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From purchasing the state of Alaska, to developing interstate highways, to saving the world from World War 3...
This is Every US President's Biggest Accomplishment!
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This is Every US President's Biggest Accomplishment!
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00:00From purchasing the state of Alaska, to developing interstate highways, to saving the world from World War III, this is
00:08every U.S. president's biggest accomplishment.
00:11While some presidents did nothing but put down fake rebellions, others pulled America from the edge of collapse.
00:18Like George Washington, who basically invented the role of president from scratch.
00:23Because he built the first cabinet, used the veto power sparingly, and when angry farmers revolted over a whiskey tax,
00:32he personally rode out on horseback to shut it down.
00:35But his biggest move was walking away.
00:38Because after two terms, he left office.
00:41In a world where kings ruled until they dropped dead, Washington created America's tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.
00:49Unfortunately, John Adams didn't quite have the aura of Washington.
00:54But give the guy some credit.
00:55He kept America out of a full-blown war with France.
00:59Because after the XYZ affair, everyone wanted to fight.
01:03France wanted to shake down America for cash, and Congress wanted to punch them back.
01:08But John Adams chose peace and signed a treaty instead, saving the young republic from a war it probably wouldn't
01:15have survived.
01:16And thank the Lord he did, because it allowed this next president to score the greatest real estate deal of
01:22all time, the Louisiana Purchase.
01:25Because Thomas Jefferson's biggest accomplishment was doubling the size of the country overnight.
01:31After Napoleon Bonaparte's dream of building a French empire in the Americas collapsed, he suddenly put the Louisiana Territory up
01:38for sale.
01:39And Jefferson jumped at the opportunity, snagging everything from the Mississippi River to the Rockies for just 15 million bucks.
01:48Holy crap!
01:49But speaking of crap, James Madison was sure in a lot of it.
01:53Because during the War of 1812, Britain invaded, torched the U.S. Capitol, and showed just how unprepared America's military
02:00really was.
02:01And strategically, the war was a mess.
02:04But the U.S. held its own and suffered zero territorial losses.
02:08Let's call it a moral victory.
02:10But the cherry on top came when Andrew Jackson's ragtag army destroyed the British in New Orleans.
02:17Because it gave Americans a new sense of swagger and national unity.
02:21Up top!
02:22But in order to prevent war from happening again, James Monroe established the Monroe Doctrine, which was basically America's no
02:30trespassing sign, declaring the Western Hemisphere off-limits to Europe.
02:35Stay back!
02:36And the doctrine was so influential, it became the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for the next century.
02:42So, with foreign powers at bay, this next president could actually focus inward.
02:48Because John Quincy Adams envisioned a beautiful United States stitched together with roads, canals, and engineering marvels.
02:56And in 1825, he built the Erie Canal, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic and connecting western farms and
03:04eastern markets.
03:06To Adams, this was the glue that bound the nation together.
03:09But while some presidents wanted to hold things together, others wanted to smash them apart.
03:16Like Andrew Jackson, who despised the Second Bank of the United States, viewing it as elitist, corrupt, and only benefiting
03:24the wealthy.
03:25So, Jackson went on the offensive, vetoing its recharter, yanking federal deposits, and basically starving it to death.
03:32And in 1835, his gamble paid off.
03:36Literally.
03:37Because he paid off the entire national debt.
03:41The only time in U.S. history that's ever happened.
03:44Huh.
03:45Maybe this guy's not so bad after all.
03:47Until the whole economy collapsed.
03:49Because Jackson's war on the bank left Martin Van Buren with a panic of 1837.
03:55Where banks failed, businesses folded, and unemployment skyrocketed.
04:00But the real danger was back when the government's money sat in private banks.
04:05So, if the banks collapsed, like many did, the nation's tax dollars were this close to going poof.
04:12So, as a result, Van Buren established an independent treasury, which stored government money in federal vaults instead.
04:20Phew.
04:20Close call.
04:21I almost lost my retirement.
04:22Hey, get back here.
04:25But this next president barely had time to hang up his coat.
04:28Because William Henry Harrison died just 31 days into office.
04:33And while he's remembered for his marathon speech in the rain, it was actually his campaign that was legendary.
04:39The famous Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign.
04:42Where they took a man born into wealth and rebranded him as a rugged front porch farmer who drank hard
04:49cider with a common man.
04:50Throw in some rallies, songs, and a snappy slogan, and Harrison basically invented the modern populist campaign.
04:58But after he died, John Tyler took the reins and made a bold move that would shape America forever.
05:05Annexing Texas.
05:06Because in 1845, Tyler brought this massive new state into the Union.
