The Americas

United States of America
AD 1783 - Present Day

Government of the colonies by Britain was theoretically through Parliament in the eighteenth century, but King George III did his best to ensure a series of cabinets which looked to him for direction and policy. In 1765, the leader of the cabinet, George Grenville, attempted to regain favour with the king by lowering domestic taxes at the expense of the British Colonies, introducing the Stamp Act. The laws gave rise to widespread protests in America where a small but well-organised radical element emerged, although it was without general support even when the protests had boiled over into the first years of the War of Independence. Feeling in Britain was also mixed, with William Pitt (the Elder) putting forward the case that the colonies should not be taxed because they had no right to representation in Parliament (hence the later cry of no taxation without representation).

Provisional Government of the United States (Continental Congress)
AD 1774 - 1781

The Continental Congress was the provisional government of the British Colonies' rebellious subjects. The First Congress was formed in September 1774, before the opening of hostilities in the war, with a convention of delegates that was administered by a presidential position which was largely impartial and intended to be ceremonial for the most part. It was unrelated to the later post of US president. The First Congress met between 5 September to 26 October 1774 in Philadelphia and consisted of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies. Georgia did not send a delegate.

1774

Peyton Randolph

President of the First Congress, Sep-Oct.

1774

Between September and October, the First Congress considers its options and petitions King George in Britain for the redress of colonial grievances.

The First Continental Congress began with prayer led by Chaplain Jacob Duché at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia in September 1774

1774 - 1775

Henry Middleton

Oct-May.

1775

Peyton Randolph

Second term, May only. Died Oct 1775.

1775

With the petition having been ignored, a Second Congress is called for 10 May 1775 in order to organise an armed resistance to the king's administration in the colonies.

1775 - 1777

John Hancock

May-Oct.

1775

The first blood to be shed is at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. The British win both, as well as successfully defending West Florida. General George Washington is appointed commander of the Continental (rebel) field army in July. The onset of open hostilities hobbles the growth of population in British Florida and the expansion of trade that this might bring. American privateers further hamper the flow of goods and immigrants to British territories.

1776

On 15 June, in anticipation of coming events, the colonial assembly of Delaware declares itself separate from British rule.  On 4 July 1776, Britain's remaining twelve eastern colonies in North America make a public declaration of independence, and in revenge for the British seizure of Havana in Cuba in 1762, the Spanish governor of Louisiana supplies gunpowder to the revolutionary forces.

1777

In July, delegates in Vermont declare independence from Britain and from land claims made by New Hampshire and New York.

On 11 September 1777, British forces decisively beat General George Washington at the Battle of Brandywine, which leaves the capital of the revolutionary forces, Philadelphia, undefended and subsequently occupied. The Battles of Saratoga in 1777 end first with a stalemate (on 19 September) and then a defeat for the British (7 October), a turning point in the war.

1777

Charles Thomson

Acting president, Oct-Nov.

1777 - 1778

Henry Laurens

Nov-Dec.

1778

After being visited by a deputation of American diplomats, Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, France declares war on Britain in support of the rebellion, only too glad to make the most of Britain's misfortune. In June the British forces pull out of Philadelphia to help defend New York. Also in 1778, the apparent immunity of the West Florida province disappears when James Willing of the Continental navy launches a raid through the province's back door, the Mississippi. Meeting almost no resistance, his force of about a hundred men destroy many plantations in the colony's western districts. Although his success is short‑lived, and Willing soon sees the inside of a British jail, his achievement alerts the British crown to West Florida's vulnerability, and extra troops are brought in.

1778 - 1779

John Jay

Dec-Sep.

1779 - 1781

Samuel Huntington

Sep-Mar.

1781

On 1 March, the Continental Congress is succeeded with immediate effect by the Congress of the Confederation. Samuel Huntington remains its president and all other members remain in place.

United States of America First Republic (Congress of the Confederation)
AD 1781 - 1789

The congress was created with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution for what was becoming a new nation. Otherwise known as the United States in Congress Assembled, the congress was the governing body for the thirteen North American colonies during the last years of the war against Britain and the first years of independence. The capital was established in New York between 1785-1790 but the congress excluded Vermont, which remained independent until 1791.

