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William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison

:This article is about the general and president. For the congressman, see William H. Harrison (1896-1990). William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was an American military leader, politician, and the ninth President of the United States. He served as the first Governor of the Indiana Territory and later as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Ohio. Harrison first gained national fame as a war hero, defeating American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 and earning the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable contribution was a victory at the Battle of the Thames, which brought the war in his region to a successful conclusion. When Harrison took office in 1841 at the age of 68, he was the oldest man to be elected President, a record that stood for 140 years, until Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980. Harrison died exactly one month into his term—the briefest presidency in the history of the office. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office.

Early years and military career

Harrison was born into a prominent political family at the Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County Virginia, the third son of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Basset. His father was a Virginia planter who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777), signed the Declaration of Independence (1776), and was Governor of Virginia (1781–1784). William Henry Harrison's brother, Carter Bassett Harrison, later became a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia. United States House of Representatives Harrison briefly attended several colleges, including Hampden-Sydney College, with the intention of becoming a physician. His father's death in 1791 left Harrison without money for further schooling and so, at the age of 18, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Army. He was sent to the Northwest Territory, where he spent much of his life. Harrison served as aide-de-camp to General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, from whom he learned how to successfully command an army on the American frontier. Harrison participated in Wayne's decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which brought the Northwest Indian War to a close. Lieutenant Harrison was one of the signers of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which opened much of present-day Ohio to settlement by white Americans. white clothes as the Congressional delegate from the Northwest Territory in 1800, but the uniform was added after he became famous in the War of 1812.]] Harrison resigned from the Army in 1798 to become Secretary of the Northwest Territory, and acted as governor when Governor Arthur St. Clair was absent. In 1799, Harrison was elected as the first delegate representing the Northwest Territory in the Sixth United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1799, to May 14, 1800. As delegate, he successfully promoted the passage of the Harrison Land Act, which made it easier for people to purchase land for settlement in the Northwest Territory. Harrison resigned from Congress to become governor of the newly formed Indiana Territory, a post he held for twelve years, until 1813. A primary responsibility as territorial governor was to obtain title to Native American lands so that white settlement could expand in the area and the region could attain statehood. Harrison oversaw numerous treaties, purchasing much of present-day Indiana from Native American leaders. Tensions, always high on the frontier, became much greater after the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, in which Harrison secured the purchase of more than 2,500,000 acres (10,000 km²) of American Indian land. An Indian resistance movement against U.S. expansion had been growing around the Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa ("The Prophet"). Tecumseh called upon Harrison to nullify the Treaty of Fort Wayne, warned against any whites moving onto the land, and continued to widen his Indian confederation (see "Tecumseh's War"). In 1811, Harrison was authorized to march against the confederacy, winning his famous victory at Prophetstown next to the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. During the War of 1812, Harrison took command of the Army of the Northwest. He won victories in Indiana and Ohio before invading Canada and crushing the British at the Battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh was killed. Harrison subsequently resigned from the army because of ongoing disagreements with Secretary of War John Armstrong.

Post-war political career

After the war, he was elected to various political offices, including the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, serving from October 8, 1816, to March 3, 1819. He was defeated as a candidate for governor of Ohio in 1820, but served in the Ohio State Senate from 1819 to 1821. In 1824, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until May 20, 1828, when he resigned to become Minister to Colombia from 1828 to 1829. Harrison was a tall man, and when in Congress he was referred to by fellow westerners as a Buckeye, as were other tall pioneers on the Ohio frontier, as a term of endearment in respect of the Buckeye chestnut tree. Harrison was the Northern Whig candidate for President in 1836, but lost the election to Martin Van Buren. He was the candidate again in the 1840 election, winning a landslide victory largely because of his heroic military record and the fact that the United States had suffered a severe economic downturn. The Democrats attempted to stop his vote by calling him "Granny Harrison, the petticoat general" because he resigned from the army before the War of 1812 ended. When asking voters whether Harrison should be elected, they asked them what his name backwards was, which happens to be, "No Sirrah." Harrison's vice president was John Tyler, and their campaign was marked by exaggeration of both Harrison's military exploits and of his connections to the common man. (Harrison came from an aristocratic Virginia family, but his supporters promoted him as a humble frontiersman in the style of the hugely popular Andrew Jackson.) Harrison and Tyler's campaign slogans of "Log Cabins and Hard Cider" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" are among the most famous in American politics.

