Progressive academic who led the United States through World War I and tried to build a liberal international order around the League of Nations.
Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
William Jennings Bryan (1913-1915); Robert Lansing (1915-1920); Bainbridge Colby (1920-1921)
Managed neutrality, then wartime diplomacy and the peace conference.
Secretary of War
Newton D. Baker
Oversaw Selective Service, American Expeditionary Forces buildup, and war mobilization.
Secretary of the Navy
Josephus Daniels
Managed naval expansion and convoy operations.
Wars & Major Events
- 1913-1916
Progressive reforms, Federal Reserve Act, and declared neutrality in the opening years of World War I.
- Apr 1917
Asked Congress for a declaration of war on Germany; mobilized the economy and raised the American Expeditionary Forces.
- 1918-1919
Issued the Fourteen Points, led the Paris Peace Conference, and advocated for the League of Nations.
- 1919-1920
Faced the First Red Scare and a Senate defeat of the Versailles Treaty after a national speaking tour and stroke.
Promised a return to normalcy after World War I, favored pro-business growth, and saw his administration rocked by scandals.
Vice President: Calvin Coolidge
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Charles Evans Hughes
Led the Washington Naval Conference and normalized relations with Europe.
Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon
Championed tax cuts and debt reduction.
Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Coordinated trade expansion and disaster relief.
Wars & Major Events
- 1921
Budget and Accounting Act created the Bureau of the Budget and the General Accounting Office.
- 1921-1922
Washington Naval Conference set tonnage limits on capital ships and affirmed the Open Door in Asia.
- 1923
Teapot Dome bribery scandal erupted over oil leases, tainting the administration even after Harding's death.
Laissez-faire conservative who oversaw boom years, modest regulatory reforms, and restrained foreign policy involvement.
Vice President: Charles G. Dawes
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Charles Evans Hughes (1923-1925); Frank B. Kellogg (1925-1929)
Negotiated the Dawes Plan and Kellogg-Briand Pact.
Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon
Maintained low taxes and budget surpluses.
Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Managed aviation, radio, and flood relief.
Wars & Major Events
- 1924
Johnson-Reed Immigration Act established national origins quotas.
- 1924
Dawes Plan restructured German reparations with American banking support.
- 1927
Great Mississippi Flood prompted federal relief debates.
- 1928
Kellogg-Briand Pact renounced war as national policy.
Engineer turned humanitarian who struggled to confront the Great Depression with voluntary cooperation and limited federal aid.
Vice President: Charles Curtis
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Henry L. Stimson
Asserted nonrecognition of Japanese conquest in Manchuria.
Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon (1929-1932); Ogden Mills (1932-1933)
Initially defended orthodox fiscal policy until late crisis.
Secretary of War
Patrick J. Hurley
Advocated preparedness amid global instability.
Wars & Major Events
- Oct 1929
Stock market crash triggered the global Great Depression.
- 1930
Smoot-Hawley Tariff provoked retaliatory trade restrictions.
- 1932
Reconstruction Finance Corporation extended emergency credit to banks and railroads.
- 1932
Bonus Army marchers were expelled from Washington by federal troops.
Four-term leader who launched the New Deal, rearmed the nation, and steered the Allied coalition to victory in World War II.
Vice President: John Nance Garner; Henry A. Wallace; Harry S. Truman
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Cordell Hull (1933-1944); Edward Stettinius Jr. (1944-1945)
Led Good Neighbor policy and wartime alliance management.
Secretary of War
George Dern (1933-1936); Harry H. Woodring (1936-1940); Henry L. Stimson (1940-1945)
Oversaw mobilization and coalition warfare.
Secretary of the Treasury
William Woodin (1933-1934); Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1934-1945)
Financed New Deal and wartime spending.
Wars & Major Events
- 1933-1936
First and Second New Deals created Social Security, the SEC, and labor protections while stabilizing banks.
- 1939-1941
Neutrality revisions, Lend-Lease, and the Arsenal of Democracy aided Allies prior to Pearl Harbor.
- Dec 1941-1945
Led the United States during World War II in Europe and the Pacific, culminating in Yalta and the creation of the United Nations.