The Treaty of Paris in 1783 marked the end of the War of Independence in the British Colonies. In it, Britain agreed to withdraw from the thirteen colonies on the lower eastern seaboard of North America and also cede its colony in Florida back to Spain.

1781

Samuel Huntington

Former provisional president, Mar-Jul.

1781

Thomas McKean

Jul-Nov.

1781

The joint French and American army wins the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, between 28 September and 19 October 1781. It is the last major land battle in the War of Independence, and the surrender of General Lord Cornwallis and his Hessian allies prompts Britain towards the path of a negotiated peace settlement. New York remains occupied.

French forces were present in large numbers at the Siege of Yorktown, around 11,800 of them, added to 8,800 Continental troops to face 9,000 British and Hessian troops

1781 - 1782

John Hanson

Nov-Nov.

1782 - 1783

Elias Boudinot

Nov-Nov.

1783

The Pennsylvania Mutiny in June 1783 involves revolutionary troops (known collectively as the Continental Army) protesting at their lack of pay from the government of the First Republic. The government refuses to listen and instead withdraws from the city, heading first for Princeton, New Jersey, until November 1783, and then Anapolis, Maryland.

1783 - 1784

Thomas Mifflin

Nov-Oct.

1784

Thomas Mifflin signs the Treaty of Paris which recognises the end of the American War of Independence and the sovereignty of the United States of America. Britain withdraws its troops and Hessian allied units from the thirteen former colonies but still remains in control of various territories within the British Colonies.

1784 - 1785

The government of the republic moves from Anapolis to Trenton, New Jersey, in November 1784, before finding a new home in New York City in January 1785.

1784 - 1785

Richard Henry Lee

Nov-Nov.

1785 - 1786

John Hancock

Second term, Nov-Jun.

1786

Nathaniel Gorham

Jun-Nov.

1786 - 1787

The post is vacant between November 1786 and February 1787.

1787

Arthur St Clair

Feb-Nov.

1787

On 17 September 1787, the constitution of the United States of America is ratified. Almost immediately the first three of the former colonies of Great Britain are admitted into the Union. On 7 December 1787, Delaware becomes the first state to join the Union. On 12 December 1787, Pennsylvania is the second, while on 18 December 1787, New Jersey becomes the third state.

1788

Cyrus Griffin

Jan-Nov.

1788

Admitted to the Union are eight more of the thirteen former colonies of Great Britain. On 2 January 1788 Georgia becomes the fourth state. On 9 January, Connecticut becomes the fifth state. On 6 February, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts becomes the sixth state. On 28 April, Maryland becomes the seventh state. On 23 May, South Carolina becomes the eighth state. On 21 June, New Hampshire becomes the ninth state. On 25 June, Virginia becomes the tenth state. On 26 July, New York becomes the eleventh state. On 2 November, the Congress of the Confederation is abolished, no longer required now that the new US constitution has been signed.

1789

The Congress of the Confederation is succeeded by the United States Congress, which meets for the first time on 4 March.

United States of America Second Republic (United States Congress)
AD 1789 - Present Day

The new government was organised by a new federal constitution, to be headed by a democratically elected president, unlike the previous ceremonial presidents of the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation. General George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States on 30 April 1789. The government was returned to Philadelphia in 1790, after voting on the creation of the District of Columbia on the banks of the River Potomac between the states of Maryland and Virginia. It took ten years to make the new city ready for occupation, and on 14 May 1800 the US government moved for the last time to its new and permanent home.

1789 - 1797

George Washington

Served two terms. Died of a throat infection 14 Dec 1799.

1789

On 21 November 1789, North Carolina joins the Union as the twelfth state (and one of the last remaining former British Colonies to do so).

1790

On 29 May 1790, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations join the Union as the thirteenth state (first sighted in 1524 by the Italian explorer, Giovanni da Verrazzano, while in the employ of France, the area had subsequently fallen under the administration of the British Colonies).

1791

On 4 March 1791, the Vermont Republic joins the Union as the fourteenth state (probably first sighted by Jacques Cartier in 1541 as he claimed Canada for France, Vermont was also claimed as part of New France in 1609, passing to Britain in 1763 and then to the US).

