Nixon. Nixon resigned in the middle of his term, which Gerald Ford finished out, having pardoned Nixon for his crimes.
Carter. Jimmy Carter campaigned against Jerry Ford, and, as I recollect, easily out-argued and out-campaigned Ford, at least in the eyes of the Democrats and other liberals.
Carter was a trained engineer and Navy man, and was well prepared for his duties in the White House. But meanwhile, trouble was brewing in Iran, which was supplying a lot of our oil at that time. The US, through the good offices of the CIA (haha), and with the collaboration of the Brits, had overthrown the elected secular leader of Iran, and installed a king instead: Reza Pallavi. But waiting in Paris was the religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who was managing the student revolutionaries in Iran. When the king (Shah Reza Pallavi), who had cancer at the time, headed for the USA, student Islamic revolutionaries took over the US Embassy, and held the staff there as hostages, and the Ayatollah returned from Paris. Incidentally, this immediately stopped the oil flowing in from Iran, and oil prices skyrocketed from the usual cents at the pump, to a couple of dollars at the pump, as they are now. It was the easiest thing in the world to blame this on Carter. Carter was all about energy conservation, and environmental conservation, but without oil, nobody was willing to listen to any other issues.
Carter was a trained engineer and Navy man, and was well prepared for his duties in the White House. But meanwhile, trouble was brewing in Iran, which was supplying a lot of our oil at that time. The US, through the good offices of the CIA (haha), and with the collaboration of the Brits, had overthrown the elected secular leader of Iran, and installed a king instead: Reza Pallavi. But waiting in Paris was the religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who was managing the student revolutionaries in Iran. When the king (Shah Reza Pallavi), who had cancer at the time, headed for the USA, student Islamic revolutionaries took over the US Embassy, and held the staff there as hostages, and the Ayatollah returned from Paris. Incidentally, this immediately stopped the oil flowing in from Iran, and oil prices skyrocketed from the usual cents at the pump, to a couple of dollars at the pump, as they are now. It was the easiest thing in the world to blame this on Carter. Carter was all about energy conservation, and environmental conservation, but without oil, nobody was willing to listen to any other issues.
Reagan. Ronald Reagan won by a landslide, helped largely by the energy crisis, which was conflated with Carter's very clear liberal bias, and a very conservative CIA and possibly the Pentagon, and brought in a Republican congress as well. Taxes were reduced, and many of the laws that we have in place today were brought in by Reagan. He did raise taxes on at least one occasion, but Republicans would forgive him anything. The drug wars began.
Reagan was in the White House for eight years, but then Democrats couldn't stand him any longer. But George H. W. Bush won the election against Walter Mondale (or was it Gary Hart?).
Reagan was in the White House for eight years, but then Democrats couldn't stand him any longer. But George H. W. Bush won the election against Walter Mondale (or was it Gary Hart?).
George H.W. Bush. Bush senior is remembered mainly for pushing Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Apparently the Iraqis claimed that Kuwait historically belonged to them, and when Saddam's quiet inquiries about whether the US would retaliate if Iraq were to invade Kuwait was met with ambiguous responses, he attacked Kuwait. To his surprise, the US came to the aid of Kuwait, and attacked Iraq, and drove them out of Kuwait, and then withdrew. Many conservatives back home in the US thought it was a wasted opportunity; that we should have gone right into Baghdad and annexed the Iraqi oilfields. But, read on.
Bill Clinton. Clinton won the debates and the election as a moderate. He readjusted the tax structure, with the taxes of the wealthiest somewhat higher than Reagan had set them, and with Welfare Services moderately well funded, but of course, the Republicans nevertheless whined about unworthy Welfare Queens, who supposedly lived the high life on Welfare, and paid no taxes and did no work. Clinton compromised by allowing a bill that required work for Welfare.
The Republicans hated Clinton's success, and tried everything to get rid of him, mainly accusing him of participating in Real Estate swindles, and Sexual misbehavior, and ultimately, lying under oath. In Clinton's second term, when the Democrat voters were far too cowardly to come out to vote for Democrats in Congress, Clinton never had a moment's peace in the White House.
The Republicans hated Clinton's success, and tried everything to get rid of him, mainly accusing him of participating in Real Estate swindles, and Sexual misbehavior, and ultimately, lying under oath. In Clinton's second term, when the Democrat voters were far too cowardly to come out to vote for Democrats in Congress, Clinton never had a moment's peace in the White House.
George W. Bush. As many of us remember, the Florida elections had problems with equipment (or so they say!) and there was a tie between Bush, and the Democrat Al Gore, who was an enthusiastic champion on environmental causes. The Supreme Court had to intervene, and the Presidency was given to George W. Bush.
Bush had to deal with the 9 / 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, masterminded by people of Saudi Arabian origin, but working outside Saudi Arabia. A couple of years after the attacks, for some reason (mostly because various elements thought it more profitable to attack Iraq than Afghanistan, or Pakistan) the US declared war on Iraq, which resulted in horrible loss of life in Iraq, the death of Saddam Hussein, and the discovery that Weapons of Mass Destruction were notably missing from Iraq.
Nevertheless, Bush hung on for a second term, and finally faced Barack Obama.
