Friday, December 7, 2012

The Vietnam War


The Vietnam War





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By: Stanley Yavneh Klos

  • First United American Republic: United Colonies of North America: 13 British Colonies United in Congress was founded by 12 colonies on September 5th, 1774 (Georgia joined in 1775)  and governed through a British Colonial Continental Congress.  Peyton Randolph and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief;
  • Second United American Republic: The United States of America: 13 Independent States United in Congress was founded by 12 states on July 2nd, 1776 (New York abstained until July 8th), and governed through the United States Continental CongressJohn Hancock and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief; 
  • Third United American Republic: The United States of America: A Perpetual Union was founded by 13 States on March 1st, 1781, with the enactment of the first U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and governed through the United States in Congress Assembled.  Samuel Huntington and George Washington served, respectively, as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief; 
  • Fourth United American Republic: The United States of America: We the People  was formed by 11 states on March 4th, 1789 (North Carolina and Rhode Island joined in November 1789 and May 1790, respectively), with the enactment of the U.S. Constitution of 1787. The fourth and current United States Republic governs through  the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in Congress Assembled, the U.S. President and Commander-in-Chief, and the U.S. Supreme Court.  George Washington served as the Republic's first President and Commander-in-Chief.
Capitals of the United States and Colonies of America

Philadelphia
Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774
Philadelphia
May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776
Baltimore
Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777
Philadelphia
March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777
Lancaster
September 27, 1777
York
Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778
Philadelphia
July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783
Princeton
June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783
Annapolis
Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784
Trenton
Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784
New York City
Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788
New York City
Nov. 1788 to March 3,1789
New York City
March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790
Philadelphia
December 6,1790 to May 14, 1800
Washington DC
November 17,1800 to Present


Vietnam War Chronology


1945
2-Sep
Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independent Vietnam after the defeat of Japanese.
22-Sep
French forces returned to Vietnam to re-establish their control of the region.
1946
20-Dec
Viet Minh forces (led by Ho Chi Minh) began 8-year Indochina war to remove French from Vietnam.
1950
9-May
Truman announced massive U.S. military aid to French in Indochina.
1954
8-May
French army suffered major defeat by Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu. At the peace talks that followed, Vietnam was divided into (Communist) North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh and (non-Communist) South Vietnam.
7-Sep
SEATO Alliance founded - Australia, Britain, France, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, and the United States form an anti-communist alliance against "massive military aggression."
1959
20-Dec
Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Republic of North Vietnam, formed the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (known as NLF and also as Viet Cong). Its aims were:
overthrow of the U.S.-supported Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam
removal of U.S. advisers
unification of Vietnam.
1961
11-May
Kennedy authorized American military advisers to aid South Vietnam, against the forces of North Vietnam.
1962
May
President Kennedy ordered 5000 US troops to border of Thailand to counter Communist attacks in Laos and movement toward the Thailand border.
1963
1-Nov
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated.
22-Nov
President Kennedy assassinated.
1964
2-Aug
US warships attacked in Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese patrol boats.
7-Aug
US Congress approved Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving President Johnson power to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States, and to prevent further aggression."
3-Nov
Lyndon B. Johnson re-elected President.
1965
8-Mar
U.S. Marines landed at Da Nang - first official combat troops in Vietnam.
November
Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the first major clash between the United States and North Vietnamese Army.
24-Dec
Vietnam: U.S. forces in Vietnam number 184,300.
1966
February
US Senate began hearings on the Vietnam War chaired by Senator Fulbright.
16-Mar
10,000 Buddhists march in Saigon protesting against U.S. support for corrupt South Vietnamese regime.
25-Mar
Anti-Vietnam War rallies in seven United States and European cities.
December
U.S. forces number 362,000 in Vietnam.
1967
December
Vietnam: U.S. forces number 485,000 in Vietnam.
1968
30-Jan
Tet Offensive, attacks on South Vietnamese cities by North Vietnamese and NLF troops.
16-Mar
My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
31-Mar
Johnson announced he would not stand for President again, mainly because of the Vietnam War.
December
Vietnam: U.S. forces number 535,000 in Vietnam.
1969
March
United States began bombing of Cambodia.
8-Jun
Nixon Doctrine and "Vietnamization" begins. Nixon orders first troops out of Vietnam. U.S. forces number 475,200.
July
Nixon Doctrine: Nixon reaffirmed U.S. commitment to defend its allies, but called on developing nations to take the lead role to defend themselves.
3-Sep
Death of Ho Chi Minh.
15-Nov
March on Washington draws record 250,000 anti-war protesters.
1970
February
Paris Peace Talks begin between Kissinger and Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho.
29-Apr
U.S. troops invaded Cambodia.
4-May
Four Kent State University students killed by National Guardsmen while protesting against Vietnam War.
December
Vietnam: U.S. forces number 334,600 in Vietnam.
1972
February 17-27
Nixon visits China, pledges to withdraw U.S. forces from Taiwan.
8-May
Vietnam: Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor and intensive bombing of all military targets in North Vietnam.
29-May
Nixon and Brezhnev sign agreement on the "basic principles of detente" which improved superpower relations.
12-Aug
U.S. bombers carried out largest 24-hour bombing of the Vietnam War on North Vietnam.
13-Dec
Paris Peace Talks break down.
December
Nixon ordered renewed bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam.
1973
23-Jan
Nixon announced Vietnam War will end on January 28 and troops will be removed within 60 days.
27-Jan
Paris Accords established cease-fire and political settlement of Vietnam War.
29-Mar
Military Assistance Command Vietnam closes, last U.S. soldiers leave.
15-Aug
U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends.
1975
12-Apr
United States ends official presence in Cambodia as Marines evacuate diplomats in wake of Khmer Rouge victory.
30-Apr
Saigon falls to North Vietnamese troops as Americans evacuate.



