Through amendments and legal rulings, the Constitution has transformed in some critical ways. The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified by nine of the original 13 states a year later, is the world's longest-surviving written...

Read about the background of coal miners and coal mine operators prior to the coal strike in 1902. Find out the significant role of the federal government in bringing the strike to an end.

In the field of foreign affairs, President Kennedy faced a series of challenging situations in Cuba, in Southeast Asia, and in Berlin. In 1961, he initiiated a program called the Alliance for Progress aimed to establish economic...

The Secret Service accompanies the president and the First Family everywhere, but it wasn't always this way. It would take a third assassination of a U.S. president -- William McKinley -- to prompt Congress to assign full official...

An account of the events leading up to the Washington meeting between President Obama and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in May 2010. A top issue for discussion will be President Obama's deadline of July 2011 to start withdrawing...

AmericanPresident offers a comprehensive overview of the 1964 campaign and election of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Content includes a focus on the separate campaigns waged by Johnson and his challenger, Barry Goldwater.

Until 1989, Russians claimed they were not trying to reach the Moon first and that the U.S. was in "a one-nation race." Until 1989, a group of American aerospace engineers went to Moscow and finally saw the Soviets' failed lunar-landing...

Kathleen T. Rhem analyzes President George W. Bush's announcement that the combat in Iraq has ceased. (May 1, 2003)

From carefully staged speeches to radio to Twitter, U.S. presidents have always leveraged the cutting edge to connect directly with voters. Two centuries before Twitter, U.S. presidents understood the power of communicating directly with...

This country profile examines key legislative events that form the history of the U.S. immigration system, the size and attributes of the immigrant population in the country, the characteristics of legal and illegal immigration streams,...

Article discussing the particular events of post-Revolutionary America, 1789-1800, and how they shaped the era of the New Republic. The author covers the first presidency, the emergent party system and foregin affairs.

After Fidel Castro loosened emigration policies, some 125,000 Cubans landed on U.S. shores over a span of five months. The Mariel Boatlift of 1980 was a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States. The exodus was driven by a stagnant...

Two congressmen provide arguments for and against the Electoral College, a system that has been used for over 200 years to elect the president of the United States. Contains links to more information.

Overview of the foreign policy of the Nixon administration with a focus on China, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the U.S.S.R., and Vietnam.

An explanation of the difficulties the Republic of Texas encountered when deciding whether to join the Union. Also discusses President James Polk's efforts to expand the territories held by the United States, which brought him into...

James A. Garfield was truly a dark horse candidate for the presidency. Read about the problems the Republicans had in settling on a candidate, and find out how close the election truly was when Garfield defeated Winfield Hancock.

Russia was ahead in the "space race" in 1961. In this article, the Library of Congress discusses how President Kennedy assigned Lyndon Johnson the task of uniting the different parts of the U.S. space program into NASA.

United States' President Barack Obama emphatically shares his concern and vision of the American education systems to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. March 10, 2009.

Easy-to-read article explores every election, from George Washington to the present. Which political parties have come and gone? Who has been elected more times than anybody else?

This article explains the United States v Korematsu (The Japanese-American Exclusion Case)during WWW II Japanese-Americans were subject to relocation camps. It also includes a video with Korematsu.

After Fidel Castro loosened emigration policies, some 125,000 Cubans landed on U.S. shores over a span of five months. The Mariel Boatlift of 1980 was a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States. The exodus was driven by a stagnant...

The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first military action of the Cold War. It was sparked by the June 25, 1950 invasion of South Korea by 75,000 members of the North Korean People's Army. The line they crossed, the 38th parallel, was...

Warren G. Harding's handling of domestic affairs and the appointments made for his cabinet were a combination of good governance and terrible choice of friends. Read about his problems.

This article focuses on the history of the relationship between the US and Mexico regarding immigration. In the 1930s, the U.S. government forced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Mexicans, including some U.S. citizens, back across the...