1792

On 1 June 1792, the Commonwealth of Kentucky joins the Union as the fifteenth state (originating as part of Virginia from around 1750, it is only at this date that it is separated).

1796

On 1 June 1796, Tennessee joins the Union as the sixteenth state (first explored by the Spanish in 1540, 1559, and 1567, the first settlement only appeared in 1756, when Britain constructed Fort Loudoun).

1797 - 1801

John Adams

1801 - 1809

Thomas Jefferson

Served two terms.

1803 - 1806

On 19 February 1803, Ohio joins the Union as the seventeenth state (originally entered by fur traders from New France, it had been passed to Britain in 1763 and then the US in 1783).

On 30 April 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, first consul of France, sells the New French territory of Louisiana to the United States for 80 million francs. While the USA also claims the former French territory which has been part of West Florida since 1763, Spain refuses to hand it over. The following year the Orleans Territory is formed as a subdivision of part of it (later to become the state of Louisiana). In 1806, the USA asks the viceroy of New Spain to remove his troops from New Orleans so that it can take possession of the area up to the River Sabine. The Spanish agree and the troops are removed.

1808

The importation of slaves is banned and American slaveholders start breeding their own slaves on the plantations in the South.

1809 - 1817

James Madison

Served two terms.

1810

On 27 October, parts of West Florida are annexed by the USA, which claims the region as part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. US forces take control of the republic of West Florida's capital of St Francisville on 6 December, with Baton Rouge falling four days later. Spain continues to protest at the illegal capture but is unable to regain the territory.

1812

Louisiana is formally accepted as a state of the Union on 30 April 1812, the eighteenth to be created, and the first to officially declared as such. The War of 1812 begins as the US declares war on Britain over the interdiction of trade with Napoleonic France. In Florida, the area around Mobile (Alabama) is officially annexed to the Mississippi Territory (in 1814), and the captured territory is slowly increased in size over the next few years. In the north, the 49th parallel is established as the border between the Rupert's Land British Colonies and the US west to the Rocky Mountains. The Red River Colony is ceded to the US and joint control of Oregon Country is commenced.

1816

On 11 December 1816, Indiana is admitted into the Union as the nineteenth state (New French territory from 1679 to 1763 and then a territory of the British Colonies between 1763-1783, it had been handed over to the US to form part of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, the Indiana Territory was formed after Ohio had been separated).

1817 - 1825

James Monroe

Served two terms.

1817

On 10 December 1817, Mississippi is admitted into the Union as the twentieth state (the Spanish passed through in 1540, but the first colony had been established under the administration of New France in 1699 as part of the Louisiana Territory, and then changed hands between Spanish, British, French (up to 1763), then becoming part of the British Colonies and then the Mississippi Territory of the US).

1818

On 3 December 1818, Illinois is admitted into the Union as the twenty-first state (formerly part of New France from around 1673-1763 and then a territory of the British Colonies between 1763-1783, it had been ceded by Virginia to the new US Northwest Territory in 1783, with the Illinois Territory being created on 3 February 1809).

1819

With the USA keen to support the rebels in New Spain, it signs the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain on 22 February 1819. This establishes the border between the two countries, with the US gaining Alabama and Florida, and renouncing its claim to Texas, while Spain renounces its claim to Oregon. On 4 July of the same year, the Territory of Arkansas is organised.

1820

On 15 March 1820, Maine is admitted into the Union as the twenty-third state (originally the location for the Roanoke and Popham colonies of the British Colonies (1586 and 1607 respectively), the province of Maine had been created in 1622, and passed into US hands in 1783).

1821

On 10 August 1821, Missouri is admitted into the Union as the twenty-fourth state (the first settlers here had been existing settlers from New France by about 1750 and it remained part of the Louisiana Territory which had been acquired by the US in 1803).

1825 - 1829

John Quincy Adams

1825

King John VI of Portugal, under pressure from Britain, recognises the independence of Brazil after the USA has already done so.

1829 - 1837

Andrew Jackson

Served two terms.