Finished World War II, launched the architecture of containment, and committed U.S. forces to Korea.
Vice President: Alben Barkley (1949-1953)
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Edward Stettinius Jr.; James F. Byrnes; George C. Marshall; Dean Acheson
Crafted the Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine, and NATO.
Secretary of Defense
James Forrestal; Louis Johnson; George C. Marshall; Robert A. Lovett
Oversaw unification of the services and Korean War mobilization.
Secretary of the Treasury
Fred Vinson; John W. Snyder
Managed reconversion and postwar inflation.
Wars & Major Events
- Aug 1945
Approved atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and accepted Japan's surrender.
- 1947-1949
Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, and NATO formalized containment.
- 1950-1953
Committed troops to the Korean War under UN command after North Korea's invasion.
Former Supreme Allied Commander who stabilized Cold War tensions with the New Look strategy and warned about the military-industrial complex.
Vice President: Richard Nixon
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles (1953-1959); Christian Herter (1959-1961)
Led brinkmanship diplomacy from Dien Bien Phu to the U-2 crisis.
Secretary of Defense
Charles Erwin Wilson; Neil McElroy; Thomas S. Gates Jr.
Implemented massive retaliation, SAC expansion, and early space programs.
Secretary of the Treasury
George M. Humphrey (1953-1957); Robert B. Anderson (1957-1961)
Maintained balanced budgets and a strong dollar.
Wars & Major Events
- 1953
Negotiated Korean War armistice and ended active combat.
- 1955
Formed SEATO and backed the Formosa Resolution to defend Taiwan.
- 1956
Handled the Suez Crisis while condemning Anglo-French intervention.
- 1957-1958
Sputnik shock spurred NASA, the National Defense Education Act, and ICBM development.
Cold War liberal who promoted the New Frontier, faced the most dangerous nuclear crisis, and set the moonshot goal before his assassination.
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Dean Rusk
Managed Berlin, Cuba, and early Vietnam decisions.
Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
Centralized Pentagon planning, flexible response, and Vietnam advisers.
Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy
Led civil rights enforcement and backchannel diplomacy during crises.
Wars & Major Events
- 1961
Bay of Pigs invasion failed, prompting distrust of CIA plans.
- Oct 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in Soviet missile withdrawal and a nuclear test ban push.
- 1961-1963
Accelerated U.S. advisory role in Vietnam and created the Green Berets build-up.
- 1961-1963
Launched the Alliance for Progress and Peace Corps in Latin America.
Master legislator who delivered landmark civil rights and welfare laws while escalating the Vietnam War and facing domestic unrest.
Vice President: Hubert Humphrey
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Dean Rusk
Backed escalation and diplomacy over Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.
Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara (1963-1968); Clark Clifford (1968-1969)
Directed Rolling Thunder and troop surges.
Secretary of the Treasury
Douglas Dillon (1963-1965); Henry Fowler (1965-1968); Joseph Barr (1969)
Financed Great Society and war spending pressures.
Wars & Major Events
- 1964-1965
Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act dismantled Jim Crow and empowered federal enforcement.
- 1964-1968
Great Society created Medicare, Medicaid, and antipoverty programs.
- 1965-1968
Vietnam War escalated with Operation Rolling Thunder and 500,000 U.S. troops, culminating in the Tet Offensive.
- 1965
Intervened in the Dominican Republic to prevent a perceived communist takeover.
Pragmatic strategist who ended the draft, opened relations with China, pursued detente, and resigned amid Watergate.
Vice President: Spiro Agnew; Gerald Ford
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
William P. Rogers (1969-1973); Henry Kissinger (1973-1974)
Managed China opening, SALT I, and shuttle diplomacy.
Secretary of Defense
Melvin Laird; Elliot Richardson; James Schlesinger
Oversaw Vietnamization and the end of conscription.
Attorney General
John N. Mitchell
Directed law-and-order agenda and was convicted for Watergate.
Wars & Major Events
- 1969-1973
Vietnamization, Cambodia incursions, Paris Peace Accords, and POW withdrawals.