Short presidency

Andrew Jackson As Harrison arrived in Washington he focused on showing that he was still the stalwart hero of Tippecanoe he had campaigned as. He was to take the oath of office on March 4, 1841, an extremely cold and windy day. Nevertheless, he faced the weather without his overcoat, delivering the longest inaugural address in American history, at nearly two hours (his friend and fellow Whig, Daniel Webster, had edited it for length). He subsequently caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia and pleurisy. His doctors tried everything to cure him, opium, castor oil, petroleum jelly, Virginia snakeweed, even actual snakes. But the treatments only made Harrison sicker and weaker until he went into delirium. He passed away a month later at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841 of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia, becoming the first American president to die in office. His last words were "Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." Harrison served the shortest term of any American president, a total of only 32 days and 12 hours and 30 minutes. John Tyler succeeded him shortly thereafter. According to later legends, Harrison's death was brought about by a curse placed on him by Tecumseh in his dying breath. Harrison's son, John Scott Harrison, was also elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1853 to 1857. Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison of Ohio, became the 23rd president in 1889, making them the only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents to date. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison gave his inaugural address in the rain. Understanding his grandfather's mistakes, he asked his outgoing predecessor (and later his successor), Grover Cleveland, to hold an umbrella above his head, delivering the longest inaugural address since his grandfather's.

Cabinet


Reference


- Cleaves, Freeman. Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time. New York: Scribner's, 1939.

External links


- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html White House biography]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/inaugural/harrison.html Inaugural Address]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/harrison.htm Biography of William Henry Harrison] Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Harrison, William Henry Harrison, William Harrison, William Henry ko:윌리엄 헨리 해리슨 ja:ウィリアム・H・ハリソン

William H. Harrison (1896-1990)

William Henry Harrison (August 10, 1896–October 8, 1990) was an American politician who served as a Representative from Wyoming. Harrison was born in Terre Haute, Indiana and attended the public schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and Washington, D.C. He went to the College of Agriculture at the University of Nebraska in 1919 and 1920. During the First World War served in the United States Army as a private in the Signal Enlisted Air Corps and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1925 and practiced in Indianapolis between 1925 and 1936. Harrison served as a member of the Indiana house of representatives from 1927 to 1929. He later moved to Wyoming and was admitted to the Wyoming bar in 1937. He practiced in Sheridan, Wyoming and later served as a member of the Wyoming house of representatives between 1945 and 1950. He served as the secretary to the Wyoming Interim Committee from 1947 to 1950. Later, he was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives and served between 1951 and 1955. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1954, but ran for the Senate for the open seat vacated by the retirement of Edward D. Crippa. He lost the election to Joseph C. O'Mahoney. After that, he served as the regional administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency from 1955 to 1956 and as liaison officer, Housing and Home Finance Agency from 1957 to 1958. He was reelected to Congress and served between 1961 and 1965. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1964 to the Eighty-ninth Congress. Despite his defeat, he ran again and was elected to the Ninetieth Congress, and served between 1967 and 1969. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1968. He was appointed by President Nixon as a member to the Renegotiation Board of the United States on July 23, 1969, and served until 1971. After he retired, he lived in North Redington Beach, Florida until his death in St. Petersburg. Many of his family members were politicians as well. His great-great-grandfather, William Henry Harrison, served as the 9th President, and his grandfather, Benjamin Harrison, served as the 23rd President. Harrison, William H. Harrison, William H. Harrison, William H. Harrison, William H.

February 9

February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 325 days remaining, 326 in leap years.

Events


- 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1621 - Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
- 1822 - Haiti invades the Dominican Republic.
- 1825 - After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
- 1885 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
- 1889 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is established as a Cabinet-level agency.
- 1895 - William G. Morgan invents volleyball.
- 1900 - Davis Cup competition is established.
- 1920 - By the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
- 1922 - Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1942 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
- 1942 - Daylight-saving time goes into effect in the United States.
- 1943 - World War II, Battle of Guadalcanal: After forcing the remaining Japanese to be evacuated the night before, American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure.
- 1950 - Red scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States State Department of being filled with Communists.
- 1960 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1964 - The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
- 1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.
- 1971 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
- 1971 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.
- 1973 - Biju Patnaik of the Pragati Legislature Party elected leader of opposition in the state assembly in Orissa, India.
- 1975 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
- 1986 - Comet Halley reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Earth, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century.
- 1991 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
- 1994 - Peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina announced (so called Vance-Owen peace plan).
- 1996 - The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf
- 2001 - The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

