged at all, and those votes all went to Harry F. Byrd. So it is impossible to know how many of those voters meant to vote for Kennedy, or for Byrd. The margin between Kennedy and Nixon was smaller than the number of Democratic votes in Alabama. The official figure from the U.S. government states includes the Alabama votes in Kennedy's total, giving Kennedy the popular plurality.
- Eleven Presidents have been elected fourteen times without a majority of popular votes (but with a plurality of popular votes):
  - James K. Polk - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1844 election
  - Zachary Taylor - 47.3% of the popular vote in the 1848 election
  - James Buchanan - 45.3% of the popular vote in the 1856 election
  - Abraham Lincoln - 39.9% of the popular vote in the 1860 election
  - James A. Garfield - 48.3% of the popular vote in the 1880 election
  - Grover Cleveland - 48.8% of the popular vote in the 1884 election
  - Grover Cleveland - 46.0% of the popular vote in the 1892 election
  - Woodrow Wilson - 41.8% of the popular vote in the 1912 election
  - Woodrow Wilson - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1916 election
  - Harry S. Truman - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1948 election
  - John F. Kennedy - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1960 election
  - Richard Nixon - 43.2% of the popular vote in the 1968 election
  - Bill Clinton - 42.9% of the popular vote in the 1992 election
  - Bill Clinton - 49.2% of the popular vote in the 1996 election
- Two Presidents have been elected without a majority of electoral votes, and were chosen by the House of Representatives:
  - Thomas Jefferson - finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
  - John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election
- Eight Presidents took office without being elected to the Presidency, having been elected as Vice President and then promoted from that position. In all eight cases, they succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of the incumbent:
  - Four of them were never elected in their own right:
    - John Tyler - Succeeded William Henry Harrison
    - Millard Fillmore - Succeeded Zachary Taylor
      - Fillmore did run for President in the 1856 election as a Know Nothing Party candidate and received 873,053 votes (21.6%), finishing third
    - Andrew Johnson - Succeeded Abraham Lincoln
    - Chester A. Arthur - Succeeded James Garfield
  - The other four were all elected in their own right for the immediately succeeding presidential term:
    - Theodore Roosevelt - Succeeded William McKinley, elected as president in the 1904 election
    - Calvin Coolidge - Succeeded Warren G. Harding, elected as president in the 1924 election
    - Harry S. Truman - Succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected as president in the 1948 election
    - Lyndon B. Johnson - Succeeded John F. Kennedy, elected as president in the 1964 election
- One President, Gerald Ford, was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, succeeded to the Presidency after Nixon's resignation, and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter. He remains the only President who was not elected as either President or Vice President.
- An urban legend claims that David Rice Atchison was the 11½th president of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849 in between the terms of James K. Polk (whose term expired at noon on March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5). However, the logic of this is contradictory. If one does not consider Taylor to have officially become President until the administration of his Oath of Office, then the same logic precludes any person from having automatically succeeded before likewise having taken the same Oath. In fact, Taylor, as President-elect, automatically acceded to the Office of President upon the expiration of Polk's term, even if he did not yet enter into the execution of that Office until the Oath was administered. This fact was confirmed by Congress when it certified his election, as it defined the beginning of the administration as the instant Polk left office. Even if supposing, for the sake of argument, the rather odd interpretation that only Presidents-elect are required to take the Oath before officially occupying the Office, whilst officials in the Presidential Line of Succession occupy the Presidency ipso facto, then there would be a long list of dozens of additional "Presidents" who only held the office for a matter of hours or minutes.
- There were seven presidents whose oaths of office were administered by someone other than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court :
  - Robert Livingston, as Chancellor of the State of New York, administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration; William Cushing, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administered the second
  - Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath to his son after the death of Warren Harding
  - United States District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath to Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy
  - John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Chester Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt's initial oaths reflected the unexpected nature of their taking office.