- 1971-1972
Ping-Pong diplomacy and the Shanghai Communique normalized ties with the PRC.
- 1972
SALT I and the ABM Treaty formalized detente with the Soviet Union.
- 1973-1974
Watergate investigations exposed abuses, leading to resignation.
Unelected president who emphasized transparency after Watergate while managing the end of the Vietnam War and stagflation.
Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger
Managed Helsinki Accords and Middle East shuttle diplomacy.
Secretary of Defense
James Schlesinger (1974-1975); Donald Rumsfeld (1975-1977)
Oversaw post-Vietnam recalibration and the Mayaguez rescue.
Chief of Staff
Donald Rumsfeld; Dick Cheney
Coordinated domestic policy and relations with Congress.
Wars & Major Events
- 1974
Issued a pardon for Richard Nixon, prioritizing national healing.
- Apr 1975
Oversaw evacuation of Saigon and end of U.S. presence in Vietnam.
- 1975
Helsinki Final Act advanced human rights monitoring across the Soviet bloc.
- 1975
Mayaguez incident saw Marines rescue a seized merchant ship off Cambodia.
Georgia reformer who emphasized human rights, brokered Middle East peace, and struggled with stagflation and the Iran hostage crisis.
Vice President: Walter Mondale
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance (1977-1980); Edmund Muskie (1980-1981)
Pursued human rights diplomacy and SALT II; resigned over the Iran rescue.
Secretary of Defense
Harold Brown
Promoted stealth aircraft, naval expansion, and Rapid Deployment Force planning.
National Security Advisor
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Championed normalization with China and the response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Wars & Major Events
- 1978
Camp David Accords produced peace between Egypt and Israel.
- 1979
Established full diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China.
- 1979-1981
Iranian revolution and hostage crisis dominated foreign policy, culminating in a failed rescue mission.
- 1979
SALT II signed with the Soviet Union but never ratified after the invasion of Afghanistan.
Conservative icon who pursued tax cuts, defense buildup, confrontational early Cold War posture, and later negotiated arms control with Moscow.
Vice President: George H. W. Bush
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Alexander Haig (1981-1982); George P. Shultz (1982-1989)
Managed Lebanon, INF Treaty, and thaw with Gorbachev.
Secretary of Defense
Caspar Weinberger (1981-1987); Frank Carlucci (1987-1989)
Directed defense buildup, SDI, and interventions in Grenada and Lebanon.
National Security Advisor
William Clark; Robert McFarlane; John Poindexter; Frank Carlucci; Colin Powell
Coordinated Iran-Contra network and later reset policy.
Wars & Major Events
- 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act launched Reaganomics and the Volcker disinflation.
- 1983
Marine barracks bombing in Beirut led to withdrawal; Operation Urgent Fury ousted the Grenadian junta.
- 1986
Iran-Contra affair revealed covert arms sales funding Nicaraguan rebels.
- 1987
INF Treaty eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles in Europe.
Experienced diplomat who managed the peaceful end of the Cold War and assembled a UN-backed coalition in the Gulf War.
Vice President: Dan Quayle
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
James A. Baker III (1989-1992); Lawrence Eagleburger (1992-1993)
Managed German reunification and multilateral diplomacy.
Secretary of Defense
Dick Cheney
Commanded Just Cause in Panama and Desert Storm.
Chairman, Joint Chiefs
Colin Powell
Executed the Powell Doctrine in the Gulf.
Wars & Major Events
- 1989
Operation Just Cause removed Manuel Noriega in Panama.
- 1990-1991
Led Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm to expel Iraq from Kuwait.
- 1989-1991
Managed fall of the Berlin Wall, Soviet collapse, and START I.
- 1991-1992
Faced recession and signed the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act raising taxes.
New Democrat who balanced budgets, expanded trade, and used NATO power in the Balkans while surviving impeachment.
Vice President: Al Gore
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Warren Christopher (1993-1997); Madeleine Albright (1997-2001)
Championed NATO enlargement and Kosovo intervention.