Births


- 1404 - Constantine XI, last Byzantine Emperor (d. 1453)
- 1533 - Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (d. 1611)
- 1666 - George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, British soldier (d. 1737)
- 1700 - Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (d. 1782)
- 1748 - Luther Martin, American patriot (d. 1826)
- 1773 - William Henry Harrison, President of the United States (d. 1841)
- 1783 - Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (d. 1852)
- 1800 - Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (d. 1844)
- 1830 - Abd-ul-Aziz, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1876)
- 1834 - Felix Dahn, German author (d. 1912)
- 1846 - Wilhelm Maybach, German automotive designer and industrialist (d. 1929)
- 1865 - Mrs. Patrick Campbell, British actress (d. 1940)
- 1874 - Amy Lowell, American poet (d. 1925)
- 1885 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer (d. 1935)
- 1891 - Ronald Colman, English actor (d. 1958)
- 1892 - Peggy Wood, American actress (d. 1978)
- 1895 - Hermann Brill, German politician (d. 1959)
- 1897 - Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Australian pilot (d. 1935)
- 1901 - Brian Donlevy, Irish actor (d. 1972)
- 1901 - James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
- 1902 - Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German women's leader (d. 1999)
- 1909 - Heather Angel, British actress (d. 1986)
- 1909 - Carmen Miranda, Portuguese actress and singer (d. 1955)
- 1909 - Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
- 1910 - Jacques Monod, French biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
- 1914 - Gypsy Rose Lee, American dancer and actress (d. 1970)
- 1914 - Ernest Tubb, American singer (d. 1984)
- 1914 - Bill Veeck, baseball executive (d. 1986)
- 1916 - Tex Hughson, baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1922 - Kathryn Grayson, American actress
- 1923 - Brendan Behan, Irish author (d. 1964)
- 1925 - Burkhard Heim, German physicist (d. 2001)
- 1926 - Garret FitzGerald, seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland
- 1928 - Frank Frazetta, American illustrator
- 1928 - Roger Mudd, American journalist
- 1930 - Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist (d. 2003)
- 1932 - Gerhard Richter, German painter and graphic artist
- 1936 - Clive Swift, British actor
- 1939 - Barry Mann, American singer and songwriter
- 1939 - Janet Suzman, South African actress
- 1940 - J. M. Coetzee, South African author, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 - Sheila Kuehl, American actress and politician
- 1942 - Carole King, American singer and composer
- 1943 - Joe Pesci, American actor
- 1943 - Joseph E. Stiglitz, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 - Alice Walker, American writer
- 1945 - Mia Farrow, American actress
- 1947 - Carla Del Ponte, UN prosecutor
- 1949 - Judith Light, American actress
- 1949 - Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
- 1952 - Mookie Wilson, baseball player
- 1955 - JM J. Bullock, American actor
- 1955 - Charles Shaughnessy, British actor
- 1960 - Holly Johnson, British singer (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
- 1961 - John Kruk, baseball player and commentator
- 1963 - Brian Greene, American physicist
- 1963 - Travis Tritt, American singer
- 1966 - Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
- 1970 - Glenn McGrath, Australian cricketer
- 1971 - Sharon Case, American actress
- 1976 - Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1979 - David Gray, English snooker player
- 1979 - Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress
- 1981 - John Walker Lindh, American Taliban fighter
- 1982 - Ami Suzuki, Japanese singer
- 1985 - David Gallagher, American actor
- 1996 - Jimmy Bennett, American actor

Deaths


- 1199 - Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (b. 1147)
- 1450 - Agnès Sorel, mistress of King Charles VII of France (b. 1421)
- 1555 - Rowland Taylor, English pastor (executed) (b. 1510)
- 1619 - Lucilio Vanini, Italian philosopher (b. 1585)
- 1640 - Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1612)
- 1675 - Gerhard Douw, Dutch painter (b. 1613)
- 1709 - François Louis, Prince of Conti, French general (b. 1664)
- 1751 - Henri François d'Aguesseau, Chancellor of France (b. 1668)
- 1752 - Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (b. 1722)
- 1777 - Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (b. 1706)
- 1782 - Joseph Aloysius Assemani, Syrian orientalist (b. 1710)
- 1803 - Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French poet (b. 1716)
- 1881 - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (b. 1821)
- 1891 - Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (b. 1819)
- 1906 - Paul Laurence Dunbar, American poet (b. 1872)
- 1940 - Eugene Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1857)
- 1951 - Eddy Duchin, American musician (b. 1910)
- 1957 - Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and regent (b. 1868)
- 1960 - Alexandre Benois, Russian artist (b. 1870)
- 1966 - Sophie Tucker, Russian-born actress and singer (b. 1884)
- 1969 - Gabby Hayes, American actor (b. 1885)
- 1976 - Percy Faith, Canadian musician and composer (b. 1908)
- 1979 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1981 - Bill Haley, American musician (Bill Haley and the Comets) (b. 1925)
- 1984 - Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1914)
- 1994 - Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1934)
- 1995 - J. William Fulbright, U.S. Senator (b. 1905)
- 1999 - Bryan Mosley, British actor (b. 1931)
- 2001 - Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/9 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050209.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 8 - February 10 - January 9 - March 9 -- listing of all days ko:2월 9일 ms:9 Februari ja:2月9日 simple:February 9 th:9 กุมภาพันธ์

1773

1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 12 - The first American museum open to the public is opened in (Charleston, South Carolina).
- January 17 - Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle
- April 27 or May 10 - The British Parliament passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
- May 8 - Ali Bey dies of wounds received in a skirmish with Ottoman rebels
- October 12 - America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Williamsburg, Virginia
- October 14 - Commission of National Education (Polish Komisja Edukacji Narodowej) formed in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is considered to be the first ministry of education in the history of mankind
- December 16 - Boston Tea Party
- Antigua Guatemala is destroyed by an earthquake and the capital of Guatemala is moved to Guatemala City
- Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II expels Jesuits from the Empire, and Pope Clement XIV orders the dissolution of the Society of Jesus.
- Baron de Morveau experiments with chlorine as a disinfectant
- Daniel Boone leads some pioneers into Kentucky. "Native American Indians" attack, and Boone's son is killed
- Hilaire Rouelle discovers urea
- Istanbul Technical University is established (under the original name of Royal School of Naval Engineering) as the world's first comprehensive institition of higher learning dedicated to engineering education.