05:11And although it poured fuel on the slavery debate and provoked Mexico, many Americans saw this as a triumph of
05:18manifest destiny.
05:20Howdy, partner.
05:21But speaking of expansion, Texas was just the appetizer.
05:25Because James Polk came in serving the main course.
05:28The Mexican-American War.
05:30Which ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
05:33And the U.S. walking away with California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and chunks of Colorado and Wyoming.
05:42That's nearly half of Mexico's land.
05:44And while that was going down, Polk also cut a deal with Britain to settle the Oregon border, snagging the
05:50entire Pacific Northwest without even firing a shot.
05:54This guy was on a roll.
05:56There's no question about it.
05:57Because Polk crammed one of the most productive presidencies into just four years.
06:02But he couldn't have pulled off victory without Zachary Taylor, a hero of the Mexican War and our next president.
06:09Who, despite being a slave owner himself, opposed expanding slavery to California, urging them to draft a free state constitution
06:17and apply for statehood fast.
06:20But this infuriated the South, who threatened to secede.
06:23So, what did Taylor do?
06:25He told them he'd personally lead an army and hang anyone who rebelled.
06:30Let's just say you don't want to mess with this guy.
06:33Until he died.
06:34And Millard Fillmore became president, who passed the Compromise of 1850, which welcomed California as a free state and banned
06:43the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
06:45Woo-hoo!
06:46Sounds like progress, right?
06:48Well, the deal also included the Fugitive Slave Act, which forced Northerners to return escaped slaves or face prison time.
06:56So, although many praised Fillmore for saving the Union, it turned out to be a temporary truce.
07:02But this freed up our next president, Franklin Pierce, to keep the expansion train rolling with the Gadsden Purchase.
07:10A $10 million deal with Mexico for the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
07:15Finalizing America's continental borders with no war, no chaos, and just a simple handshake.
07:21Woo-hoo! Peace at last.
07:23Wait, what's happening?
07:25In Utah, rumors spread that Brigham Young and the Mormons were an open revolt against federal authority.
07:31So, President James Buchanan sent 2,500 U.S. troops to march on Utah.
07:36But in reality, there actually wasn't much of a rebellion at all, just a little tension.
07:42But when the Mormons saw an army coming over the horizon, they panicked and quickly assembled a militia.
07:47The conflict could have popped off into a bloody battle at any moment.
07:52But Buchanan stepped in, chose peace, and offered a full pardon to Utah residents in exchange for accepting U.S.
07:59law.
08:00Did you just pardon them for a rebellion that never existed?
08:04Oh, never mind.
08:05But instead of dealing with fake rebellions, Abraham Lincoln faced the real thing.
08:11The Civil War.
08:12With seven states seceded and more threatening to follow, Honest Abe's entire presidency came down to one mission.
08:19Win the war and keep the Union alive.
08:22And early on, it was bleak.
08:25Because the Union got slapped around, and D.C. was nearly surrounded.
08:29But Lincoln refused to quit, and found generals who could actually win.
08:34Hello, Ulysses S. Grant.
08:35And after four brutal years and hundreds of thousands of deaths, Lincoln's leadership carried the Union to victory, keeping the
08:43United States united.
08:45Pfft, let's not do that again.
08:48But after Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson was thrust into the presidency.
08:53And although he's not remembered as the best president, he did get one major win.
08:58Alaska.
08:59Because he allowed Secretary of State William Seward to negotiate a deal with the Russian Empire.
09:057.2 million bucks for a frozen frontier twice the size of Texas.
09:10And at the time, critics nicknamed it Seward's Folly, mocking him for blowing 7 milli on a big empty icebox.
09:18Ugh, it's freezing out here, sir.
09:21But it turns out, joke's on them.
09:23Because not only did Alaska have gold, oil, and half the world's salmon, it booted Russia from North America for
09:30good.
09:31Not so bad for a so-called wasteland, huh?
09:34But speaking of winners, Ulysses S. Grant was the Union general who crushed the Confederacy.
09:40And when he became president, he kept on waging war.
09:43But this time, it was against the Klan.
09:46Because he signed the Enforcement Acts, sent in federal troops, and clobbered the KKK.
09:51Pair that with the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed voting rights regardless of race,
09:57and Grant accomplished more for black Americans than anyone at the time.
10:01But the troops couldn't stay in the South forever.
10:04Cuz Rutherford B. Hayes slid into office through the Compromise of 1877.
10:09A smoky backroom deal that said,
10:12We'll give you the presidency, but you gotta remove federal troops.
10:16He took the deal.
10:17And although this averted a controversial election crisis, it abandoned black Americans to Jim Crow.
