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William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was an American politician, the 27th President of the United States, and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States. He remains the only person in history to have led both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government since the passage of the Constitution, and is also the last President to hold a public office after his term ended. A lifelong Republican, Taft served as Solicitor General of the United States, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Governor-General of the Philippines, and Secretary of War before being nominated for president in the 1908 Republican National Convention with the backing of his predecessor and close friend Theodore Roosevelt. During his life, Taft also worked as a professor of law, once at the University of Cincinnati and once at Yale Law School, and wrote for several newspapers. He was also a noted advocate of world peace. Taft defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the presidential election. Among other things, his administration is characterized for trust-busting, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, expanding the civil service, and establishing a better postal system. Two constitutional amendments were passed during his term: the 16th Amendment, authorizing a federal income tax, and the 17th Amendment, mandating the direct popular election of senators instead of by the state legislatures (see below). Taft was the first president to occupy the Oval Office when it was opened in October 1909. Taft later broke off contact with Roosevelt in one of the most well-publicized political feuds of the 20th century. In the 1912 election, Taft lost his bid for a second term; Roosevelt ran on his newly formed Progressive Party ("Bull Moose") ticket, splitting the Republican vote and resulting in the election of Woodrow Wilson. Taft later became Chief Justice, notably becoming the only President to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Early life

Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother was Mount Holyoke graduate Louisa Torrey; his father was Alphonso Taft, a prominent Republican, who served as Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant. He was brought up in the Unitarian church, and would remain a faithful Unitarian his entire life. At age 18, he met his future wife Helen Herron at a sledding party in Cincinnati; she and Taft courted while he was away at college.

Education

Like his father, the younger Taft attended college at Yale University. There, he was a member of Skull and Bones, the secret society co-founded by his father back in 1832, as well as the Beta chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternal organization. His college friends knew him by the nickname "Old Bill." Initially, given Taft's physical size, Yale's football coach wanted him to join the college squad, but Taft's father refused to give him permission, citing both concern for his son's safety and his personal opinion that football was "not a gentleman's sport". Instead, however, Taft rowed on the Yale crew team and was an accomplished wrestler. In 1878, Taft graduated from Yale ranked second in his class out of 121. After college, he attended Cincinnati Law School, graduating with his LL.B in 1880. While in law school, he worked on the local newspaper and wrote the popular column "Me and my Hot Dog" The Cincinnati Commercial.

Career

After joining the Ohio bar shortly after his law school graduation, he was appointed Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, and two years later in 1882 was appointed local Collector of Internal Revenue. Taft married his longtime sweetheart, Helen Herron, in Cincinnati in 1886. In 1887 he resigned that position, and was appointed to be a judge of the Ohio Superior Court. His star rose quickly, and in 1890 President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of the United States. Bolstered by his acute legal knowledge, in 1892 President Harrison appointed him as an associate judge for the newly created United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a post which he held until 1900. He eventually became the chief judge of the Sixth Circuit, and as chief judge, he wrote one of his most famous opinions in Addyston Pipe and Steel Company v. United States (1898). It was then that he met Theodore Roosevelt for the first time, who was then a civil service commissioner. Between 1896 and 1900, Taft was also Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati. In 1900, President William McKinley (a fellow Ohioan) appointed Taft as the chairman of a commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines, which had been ceded to the United States by Spain following the Spanish-American War and the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Although Taft had initially been opposed to the annexation of the islands, and told McKinley that his real ambition was to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, he reluctantly accepted the appointment when McKinley suggested that he would be "the better judge for this experience." From 1901 to 1903, Taft served as the first civilian Governor-General of the Philippines, a position in which he was very popular both among Americans and Filipinos. For example, in 1902 Taft visited Rome to negotiate with Pope Leo XIII for the purchase of church lands in the Philippines, inducing Congress to appropriate $7,239,000 to purchase the lands, which Taft then sold to Filipinos on easy terms. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt (who by then had become President) offered Taft the seat on the Supreme Court to which he had for so long aspired, but he reluctantly declined when native Filipino groups begged him to remain in Manila as Governor-General. In 1902, however, Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War, and he returned to the United States. As Secretary of War during relative peacetime, Taft was a well-travelled spokesman for Roosevelt's administration. In 1906, Roosevelt sent troops to restore order in Cuba during the revolt led by General Enrique Loynaz del Castillo, and Taft temporarily became the Civil Governor of Cuba, personally negotiating with General Castillo for a peaceful end to the revolt. In 1907, Taft helped supervise the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal.