Births


- January 27 - Prince Augustus of Great Britain, Duke of Sussex (d. 1843)
- February 9 - William Henry Harrison, American military leader and 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
- March 14 - John Holmes, American politician (d. 1843)
- March 16 - Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
- March 26 - Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician (d. 1836)
- April 9 - Étienne Aignan, French writer, librettist, and playwright (d. 1824)
- May 3 - Giuseppe Acerbi, Italian explorer (d. 1846)
- May 15 - Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (d. 1859)
- May 19 - Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
- May 31 - Ludwig Tieck, German writer (d. 1853)
- June 13 - Thomas Young, English scientist (d. 1829)
- July 23 - Thomas Brisbane, Scottish astronomer and Governor of New South Wales (d. 1860)
- August 22 - Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist (d. 1858)
- October 6 - Louis Philippe, King of the French (d. 1850)
- December 9 - Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, French general and diplomat (d. 1827)
- December 21 - Robert Brown, Scottish botanist (d. 1858)
- December 27 - Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer
- William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, British ambassador to China and Governor-General of India (d. 1854)
- Anne Hill Carter, wife of Light Horse Harry Lee and mother of Robert E. Lee (d. 1829)
- Henry Hunt, British politician (d. 1835)

Deaths


- January 21 - Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- February 20 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
- March 1 - Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (b. 1700)
- March 24 - Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English statesman and man of letters (b. 1694)
- May 8 - Ali Bey Al-Kabir, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728)
- May 15 - Alban Butler, English Catholic priest and writer (b. 1710)
- July 5 - Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian and philologist (b. 1719)
- July 12 - Johann Joachim Quantz, German flutist and composer (b. 1697)
- July 23 - George Edwards, English naturalist (b. 1693)
- August 3 - Stanisław Konarski, Polish writer (b. 1700)
- August 27 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (b. 1721)
- September 23 - Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718)
- August 20 - Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)
- October 30 - Philippe de La Guêpière, French architect (b. 1725)
- November 16 - John Hawkesworth, English writer
- November 19 - James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish politician (b. 1722)
- Ahmad Shah, Afghani founder of the Durrani Empire (cancer) (b. 1724) Category:1773 ko:1773년 ms:1773 simple:1773

1841

1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).

Events


- January 26 - The United Kingdom occupies Hong Kong. Later during the year, the first census of the island recorded a population of about 7,500.
- February 18 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
- March 4 - Martin Van Buren, President of the United States is succeeded by William Henry Harrison.
- March 9 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Amistad case that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into slavery illegally.
- April 4 - President William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and at one month, the elected president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by Vice President John Tyler.
- August 16 - U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
- September 24 - United Kingdom annexes Sarawak from Brunei; James Brooke is appointed rajah
- November 13 - James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnosis.
- The two colonies of the Canadas are merged into the Province of Canada.
- Queen's University is founded in Kingston, Canada, by Rev. Thomas Liddell, who carried a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria and became the school's first Principal.
- Fordham University is founded in The Bronx by the Society of Jesus. Its name at founding is St. John's College.
- With the help of industrial espionage, August Borsig builds the first German locomotives.

Births


- January 7 - Bernadette Soubirous, a visionary from Lourdes. (d. 1879)
- January 14 - Berthe Morisot, French painter (d. 1895)
- January 25 - Jackie Fisher, British admiral (d. 1920)
- January 28 - Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- February 2 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)
- February 4 - Clément Ader, French engineer, inventor, and airplane pioneer (d. 1926)
- February 25 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (d. 1919)
- March 8 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1935)
- April 13 - Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (d. 1905)
- May 10 - James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (d. 1918)
- August 25 - Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1917)
- September 8 - Antonin Dvorak, Czech composer (d. 1904)
- September 28 - Georges Clemenceau, French statesman (d. 1929)
- October 7 - King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
- October 16 - Prince Hirobumi Ito, Japanese governor of Korea (d. 1909)
- November 6 - Nelson W. Aldrich, Senator from Rhode Island (d. 1915)
- November 9 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1910)
- November 20 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1919)
- December 6 - Frédéric Bazille, French painter (d. 1870)
- December 20 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)

Deaths


- February 17 - Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist
- March 1 - Claude Victor-Perrin, duc de Belluno, French marshal (b. 1764)
- April 4 - William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)
- April 28 - Peter Chanel, French Roman Catholic missionary (martyred) (b. 1803)
- May 20 - Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)
- May 23 - Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
- June 1 - David Wilkie, Scottish artist (b. 1785)
- August 24 - Theodore Edward Hook, English author (b. 1788) Category:1841 ko:1841년 ms:1841

Politics of the United States

The federal government of the United States was established by the United States Constitution. United States politics is dominated by the two major parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. There are several other groups or parties of minor political significance.