10:23Not exactly the best presidential accomplishment on our list.
10:27But at least James Garfield made waves by taking on the spoil system.
10:32The swampy tradition of handing out government jobs to party hacks.
10:36Cuz Garfield was a man of merit.
10:39A genius who envisioned a government run by people who actually earned their positions.
10:43Until assassination cut his crusade short, dying just four months into office.
10:50But when Chester A. Arthur became president, he was the last guy anyone expected to clean house.
10:56Cuz he built his whole career off the spoil system, handing out government jobs like party favors.
11:01But instead, plot twist, Arthur flipped the script and signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act.
11:08A landmark reform that basically said,
11:11Hey, maybe government jobs should go to people who actually know what they're doing.
11:15And believe it or not, the swamp training continued with this next president.
11:19Cuz Grover Cleveland was basically a human veto stamp.
11:23Vetoing dozens of pork barrel projects, shady pension grabs, and special interest bills.
11:29If Congress tried sneaking junk onto his desk, Cleveland swatted it like a fly.
11:34And the anti-corruption train kept rolling with Benjamin Harrison, who passed the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
11:42The first federal law to ban monopolies.
11:45A direct shot at robber barons who'd been running the economy like their own private fiefdoms.
11:50And although it didn't bust the giants overnight, it did draw a line in the sand.
11:55From here on out, monopolies would be challenged in court.
11:58But until then, William McKinley took office.
12:02And even though he didn't go looking for a fight, the USS Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor.
12:08So McKinley declared war with Spain in the Spanish-American War and quickly steamrolled them in a hundred days.
12:16Largely thanks to Roosevelt's Rough Riders, who charged up San Juan Hill and forced the Spanish to retreat.
12:22And Admiral Dewey for sinking Spain's fleet in Manila Bay.
12:25The perfect one-two punch.
12:27Because as a result, McKinley walked away acquiring Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
12:33Elevating the U.S. to big-league world empire status.
12:36Whether he planned to or not.
12:39But thanks to his Rough Rider reputation, Teddy Roosevelt exploded into the White House like a shot of espresso.
12:45And quickly earned the title of Trust Buster.
12:48Breaking up massive monopolies like Standard Oil, the American Tobacco Company, and J.P. Morgan's Railroad Monopoly.
12:56But his crowning achievement came with the Square Deal, which had three promises.
13:01Control corporations, protect consumers, and conserve natural resources.
13:05And thanks to Teddy, life for the average American got pretty dang good.
13:10So William Howard Taft came in and delivered more of the same.
13:15A lot more.
13:16Because Taft trust busted twice as much as Roosevelt, filing 99 antitrust suits.
13:22He even went after U.S. Steel, which ironically ticked off Roosevelt, who thought Taft was overdoing it.
13:29But the message was crystal clear.
13:31No company was too big, too rich, or too cozy to escape a courtroom smackdown.
13:37But instead of getting rich, it wasn't always easy for the little guy.
13:41Because America's banking system was the Wild West.
13:44With financial panics frequently wiping out savings overnight.
13:49So Woodrow Wilson created the Federal Reserve System in 1913.
13:53A central bank to stabilize currency, control credit, and act as a lender of last resort.
13:59And hey, you might have heard of the Fed.
14:01Because it's still the backbone of American finance to this day.
14:05For better or worse.
14:07But after Wilson came Warren G. Harding, who hosted the Washington Naval Conference.
14:12The first international disarmament summit.
14:15Where after World War I, major powers like the U.S., Britain, France, Japan, and Italy
14:20sat down and agreed to stop building an infinite amount of battleships.
14:24And thanks to Harding, we basically had world peace for a decade.
14:29Allowing the 1920s to kick in under Calvin Coolidge.
14:32A silent man who believed that less government meant more prosperity.
14:36Because he slashed taxes, balanced budgets, and even paid down the national debt.
14:41Cal liked to say,
14:42Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
14:47And I think he was right.
14:49Because the result was the Roaring Twenties.
14:52A decade of unprecedented prosperity with wages up,
14:55unemployment at 3%,
14:57and factories churning out cars.
15:00Ouch!
15:01Looks like we just hit the Hoover Dam.
15:03Herbert Hoover's big achievement.
15:05Because Hoover developed one of the greatest infrastructure projects of the 20th century.
15:09A colossal dam that harnesses the Colorado River,
15:13prevents floods,
15:14and generates cheap power for the entire Southwest.
15:16Cities like L.A. and Las Vegas,
15:19yeah,
15:20they wouldn't exist without this bad boy.
15:22But more importantly,
15:24the Hoover Dam stands as a symbol of American ingenuity.
