The United States of America was a bold invention of enormous risk. An 8-year war of independence, followed by intense political debate produced a government of, by and for the people.
Power to the People 1824-1849. America in 1824 saw the era of the Founding Fathers coming to an end. Over the next 25 years, six presidents would reflect the country's sometimes uneasy transition.
America after the Civil War was a traumatized country in desperate need of leadership. The President who'd seen the nation through its most divisive conflict was dead, leaving no road map for peace.
America in the 1920s was a country poised for a fresh start. The horrific brutality of the first global war was over. The economy was beginning to "roar," and the Presidents at the helm were happy to take a backseat to Congress.
In 1945, at the end of a devastating global war, America emerged as a superpower. The Cold War presented the nation with a new and unprecedented crisis.
Since the mid-1960s, the power of the presidency has risen and fallen. It's been burdened by the personal failings of the men who occupied the office; by a Congress determined to reassert its power.