Federal, state and local governments

The federal entity created by the Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system. However, every person outside the capital is subject to at least three governing bodies: the federal government, a state, and a county (Note: county government has been abolished in some places, see New England and Town Meeting, the town/city fulfills this level of government). Within an incorporated entity, such as a city, they are also subject to the local government and possibly a district. Each level has its own political system (subject to constraints at higher levels). This multiplicity of jurisdictions reflects the country's history. The federal government was created by former colonies that had been established separately and had governed themselves independently of the others. Within these colonies were counties and towns with varying levels of development and therefore different administrative needs. Rather than replacing the states' legal systems with a unitary government, the Constitutional Convention chose to keep the states largely self-governing. As the country expanded, it admitted new states modeled on the existing ones.

State government

Before their independence, colonies governed themselves separately under the authority of the British Crown. In the early years of the republic, prior to the adoption of the Constitution, each state was virtually an autonomous unit. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention sought a stronger, more viable federal union, but they could not ignore state traditions, nor the interests of state politicians. In general, matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state criminal code; and working conditions within the state. Within this context, the federal government requires that state governments must be republican in form and that they adopt no laws that contradict or violate the federal Constitution or the laws and treaties of the United States. There are, of course, many areas of overlap between state and federal jurisdictions. Particularly in recent years, the federal government has assumed ever broadening responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, and housing and urban development. But where the federal government exercises such responsibility in the states, programs are usually adopted on the basis of cooperation between the two levels of government, rather than as an imposition from above. Like the national government, state governments have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial; these are roughly equivalent in function and scope to their national counterparts. The chief executive of a state is the governor, elected by popular vote, typically for a four-year term (although in a few states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska, which has one legislative body, all states have a bicameral legislature, with the upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives, the House of Delegates, or the General Assembly. To confuse matters further, some states refer to the entire state legislature as the "General Assembly", with two houses therein. In most states, senators serve four-year terms, and members of the lower house serve two-year terms. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities, and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal one. Each state constitution, however, provides that the final authority belongs to the people, and sets certain standards and principles as the foundation of government.

City government

Once predominantly rural, the United States is today a highly urbanized country, and about 80 percent of its citizens now live in towns, large cities, or suburbs of cities. This statistic makes city governments critically important in the overall pattern of American government. To a greater extent than on the federal or state level, the city directly serves the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing. The business of running America's major cities is enormously complex. In terms of population alone, New York City is larger than 41 of the 50 states. It is often said that, next to the presidency, the most difficult executive position in the country is that of mayor of New York. City governments are chartered by states, and their charters detail the objectives and powers of the municipal government. But in many respects the cities function independently of the states. For most big cities, however, cooperation with both state and federal organizations is essential to meeting the needs of their residents. Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. However, almost all have some kind of central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage the city's affairs. There are three general types of city government: the mayor-council, the commission, and the council-manager. These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them. Mayor-Council. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century, was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is similar to that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He or she has the power of veto over ordinances — the laws of the city — and frequently is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. The Commission. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although his or her power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners. Council-Manager. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems, which require management expertise not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The city manager plan has been adopted by a growing number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work.

County government

The county is a subdivision of the state, sometimes — but not always — containing two or more townships and several villages. New York City is so large that it is divided into five separate boroughs, each a county in its own right. On the other hand, Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is both an urbanized and suburban area, governed by a unitary county administration. What has happened, in these cases, is known as consolidated city-county government, which is also used by several other larger U.S. cities. In most U.S. counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat, and this is where the government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. In small counties, boards are chosen by the county as a whole; in the larger ones, supervisors represent separate districts or townships. The board levies taxes; borrows and appropriates money; fixes the salaries of county employees; supervises elections; builds and maintains highways and bridges; and administers national, state, and county welfare programs. In some New England states, counties do not have any governmental function and are simply a division of land.

Town and village government

Thousands of municipal jurisdictions are too small to qualify as city governments. These are chartered as towns and villages and deal with such strictly local needs as paving and lighting the streets; ensuring a water supply; providing police and fire protection; establishing local health regulations; arranging for garbage, sewage, and other waste disposal; collecting local taxes to support governmental operations; and, in cooperation with the state and county, directly administering the local school system. Note that in many states the term "town" does not have any specific meaning--it is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and unincorporated municipalities). And in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states. The government is usually entrusted to an elected board or council, which may be known by a variety of names: town or village council, board of selectmen, board of supervisors, board of commissioners. The board may have a chairperson or president who functions as chief executive officer, or there may be an elected mayor. Governmental employees may include a clerk, treasurer, police and fire officers, and health and welfare officers. One unique aspect of local government, found mostly in the New England region of the United States, is the "town meeting." Once a year — sometimes more often if needed — the registered voters of the town meet in open session to elect officers, debate local issues, and pass laws for operating the government. As a body, they decide on road construction and repair, construction of public buildings and facilities, tax rates, and the town budget. The town meeting, which has existed for more than two centuries, is often cited as the purest form of direct democracy, in which the governmental power is not delegated, but is exercised directly and regularly by all the people.