Other facts

Theodore Roosevelt]]
- Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as President, and is counted twice, both as the 22nd and the 24th President. Consequently, the "25th President" is actually the 24th person to be President, the "26th President" is actually the 25th person to be President, and so on—e.g., George W. Bush, 43rd President, is actually the 42nd person to be President.
- Since the federal government started operations under the Constitution on March 4, 1789, there has been only one period of time in which the office was vacant. The First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, 1789 and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then.
- A presidential term is normally 1461 days. There have been three presidential terms which were shorter:
  - Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to noon on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1418.5 days.
  - Due to the vagaries of the Gregorian calendar, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, so John Adams' term and William McKinley's first term were shortened to 1460 days.
- Five Presidents had never held any prior elected office:
  - Zachary Taylor
  - Ulysses S. Grant
  - Herbert Hoover
  - Dwight D. Eisenhower
  - William Howard Taft
- All presidents have been white males and nominally Christian (mostly Protestant). Most presidents have been of substantially British descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
  - Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren
    - Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
  - Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
  - Predominantly Irish:William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
    - Kennedy was also America's only Roman Catholic president.
- Only one president, James Buchanan, remained a bachelor. Bachelor Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom while in office, while both John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson became widowers and remarried while in office.
- Historical rankings of U.S. Presidents by academic historians usually regard three Presidents — in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — to be the three most successful presidents by a wide margin.
- The Secret Service and some agencies in the government use acronyms as jargon. Since the Truman Administration the President of the United States has been called POTUS, pronounced "poh-tuss". The wife of the President, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced "flo-tuss". The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced "vee-poh-tuss".
- The President is known to be able to affect trends in popular culture. An endorsement of a book or a movie by a president can easily launch the career of a author or a filmmaker. For example, Ronald Reagan's admiration of The Hunt For Red October may have helped to cause Tom Clancy to become a nationally acclaimed bestselling author, something that may never have happened had it not been for Reagan's endorsement.

Lists


See also


- President of the Continental Congress
- Presidential reputation
- Presidential Service Badge
- Executive branch
- Executive privilege
- Air Force One
- Tecumseh's curse
- Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
- List of actors who played President of the United States
- Alternative pop music band The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
- Imperial Presidency

Further reading


- Leonard Leo, James Taranto, and William J. Bennett. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster, June, 2004, hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0743254333
- Waldman, Michael, and George Stephanopoulos, My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. September 2003. ISBN 1402200277
- Couch, Ernie, Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. 1 March 1996. ISBN 1558534121
- Lang, J. Stephen, The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. September 2001. ISBN 1565548779

Notes

# Kamen, Al. "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55411-2004Nov16.html If You're Available Jan. 20 . . .]" Washington Post, 17 November 2004. # Library of Congress. "[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html Presidential Inaugrations: Presidential Oaths of Office.]" # [http://www.historicvermont.org/coolidge/oathrm.html Excerpt from Coolidge's autobiography.]

External links

Official


-
-

Presidential histories


- - A collection of over 52,000 Presidential documents
- - Brief biographies, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents.
- - A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits
-

Speeches


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Miscellaneous


- - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
- - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
- - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
- [http://www.quotesandpoem.com/quotes/listquotes/subject/American_Presidential_Quotes Collection of Quotes by American Presidents]
- - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
- - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be. Category:Executive Branch of the United States Government Category:Executive heads of state United States, President Category:Presidency of the United States ko:미국의 대통령 ja:アメリカ合衆国大統領 simple:President (United States) th:ประธานาธิบดีแห่งสหรัฐอเมริกา

1797

1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 3 - The Treaty of Tripoli (a peace treaty between the United States and Tripoli) is signed at Algiers.
- January 7 - The parliament of the Cisalpine Republic adopts the Italian green-white-red tricolour as official flag. It is the birthday of the flag of Italy.
- January 15 - London haberdasher James Hetherington wears the first top hat in public and attracts a large crowd of onlookers. He is later fined £50 for causing public nuisance
- February 14 - The Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797), part of the Wars of the French Revolution.
- February 18 - Spanish Governor Chacon peacefully surrenders the colony of Trinidad and Tobago to a British naval force.
- February 22 - Attempted invasion of Britain at Fishguard in Wales by French forces
- February 26 - The Bank of England (national bank of Britain) issues the first one pound note (discontinued March 11 1988).
- March 4 - John Adams succeeds George Washington as the President of the United States of America.
- May 12 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice, ending the 1070 years of independence of the city. Last doge of Venice, Ludovico Manin, steps down.
- July 24 - Horatio Nelson is wounded at Tenerife, causing a loss of one arm.
- September 7 - Treaty of Campo Formio ends the War of the First Coalition.
- October 21 - In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli.
- December 17 - Napoleon leads a successful French charge against Fort l'Aiguilette to secure Toulon for French
- Large-scale mutinies in Royal Navy
- Joseph Haydn composes the music to "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser," the tune of which also became the music to the German national anthem, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles."