by Neal McLaughlin -- August 2004

Long before the first 35 American military advisors ever-stepped foot onto the soil of Southeast Asian and long before the construction of the first Special Forces out -post, erance had already colonized the easternmost region of the Indochina peninsula.

In the early part of the 19th century the race was on for establishing a Colonial Empire. The French quickly seized Cochin China as a colony and in 1863 became the protective force of Cambodia, followed by Annam and Tonkin in 1884.

These four states were to be unionized into Indochina in 1887 with Laos completing the union in 1893. During World War II the French were forced to allow the Army of Japan to utilize their colonies in North Indochina, however, when the Japanese moved into South Indochina in 1941, the Americans, deeming this a threat to the Philippines, reacted by freezing all of the Japanese assets in America.

Toward the end of World War II as the Japanese invaders were pulling out of French Indochina, France had announced their plans for an alliance of Indochina within the French union thereby allowing the states to form their own governments.
Cambodia and Laos accepted the federation without question. However, the Vietnamese Nationalist demanded that the French grant complete independence to Annam, Cochin China and Tonkin as Vietnam. The French did agree to recognize Vietnam as a free state with in the French Union.

Ho Chi Minh and his communist political party, the Vietminh, refused to accept these terms and would not answer to French authority in any form. Shortly after the negotiations failed, the Vietminh forces, aided by China, began their highly aggressive attacks against the French out posts along the Vietnam border.


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By 1951, the Vietminh forces had created a common front with communist groups in Laos and Kampuchea, with whom they intensified both the number of and the aggressiveness of their attacks against the French.

The final days of the French Colonies were nearing when on March 13, 1954, the communist combatants under the direction of General VO Nguyen Giap attacked the French stronghold at Dienbienphu in Northwest Vietnam. For 56 straight days the Vietminh attacked the little outpost with grenades, machinegun fire and mortars until the French had depleted their ammo supply and was left with only one option...surrender.

As this assault was raging and pushing the French nearer to surrender, the Geneva Conference was compiling a peace treaty that would put an end to the fighting and allow the French troops to withdraw. The result of this conference ended with the French losing control of Indochina.

Not long after the French lost control of Indochina the Vietminh set about establishing a communist government North of the 17th parallel line while the non-communist Vietnamese established their government to the South of the DMZ. 

By the end of July 1954, Vietnam had divided itself in half, with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North, and in the south, the Republic of Vietnam. Although the French withdrew this did not end the bitter hostilities and fighting that would ensue between the communist North and the Republic of South Vietnam. 
Although the Geneva Conference instituted the ruling that Vietnam would hold national elections in 1956, which was to both reunify the country and abolish the 17 parallel, the United States and many anticommunist were against this, feeling that this empowered Communist Vietnam by a larger margin. Because of his total distaste for the Accords offered by the Geneva Conference, Secretary of State, John Forester Dulles decided that if the north was going to seize the south it would not be without a fight.
When President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem cancelled the 1956 elections Ho Chi Minh, irate by this decision, realizing that the benefits he had hoped the north would have gained from this election, openly denounced the decision and soon after, South Vietnam became the target of Viet Cong guerilla assaults.
As the Viet Cong insurgents operated with the backing of the North Vietnamese, The south was receiving advice and aid from the United States. However, President Diem's army was not able to suppress the master guerillas of Vo Nguyen Giap, who in 1960 organized the National Liberal Front.
The organization of the NLF began to turn the wheels of war. soon, it would no longer be a civil war between the north and the south, but an International war that would eventually result in the deployment of over 500,000 American troops. Washington was accusing the communist of backing the series of attacks against Saigon, denouncing the NLF as being nothing more than puppets of Hanoi. 