Other local governments

The federal, state, and local governments covered here by no means include the whole spectrum of American governmental units. The U.S. Bureau of the Census (part of the Commerce Department) has identified no less than 84,955 local governmental units in the United States, including counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts. Americans have come to rely on their governments to perform a wide variety of tasks which, in the early days of the republic, people did for themselves. In colonial days, there were few police officers or firefighters, even in the large cities; governments provided neither street lights nor street cleaners. To a large extent, people protected their own property and saw to their families' needs. In modern times, meeting these needs is usually seen as the responsibility of the whole community, acting through the agency of one or more levels of government. Even in small towns, the police, fire, welfare, and health department functions are exercised by governments. Hence, the bewildering array of jurisdictions.

Participation

Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. A major remaining exception is the District of Columbia, where residents have no representation whatsoever in the US Senate; only a non-voting "delegate" in the House; and an extremely weak "home rule" city government. Also, US voting rights can be restricted as a result of felony conviction (such laws vary widely by state). The most significant fact about politics in the United States, especially at the national level, is that successful participation requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising. This money is very difficult to raise by appeals to a mass base, although the Republican Party has had some success, as has Howard Dean with his Internet appeals. Both parties must depend on wealthy donors and organizations - traditionally the Democrats depended on donations from organized labor while the Republicans relied on business donations. Since 1984, however, the Democrats' business donations have surpassed those from labor organizations. This dependency on donors is controversial, and has led to laws limiting spending on political campaigns being enacted; as a complicating factor due to the United States Constitution, opponents of campaign finance laws cite the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, and challenge campaign finance laws on grounds that they attempt to circumscribe their constitutionally-guaranteed rights. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other countries such as the United Kingdom, France or Canada. Some would allege that funding practices commonplace in the United States would likely be considered political corruption elsewhere.

Political culture

Most schools in the United States teach the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the writings of the Founding Fathers as the definition of the country's governing ideology. Among the core tenets of this ideology are the following:
- The government is answerable to citizens, who may change it through elections.
- The government's power in matters of religion, expression, and law enforcement should be limited to prevent abuse of power.
- The laws should attach no special privilege to any citizen (that is, citizens should be equal before the law).
- Individuals and political parties debate how this ideology applies to particular circumstances, and may disagree openly with any of it. At the time of the United States's founding, the economy was predominantly one of private business, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. The United States government has largely accepted the system of private enterprise and opposed broad grants of support to citizens, although the experience of the Great Depression challenged both positions. As a result the US tends to be ideologically oriented toward capitalism in contrast with the social democratic cultures in Europe. Prior to World War II the United States pursued a policy of isolationism in foreign affairs by not taking sides in conflicts between foreign powers. The country abandoned this policy when it became a superpower, but the country remains skeptical of internationalism. The ideology of the incumbent President and the President's advisors largely determines the government's attitude in foreign affairs.