Bush had to deal with the 9 / 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, masterminded by people of Saudi Arabian origin, but working outside Saudi Arabia. A couple of years after the attacks, for some reason (mostly because various elements thought it more profitable to attack Iraq than Afghanistan, or Pakistan) the US declared war on Iraq, which resulted in horrible loss of life in Iraq, the death of Saddam Hussein, and the discovery that Weapons of Mass Destruction were notably missing from Iraq.
Nevertheless, Bush hung on for a second term, and finally faced Barack Obama.
Barack Obama. Obama, throughout his two terms, faced the vicious attempts of Donald Trump, (who had no official standing whatsoever,) to try and prove that he (Obama) was not American by birth. This did not avail Trump anything, except to send a signal to various parties in the USA that Trump was hostile to non-Caucasian people aspiring to the Presidency. That was the beginning and the end of the entire “Birthism” movement; an extension of dog-whistle politics.
Obamacare, or the ACA, was made into law in Obama's term, much to the frustration of conservatives. But now that Democrats and all liberals have seen how Obamacare works, it has been found difficult to rip it out from under the feet of working class people, who have heretofore struggled to obtain reasonable health care.
Obamacare, or the ACA, was made into law in Obama's term, much to the frustration of conservatives. But now that Democrats and all liberals have seen how Obamacare works, it has been found difficult to rip it out from under the feet of working class people, who have heretofore struggled to obtain reasonable health care.
Donald Trump. Trump got to the White House, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College. In his early weeks in the White House, Trump was preoccupied with building a wall, to hinder migration across the southern border from Mexico. (Trump has maintained an appearance of despising Latinos, especially Mexicans. This seems simply a public stance, to attract the members of the populace who are threatened by Latinos present in the US. In fact, it is easy to imagine that dozens of Latinos and other minorities are employed in Trump's various hotels.)
Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, has successfully kept the Senate from taking up any Democrat legislation sent up from the lower House, prevented Obama from appointing any Supreme Court judges, and appointed hundreds of conservative appellate judges, and one Supreme Court judge of dubious qualification.
Taking Trump's support for granted, various White Supremacist groups held rallies, notably in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed: Heather Heyer. Trump failed to condemn the event, as the Supremacist groups had anticipated.
Trump and the Republicans roundly lost the lower House in the mid-term elections of 2018. Meanwhile, Trump was frantically negotiating with foreign heads of state for assistance in obtaining information to sabotage the candidacy of Joe Biden. Furthermore, an inquiry by a special prosecutor had turned up various dubious actions by Trump, his campaign team, and people close to him in the White House, culminating in a phone call, directly requesting dope on Biden in exchange for the release of funds already approved by Congress. This was the last straw, which precipitated articles of impeachment in Congress.
In early 2019, he was impeached by Congress, but not convicted by the Trump-friendly Senate. But, as the year wore on, we were becoming aware of the Coronavirus mutation, which was causing the sickness we now call COVID-19. Preoccupied by the Impeachment, Trump failed to act on the virus. Perhaps his advisors told him that the virus would pass, without causing much of a problem. (Many people have been in the habit of considering a virus as a minor threat, compared with bacteria. There are good reasons for this, with ordinary viruses. But this virus is not of the ordinary variety.)
Then, across the nation, Police excesses against unarmed Blacks, (and many homicides of unarmed Blacks by civilian whites) resulted in the rebirth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Trump miserably failed to provide leadership for that moment, preferring, once again, to threaten protesters, including peaceful protesters. Many Confederate memorials were pulled down, to which Trump expressed opposition. Note that many of these monuments were erected long after the end of the Civil War, during a time when Whites were expressing frustration at having Blacks in positions of administrative responsibility, such as in state houses, and in important occupations. It was a means of intimidating Blacks, by reminding them of the war in which many Blacks were killed.
ArchTaking Trump's support for granted, various White Supremacist groups held rallies, notably in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed: Heather Heyer. Trump failed to condemn the event, as the Supremacist groups had anticipated.
Trump and the Republicans roundly lost the lower House in the mid-term elections of 2018. Meanwhile, Trump was frantically negotiating with foreign heads of state for assistance in obtaining information to sabotage the candidacy of Joe Biden. Furthermore, an inquiry by a special prosecutor had turned up various dubious actions by Trump, his campaign team, and people close to him in the White House, culminating in a phone call, directly requesting dope on Biden in exchange for the release of funds already approved by Congress. This was the last straw, which precipitated articles of impeachment in Congress.
In early 2019, he was impeached by Congress, but not convicted by the Trump-friendly Senate. But, as the year wore on, we were becoming aware of the Coronavirus mutation, which was causing the sickness we now call COVID-19. Preoccupied by the Impeachment, Trump failed to act on the virus. Perhaps his advisors told him that the virus would pass, without causing much of a problem. (Many people have been in the habit of considering a virus as a minor threat, compared with bacteria. There are good reasons for this, with ordinary viruses. But this virus is not of the ordinary variety.)
Then, across the nation, Police excesses against unarmed Blacks, (and many homicides of unarmed Blacks by civilian whites) resulted in the rebirth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Trump miserably failed to provide leadership for that moment, preferring, once again, to threaten protesters, including peaceful protesters. Many Confederate memorials were pulled down, to which Trump expressed opposition. Note that many of these monuments were erected long after the end of the Civil War, during a time when Whites were expressing frustration at having Blacks in positions of administrative responsibility, such as in state houses, and in important occupations. It was a means of intimidating Blacks, by reminding them of the war in which many Blacks were killed.
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