President John F. Kennedy meets with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the Cabinet Room, June 19, 1962

 When President John F. Kennedy sent investigators to Indochina in 1961 to assess the condition of South Vietnam and to determine what other assistance would be required form the United States there was little doubt that the U.S. would need to send armed troops. The December 1961, White Papers not only urged, but demanded that in order to crush the NLF, America would have to increase not only her technical and economic assistance, but she would also need to send American advisors.

Although President Kennedy did not approve the request for the deployment of ground troops he did authorize the sending of more machinery and of military advisors. This was to prove futile however, for by 1963 South Vietnam was so near collapse it was apparent that a more aggressive action would be required.
  
Following President Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, President Lyndon Baines Johnson was debating the issuance of a more aggressive approach in order to stabilize the south. The expansion of the U.S. involvement in South Vietnam became justified when on August 2, 1964, the Communist attacked an U.S. Navy vessel, patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The Johnson Administration used the August 2nd and the alleged August 4th, 1964 attack (recent disclosures have shown that this 2nd attack may not have occurred at all) to secure the Congressional Resolution which would give the president the powers to conduct the war. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed both the House and Senate by a wide margin with only 2 representatives voting against the resolution. 
In the aftermath of the Tonkin incident, The U.S. retaliated through the use of limited air attacks on North Vietnam. Debates raged as to the best way to deal with the hostilities in Vietnam. Some advisors felt that the bombings should be expanded over North Vietnam while others argued that the bombings should remain selective and limited.
Following the 1965 NLF attack on 2 American installations President Johnson ordered the continuous bombing of North Vietnam. As the bombing sorties continued and the United States began to deploy ground troops, North Vietnam had to rethink their strategy.
Because the Communist North believed that the Americans had lacked any defined strategy, they had decided to employ tactics, which would make the war impossible for the Americans to win and to create unfavorable conditions for a political victory.
By 1968 the situation had gone from worse to critical after the communist had launched coordinated attacks against major southern cities. The Tet Offensive so disgraced President Lyndon Johnson that in January of 1968 he announced that he would not seek re-election as President.
In the Spring of 1968, President Johnson held secret peace negotiations in France in hopes of ending The U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia and to put an end to this highly aggressive and costly war. This did little to redeem the prior actions and decisions of the Democratic Party and in November of 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon was elected as our 37th president.
Nixon's Vietnamization program was successful in that it allowed the U.S. ground troops to be pulled from the jungles of Vietnam while increasing the air sorties over North Vietnam. This also turned the bulk of the ground fighting over to the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam). Despite the expansion of the war into Laos and Cambodia the Communist party refused to accept any terms of a treaty other than those, which they had imposed.
The debates and the peace talks over ending the Vietnam War met with constant resistance, rejection and stalemates until early January 1973, when the Nixon administration was finally able to convince the Thieu -Ku regime that the U.S. would not abandon the South Vietnamese if they were to sign onto the peace accord. Likewise, Hanoi convinced the leaders of the NLF that all of the political prisoners being held in the south would be released following their signing of the agreement. 
Finally, on January 27, 1973 a peace agreement had been reached and agreed to by the United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the NLF revolutionary government. With the hostilities ended, America began to withdraw her troops from the jungles of Southeast Asia. However, this agreement did not end the aggression of North Vietnam against the south.
  