Presidency

Panama Canal Panama Canal After serving nearly two full terms, the popular Theodore Roosevelt refused to run in the election of 1908. Instead, he promoted Taft as the next Republican candidate. With Roosevelt's help, Taft handily defeated Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan. Throughout his presidency, Taft contended with dissent from more progressive members of the Republican Party, many of whom continued to follow the political lead of former President Roosevelt. Taft fought for the prosecution of trusts, further strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission, established a postal savings bank and a parcel post system, expanded the civil service and promoted the enactment of two amendments to the Constitution. The 16th Amendment authorized the federal government to tax incomes; the 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, mandated the direct election of senators by the people, replacing the previous system whereby they were selected by state legislatures. Taft also signed the The Organic Act of the Department of Labor, which created the United States Department of Labor. In addition, he actively pursued what he termed "Dollar Diplomacy" to further the economic development of less-developed nations through American investment in their infrastructures. One of Taft's main personal goals while president was to promote world peace. Given his judicial sensibilities, he believed that international arbitration was the best means to effectuate the end of war on Earth. As such, he championed several reciprocity and arbitration treaties. In 1910, he convinced congressional Democrats to support a reciprocity treaty with Canada, but the Canadian government refused to accept it. In 1910 and 1911, however, he secured the ratification of arbitration treaties that he had successfully negotiated with the United Kingdom and France, and was thereafter known as one of the foremost advocates of world peace and arbitration. Despite his obvious achievements, progressivists decried Taft's acceptance of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which levied a tariff with protective schedules, his opposition to the entry of the state of Arizona into the Union because of its progressive constitution, and his growing reliance on the conservative wing of his party for political guidance. He was criticized for having too great an intimacy with conservative Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Speaker of the House Joseph G. Cannon. By 1910, Taft's party was thoroughly divided between progressivists and the Old Right.

Election of 1912

Old Right Progressive Republicans openly challenged Taft in the Congressional elections of 1910 and in the Republican presidential primaries of 1912. When Taft won the Republican nomination, however, the progressivists organized the United States Progressive Party (a.k.a. "Bull Moose Party") to rival him, and nominated Theodore Roosevelt as their candidate in the 1912 general election. Roosevelt's Bull Moose candidacy split the Republican vote and helped elect Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Taft himself only received electoral votes from Utah and Vermont, and came in third overall in the election.

Medical condition

Evidence from eyewitnesses and from Taft himself strongly suggests he had severe obstructive sleep apnea during his Presidential term of office, a consequence of his 300 to 340 pound (136 to 159 kg) weight. His legendary tendency to fall asleep in almost any circumstance, an open secret and source of embarrassment for his intimates, is now understood to have been the most obvious manifestation of the disease. Within a year of leaving the Presidency Taft lost approximately 70 pounds (32 kg), dropping his weight from 335 pounds to 264 pounds. His somnolence resolved and, less obviously, his systolic blood pressure dropped 40 to 50 mmHg (from 210 mmHg). Undoubtedly, this weight loss saved his life.

Cabinet


Supreme Court Appointments

Taft appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- Horace Harmon Lurton - 1910
- Charles Evans Hughes - 1910
- Edward Douglass White - Chief Justice - 1910 (Already on the Court as Associate Justice since 1894, and the first Chief Justice to be elevated from Associate, although Chief Justice John Rutledge had previously served as an associate justice. Taft himself would succeed White as Chief Justice.)
- Willis Van Devanter - 1911
- Joseph Rucker Lamar - 1911
- Mahlon Pitney - 1912 Notably, Taft's six appointments to the Court rank third only to those of Washington and FDR, with his appointment of five new justices tied with Jackson and Lincoln. Taft's unusual opportunity to make five appointments in the single Court term of 1910-1911 came largely from the sickly composition of the Court in 1909; the youngest justice Moody was so ill as to leave the bench in the middle of the 1909 term and never return, and the four justices over 70 were in various stages of decline with three dying before the 1910 term. Perhaps as a result, four of Taft's appointments were men of relative youth and vigor at 48, 51, 53 and 54.