Ongoing events


- French Revolution (1789-1799)
- French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)-First Coalition

Births


- January 10 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (d. 1848)
- January 31 - Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
- February 15 -Henry Engelhard Steinway, German-American piano manufacturer (d. 1817)
- March 22 - Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany (d. 1888)
- March 27 - Alfred de Vigny, French author (d. 1863)
- May 6 - Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- May 18 - Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, (d. 1854)
- July 20 - Sir Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
- August 30 - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, English writer (d. 1851)
- October 3 - Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1870)
- November 14 - Sir Charles Lyell, British geologist (d. 1875)
- November 29 - Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (d. 1848)
- December 13 - Heinrich Heine, German poet (d. 1856)
- December 17 - Joseph Henry, American scientist (d. 1878)

Deaths


- January 13 - Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, queen of Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1715)
- February 11 - Antoine Dauvergne, French composer (b. 1713)
- February 22 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)
- March 2 - Horace Walpole, English politician and writer (b. 1717)
- March 26 - James Hutton Scottish geologist (b. 1726)
- May 17 - Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (b. 1719)
- May 25 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (b. 1719)
- May 27 - François-Noël Babeuf, French revolutionary leader (executed) (b. 1760)
- May 27 - Augustin Alexandre Darthé, French revolutionary leader (executed) (b. 1769)
- July 9 - Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher (b. 1723)
- August 3 - Jeffrey Amherst, British military commander (b. 1717)
- August 22 - Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Alsatian-born Austrian general (b. 1724)
- October 9 - Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1720)
- November 16 - King Frederick William II of Prussia (b. 1744)
- November 18 - Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (b. 1719)
- November 29 - Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (b. 1723)
- December 11 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722) Category:1797 ko:1797년 ms:1797 simple:1797

Plantation

:This article is about crop plantations. For plantations of people, see article Plantation (settlement or colony) for that 17th Century meaning. A plantation is an intentional planting of a crop, on a larger scale, usually for uses other than cereal production or pasture.. The term is most often used for plantings of trees and shrubs. The term tends also to be used for plantings maintained on economic bases other than that of subsistence farming.

Forestry

17th Century, USA; note the trees of uniform size and planted in straight lines, and the lack of diversity in the ground flora]] In forestry, plantations of trees are typically grown as an even-aged monoculture for timber production, as opposed to a natural forest, where the trees are usually of diverse species and diverse ages. A plantation is not a natural ecosystem. Plantations are also sometimes known as "man-made forests" or "tree farms", though this latter term more typically refers to specialist tree nurseries which produce the seedling trees used to create plantations. More generally a plantation is forest land where trees are grown for commercial use, most often in a planted forest, but may also be in a naturally regenerated forest. In the United States, the term "Tree Farm" is a trademark of the American Tree Farm system, a third party verification system for certifying sustainable forestry. The American Tree Farm system dates back to 1941 as a progam to improve forestry practices on farms. The term tree farm is also sometimes used to describe the sale of live trees for landscaping. A plantation is usually made up of fast-growing trees planted either to replace already-logged forests or to substitute for their absence. Plantations differ from natural forests in several ways:
- Plantations are usually monocultures. That is, the same species of tree is planted in rows across a given area, whereas a conventional forest would contain far more diverse tree species.
- Plantations may include introduced trees not native to the area, including (in a few cases) unconventional types such as hybrid trees and genetically modified trees. Since the primary interest in plantations is to produce wood or pulp, the types of trees found in plantations are those that are best-suited to industrial applications. For example, pines, spruces and eucalyptus are widely used because of their fast growth rate, and are good for paper and timber production.
- Plantations are always young forests. Typically, trees grown in plantations are harvested after 10 to 60 years, rarely up to 120 years. This means that the forests produced by plantations do not contain the type of growth, soil or wildlife typical of old-growth natural forest ecosystems. Most conspicuous is the absence of decaying dead wood, a very important part of natural forest ecosystems. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities (for example, the Forestry Commission in Britain) and/or the paper and wood industries and other private landowners (such as Weyerhaeuser and International Paper in the United States). Christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southeast Asia, rubber, oil palm, and more recently teak plantations have replaced the natural forest.