1836

Mexican troops massacre the Texan garrison at the Alamo, an event that enters US mythology. Despite the defeat, the north-eastern core of Texas becomes independent. The following year a US army surprises the Mexican forces in an eighteen-minute fusillade and charge, spurred on with cries of "Remember the Alamo!" Also in 1836, on 15 June, Arkansas is admitted to the Union as the twenty-fifth state.

The Battle of the Alamo was an heroic defeat for the Texan defenders, but the Mexican victory failed to prevent Texas from achieving independence

1837

On 26 January 1837, Michigan is admitted into the Union as the twenty-sixth state (initially explored by the French in 1622, and drawn into New France, it became a possession of the British Colonies in 1763).

1837 - 1841

Martin Van Buren

1841

William Henry Harrison

Died 4 April 1841 of pneumonia. First president to die in office.

1841 - 1845

John Tyler

1845 - 1849

James K Polk

1845 - 1846

The US annexes the remainder of Texas and triggers the Mexican-American War (or simply the Mexican War), in which it is successful. Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the US also gains Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. On 29 December 1845, Texas joins the Union as the twenty-eighth state.

Britain, which still holds much of the disputed territory of Oregon, is persuaded not to intervene by the 1846 agreement called the Oregon Treaty which divides the territory along the 49th parallel. Britain keeps Vancouver to the north of the line (British Columbia), while the US gains Seattle to the south (Washington and Oregon), plus Iowa, which is admitted into the Union on 29 December as the twenty-ninth state.

1846

The signing of the Bidlack Mallarino Treaty between New Granada and the USA ensures that Panama will remain within the South American republic, with both parties joining together to put down liberalist attempts to create an independent state, and with the USA gaining rights to build railways and roads through the isthmus in return.

1848

Following plotting by several US politicians in the southern states to annexe Cuba in order to strengthen the pro-slavery bloc, a pro-annexation rebellion is defeated. Several attempts to invade from Florida are subsequently also defeated.

On 29 May 1848, Wisconsin is admitted into the Union as the thirtieth state (first explored by Frenchman Jean Nicolet in 1634, his Green Bay colony had been settled mainly by fur traders. That had passed to Britain in 1763 and technically to the US in 1783, although Britain remained in control until the War of 1812).

1849 - 1850

Zachary Taylor

Died 9 July 1850 while in office after eating cherries and milk.

1850 - 1853

Millard Phillmore

1853 - 1857

Franklin Pierce

1856

President Pierce recognises the legitimacy of the government of William Walker in Nicaragua, but only for a short period of time.

1857 - 1861

James Buchanan

1858

On 11 May 1858, Minnesota joins the Union as the thirty-second state (first entered by French fur traders in the seventeenth century, most of it had remained part of New France until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, although the land on the eastern side of the Mississippi had become part of the US at the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1784).

1859

On 14 February 1859, Oregon joins the Union as the thirty-third state (the first explorers had been Spanish in the late seventeenth century and British explorers followed in the eighteenth century. The territory had subsequently been passed onto the US).

1861

On 29 January 1861, Kansas is admitted into the Union as the thirty-fourth state (first explored by Spain in 1541, it had been transferred to US control as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and formed part of the Missouri Territory between 1812-1821).

1861 - 1865

Abraham Lincoln

Assassinated.

1861 - 1865

Within a few months of Lincoln's accession, the southern states break away from the union, forming their own confederacy. The American Civil War breaks out, and Gettysburg, the largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in victory for Union forces in 1863, the same year in which the US annexes the Honduran Swan Islands. The civil war comes to an end in 1865, with the exhausted south unable to fight on.

1863

On 20 June 1863, West Virginia is admitted into the Union as the thirty-fifth state (contested territory between Pennsylvania, Virginia, and various land companies, it had remained a strongly secessionist western part of Virginia until that succession had been formalised in 1863, followed swiftly by incorporation).

1864

On 31 October 1864, Nevada is admitted into the Union as the thirty-sixth state (situated in the far west, the [Sierra] Nevada Territory had separated acrimoniously from the Utah Territory and its predominantly Mormon population in 1861).

1865 - 1869

Andrew Johnson

1867

The United States senate reluctantly votes to purchase Alaska from Russia for just US$7.2 million.