States Admitted to the Union


- New Mexico – January 6, 1912
- Arizona – February 14, 1912

Post-Presidency

Upon leaving the White House in 1913, Taft was appointed Kent Professor of Law at Yale Law School. The same year, he was elected President of the American Bar Association. He spent much of his time writing newspaper articles and books, most notably his series on American legal philosophy. He also continued to advocate world peace through international arbitration, urging nations to enter into arbitration treaties with each other and promoting the idea of a League of Nations even before the First World War began. When World War I did break out in Europe in 1914, Taft founded the League to Enforce Peace. He was also a member of the National War Labor Board throughout the war, including during America's involvement beginning in 1917. Although continually advocating peace, he strongly favored conscription once the United States entered the conflict, pleading publicly that the United States not fight a "finicky" war. He feared the war would be long, but was for fighting it out to a finish, given what he viewed as "Germany's brutality."

Chief Justice of the United States

1917 In 1921, President Warren G. Harding nominated Taft as Chief Justice of the United States, fulfilling his lifelong ambition. Virtually no opposition existed to the nomination, and the Senate unanimously confirmed Taft by voice vote. He readily took up the position, and served until 1930. As such, he became the only president to serve as Chief Justice, and thus is also the only former president to swear in subsequent presidents, giving the oath of office to both Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Taft traveled to England in 1922 to study the procedural structure of the English courts and learn how they disposed of a large number of cases expeditiously. During the trip, King George V and Queen Mary received Taft and his wife as state visitors. With what he had learned in England, Taft advocated passage of the 1925 Judges Act, which empowered the Supreme Court to give precedence to cases of national importance, thereby (in Taft's view) allowing the Court to work more efficiently. While Chief Justice, Taft wrote the opinion for the Court in over 200 cases out of the Court's ever-growing caseload. Some of his more notable opinions include:
- Balzac v. Porto Rico (1922)
- Myers v. United States (1926)
- Gong Lum v. Rice (1927)
- Olmstead v. United States (1928)

Death and legacy

Taft retired as chief justice on February 3, 1930, due to ill health, and was succeeded by Charles Evans Hughes, whom he had appointed to the bench while president. Taft died 33 days later on Saturday, March 8. During the last summer of his life, Taft weighed about 244 pounds, one pound more than his average weight in college. Three days later, on March 11, he became the first American president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Helen, was reported to have said that his service as Secretary of War was what qualified him for burial there while, in fact, anyone who serves as president and thus Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is entitled to burial at Arlington. He is one of two presidents (the other being John F. Kennedy) and one of four chief justices buried at Arlington (the others being Earl Warren, Warren Burger, and William Rehnquist). A third generation of the Taft family entered the national political stage in 1938. The former president's oldest son, Robert A. Taft I, was elected to the United States Senate. A vociferous critic of the New Deal, Robert Taft was a Republican leader in the Senate from 1939-1953. His other son, Charles Phelps Taft II served as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 1955 to 1957. Two more generations of the Taft family later entered politics. The President's grandson, Robert Taft Jr., served a term as a Senator from Ohio from 1971-1977; the President's great-grandson, Robert A. Taft II, is the current Governor of Ohio. William Howard Taft III was U.S. ambassador to Ireland. William Howard Taft IV is a high official in the United States Department of State. When asked about his time on the Supreme Court and as President, Chief Justice Taft famously said "I don't remember that I ever was President."

Trivia


- Taft was severely overweight to the point that he became stuck in the bathtub in the White House several times, prompting the installation of a new bathtub capable of holding all of the men who installed it. At 6 feet, and weighing over 350 pounds (159 kg), Taft was the largest and heaviest President. There is some evidence that his mother started calling him "my pudgy-wudgy boy" before his fifth birthday. This may have led to his disdain for the word "pudgy." In fact, it was said that an aide blacked out "pudgy" from his morning newspaper.
- In Manila, Philippines, an avenue is named after him, Taft Avenue. It is one of the busiest streets in the city and one of 2 major streets that the Light Rail Transit (LRT) passes through.
- The town of Siloam, Michigan was re-named Taft in his honor, as was a nearby school. The Iosco County town was a flagstop on the Rose City branch of the D&M Railroad.
- In the 1920 U.S. Federal Population Census, William H. Taft was listed as a university professor living in New Haven, Connecticut.
- Taft is the last US President to have had facial hair (in this case, a mustache) as of 2005.
- Taft was the first US President to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game.
- Taft is the only person to have served as both President and Supreme Court Justice.

