Let’s see the hands of all of you who do not know this man’s name. I thought so, only three raised your hands. The rest of you knew it was Abraham Lincoln. This was the year of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate. Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861 and was blamed for causing the War Between the States, commonly referred to as the Civil War.

I imagine not as many of you know the name of the seventeenth President. Andrew Johnson was a War Democrat who ran with Lincoln in 1864 for the National Union Party and was the Vice President when he was assassinated. The Republican led Congress impeached him, but the Senate acquitted him by one vote. He was not chosen to run for a second term and left office in 1869.

Ulysses S. Grant had been the Union General attributed to the defeat of the Confederate States. The Republicans nominated him, and he led the Union back to the vigor that had been lost for years. He was credited with unifying the southern and northern states until the twentieth century, when Southern Democrats defamed him. He served as our eighteenth President until 1877.

Rutherford B. Hayes, another Republican, was elected in 1876. There was a problem before he was declared the winner of the election. It was called the Compromise of 1877 when a Congressional Commission awarded twenty contested Electoral votes to Hayes. He stood by his promise not to run for a second term.

The twentieth President is James A. Garfield, who took office in 1881. He was shot in July and died in September, and was succeeded by his Vice President, Chester A. Arthur. Garfield was known for his anti-corruption and pro-civil rights stance. He is often ignored by those who rank our Presidents.

President Arthur continued the reform of the civil service that was begun by his predecessor. A widower, whose wife died shortly before he became Vice President, his sister, Mary, served as White House hostess. He failed to gain the 1884 Republican nomination. Biographers refer to him as one of the most distrusted Presidents when his administration began, but widely respected when he stepped down.

The first Democrat to be elected President after the Civil War was Grover Cleveland, our 22nd and 24th on the list. His first term was from 1885 to 1889, and his second was from 1893 to 1897. He was considered a classic liberal and owed his first win to a defection of some Republicans.

In 1888, the popular vote went to Cleveland even though Benjamin Harrison received more electoral votes. Six western states were added from 1889 to 1893, and the US Navy was refurbished. His tariffs increased the Federal budget but cost him the election in Cleveland.

He was not the only President to lose his second bid for the position due to the economic state of the country during his second attempt. Most economic experts believe that it takes a minimum of twelve years for Presidential policies to affect our economy to a significant extent. Next time, we start with the twenty-fifth man to hold the office.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger