Category Archives: U.S. Presidents

U.S. President Harry S. Truman approves plan to invade Japan 80 years ago this hour (June 18 1945)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II

Video: 'The World At War Episode 24 HD - The Bomb (February – September 1945)' (June 18, 1945, at 19:27)

(Monday, June 18, 1945, 3:30 p.m. EWT; during World War II) — President Harry S. Truman met with military representatives today to discuss how the war against Japan should proceed. Truman decided to have the Joint Chiefs of Staff go ahead with plans to invade Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four major islands on Nov. 1, 1945. Continue reading U.S. President Harry S. Truman approves plan to invade Japan 80 years ago this hour (June 18 1945) →

Million people cheer Eisenhower as he returns to Washington 80 years ago this hour (June 18 1945)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II


Video: '"America's Welcome To General Ike"

(Monday, June 18, 1945, Eisenhower’s plane landed at 11:11 a.m. EWT; during World War II) — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower received a tumultuous welcome today in Washington D.C., where he addressed a joint session of Congress. Continue reading Million people cheer Eisenhower as he returns to Washington 80 years ago this hour (June 18 1945) →

Former U.S. Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins dies 200 years ago today (June 11 1825)

1820s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins: Our Vices #6'

(Saturday, June 11, 1825) — Daniel D. Tompkins, the sixth Vice President of the United States (1817-1825, under President James Monroe), died today in Tompkinsville, a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island in New York City, just 99 days after leaving office. He was 50. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins dies 200 years ago today (June 11 1825) →

Former U.S. President Andrew Jackson dies in Nashville 180 years ago this hour (June 8 1845)

1840s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Andrew Jackson - Good Evil & The Presidency - PBS Documentary'

(Tuesday, June 8, 1845, 6:00 p.m. local time) — Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States (1829-1837), died today at The Hermitage, his plantation in Nashville, Tennessee, of chronic tuberculosis, dropsy, and heart failure. He was 78. Continue reading Former U.S. President Andrew Jackson dies in Nashville 180 years ago this hour (June 8 1845) →

Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over President Wilson’s response to Lusitania sinking 110 years ago this hour (June 8 1915)

1910s, U.S. Presidents, World War I

(Tuesday, June 8, 1915, shortly after 3:00 p.m. EST; during World War I) — William Jennings Bryan, three times Democratic nominee for the presidency and author of nearly thirty peace treaties with the principal nations of the world, resigned today (effective June 9, 1915) as U.S. Secretary of State over what he viewed as President Woodrow Wilson’s overly bellicose attitude toward Germany following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Continue reading Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over President Wilson’s response to Lusitania sinking 110 years ago this hour (June 8 1915) →

Rockefeller inquiry clears CIA of major violations 50 years ago today (June 2 1975)

1970s, U.S. Presidents

(Monday, June 2, 1975) — Vice President Nelson Rockefeller said today that his commission’s five-month investigation of the Central Intelligence Agency had found incidents in which the CIA violated the law but no widespread pattern of illegal activity.

Former U.S. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, 71, dies in Washington, D.C. 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 1 1925)

1910s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'America's WITTIEST Vice President??? Thomas Marshall's interesting legacy'

(Sunday, June 1, 1925, 9:30 a.m. EDT) — Thomas R. Marshall, the 28th vice president of the United States under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), died suddenly this morning from a heart attack at his room at the Willard Hotel, while reading his Bible in bed during a trip to Washington, D.C. He was 71. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, 71, dies in Washington, D.C. 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 1 1925) →

Watergate’s ‘Deep Throat’ identified as former no. 2 at FBI 20 years ago today (May 31 2005)

2000s, U.S. Presidents, Watergate


Video: 'Deep Throat Revealed'

(Tuesday, May 31, 2005) — Breaking a silence of 30 years, former FBI official W. Mark Felt stepped forward today as “Deep Throat,” the secret Washington Post source during the Watergate scandal.

First lady Bess Truman christens ambulance plane 80 years ago today (May 30 1945)

1940s, U.S. Presidents, World War II


Video: 'Harry S. Truman — Bess Truman Christens an Ambulance Plane'

(Memorial Day, Wednesday, May 30, 1945; during World War II) — In her first public appearance as first lady, Bess Truman today tried to christen an ambulance plane at Washington’s National Airport with a unprepared bottle of champagne. Continue reading First lady Bess Truman christens ambulance plane 80 years ago today (May 30 1945) →

Supreme Court strikes down key component of FDR’s New Deal 90 years ago today (May 27 1935)

1930s, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Schechter Poultry vs US (1935): US History Review'

(Monday, May 27, 1935; during the Great Depression) — The U.S. Supreme Court today decided Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, which held the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), a major piece of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, unconstitutional (click here for a clip of May 27, 1935, at 28:27 from “American Experience – S07E02 – FDR Parts 3 and 4 (October 12, 1994)).