Media

See also


- Taft family
- U.S. presidential election, 1908
- U.S. presidential election, 1912
- History of the United States (1865-1918)
- Dollar Diplomacy

External links


-
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/taft.htm Inaugural Address]
- [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=TaftW Audio clips of Taft's speeches]
- [http://www.apneos.com/taft_intro.html Taft's sleep apnea]
- [http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g27.htm Taft's medical history]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wt27.html White House biography]
- [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/whtaft.htm Obituary]
- [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=william+howard+taft&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 William Howard Taft cylinder recordings], from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

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September 15

September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). There are 107 days remaining.

Events


- 608 - Saint Boniface IV becomes Pope.
- 921 - Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law at Tetin.
- 1514 - Thomas Wolsey is appointed Archbishop of York.
- 1556 - Vlissingen ex-emperor Charles V returns to Spain.
- 1584 - San Lorenzo del Escorial Palace in Madrid is finished.
- 1590 - Giambattista Catagna is elected as Pope Urban VII.
- 1644 - Giambattista Pamfili becomes Pope Innocent X, succeeding Pope Urban VIII.
- 1656 - England & France sign peace treaty.
- 1683 - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. is founded by 13 immigrant families.
- 1749 - According to mathematical calculations, Pluto moves outside Neptune's orbit to remain the outermost planet until 1979.
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: British land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.
- 1789 - The United States Department of State is established (formerly known as Department of Foreign Affairs).
- 1812 - The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
- 1821 - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua jointly declare independence from Spain.
- 1830 - The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens (see also deaths, below).
- 1831 - The locomotive John Bull operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
- 1835 - The HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands.
- 1851 - Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1857 - Timothy Alder patents the typesetting machine.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
- 1873 - Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.
- 1883 - The Bombay Natural History Society is founded in Bombay (now Mumbai), India.
- 1894 - First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats China in the Battle of Ping Yang.
- 1914 - World War I: The Battle of Aisne begins between Germany and France.
- 1916 - World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.
- 1928 - Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
- 1928 - Tich Freeman becomes the only bowler to take 300 wickets in an English cricket season.
- 1931 - In Scotland, the two-day Invergordon Mutiny against Royal Navy pay cuts begins.
- 1935 - Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.
- 1935 - Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag with the swastika.
- 1940 - World War II: The Battle of Britain ends with a Royal Air Force victory over the Luftwaffe.
- 1941 - The U.S. Attorney General rules that the Neutrality Act is not violated when U.S. ships carry war materiel to British territories, opening the door for the Lend-Lease Act.
- 1942 - World War II: The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Wasp is torpedoed at Guadalcanal.
- 1944 - Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
- 1945 - A hurricane in southern Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at NAS Richmond.
- 1946 - Baseball: The Brooklyn Dodgers are beating the Chicago Cubs, 2-0, in the 5th inning when a swarm of gnats causes the game to be postponed.
- 1947 - RCA releases the 12AX7 vacuum tube.
- 1948 - The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 1080 km/h.
- 1949 - The television series The Lone Ranger premieres on the ABC.
- 1950 - Korean War: United States forces land at Incheon, Korea.
- 1951 - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes closes on Broadway in New York City after 740 performances.
- 1952 - United Nations gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.
- 1954 - The U.S. Postal Service issues its 2¢ Thomas Jefferson Liberty Series stamp.
- 1955 - The I Love Lucy episode featuring John Wayne premieres.
- 1957 - West Germany holds its third parliamentary election. Konrad Adenauer remains chancellor.
- 1958 - A New Jersey commuter train crashes through a drawbridge, killing 48.
- 1959 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
- 1961 - Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour.
- 1962 - The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1963 - The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing kills four children at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
- 1964 - The Beatles play at a public auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
- 1964 - The Sun newspaper launches, replacing the Daily Herald.
- 1965 - The television series Lost in Space premieres.
- 1966 - The spaceship Gemini XI, with astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon aboard, returns to earth.
- 1967 - Former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas, writes a letter to the United States Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.
- 1968 - The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
- 1969 - Baseball: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Steve Carlton sets a record by striking out 19 New York Mets in a single game.
- 1971 - Baseball: In a game against the Houston Astros, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 636th home run, tying Mickey Mantle for third spot on the career home runs list.
- 1972 - A magnitude 4.5 earthquake shakes Northern Illinois.
- 1973 - Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup in world record time.
- 1974 - Air Vietnam flight 727 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
- 1975 - The French department of Corse (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.
- 1975 - Pink Floyd releases the album Wish You Were Here in the US and UK.
- 1976 - Soyuz 22 carries two cosmonauts into earth orbit for eight days.
- 1978 - Muhammad Ali beats Leon Spinks for the world heavyweight boxing title.
- 1980 - Paul McCartney releases "Temporary Secretary".
- 1981 - The United States Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to the United States Supreme Court.
- 1981 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, DC.
- 1982 - The first issue of USA Today is published by Gannett.
- 1983 - Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.
- 1985 - Willie Nelson's Farm Aid concert begins.
- 1986 - First broadcast of the TV show LA Law on NBC.
- 1987 - U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
- 1988 - Lillehammer, Norway, beats Anchorage, Alaska, United States, to host the 1994 Winter Olympics.
- 1989 - The U.S. Congress recognizes Terry Anderson's continued captivity in Beirut.
- 1990 - France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.
- 1993 - Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II disbands parliament.
- 1994 - Muslim fundamentalists kidnap & behead 16 people in Algeria.
- 1997 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997
- 1997 - Hastings Wise murders four at the R.E. Phelon Company lawn mower parts manufacturing factory in Aiken, South Carolina. The only possible motive for the murders was Hastings' dismissal from his job eleven weeks earlier.
- 1998 - WorldCom and MCI Communications finish their landmark merger, forming MCI WorldCom which would later be renamed WorldCom and become the largest bankruptcy in United States history.
- 2000 - The 27th Summer Olympics opens in Sydney, Australia.
- 2001 - Alex Zanardi, driving in a CART race is injured in Germany, resulting in both legs being amputated below the knee.
- 2004 - Davíð Oddsson the longest serving Prime Minister of Iceland, steps down after serving in office from 1991, and becomes minister for foreign affairs. At the time he was the longest serving PM in Europe
- 2005 - Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellwegger file for divorce after four months of marriage.