Industrial plantations

These are actively managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species. These species can be exotic or indigenous. Industrial plantations are usually large-scale. Wood production on a tree plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. While forests managed for wood production commonly yield between 1 and 3 cubic meters per hectare per year, plantations of tropical species commonly yield between 5 and 20 cubic meters per hectare annually; A eucalyptus plantation can have growth rates of 25 cubic meter per hectare per year or higher. World wide, forest plantations now amount to less than 5 percent of total forested area, but account for 20 percent of current world wood production. In the 1970’s Brazil began to establish high-yield, intensively managed, short rotation plantations. These types of plantations are sometimes called fast-wood plantations and often managed on a short-rotation basis,as little as 5 to 15 years. They are becoming more widespread in South America, Asia and other areas. The environmental and social impacts of this type of plantation has caused them to become controversial, In Indonesia for example large multi-national pulp companies have harvested large areas of natural forest with out regard for regeneration. From 1980 to 2000 about 50% of the 1.4 million hectares of pulpwood plantations in Indonesia have been established on what was formely natural forest land. The replacement of natural forest with tree plantations has also caused social problems. In some countries, again, notably Indonesia, conversions of natural forest are made by with little regard for rights of the local people. Plantations established purely for the production of fiber provide a much narrower range of services then the original natural forest for the local people. India has sought to limit this damage by limiting the amount of land owned by one entity and, as a result smaller plantations are owed by local farmers who then sell the wood to larger companies. Some large environmental organizations are critical of these high-yield plantations and are running an anti-plantation campaign, notable the Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace.

Farm or home plantations

Farm or home plantations are typical established for the production of lumber and fire wood for home use and sometimes for sale. Management may be less intensive then Industrial plantations. In time this type of plantation can become difficult to distinguish from naturally-regenerated forest.

Environmental plantations

These may be established for watershead or soil protection. There are established for erosion control, landslide stabilization and windbreaks. Such plantations are established to foster native species and promote forest regeneration on degraded lands as a tool of environmental restoration.

Ecological impact

Probably the single most important factor a plantation has on the local environment is the site where the plantation is established. If natural forest is cleared for a planted forest then a reduction in biodiversity and loss of habitat will likely result. In some cases their establishment may involve draining wetlands to replace mixed hardwoods that formerly predominated, with pine species. If a plantation is established on abandoned agriculture land, or highly degraded land, it could result in an increase in both habitat and biodiversity. A planted forest can be profitably established on lands that will not support agriculture or suffer from lack of natural regeneration. The tree species used in a plantation is also an important factor. Where non-native varieties or species are grown, few of the native fauna are adapted to exploit these and further biodiversity loss occurs. However even non-native tree species may serve as corridors for wildlife and act as a buffer for native forest, reducing edge effect. Once a plantation is established, how it is managed becomes the important environmental factor. The single most important factor of management is the rotation period. Plantations harvested on longer rotation periods ( 30 years or more) can provide similar benefits of a naturally regenerated forest managed for wood production, on a similar rotation. This is especially true if native species are used. In the case of exotic species the habitat can be improved significantly if the impact is mitigated by measures such as leaving blocks of native species in the plantation or retaining corridors of natural forest. In Brazil, similar measures are required by government regulations.

Plantations and natural forest loss

According to the FAO about 7 per cent of the natural closed forest being lost in the tropics is land being converted to plantation The remaining 93 per cent of the loss is land being converted to agriculture and other uses. World wide an estimated 15 % of plantations in tropical countries are established on closed canopy natural forest. In the Kyoto Protocol there are proposals encouraging the use of plantations to reduce carbon dioxide levels (though this idea is being challenged by some groups on the grounds that the sequestered CO2 is eventually released after harvest).

Other types of plantation

carbon dioxide ]] Crops may be called plantation crops because of their association with a specific type of farming economy. Most of these involve a large landowner, raising crops with economic value rather than for substistence, with a number of employees carrying out the work. Often it referred to crops newly introduced to a region. In past times it has been associated with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high inequity. However, arable and dairy farming are both usually (but not always) excluded from such definitions. A comparable economic structure in antiquity was the latifundia that produced commercial quantities of olive oil or wine, for export.

High value food crops

Plantings of a number of trees or shrubs grown for food or beverage, including tea, coffee, and cacao are generally called plantations. Some spice and high value crops grown from permanent perennial stock, such as pepper may also be so called. When the holding belongs to a single individual, that person may be called a planter. pepper

Rubber

Plantings of para rubber, the tree Hevea brasiliensis, are usually called plantations.

Orchards

Fruit orchards are sometimes considered to be plantations.

Arable crops

These include tobacco, sugarcane, pineapple, and cotton, especially in historical usage. Before the rise of cotton in the American South, indigo and rice were also sometimes called plantation crops.