In early 1975, North Vietnam launched a full- scale attack against South Vietnam. Their cry went out for U.S. intervention but the U.S. denied their request and soon panic erupted as the advancing Communist troops marched into Saigon on April 30 1975 and seized the presidential palace.
In July of 1976, Vietnam was reunified and Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City. The fighting which took place in the jungles of Vietnam had been new to the American combat troops. The guerilla tactics, the hit and run assaults and the ability to determine who was and who was not the enemy created a brand new fighting experience and with this a high causality rate.
From the United States entry into the Vietnam war in 1961 to its withdraw in 1972, the United States military experienced a death toll of more than 50,000 troops. The estimated South Vietnamese death toll totaled more than 400,000 troops, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese combined total was over 900,000 Kia's.
Click here to learn about the History of Vietnam - Vietnam Embassy




World War I - Click Here                   World War II - Click Here    

Vietnam War

Vietnam War

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Fall Of Saigon

Hamburger Hill

Lyndon B. Johnson

Ho chi Minh

My Lai

Richard M. Nixon

North Vietnamese army

Paris Peace Talks

Pol Pot

Nguyen Van Thieu

Tet Offensive

Tonkin Gulf resolution

Viet Cong

William C. Westmoreland
 


Vietnam War

The Vietnam War [A 2] was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955[A 1], to April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. 

The Viet Cong, a lightly-armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and airstrikes.

The United States government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the United States, and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a US puppet state.[20]United States military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.[21] U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. 

The Case-Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress prohibited use of American military after August 15, 1973, unless the president secured congressional approval in advance.The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. 

The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities (See: Vietnam War casualties), including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, between 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers. 

The number of military and civilian deaths from 1955 to 1975 is debated. Some reports fail to include the members of South Vietnamese forces killed in the final campaign, or the Royal Lao Armed Forces, thousands of Laotian and Thai irregulars, or Laotian civilians who all perished in the conflict. They do not include the tens of thousands of Cambodians killed during the civil war or the estimated one and one-half to two million that perished in the genocide that followed Khmer Rouge victory, or the fate of Laotian Royals and civilians after the Pathet Lao assumed complete power in Laos. 


In 1995, the Vietnamese government reported that its military forces, including the NLF, suffered 1.1 million dead and 600,000 wounded during Hanoi's conflict with the United States. Civilian deaths were put at two million in the North and South, and economic reparations were expected. Hanoi concealed the figures during the war to avoid demoralizing the population. Estimates of civilian deaths caused by American bombing in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 52,000[237] to 182,000. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. 


Chemical defoliation 

One of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia was the widespread use of chemical defoliants between 1961 and 1971. They were used to defoliate large parts of the countryside. These chemicals continue to change the landscape, cause diseases and birth defects, and poison the food chain. 

Early in the American military effort it was decided that since the enemy were hiding their activities under triple-canopy jungle, a useful first step might be to defoliate certain areas. This was especially true of growth surrounding bases (both large and small) in what became known as Operation Ranch Hand. Corporations like Dow Chemical and Monsanto Company were given the task of developing herbicides for this purpose. 

The defoliants, which were distributed in drums marked with color-coded bands, included the "Rainbow Herbicides"—Agent Pink, Agent Green, Agent Purple, Agent Blue, Agent White, and, most famously, Agent Orange, which included dioxin as a by-product of its manufacture. About 12 million gallons (45,000,000 L) of Agent Orange were sprayed over Southeast Asia during the American involvement. A prime area of Ranch Hand operations was in the Mekong Delta, where the U.S. Navy patrol boats were vulnerable to attack from the undergrowth at the water's edge. 

n 1961 and 1962, the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemicals to destroy rice crops. Between 1961 and 1967, the U.S. Air Force sprayed 20 million U.S. gallons (75,700,000 L) of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres (24,000 km2) of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. In 1965, 42% of all herbicide was sprayed over food crops. Another purpose of herbicide use was to drive civilian populations into RVN-controlled areas. 

As of 2006, the Vietnamese government estimates that there are over 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam, although the United States government denies any conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and the Vietnamese victims of dioxin poisoning. In some areas of southern Vietnam dioxin levels remain at over 100 times the accepted international standard. 

The U.S. Veterans Administration has listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II diabetes, B-cell lymphomas, soft tissue sarcoma, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, and spina bifida in children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Although there has been much discussion over whether the use of these defoliants constituted a violation of the laws of war, the defoliants were not considered weapons, since exposure to them did not lead to immediate death or incapacitation. 