Births


- 973 - Al-Biruni, mathematician (d. 1048)
- 1254 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (d. 1324)
- 1580 - Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (d. 1659)
- 1613 - François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (d. 1680)
- 1649 - Titus Oates, English minister and plotter (d. 1705)
- 1715 - Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French artillery specialist (d. 1789)
- 1789 - James Fenimore Cooper, American novelist (d. 1851)
- 1828 - Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov, Russian chemist (d. 1886)
- 1857 - William Howard Taft, President of the United States and Supreme Court Justice (d. 1930)
- 1876 - Bruno Walter, German conductor (d. 1962)
- 1879 - Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
- 1881 - Ettore Bugatti, Italian automobile engineer and designer (d. 1947)
- 1883 - Esteban Terradas i Illa, Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer (d. 1950)
- 1889 - Robert Benchley, American author (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Agatha Christie, English writer (d. 1976)
- 1890 - Frank Martin, Swiss composer (d. 1974)
- 1894 - Jean Renoir, French film director (d. 1979)
- 1898 - J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist (d. 1936)
- 1901 - Sir Donald Bailey, British engineer (d. 1985)
- 1903 - Roy Acuff, American musician (d. 1992)
- 1904 - King Umberto II of Italy (d. 1983)
- 1907 - Fay Wray, Canadian-born actress (d. 2004)
- 1908 - Penny Singleton, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1913 - John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General and convicted Watergate criminal (d. 1988)
- 1914 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
- 1922 - Jackie Cooper, American actor and director
- 1924 - Bobby Short, American musician (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Jean-Pierre Serre, French mathematician
- 1928 - Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1975)
- 1929 - Eva Burrows, Salvation Army general
- 1929 - Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 - Henry Darrow, American actor
- 1933 - Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor
- 1937 - Robert Lucas, Jr., American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 - Gaylord Perry, baseball player
- 1940 - Merlin Olsen, American football player and actor
- 1941 - Flórián Albert, Hungarian footballer
- 1946 - Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
- 1946 - Oliver Stone, American film director
- 1949 - Joe Barton, American politician
- 1951 - Johan Neeskens, Dutch football player
- 1961 - Dan Marino, American football player
- 1969 - Jim Curtiss, American writer
- 1976 - Paul Thomson, Scottish drummer (Franz Ferdinand)
- 1978 - Eidur Gudjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
- 1979 - Amy Davidson, American actress
- 1984 - Prince Harry of Wales

