America’s 20th president, James A. Garfield was the only sitting member of the United States House of Representatives to be elected president. He served as a major general for the Union during the American Civil War and fought in numerous battles including Shiloh, Chickamauga and Middle Creek. During his short time in office between March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881 he had many impressive accomplishments such as doing away with postal service corruption and initiating Naval reform.
Garfield was also a strong advocate for the universal education system and a staunch supporter of civil rights who appointed several African American men including Fredrick Douglass to important positions within the government. His important work was brought to a sudden halt by the attempt on his life in July of 1881 which caused multiple infections and an end to his presidency.
Richard M. Nixon
Richard M. Nixon served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s vice president from 1953 until 1961. He was a whiz at negotiating with foreign powers and had multiple successes under his belt even before becoming America’s 37th president. Nixon had many accomplishments in his years as president between 1969 to 1974. He ended America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, brought home POW’s, started a diplomatic dialogue with China and signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the USSR.
Nixon also established the Environmental Protection Agency, implemented the desegregation of the South, signed the Organized Crime Control Act, and spearheaded the “War on Cancer”. Nixon also ran for president in 1960 but lost the election to Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy. If it weren’t for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, President Richard M. Nixon would definitely have appeared higher on this list.
The Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Scandal was a defining moment in American history which led the public to look differently at what goes on in the Oval Office.
The scandal rocked the nation and led Nixon to resign before he could be impeached. His parting words were, “I have always tried to do what is best for the nation.”
Garfield’s Assassination
James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington D.C. by Charles J. Guiteau.
He was only four months into his term when the shooting occurred. He survived the initial gunshot wound but sadly passed away later from complications.
Calvin Coolidge
Following the unexpected passing of President Warren Harding in 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn into office, but he also managed to win the presidential election in 1924 and served as president until 1929. Because Coolidge took a hands-off approach when it came to foreign policy and supported small government, he was beloved by the people who felt that his term was a much needed and dignified change from all the scandals which had plagued the White House in previous years. Coolidge had a gentle nature but fought for what he believed in with conviction and was an ardent supporter of racial equality and civil rights.
Unfortunately, the rest of the government was not always on board with his plans and he did not for example manage to convince them that lynching should become a federal crime. Coolidge successfully passed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted full American citizenship to all Native Americans living on reservations, and his biographer wrote of him: “He embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength”.