Secretary of Defense
Les Aspin; William Perry; William Cohen
Managed drawdowns, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
National Security Advisor
Anthony Lake; Sandy Berger
Guided Haiti intervention and counterterror initiatives.
Wars & Major Events
- 1993-1994
NAFTA ratified and the World Trade Organization launched.
- 1995
Dayton Accords ended the Bosnian war under U.S. leadership.
- 1998-1999
Impeached over the Lewinsky scandal but acquitted by the Senate.
- 1999
NATO air war over Kosovo forced Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo.
Led the United States through 9/11, launched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and responded to Hurricane Katrina and the global financial crisis.
Vice President: Dick Cheney
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Colin Powell (2001-2005); Condoleezza Rice (2005-2009)
Built the 9/11 coalition and later pursued freedom agendas.
Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld (2001-2006); Robert Gates (2006-2009)
Oversaw invasions and counterinsurgency surges.
Secretary of the Treasury
Paul O'Neill; John Snow; Henry Paulson
Managed tax cuts and the 2008 financial rescue.
Wars & Major Events
- Sep 11, 2001
Terrorist attacks led to the Global War on Terror and the invasion of Afghanistan.
- 2003
Launched the Iraq War to depose Saddam Hussein, leading to long insurgency.
- 2005
Hurricane Katrina exposed homeland security and disaster response failures.
- 2008
Financial crisis triggered TARP bank rescues and recession.
Progressive pragmatist who passed the Affordable Care Act, ended combat operations in Iraq, targeted al-Qaeda, and pursued climate and Iran nuclear agreements.
Vice President: Joe Biden
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton (2009-2013); John Kerry (2013-2017)
Managed the pivot to Asia, Libya intervention, and Iran talks.
Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates; Leon Panetta; Chuck Hagel; Ash Carter
Handled Afghanistan surge, ISIS campaign, and Syria debates.
Attorney General
Eric Holder (2009-2015); Loretta Lynch (2015-2017)
Led civil rights enforcement and counterterror prosecutions.
Wars & Major Events
- 2010
Affordable Care Act overhauled health insurance coverage.
- 2011
Ordered raid that killed Osama bin Laden and supported the NATO Libya campaign.
- 2015
Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) and Paris Climate Agreement were concluded.
- 2014-2016
Responded to ISIS with Operation Inherent Resolve and re-engaged in Iraq and Syria.
Nationalist populist who pursued tax cuts, tariff battles with China, conservative courts, and faced two impeachments during a pandemic.
Vice President: Mike Pence
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson (2017-2018); Mike Pompeo (2018-2021)
Reoriented policy toward great-power competition and maximum pressure on Iran.
Secretary of Defense
Jim Mattis (2017-2018); Mark Esper (2019-2020); acting chiefs including Patrick Shanahan and Chris Miller
Managed ISIS fight, troop withdrawals, and civil-military tensions.
Secretary of the Treasury
Steven Mnuchin
Led 2017 tax cut implementation and pandemic relief lending facilities.
Wars & Major Events
- 2017
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced corporate rates and reshaped the tax code.
- 2018-2019
Trade war with China imposed tariffs and renegotiated NAFTA into USMCA.
- 2020
COVID-19 pandemic response combined travel bans, Operation Warp Speed, and contested public health guidance.
- 2020
Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.
Veteran senator who prioritized pandemic recovery, rebuilding alliances, and confronting Russia and China.
Vice President: Kamala Harris
Cabinet & Advisers
Secretary of State
Antony Blinken
Coordinated NATO responses to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Indo-Pacific strategy.
Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin
Managed Afghanistan withdrawal, Ukraine security assistance, and modernization.
Secretary of the Treasury
Janet Yellen
Implemented the American Rescue Plan, infrastructure financing, and global minimum tax talks.
Wars & Major Events
- 2021
American Rescue Plan and COVID-19 vaccination surge aimed to reopen the economy.
- Aug 2021
Completed the withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
- 2022-2024
Provided extensive aid to Ukraine and expanded NATO as Finland and Sweden sought membership.
- 2022
CHIPS and Science Act plus Inflation Reduction Act invested in industrial policy and clean energy.