Highest-Paid Actresses 2011

Teddy took over after McKinley was assassinated to become our 26th President. 

Teddy promised to keep his predecessor policies, and started out with a huge speech to Congress about cutting the power of corporations. He also worked with the unions which often gave them more pay for less hours. 

Teddy was also to the first president to pass acts to make sure the meat we ate were safe, the food we consumed weren't going to kill us,  the medicine we took worked, and other types of prevention of other crimes committed by greedy corporate companies. 

He also had a great love for nature, and as a result many nation parks and other types of things to protect nature were doing under his term. Which I think was a good thing. 

I really do admire Teddy Roosevelt's "trust busting", and I really wish America had not been bought out by corporate greed later on. He didn't get as much done as I expected, but he was a progressive like myself and I consider him one of the greater presidents. 

McKinley served as our 25th President. 

McKinley was in an era after depression, where economic advancement kept chugging along, and times seemed good. One thing I didn't like that he did was he kept corporations relatively unchained. 

It was under his reign that we saw the annexation of Hawaii. Now Americans had a nice vacation spot to go to. In all seriousness, he did extend the Chinese Exclusion Act to the islands which kept Chinese people from immigrating there as well. Pretty awful move. 

The most notable event was the Spanish-American War which we kicked Spain's ass in a matter of months. We then acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines for a little bit of money. Ironically though as a country once owned by an Imperial nation, we had now become one ourselves.  

McKinely was yet another president who publicly stood up for the rights of black people, but did little about it. He appointed many black people roles in government, but there were still many crimes committed on the group of people during this time. 

Despite a questionable presidency, after being re-elected he was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Was he a bad president? I don't think so, but he's about mid-ground. 

Grover was the only President to make a comeback and returned as our 24th President. 

Soon after his term began, the Panic of 1893 struck the stock market. Silver was blamed, and it led to it's ultimate downfall in U.S. currency. 

He also tried to reduce tariffs, and replace the lost revenue with an added income tax on the wealthy. I only mention that because conservatives remember him fondly. His plan didn't go over smoothly since he blamed attempts for reform was caused by corporate control of Congress members. 

Many working men hated his polices, and a group known as Coxey's army marched to D.C. to protest. The ones that remained marching were arrested for walking on the grass of the U.S. capitol. They were never a threat to the government, and that was a low blow to freedom of speech. 

By far the worse mess that Cleveland was directly responsible for was the Pullman Strike incident. Workers had gone on strike due to long hours and little pay, and it effected the railroads. It prevented the post office from delivering mail, so Cleveland sent federal troops to handle the crowd. At the end of the violence 13 workers were dead, and 57 were wounded. 

Cleveland played a early part in the eventual take over of Hawaii. People had overthrown the corrupt Queen Liliuokalani, and the new government wanted to be annexed by the United States. Cleveland supported the Queen, but somewhat kept out of the affair. 

I'll give Grover some credit for handling the fight over what is now British Guiana between Great Britain, and Venezuela. His policy and diplomacy led to good relations not only with our neighbors south but to England as well. 

Was his second term any good? Well I can respect some of it, but I still think he was a lousy president. Especially towards labor and worker's rights. 

Harrison became our 23rd President of the United States. 

Harrison believed in the merit system of picking people in government. However he had a lot of drama go on by who he should pick for these roles. Both sides didn't want to feel alienated. 

Harrison was also pro-tariff, and kept tariffs high and was left with a surplus. Though it did led them to be mocked by Democrats when they spent a lot of it. 

During his reign, he signed the Sherman Anti-trust Act which was created by Senator John Sherman. It forbade monopolies and limited the power of corporations (called trusts back then) a good bit. 

Harrison took a rather unclear stance on the issue of the gold standard. His moderate approach seemed to to hurt Gold side for years. 

Harrison publicly stood up for the rights of black people, however nothing was really done to protect them from lynching and other horrible acts. 

Was Harrison good or bad? I think I'll have to side with him being a decent president. Average, but I like the majority of his policies. 

Cleveland was the only president to serve two separate terms. So we'll just cover the first one for now. 

Cleveland was known to stay away from partisan policies when it came to federal employees. He was a Democrat who promised not to fire any hardworking Republican. He awarded jobs based on merit rather than friends or allies. 

One thing I don't like about Cleveland was his mass vetoes of bills. He vetoed pensions for veterans and the disabled. He used vetoes more than most Presidents up to that time did. 

Another issue was that of Free Silver vs the Gold Standard. Cleveland stood by the Gold Standard while many westerners and southerners needed silver to help protect their poor citizens. At the time I'd probably would stick by Free Silver. 

Another issue was tariffs, and Cleveland wanted less tariffs since that was equal to less taxes back in his time. Tariffs were often used to protect Americans from importing too much. The debate carried over to the next election. 

He didn't really stand up for the civil rights for anybody. The actions he took upon African-Americans, Chinese-immigrants, and Native Americans were questionable at best. 

Chester A. Arthur took on the role, after the death of Garfield. He was our 21st President. 

Right off the bat, Arthur was one of the first presidents since George Washington to take a independent stance from parties. He was a Republican himself, but he did well to stay non-partisan. A note some politicians today should take. 

One of the most funny things I could find on Arthur was when he tried to lower tariffs. Not to stimulate trade by any means, but because the government kept coming out with too much revenue. Something we sorely need today. 

Arthur put an end to Civil Service corruption for the time with the Pendleton Act, which helped destroy the Spoils System. Ironically he had been a product of the system itself years before. 

Arthur was flawed when it came to civil rights. He stood up for the rights of Chinese immigrants, but failed to really enforce civil rights and fight against Jim Crow laws.  

Was old Chester good or bad? I say forgettable and average, even for his time. 

Garfield served after Hayes as our 20th President. 

Most of what Garfield did was some of the issues that plagued Hayes. Such as civil service reform, and scandals within the Post Office. 

Garfield stood up for the civil rights of the newly freed African Americans. He proposed public schooling for them, especially since 70% of them at the time could not even read. He did not receive the federal funding from the racist House majority, and nothing became of it. However he did appoint many black people roles in government. 

Frankly Garfield didn't do too much else besides little minor stuff that's too boring to mention. He was shot by the insane Charles J. Guiteau and died. 

Was he a bad president? Who cares? He died only 200 days in his presidency, and I'm surprised he did as much as he did. 

Rutherford B. Hayes served after Grant as our 19th President. 

Hayes saw the end of Reconstruction, and the return of the South voting and ruling themselves. With a Democratic-controlled House, Hayes lost funding to enforce civil rights laws in the racist south. In the land of dixie, rights were now more "on paper" than real. 

One thing I like about Hayes is his advocating against the spoils system which gives jobs to political supporters. Even though he met harsh resistance, but a law was later passed and signed ironically by one of the men Hayes tried to get rid of. That man was the future President of the United States Chester A. Arthur. 

During his tenure, Hayes saw the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. During the strike, many men protested peacefully and Federal troops didn't kill a single man during that time even when they rioted. However state militia did kill workers. The Railroads won in the short term, but the long-term result favored better wages from public support. 

Another issue was the debate on currency. Gold vs Silver debates clashed hard, and Gold seem to be the victor. However they did also introduce "Greenbacks" which was similar to our currency now. I hope the U.S. government learned a lot about currency while playing around with different ideas during this time. 

One of final notable acts in his presidency was the Chinese immigrants coming to America. At first Hayes allowed unrestricted flow of people coming to the West. However Americans in the West blamed them for low wages for themselves, and Hayes grew unpopular and led to racist laws and acts later on. 

Was Hayes a bad president? I think not, but he is deeply flawed for failing to push an agenda.