Political parties

See also: Republican Party, Democratic Party, Puerto Rico political parties Many of America's Founding Fathers hated the thought of political parties. They were sure quarreling factions would be more interested in contending with each other than in working for the common good. They wanted individual citizens to vote for individual candidates, without the interference of organized groups — but this was not to be. By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, and those who held these opposing views tried to win support for their cause by banding together. The followers of Alexander Hamilton, the Hamiltonian faction, took up the name "Federalist"; they favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of Thomas Jefferson, the Jeffersonians and then the "Anti-Federalists," took up the name Democrat-Republicans" (not to be confused with the modern Republican party); they preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited power. By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced by the Whigs, brought to life in opposition to the election that year of President Andrew Jackson. Jackson's presidency split the Republican party: Jacksonians became the "Democratic-Republicans" and those following the leadership of John Quincy Adams became the "National Republicans." The Democratic-Republicans quickly shortened their name to the Democratic party, and the two-party system, still in existence today, was born. The United States thus has exceptionally old political parties. In the 1850s, the issue of slavery took center stage, with disagreement in particular over the question of whether or not slavery should be permitted in the country's new territories in the West. The Whig Party straddled the issue and sank to its death; it was replaced in 1854 by the Republican Party, whose primary policy was that slavery be excluded from all the territories. Just six years later, this new party captured the presidency when Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. By then, parties were well established as the country's dominant political organizations, and party allegiance had become an important part of most people's consciousness. Party loyalty was passed from fathers to sons, and party activities — including spectacular campaign events, complete with uniformed marching groups and torchlight parades — were a part of the social life of many communities. By the 1920s, however, this boisterous folksiness had diminished. Municipal reforms, civil service reform, corrupt practices acts, and presidential primaries to replace the power of politicians at national conventions had all helped to clean up politics — and make it quite a bit less fun. How did the two-party system develop in the United States? America has historically had many minor or third political parties. They tend to serve a means to advocate polices that eventually are adopted by the two major political parties, i.e. the abolishment of slavery, and child labor laws. Some of these third political parties such as the Socialist Party, the Farmer Labor Party and the Populist Party developed an impressive degree of support, although limited electoral success. Most officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by beating out their opponents in a system for determining winners called first-past-the-post — the one who gets the pluarity wins, (which is not the same thing as actually getting a majority of votes). While some cities and the state of Illinois did experiment with proportional representation, the United States Congress banned the usage of that alternative voting method for federal legislative elections in 1967. This, too, encourages the two-party system; see Duverger's law. Another critical factor has been ballot access law. Originally voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported, later on this developed into a process whereby each political party would create its own ballot and thus the voter would put the party's ballot into the voting box. In the late nineteenth century, states became to adopt the Australian Secret Ballot Method and it eventually became the national standard. The secret ballot method ensured that the privacy of voters would be protected (hence government jobs could no longer be awarded to loyal voters) and each state would be responsible for creating one official ballot. The fact that states legislators were dominated by Democrats and Republicans provided an opportunity to possible discriminatory laws against minor political parties, yet such laws did not start to arise until the first Red Scare that hit America after World War I. State legislators became to enact tough laws that made it harder for minor political parties to run candidates for office by requiring a high number of petition signatures from citizens and decreasing the length of time that such a petition could legally be circulated. The election laws encourages the creation of a duopoly: one party in power, the other out. If those who are "out" band together, they have a better chance of beating those who are "in." Occasionally a third party does come along and receive a considerable share of the vote, although usually not for very long. The most successful third parties in recent years have been H. Ross Perot's Reform Party, which won 8% of the vote in the presidential election of 1996 (Perot himself won 19% of the vote in 1992, but the Reform Party did not yet exist) and the Libertarian Party, which has more than 400 members in elected office. Jesse Ventura became the only Reform Party candidate to win statewide office when he was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998. Only two independents currently hold federal office - Senator James Jeffords (though he often votes with Democrats and sits with them in their closed meetings) and Congressman Bernie Sanders, both of Vermont (Vermont has only one House seat). However, Jeffords was elected as a Republican, and has yet to face re-election since leaving the GOP. Most third parties have a hard time surviving, though, because one or both of the major parties often adopt their most popular issues, and thus their voters. Also, voters who might otherwise favor a third party often hesitate to give them their votes because they are perceived as not having any realistic chance of winning, or because they fear their support for a third party will the divide the vote and cause the defeat of the major party candidate more favorable than the other. It should also be noted that while almost all elected officials do identify with a political party, the political parties of the United States are much more individualistic than in other political systems (i.e. in a parliamentary system). More often than not, party members will "toe the line" and support their party's policies, but it is important to note that they are free to vote against their own party and vote with the opposition ("cross the aisle") if a particular policy is counter to the priorities and interests of their constituents. Recent examples of this can be seen in such highly controversial matters as Social Security reform, the federal budget, and some environmental policies. "In America the same political labels — Democratic and Republican — cover virtually all public officeholders, and therefore most voters are everywhere mobilized in the name of these two parties," says Nelson W. Polsby, professor of political science, in the book New Federalist Papers: Essays in Defense of the Constitution. "Yet Democrats and Republicans are not everywhere the same. Variations — sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant — in the 50 political cultures of the states yield considerable differences overall in what it means to be, or to vote, Democratic or Republican. These differences suggest that one may be justified in referring to the American two-party system as masking something more like a hundred-party system." The commonwealth of Puerto Rico has separate political parties. The main ones are the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

Organization of American political parties

Unlike in some countries, American political parties are very loosely organized. The two major parties, in particular, have no formal organization at the national level that controls membership, activities, or policy positions, though some state affiliates do. Thus, for an American to say that he or she is a member of the Democratic or Republican party, is quite different from a Briton's stating that he or she is a member of the Labour party. In the United States, one can often become a "member" of a party, merely by stating that fact. In some U.S. states, a voter can register as a member of one or another party or vote in the primary election for one or another party, but such participation does not restrict one's choices in any way; nor does it give a person any particular rights or obligations with respect to the party. A person may choose to attend meetings of one local party committee one day and another party committee the next day. The sole factor that brings one "closer to the action" is the quantity and quality of participation in party activities and the ability to persuade others in attendance to give one responsibility. Party identification becomes somewhat formalized when a person runs for partisan office. In most states, this means declaring oneself a candidate for the nomination of a particular party and intent to enter that party's primary election for an office. A party committee may choose to endorse one or another of those who is seeking the nomination, but in the end the choice is up to those who choose to vote in the primary, and it is often difficult to tell who is going to do the voting. The result is that American political parties have weak central organizations and little central ideology, except by consensus. A party really cannot prevent a person who disagrees with the majority of positions of the party or actively works against the party's aims from claiming party membership, so long as the voters who choose to vote in the primary elections elect that person. At the federal level, each of the two major parties has a national committee (See, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee) that acts as the hub for much fund-raising and campaign activities, particularly in presidential campaigns. The exact composition of these committees is different for each party, but they are made up primarily of representatives from state parties, affiliated organizations, and other individuals important to the party. However, the national committees do not have the power to direct the activities of individual members of the party. Thus, although each party has a chairman, that chairman cannot truly be considered the party's "leader" and it is often difficult to define party leadership with respect to American political parties. The parties' leaders generally are those who persuade other members to follow their leads. Often the party leaders are de facto those members of the party who hold high office, such as the presidency, or leadership in the House of Representatives or the Senate. However, such leadership only functions to the extent that other party members are willing to go along. As a formal matter, an incumbent president is considered to be the ex officio head of his party, who selects its national committee chair, as is the presidential nominee of the opposing party in an election year (though the nominee's power to oust an incumbent chair is not absolute, and has not been tested in recent years). Both parties also have separate campaign committees which work to elect candidates at a specific level. The most significant of these are the Hill committees, which work to elect candidates to each house of Congress. State parties exist in all fifty states, though their structures differ according to state law, as well as party rules at both the national and the state level. See also: Political Party Strength in U.S. States