Vietnam War
Part of the Cold War
VietnamMural.jpg
Clockwise, from top left: U.S. Marines battle in Hamo village during the Tet Offensive, extraction of troops after an airmobile assault, a burning Viet Cong base camp in Mỹ Tho, Vietnamese civilians killed by US troops during the My Lai Massacre
DateNovember 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975(19 years, 170 days)
LocationSouth Vietnam, North Vietnam,Cambodia, Laos
ResultNorth Vietnamese victory
  • Withdrawal of American forces from Indochina
  • Dissolution of South Vietnam
  • Communist governments take power in Cambodia and Laos
Territorial
changes
Unification of North and South Vietnam under North Vietnamese rule.
Belligerents
Anti-Communist forces:
 South Vietnam
 United States
 South Korea
 Australia
 Philippines
 New Zealand
 Thailand
Cambodia Khmer Republic
Laos Kingdom of Laos
Republic of China Republic of China
Communist forces:
 North Vietnam
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Viet Cong
Cambodia Khmer Rouge
Laos Pathet Lao
 People's Republic of China
 Soviet Union
 North Korea
Commanders and leaders
South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm
South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
South Vietnam Cao Văn Viên
United States Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Richard Nixon
United States William Westmoreland
United States Creighton Abrams
...and others
North Vietnam Hồ Chí Minh
North Vietnam Lê Duẩn
North Vietnam Võ Nguyên Giáp
North Vietnam Văn Tiến Dũng
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Trần Văn Trà
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Linh
...and others
Strength
~1,830,000 (1968)
South Vietnam: 850,000
United States: 536,100
Free World Forces: 65,000
South Korea: 312,853,
Australia: 49,968 (1962–1973)
Thailand, Philippines: 10,450
New Zealand: 3,890 (1964–1973)
~520,000 (1968)
North Vietnam: ~340,000
PRC: 170,000 (1969)
Soviet Union: 3,000
North Korea: 300
Casualties and losses
South Vietnam South Vietnam
220,357 dead; 1,170,000 wounded
United States United States
58,159 dead;  1,719 missing; 303,635 wounded
South Korea South Korea
5,099 dead; 10,962 wounded; 4 missing

Australia Australia
520 dead; 2,400*wounded
New Zealand New Zealand
37 dead; 187 wounded
Thailand Thailand
1,351 dead 
Laos Kingdom of Laos
30,000 killed, wounded unknown
Total dead: 315,384 Total wounded: ~1,490,000+
North Vietnam FNL Flag.svg North Vietnam & NLF
1,176,000 dead/missing;
600,000+ wounded
People's Republic of China P.R. China
1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded
Soviet Union Soviet Union
16 dead

Total dead: ~1,177,462Total wounded: ~604,200+
Vietnamese civilian dead (both sides): ~2,000,000
Cambodian civilian dead: 700,000–1,000,000*
Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000*
Total civilian dead: ~2,750,000 - 3,050,000

*= approximations, see Casualties below

For more information on casualties see Vietnam War casualties


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 The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America 

Continental Congress of the United Colonies Presidents 
Sept. 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776


September 5, 1774
October 22, 1774
October 22, 1774
October 26, 1774
May 20, 1775
May 24, 1775
May 25, 1775
July 1, 1776

Commander-in-Chief United Colonies & States of America

George Washington: June 15, 1775 - December 23, 1783



Continental Congress of the United States Presidents 
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781

July 2, 1776
October 29, 1777
November 1, 1777
December 9, 1778
December 10, 1778
September 28, 1779
September 29, 1779
February 28, 1781



Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789

March 1, 1781
July 6, 1781
July 10, 1781
Declined Office
July 10, 1781
November 4, 1781
November 5, 1781
November 3, 1782
November 4, 1782
November 2, 1783
November 3, 1783
June 3, 1784
November 30, 1784
November 22, 1785
November 23, 1785
June 5, 1786
June 6, 1786
February 1, 1787
February 2, 1787
January 21, 1788
January 22, 1788
January 21, 1789


Presidents of the United States of America

D-Democratic Party, F-Federalist Party, I-Independent, R-Republican Party, R* Republican Party of Jefferson & W-Whig Party 


(1789-1797)
(1933-1945)
(1865-1869)
(1797-1801)
(1945-1953)
(1869-1877)
(1801-1809)
(1953-1961)
 (1877-1881)
(1809-1817)
(1961-1963)
 (1881 - 1881)
(1817-1825)
(1963-1969)
(1881-1885)
(1825-1829)
(1969-1974)
(1885-1889)
(1829-1837)
(1973-1974)
(1889-1893)
(1837-1841)
(1977-1981)
(1893-1897)
(1841-1841)
(1981-1989)
(1897-1901)
(1841-1845)
(1989-1993)
(1901-1909)
(1845-1849)
(1993-2001)
(1909-1913)
(1849-1850)
(2001-2009)
(1913-1921)
(1850-1853)
(2009-2017)
(1921-1923)
(1853-1857)
(20017-Present)
(1923-1929)
*Confederate States  of America
(1857-1861)
(1929-1933)
(1861-1865)

