The Great US History - Essay Example

Thomas initiated the first effective draft in 1917, raised billions through liberty loans, forced a stiff income tax on the rich, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture, and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed anti-war movements. He went to Paris in 1919 to shape the Treaty of Versailles, the peace treaty which ended World War 1 (Wikipedia, 2006a).
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), started his career as a writer. Hemingway’s first important work was ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (1926). Similarly successful was ‘A Farewell to Arms' (1929). Hemingway used his experiences as a reporter during the civil war in Spain as the background for his most ambitious novel, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Among his later works, the most outstanding is the short novel, ‘The Old Man and the Sea (1952), for which Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) (The Nobel Foundation 1954).

Herbert Clark Hoover (1929-1933) was the 31st President of the United States. Within eight months of his induction, the stock market crashed, signifying the beginning of the Great Depression, the most severe economic crisis the United States had ever known. The Great Depression was a stern test for Hoover and one that proved difficult to manage. World War I brought Hoover to importance in American politics and thrust him into global attention (Presidency in History, 2003a).
Eleanor Roosevelt was an active First Lady during her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. She traveled, visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions, and then reporting her observations to the President. She became a supporter of the rights and needs of the poor and the disadvantaged. Even after President Roosevelt's death, Mrs. Roosevelt continued public life. She was appointed to the United States Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. She was chairman of the Human Rights Commission. She was an American representative to the World Federation of the United Nations Associations. Mrs. Roosevelt received many awards for her humanitarian efforts (FDR Library and Museum).

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) was the 35th President of the United States. Kennedy entered politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 and the U.S. Senate from 1953 to 1961. Kennedy was the youngest elected U.S. President and the first Roman Catholic to serve in that office. His presidency came to stand for the rise of youthful idealism. The promise of this energetic and telegenic leader was not fulfilled, as he was assassinated near the end of his third year in office. His shocking death stood at the forefront of a period of political and social volatility in the country and the world (Presidency in History, 2003b).
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and Border States of the United States and in force between 1876 and 1964 that required racial isolation, of African-Americans, in all public facilities. The most important laws required that public schools be separated by ethnic group and that most public places have separate facilities for whites and blacks. School separation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954 and other Jim Crow laws were abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Wikipedia, 2006b).
The Philippine Insurrection is a difficult and often puzzling war. Some historians refer to the war that lasted from 1899 to 1902 in the Philippines as the Philippine Insurrection. The American government decided to keep the Philippines as a colony and deny independence to the Filipino people. Emilio Aguinaldo was captured in March 1902 by American Army. During the victorious civilian administration, the Islands were reorganized and the nation geared up for final freedom. The Philippines became an independent nation on July 4, 1946 (Americans.net, 1996).
The Brain Trust was the name given to a group of varied intellectuals, including economists and professors who served as advisers to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The group never met together but acted as informal advisers. The Brain Trust included Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, and Adolf Berle, all professors at Columbia University. Later added were attorneys Basil O'Connor and Felix Frankfurter of Harvard Law School. These men played a key role in shaping the policies (Wikipedia, 2006c).
All through the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), American volunteers took up arms to guard the Spanish Republic against a military insurgence led by General Franco and supported by Hitler and Mussolini. The confidence that made volunteering for a war against fascism was born from the economic disaster and political chaos of the 1930s. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade commands attention as a unique example of prophetic, fundamental, and selfless action in the cause of international freedom (writing.upenn.edu.).
Basic reasons for providing aid to Europe: the U.S. wanted the restoration of the European countries as independent nations capable of conducting trade with the U.S.; and the threat of a Communist takeover was more common in countries that were suffering economic despair (Answers Corporation, 2006). Read More