Slavery, para-slavery and plantations

: rice Slave labour was used extensively to work on early plantations (such as cotton plantations) in the southern states of the USA, and in modern times low wages paid to plantation workers are still a part of plantation profitability in some areas with minimal employee-protection legislation. Sugar plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil worked by slave labour are perhaps the best example of the plantation system at its height. In more recent times, overt slavery has been replaced by para-slavery or slavery-in-kind. At its most extreme, workers are in debt bondage: they must work to pay a debt at such punitive interest rates that it may never be paid off. Others work unreasonably long hours and are paid subsistence wages that (in practice) may only be spent in the company shop.

Related matters

In the American South, plantations were centered on a plantation house, the residence of the owner, where important business was conducted. The plantations engendered their own characteristic architecture; see e.g. Berkeley Plantation. In Brazil, a sugarcane plantation was termed an engenho ("engine") and a 17th-century English usage for organized colonial production was "factory". Such colonial social and economic structures are discussed at Plantation economy.

See also

Tobacco plantations and slaves

External links


- [http://www.earthrepair.net/forest.shtml Earth Repair Network] Advocates plantation forestry.
- [http://www.wrm.org.uy/plantations/material/pulping.html Pulping the South] Criticism of industrial plantations.
- [http://www.cameron-highland-destination.com/cameron-highland-tea-plantation.html Tea Plantation in Cameron Highlands Malaysia] Category:Forestry ja:プランテーション

U.S. presidential election, 1789

The U.S. presidential election of 1789 was the first presidential election in the United States of America. Prior to the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1789, the United States had no office of President. (While there was an office under the Articles of Confederation called the President of the United States in Congress Assembled, it was the chair of the Congress and was akin to the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate.) For all intents and purposes, George Washington ran unopposed for election as President. Under the system then in place, each voting elector cast two votes, and the recipient of the greatest number of votes was elected President, providing they equaled or exceeded half the total number of electors. The runner-up became Vice President. (See Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution for a fuller description of the pre-12th Amendment electoral system.) The recipient of 34 electoral votes, John Adams of Massachusetts, finished second in voting and as such was elected Vice President of the United States.

General election

In the absence of parties, there was no formal nomination process. The framers of Constitution had presumed that Washington would be the first President, and once he agreed to come out of retirement to accept the office, there was no opposition to him. Individual states chose their electors, who voted en bloc for Washington when they met. Electors used their second vote to cast a scattering of votes, many voting for someone besides Adams less out of opposition to him than to prevent Adams from matching Washington's total. New York failed to appoint its allotment of eight electors, and subsequently cast no electoral votes. North Carolina and Rhode Island also did not cast votes, as they had not yet ratified the United States Constitution.

Results

Source (Electoral Vote): (a) The popular vote is not tabulated because (1) only 6 of the 10 states casting electoral votes chose electors by any form of popular vote and (2) pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters.
(b) The New York legislature failed to appoint its allotted 8 electors in time, so there were no voting electors from New York.
(c) Two electors from Maryland did not vote.
(d) One elector from Virginia did not vote and another elector from Virginia was not chosen because an election district failed to submit returns.

Breakdown by ticket

Electoral college selection

(a) New York's legislature deadlocked, so no electors were chosen.
(b) One electoral district failed to chose an elector.

See also


- History of the United States (1789-1849)

References

; Books :
- ; Web sites :
- :
- Category:U.S. presidential elections Category:George Washington Category:1789

February 15

February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 319 days remaining (320 in leap years).

Events


- 399 - The philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death.
- 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1764 - The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.
- 1805 - Harmony Society officially formed.
- 1852 - Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits first patient.
- 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
- 1879 - Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing more than 260. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
- 1903 - Morris Michtom and his wife Rose introduce the first teddy bear in America.
- 1906 - The British Labour Party is organized.
- 1933 - In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.
- 1942 - World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
- 1944 - World War II: Assault on Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
- 1950 - The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty.
- 1953 - Seventeen-year-old Tenley Albright becomes the first American to win the world figure skating championship.
- 1961 - A Boeing 707 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team and several coaches.
- 1965 - A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.
- 1970 - A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo, killing 102
- 1971 - Decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.
- 1980 - Television One and Television Two (formerly South Pacific Television) under the newly formed Television New Zealand goes to air for the first time
- 1982 - The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.
- 1989 - Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan.
- 1991 - The Visegrád Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
- 1995 - Hacking: Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged with breaking into some of the United States' most "secure" computer systems.
- 1999 - Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers Party, is arrested in Kenya by Turkish agents.
- 2000 -