15:27Proof that the U.S. could build big, bold, world-changing things.
15:31Look, honey,
15:32they somehow built this in the 1930s.
15:35But speaking of the 30s,
15:37the Great Depression had the entire nation on life support.
15:40So, Franklin Roosevelt shocked it back to life with the New Deal,
15:44a sweeping series of programs, agencies, and reforms that sought to revive America's heartbeat.
15:50Clear!
15:52Because FDR launched Social Security,
15:55the SEC,
15:56FDIC Insurance,
15:57and the CCC and WPA
15:59to put millions of Americans to work on building roads,
16:03schools,
16:03and parks.
16:04It was bold,
16:05controversial,
16:06and it was massive.
16:08But more than just relief,
16:09the New Deal permanently redefined the role of the federal government.
16:14Um, sir,
16:15this guy wants another handout.
16:17But when Harry Truman took office,
16:19World War II was winding down to a close.
16:22Or so we thought.
16:23Because although Germany surrendered within weeks,
16:26Japan kept fighting.
16:28And Truman faced an impossible decision.
16:30Keep slugging it out in the Pacific,
16:32or unleash a new weapon that could bring the world to its knees.
16:36So in 1945,
16:38Truman dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
16:42delivering a final blow to end World War II.
16:45But while Harry Truman was blowing up roads,
16:48this next president was building them.
16:49Because Dwight Eisenhower launched the Interstate Highway System,
16:53the biggest public works project in American history.
16:56Inspired by the German autobons he saw in World War II,
17:00Ike pushed through the Federal Aid Highway Act,
17:03paving 41,000 miles of road that slashed travel times,
17:07supercharged coast-to-coast trade,
17:08and fueled the rise of the suburbs.
17:10It's great for getting me to work.
17:13But seriously,
17:14is the whole country turning into one giant highway,
17:16or is it just me?
17:18But this next president didn't have time for pouring concrete,
17:21because John F. Kennedy was staring down the Cuban Missile Crisis,
17:25where U.S. spy planes spotted Soviet nuclear missiles
17:29being installed in Cuba,
17:30just 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
17:33Red alert!
17:35JFK had no good options.
17:37Invade, and the missiles might launch,
17:39bomb them,
17:40and risk all-out nuclear war with the Soviets.
17:43One wrong move,
17:44and the world could be reduced to ashes.
17:46So, Kennedy chose a third path.
17:49He imposed a naval blockade around Cuba,
17:51while negotiating with the Soviets.
17:53And for 13 days,
17:55the planet held its breath.
17:57Until suddenly,
17:58a deal was made.
18:00The Soviets agreed to remove their missiles,
18:02and the U.S. promised to never invade Cuba,
18:05along with secretly removing missiles from Turkey.
18:08It was the closest humanity had ever come to nuclear Armageddon,
18:12and JFK pulled us back from the brink.
18:15Man,
18:15this guy did not deserve to be assassinated.
18:18But while JFK saved the world,
18:21this next president set out to repair America,
18:23because Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
18:28a sweeping law that banned segregation in schools,
18:31workplaces,
18:32and public spaces.
18:33And for the first time,
18:35discrimination based on race,
18:37color,
18:37religion,
18:38sex,
18:38or national origin
18:40was illegal.
18:41Now,
18:42while it didn't heal racism overnight,
18:44it was a monumental turning point in American history.
18:48But speaking of turning points,
18:50Richard Nixon pulled off
18:51one of the boldest diplomatic moves of the 20th century.
18:54He opened the door to China.
18:56For decades,
18:57the U.S. refused to even recognize Mao's communist government.
19:01But Nixon,
19:02a savvy Cold War strategist,
19:04saw an opening.
19:05If America built ties with China,
19:07it could squeeze the Soviet Union.
19:10So he personally flew to China,
19:12shook hands with Mao,
19:13and drove a wedge between Beijing and Moscow,
19:16turning an enemy into a partner
19:18while shifting the Cold War balance
19:20in America's favor.
19:22Talk about playing 4D chess.
19:24It's too bad he got caught up in Watergate,
19:27resigned,
19:28and left us with Gerald Ford,
19:30whose big achievement
19:31was basically doing the opposite of Nixon.
19:34Because after Nixon left office,
19:36government distrust was at an all-time high.
19:38The people wanted transparency.
19:40So Ford engaged with the public,
19:43gave press conferences,
19:44and even volunteered to testify before Congress.
19:47But his big move came when he pardoned Richard Nixon.
19:50Because although it cost him politically,
19:53Ford believed the nation couldn't heal
19:54while Nixon was still on trial.
19:56You better go thank him right now.