Deaths


- 1500 - John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1596 - Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (b. 1535)
- 1613 - Thomas Overbury, English writer (murdered) (b. 1581)
- 1643 - Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Irish politician (b. 1566)
- 1649 - John Floyd, English Jesuit preacher (b. 1572)
- 1700 - André Le Nôtre, French landscape architect (b. 1613)
- 1701 - Edmé Boursault, French writer (b. 1638)
- 1707 - George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (b. 1663)
- 1712 - Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician
- 1750 - Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1690)
- 1794 - Abraham Clark, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1725)
- 1803 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1719)
- 1830 - William Huskisson, first rail fatality
- 1842 - Pierre Baillot, French violinict and composer (b. 1771)
- 1859 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (b. 1806)
- 1864 - John Hanning Speke, British explorer (b. 1827)
- 1885 - Jumbo, P. T. Barnum's circus elephant (hit by a train)
- 1893 - Thomas Hawksley, English civil engineer (b. 1807)
- 1926 - Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- 1930 - Milton Sills, American actor (b. 1882)
- 1945 - André Tardieu, Prime Minister of France (b. 1876)
- 1945 - Anton Webern, Austrian composer (shot) (b. 1883)
- 1965 - Steve Brown, American musician (b. 1890)
- 1972 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1887)
- 1973 - King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden (b. 1882)
- 1980 - Bill Evans, American jazz pianist (b. 1929)
- 1989 - Robert Penn Warren, American writer (b. 1905)
- 2003 - Jack Brymer, English clarinetist (b. 1915)
- 2003 - Josef Hirsal, Czech novelist (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (prostate cancer) (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances


- In Slovakia - Holyday of the Seven sorrows of Virgin Maria
- In ancient Greece, the second day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the priests of Demeter declared the public start of the rites.
- Independence Day from Spain (1821) for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, celebrated everywhere with marches from schoolchildren.
- RC Saints - Feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows.
- Also see September 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
- Britain - the British commemorate the Battle of Britain on the day of the last massive Luftwaffe attack in 1940.
- Japan - Respect for the Aged Day before 2003; beginning in 2003, Respect for the Aged Day is held on the third Monday of September.
- Bulgaria - The first day of school.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/15 BBC: On This Day] ---- September 14 · September 16 · August 15 · October 15 · more historical anniversaries ko:9월 15일 ja:9月15日 simple:September 15 th:15 กันยายน

March 8

March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). There are 298 days remaining.

Events


- 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (he soon rejects the idea after some initial calculations were made but later on May 15 confirms the discovery).
- 1702 - Very unexpectedly, Anne Stuart, the sister of the childless Mary II, becomes Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland after the death of William III of Orange from injuries he suffered in a fall from his horse.
- 1782 - Gnadenhütten massacre: Almost 100 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio had their skulls crushed with a mallet by Pennsylvanian militiamen in a mass murder.
- 1844 - King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway
- 1862 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
- 1884 - Susan B. Anthony testifies before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.
- 1906 - Moro Crater Massacre: US troops occupying the Philippines massacre about 600 men, women and children taking refuge in a crater.
- 1911 - International Women's Day is celebrated for the first time.
- 1917 - The February Revolution breaks out in Russia (February 23 O.S.).
- 1917 - The United States Senate adopts the cloture rule in order to limit filibusters.
- 1918 - The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating pandemic.
- 1921 - Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
- 1942 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
- 1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
- 1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
- 1948 - The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution.
- 1950 - The Soviet Union claims to have an atomic bomb.
- 1952 - Antoine Pinay becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1957 - Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal.
- 1959 - Last television appearance of The Marx Brothers, in The Incredible Jewel Robbery
- 1961 - Max Conrad circumnavigates the earth in eight days, 18 hours and 49 minutes setting a new world record.
- 1965 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.
- 1966 - Vietnam War: Australia announces it is going to substantially increase its number of troops in Vietnam.
- 1966 - A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.
- 1971 - Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the first of three epic bouts. Frazier defends the world Heavyweight title in a star-studded Madison Square Garden.
- 1972 - The Goodyear blimp flies for the first time.
- 1974 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
- 1978 - The first ever radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
- 1983 - President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an evil empire.
- 1985 - The 1985 Beirut Car Bombing is carried out in front of the mosque, killing 85 people and injuring 175.
- 1988 - Two United States Army helicopters collide in Fort Campbell, Kentucky killing 17 servicemen.
- 1999 - Oklahoma City bombing: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh.
- 2000 - A collision between two Tokyo Metro trains kills 5 people.
- 2004 - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.

