I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need to Know (19 page)

When he ran for president, he campaigned on his belief that government was too big, and that reducing taxes for the rich would help everyone when their wealth “trickled down” to people who didn’t have as much money. Instead of economics, critics called it Reaganomics. He won in a landslide.

Shortly after he took office, a deranged gunman tried to assassinate him outside of a hotel in Washington, D.C. While doctors got ready to take the bullet out of his lung at the hospital, he joked to Nancy, the First Lady, “Sorry, honey, I forgot to duck.”

His Legacy

Reagan is remembered for pushing for the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union (even though he once called it the “evil empire”), cutting taxes, and trying to make the government work better. “I have wondered at times,” he said, “what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.”

41st President ~ 1989–1993

GEORGE H.W. BUSH

Poppy

“We are not the sum of our possessions.”

Born

June 12, 1924 Milton, Massachusetts

Political Party

Republican

Vice President

J. Danforth (“Dan”) Quayle

First Lady

Barbara

Children

George W., Robin (who died as a child), John Ellis “Jeb,” Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy

Pet

Millie, a springer spaniel

Before Politics

George Bush put off going to college and joined the military during World War II. He was the youngest pilot in the Navy and flew 58 combat missions in the Pacific. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. He came home and graduated with honors from Yale, worked in the oil business, and then got into politics.

Training for the Presidency

By the time Ronald Reagan picked him to run as vice president, Bush had served in several top government jobs, including head of the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA.

As vice president, he organized all branches of the military to cooperate and try to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Operation Blue Lightning, as it was called, equipped jets, speed boats, and helicopters with state-of-the-art sensors and tracking devices to snag drug smugglers as they tried to land on American shores.

FUN FACTS

George Bush played first base on the Yale University baseball team. His team got to the finals of the College World Series twice (but lost both times).

George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush are the second father and son to become president of the United States. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the first.

From Vice President to President

In 1988, George Bush became the first vice president elected to president since Martin Van Buren in 1836.

He faced several foreign problems when he took office. He ordered troops to invade Panama to get rid of its corrupt dictator, Manuel Noriega. They captured Noriega and sent him to trial in Florida for drug trafficking.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait, Bush sent troops into the Persian Gulf to drive Iraq out of the country. He also saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, and more importantly, the end of the Cold War. Bush was popular for a while, but the sagging economy prevented him from getting re-elected.

Humor at the White House

As president, Bush showed his sense of humor. He once said, “I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”

His wife, Barbara, became a spokesperson for reading and helped write
Millie’s Book,
their dog’s best-selling book about life in the White House.

42nd President ~ 1993–2001

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

Slick Willie

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

Born

August 19, 1946 Hope, Arkansas

Political Party

Democrat

Vice President

Albert Gore

First Lady

Hillary Rodham

Child

Chelsea

Pets

Socks, a cat; Buddy, a dog

Meeting a President

When Bill Clinton was 16, he was an elected delegate to Boys Nation, a youth organization. The group gathered in Washington, D.C., where he met and shook hands with President John F. Kennedy. From then on, he said, Kennedy was his hero and role model—and he knew he would make a life in politics.

A Promising Future

A bright student, Clinton studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and graduated from Yale Law School. At the age of 32, he became the governor of Arkansas, the youngest governor in the country. He was elected president 14 years later.

Success Abroad and at Home

As president, Clinton gained respect in foreign countries, especially for helping to end conflict in central Europe. He also worked hard to make peace a reality in Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

He helped the economy at home, which was booming. He managed to expand international trade, and could brag about low inflation and low unemployment. He was the first Democratic president elected to a second term since FDR.

PRESIDENTIAL FIRST

Although Bill Clinton was the second president to be impeached, he was the first elected president to be impeached. Andrew Johnson (the first to be impeached) had not been elected; he became president when Lincoln was assassinated.

Impeachment

But Clinton had troubles, too. Congress refused to pass his huge health-care reform plan. And he became only the second president to be impeached—or put on trial—by the Senate for misbehavior in office. Still, he remained a very strong and powerful spokesman for the Democratic Party, and he left office as a very popular president.

FUN FACT

Bill Clinton played the saxophone in a jazz trio called Three Blind Mice in high school. He was offered several music scholarships to college, but chose to study politics instead.

A Different Kind of First Lady

Hillary Rodham Clinton went on to make history, becoming the first ever former First Lady to run for the U.S. Senate and win, and then run for her husband’s old job—president of the United States. She served as U.S. secretary of state for President Obama.

FAMOUS FIRST LADIES

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

October 26, 1947–

A New Role

Never a traditional First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton made Americans rethink the role of the president’s spouse—as well as the role of women in politics. She was the first former First Lady to run for public office, to be elected to the U.S. Senate, and to serve in a president’s cabinet (as one of his advisors).

From the Midwest to the East to the South

After growing up outside of Chicago in Park Ridge, Illinois, Hillary Rodham headed east to attend Wellesley College and Yale Law School. At Yale, she worked with an organization to help children and families—a lifelong passion—and met Bill Clinton, eventually moving to Arkansas and marrying him. She taught law, worked at a law firm, and become First Lady of Arkansas when her husband was elected governor.

FIRST LADY FIRST

Hillary Rodham was the first student ever chosen to give a speech at Wellesley’s graduation ceremony.

Work, Family, and Service

Hillary Rodham (who took her husband’s last name after he lost his second term as governor, thinking it would help him politically) served as First Lady of Arkansas for 12 years, balancing work, family—her daughter Chelsea was born in 1980—and public service. When Bill Clinton became president, Hillary Clinton became a new kind of First Lady. She kept an office in the West Wing of the White House, where the president’s advisors had offices, and led a committee on national health-care reform, coming up with a plan designed to provide affordable health insurance for all Americans (which Congress did not pass).

A Second Act

Hillary Clinton did not retire from politics when she left the White House. She became the first woman to represent New York in the U.S. Senate, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination (winning more primaries than any other female candidate in American history), and served as secretary of state for President Obama. From first lady to secretary of state, Hillary Clinton helped redefine the role of women in politics.

FUN FACT

As a child, Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to NASA asking how to become an astronaut. NASA responded that girls could not be astronauts.

43rd President ~ 2001–2009

GEORGE W. BUSH

W (Dubya)