Political pressure groups

Special interest groups . Business organizations will favor low corporate taxes and restrictions of the right to strike, whereas labor unions will support minimum wage legislation and protection for collective bargaining. Other private interest groups — such as churches and ethnic groups — are more concerned about broader issues of policy that can affect their organizations or their beliefs. One type of private interest group that has grown in number and influence in recent years is the political action committee or PAC. These are independent groups, organized around a single issue or set of issues, that contribute money to political campaigns for U.S. Congress or the presidency. PACs are limited in the amounts they can contribute directly to candidates in federal elections. There are no restrictions, however, on the amounts PACs can spend independently to advocate a point of view or to urge the election of candidates to office. PACs today number in the thousands. "The political parties are threatened as the number of interest groups has mushroomed, with more and more of them operating offices in Washington, D.C., and representing themselves directly to Congress and federal agencies," says Michael Schudson in his book The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life. "Many organizations that keep an eye on Washington seek financial and moral support from ordinary citizens. Since many of them focus on a narrow set of concerns or even on a single issue, and often a single issue of enormous emotional weight, they compete with the parties for citizens' dollars, time, and passion." The amount of money spent by these special interests continues to grow, as campaigns become more and more expensive. Many Americans have the feeling that these wealthy interests — whether corporations or unions or PACs organized to promote a particular point of view — are so powerful that ordinary citizens can do little to counteract their influence.

International organizations

International organization participation: ANZUS, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, FAO, G-7, G-8, G-10, G12, G20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MIPONUH, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, NMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

International agreements that the USA has not ratified

The United States is often criticized by nationals of participant countries for not taking part in the following agreements:
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. Only Somalia and the U.S. have not ratified it.
- The International Criminal Court (2002) was established as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as defined by several international agreements. Notable refusals of compulsory ICC jurisdiction include the U.S., Israel, and China.
- The Kyoto Protocol (entered into force in 2005) is an international treaty on climate change. Countries which ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases. The U.S. signed the treaty but has not ratified it; Australia has refused to sign it; India and many other nations have ratified the treaty but are exempt from it.
- The Ottawa Treaty (binding as of 1999) bans completely all anti-personnel landmines. Forty nations have not ratified this treaty, including China, Cuba, Finland, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Russia, and the United States.
- The USA withdrew from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002. This was a treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons.
- The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide came into effect in 1951. Of the nations that have ratified this treaty, ten have done so with the proviso of immunity from compulsory prosecution for genocide. These countries include the U.S. and India.

See also


- Federal Government of the United States
- Law of the United States
- Duverger's law
- List of political parties in the United States
  - Democratic Party
  - Republican Party
  - Green Party
  - Libertarian Party
  - Constitution Party
- Political divisions of the United States
- Politics of Puerto Rico
- Politics of the Southern United States
- Political parties of the world
- Canadian and American politics compared

Further reading


- Elizabeth Drew, The Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why, Overlook Press, ISBN 1585670499
- Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty, George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul ONeill, ISBN 0743255453
- Nancy Watzman and Micah Sifry, Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? : Washington on $2 Million a Day, John Wiley, July, 2004, trade paperback, 208 pages, ISBN 047167995X

External links


- [http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/outusgov/homepage.htm Outline of the U.S. Government]
- [http://www.gop.org Official Republican Party Web Site]
- [http://www.democrats.org Official Democratic Party Web Site]
- [http://www.greenpartyus.org Official Green Party Web Site]
- [http://www.lp.org Official Libertarian Party Web Site]
- [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/ CNN Politics]
- [http://www.dcpages.com/forums/index.php?showforum=192 Washington DC Pages: United States Politics]
- [http://www.realopinion.com/realboards Discuss American politics at RealOpinion.com] Category:Politics of the United States ja:アメリカ合衆国の政治

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 th