19:59But speaking of tough times,
20:01Jimmy Carter's presidency had plenty of them.
20:03But one major positive was the Camp David Accords,
20:07where Carter personally mediated intense negotiations
20:10between Egypt's president and Israel's prime minister,
20:14two leaders who hated each other.
20:16But after 13 tense days,
20:18Egypt became the first Arab nation to recognize Israel.
20:22And Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula,
20:26a big boy step toward peace in the Mideast.
20:28And Carter received a Nobel Peace Prize 20 years later
20:32for his accomplishment.
20:33But while Carter brokered peace deals,
20:36the U.S. economy was a full-on dumpster fire,
20:39high inflation, high unemployment, and lousy growth.
20:42So Ronald Reagan stepped up and delivered Reaganomics,
20:46a mix of giant tax cuts, deregulation,
20:49and a tighter monetary policy.
20:52And as a result,
20:53Reagan broke the back of stagflation
20:55and unleashed an economic boom for years to come.
20:58But it didn't stop in the 80s.
21:01Reaganomics still echoes through U.S. policy
21:04to this very day.
21:05Kind of like the Gulf War.
21:07One of the only Middle Eastern wars
21:10where we got in, won, and got out.
21:13Because after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait,
21:15George H.W. Bush teamed up with over 30 other nations
21:19and launched Operation Desert Storm.
21:21And in just six weeks, Kuwait was liberated.
21:24The air and ground campaign was fast,
21:27decisive,
21:27and came with minimal U.S. casualties.
21:30But most importantly,
21:32once the mission was complete,
21:33Bush chose to leave instead of occupying Iraq.
21:36Good decision, big guy.
21:38Maybe tell your son next time.
21:40Because this set up the U.S.
21:42for another economic bull run,
21:44where Bill Clinton oversaw rapid growth,
21:47low unemployment,
21:48and the rise of the tech boom,
21:50creating 22 million new jobs.
21:52And by the end of Clinton's second term,
21:55the federal budget wasn't just balanced.
21:57It ran the first surplus in decades.
22:00Whew.
22:01Man, the things I'd do to go back to the 90s.
22:04But everything changed after 9-11,
22:07the worst terrorist attack on American soil.
22:09Because George W. Bush stood at ground zero
22:12with a bullhorn and a promise.
22:14The people who knocked these buildings down
22:16will hear all of us soon.
22:18And he delivered.
22:19Because within weeks,
22:21U.S. forces crushed the Taliban in Afghanistan
22:24and dismantled the regime that sheltered Al-Qaeda.
22:27It was fast, decisive,
22:29and the sledgehammer America demanded.
22:32And if Bush stopped there,
22:33just like his pops,
22:34his legacy might have been one of swift,
22:37righteous victory.
22:38But of course, history,
22:39or maybe the military-industrial complex,
22:42had other plans.
22:43But speaking of complicated legacies,
22:46Barack Obama's defining achievement
22:48was the Affordable Care Act,
22:50better known as Obamacare,
22:51a law that expanded Medicaid,
22:54allowed young adults to stay on their parents' plans
22:56until age 26,
22:58and banned insurers from preventing coverage
23:00to those with pre-existing conditions.
23:02Critics called it government overreach
23:05and blamed it for rising costs.
23:07But love it or hate it,
23:09Obamacare permanently reshaped
23:10the way Americans receive health care.
23:13But then came Donald Trump,
23:15whose signature win was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,
23:18slashing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
23:22And this sparked a massive economic surge
23:25because unemployment hit a 50-year low,
23:28wages rose,
23:29and the stock market broke record after record.
23:32I even bought myself a new car!
23:34Until COVID hit and it all came crashing down.
23:38You can take the keys back, sir.
23:40So Joe Biden came in
23:42and did his best to clean up the COVID mess,
23:44passing the American Rescue Plan,
23:46a $1.9 trillion package
23:48that sent out stimulus checks,
23:50boosted unemployment benefits,
23:51and poured resources into vaccine distribution.
23:54And by the end of 2021,
23:56society was finally crawling out of the pandemic slump.
23:59Sir, I think we should give out more stimmy checks.
24:02Huh?
24:03Okay, okay, just kidding.
24:05But if you think this is the first time
24:07a president gave something away for free,
24:09you got another thing coming.
24:10Because this is every presidential first in U.S. history.
24:14From the first presidential assassination,
24:17to the first televised debate,
24:18to the first commander-in-chief dropping a nuclear bomb.
24:22These firsts are so crazy,
24:24I'm gonna need you to be the first one
24:25to click on this next video
24:26and keep the flappy content rolling
24:29because this one is a wrap.
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