Births


- 1286 - John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
- 1514 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1562)
- 1566 - Don Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (d. 1613)
- 1659 - Isaac de Beausobre, French protestant pastor (d. 1738)
- 1712 - John Fothergill, English physician (d. 1780)
- 1714 - Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, German composer (d. 1788)
- 1726 - Richard Howe, British admiral (d. 1799)
- 1748 - William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic
- 1822 - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (b. 1822)
- 1827 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (d. 1875)
- 1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1935)
- 1856 - Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
- 1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
- 1859 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Anna Held, Polish-born actress and singer (d. 1918)
- 1879 - Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1886 - Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1972)
- 1907 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 - Alan Hovhaness, American composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1914 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
- 1915 - Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete, actor, and singer (d. 1979)
- 1918 - Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer
- 1928 - Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer (d. 1990)
- 1931 - John McPhee, American writer
- 1938 - Pete Dawkins, vice-chairman, Citibank
- 1939 - Jim Bouton, baseball player, author, entrepreneur
- 1939 - Lidia Skoblikova, Russian skater
- 1939 - Robert Tear, Welsh tenor
- 1940 - Susan Clark, Canadian actress
- 1943 - Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- 1944 - Pepé Romero, Spanish guitarist
- 1945 - Jim Chapman, American politician
- 1945 - Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)
- 1945 - Anselm Kiefer, German painter
- 1946 - Linda Kelliher Samets, American entrepreneur
- 1947 - Carole Bayer Sager, American composer
- 1954 - David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
- 1956 - John Kapelos, Canadian actor
- 1957 - Cynthia Rothrock, American actress and martial artist
- 1958 - Gary Numan, British singer
- 1959 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
- 1961 - Camryn Manheim, American actress
- 1968 - Michael Bartels, German race car driver
- 1968 - Shawn Mullins, American musician
- 1970 - Jason Elam, American football player
- 1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
- 1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
- 1977 - James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1990 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, American conjoined twins
- 1991 - Cameron Brittig, American football player

Deaths


- 1126 - Queen Urraca of Castile (b. 1082)
- 1202 - King Sverre of Norway
- 1223 - Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish chronicler (b. 1161)
- 1144 - Pope Celestine II
- 1674 - Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
- 1702 - King William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1731 - Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1757 - Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1701)
- 1771 - Louis August le Clerc, French-born sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1844 - King Charles XIV of Sweden, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, French Napoleonic general (b. 1763)
- 1869 - Hector Berlioz, French composer (b. 1803)
- 1874 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
- 1887 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (b. 1813)
- 1887 - James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (b. 1820)
- 1889 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (b. 1803)
- 1923 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
- 1930 - William Howard Taft, President of the United States, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1941 - Sherwood Anderson, American author, (b. 1876)
- 1942 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (b. 1888)
- 1961 - Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)
- 1971 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (b. 1893)
- 1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (Grateful Dead) (b. 1945)
- 1975 - George Stevens, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
- 1983 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
- 1993 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
- 1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedienne (b. 1924)
- 1999 - Joe DiMaggio, baseball player (b. 1914)
- 2001 - Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
- 2003 - Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
- 2004 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances


- Catholicism - Feast day of St John of God.
- In many countries, it is International Women's Day
- Ottawa declares this day Alanis Morissette Day, in honor of singer Alanis Morissette, but Morissette refused to accept this honor because March 8 was already International Women's Day
- Albania - Mother's Day
- Syria - The March 8 Revolution

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/8 BBC: On This Day] ---- March 7 - March 9 - February 8 - April 8 -- listing of all days ko:3월 8일 ja:3月8日 simple:March 8 th:8 มีนาคม

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 r