Chart Comparing Presidential Powers Click Here

United Colonies and States First Ladies
1774-1788


United Colonies Continental Congress
President
18th Century Term
Age
09/05/74 – 10/22/74
29
Mary Williams Middleton (1741- 1761) Deceased
Henry Middleton
10/22–26/74
n/a
05/20/ 75 - 05/24/75
30
05/25/75 – 07/01/76
28
United States Continental Congress
President
Term
Age
07/02/76 – 10/29/77
29
Eleanor Ball Laurens (1731- 1770) Deceased
Henry Laurens
11/01/77 – 12/09/78
n/a
Sarah Livingston Jay (1756-1802)
12/ 10/78 – 09/28/78
21
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)
09/29/79 – 02/28/81
41
United States in Congress Assembled
President
Term
Age
Martha Huntington (1738/39–1794)
03/01/81 – 07/06/81
42
07/10/81 – 11/04/81
25
Jane Contee Hanson (1726-1812)
11/05/81 - 11/03/82
55
11/03/82 - 11/02/83
46
Sarah Morris Mifflin (1747-1790)
11/03/83 - 11/02/84
36
11/20/84 - 11/19/85
46
11/23/85 – 06/06/86
38
Rebecca Call Gorham (1744-1812)
06/06/86 - 02/01/87
42
02/02/87 - 01/21/88
43
01/22/88 - 01/29/89
36

Constitution of 1787
First Ladies
President
Term
Age
April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797
57
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
52
Martha Wayles Jefferson Deceased
September 6, 1782  (Aged 33)
n/a
March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817
40
March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
48
March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
50
December 22, 1828 (aged 61)
n/a
February 5, 1819 (aged 35)
n/a
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841
65
April 4, 1841 – September 10, 1842
50
June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845
23
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849
41
March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850
60
July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853
52
March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857
46
n/a
n/a
March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865
42
February 22, 1862 – May 10, 1865
April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869
54
March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
43
March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881
45
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881
48
January 12, 1880 (Aged 43)
n/a
June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889
21
March 4, 1889 – October 25, 1892
56
June 2, 1886 – March 4, 1889
28
March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901
49
September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909
40
March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913
47
March 4, 1913 – August 6, 1914
52
December 18, 1915 – March 4, 1921
43
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
60
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
44
March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933
54
March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945
48
April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
60
January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
56
January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963
31
November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969
50
January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
56
August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977
56
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
49
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
59
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
63
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
45
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
54
January 20, 2009 to date
45



Capitals of the United Colonies and States of America

Philadelphia
Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774
Philadelphia
May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776
Baltimore
Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777
Philadelphia
March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777
Lancaster
September 27, 1777
York
Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778
Philadelphia
July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783
Princeton
June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783
Annapolis
Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784
Trenton
Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784
New York City
Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788
New York City
October 6, 1788 to March 3,1789
New York City
March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790
Philadelphia
Dec. 6,1790 to May 14, 1800       
Washington DC
November 17,1800 to Present




Book a primary source exhibit and a professional speaker for your next event by contacting Historic.us today. Our Clients include many Fortune 500 companies, associations, non-profits, colleges, universities, national conventions, PR and advertising agencies. As a leading national exhibitor of primary sources, many of our clients have benefited from our historic displays that are designed to entertain and educate your target audience. Contact us to learn how you can join our "roster" of satisfied clientele today!


 
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Historic.us

 
A Non-profit Corporation

Primary Source Exhibits


727-771-1776 | Exhibit Inquiries

202-239-1774 | Office

202-239-0037 FAX 

Dr. Naomi and Stanley Yavneh Klos, Principals

Naomi@Historic.us
Stan@Historic.us

Primary Source exhibits are available for display in your community. The costs range from $1,000 to $35,000 depending on length of time on loan and the rarity of artifacts chosen. 

Website: www.Historic.us


     
U.S. Dollar Presidential Coin Mr. Klos vs Secretary Paulson - Click Here

The United Colonies of North America Continental Congress Presidents (1774-1776)
The United States of America Continental Congress Presidents (1776-1781)
The United States of America in Congress Assembled Presidents (1781-1789)
The United States of America Presidents and Commanders-in-Chiefs (1789-Present)

World War I - Click Here                   World War II - Click Here