On 1 March 1867, Nebraska is admitted into the Union as the thirty-seventh state (beyond the colonial settlement area, the Nebraska Territory had been created in 1854).

1869 - 1877

Ulysses Grant

Ex-general. Served two terms.

1869

The president of the Dominican Republic bids to have his country annexed to the USA. He has the support of the president, but the bid is derailed by the American Senate, by just one vote.

1877 - 1881

Rutherford B Hayes

1881

James A Garfield

Assassinated. Died 19 September 1881.

1881 - 1885

Chester A Arthur

1885 - 1889

Grover Cleveland

1889 - 1893

Benjamin Harrison

1889

On 2 November 1889, both North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted into the Union as the thirty-ninth and fortieth states respectively (first entered by French traders in 1738 but not settled by the time of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, much of the joint territory had been part of the Minnesota and Nebraska territories until 1861).

On 8 November 1889, Montana is admitted into the Union as the forty-first state (never settled, it had been part of the Louisiana Purchase, after which it had been first explored by Lewis and Clark in 1804-1806, and became the Montana Territory in 1864).

On 11 November 1889, Washington is admitted into the Union as the forty-second state (again never settled, it had been disputed territory between Britain and the USA until the Oregon Treaty divided the region along the 49th parallel in 1846).

1890

On 3 July 1890, Idaho is admitted into the Union as the forty-third state (created as a portion of the Oregon Country in the north-west of the modern USA, it had become undisputed US territory following the Oregon Treaty of 1846, and had been separated as the Idaho Territory in 1863 out of parts of the Dakota, Oregon, and Washington Territories).

On 10 July 1890, Wyoming is admitted into the Union as the forty-fourth state (possibly entered by a few French fur trappers, the region had not been properly explored until the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806).

1893 - 1897

Grover Cleveland

Re-elected.

1896

On 4 January 1896, Utah is admitted into the Union as the forty-fifth state (situated in the far west, the Utah Territory had lost the [Sierra] Nevada Territory in 1861 when the latter's populace decided to break away from Utah's predominantly Mormon population).

1897 - 1901

William McKinley

1898 - 1902

Spain loses the Spanish-American War. With that it also loses much of the Spanish Caribbean, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish East Indies (including the Marianna Islands and the Philippines). It has to sell the Philippines to the USA. The US also supports the newly independent republic of Cuba in 1899-1902 by supervising its finances and foreign affairs, and reserving the right to intervene in its affairs. Cuba also agrees to lease the naval base at Guantanamo Bay to the US.

1901 - 1909

Theodore Roosevelt

Served two terms.

1902 - 1903

The USA decides to take control of and complete the abandoned French work on the Panama Canal. The Colombian government is naturally reluctant to allow that level of control to fall outside its hands and refuses permission. The US decides to support Panamanian demands for independence and in 1903, the isthmus separates and becomes the republic of Panama, with a small US military force preventing Colombia from sending troops by sea to regain the territory.

1906 - 1908

The Cuban elections of 1902 are disputed and lead to a revolt and US intervention. A US governor takes charge of Cuba for three years before an elected government resumes Cuban control of their affairs, but the US retains its right to intervene.

1907

On 16 November 1907, Oklahoma is admitted into the Union as the forty-sixth state (first entered by Spain in 1541, the region had been claimed by New France in the eighteenth century and passed into US hands in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803).

1909 - 1913

William H Taft

1912

Following an insurrection in Nicaragua, the US asks the president to ensure that all its citizens are protected, something that he is unable to guarantee. As a result, US Marines occupy the country and remain there until 1933, apart from a nine month period in 1925. Alaska becomes an organised territory on 11 May of the same year.

1912

On 6 January 1912, New Mexico is admitted into the Union as the forty-seventh state (first explored by the Spanish in 1540-1542, most of it became the province of New Mexico within New Spain in 1598, and then an independent Mexico before being handed over in portions to the US between 1848-1853).

1913 - 1921

Woodrow Wilson

Served two terms.

1914

The Panama Canal is opened by its US builders and owners, despite it being signed over to them by a French citizen in Panama in 1903 who had no authorisation to do so.

1915

A German U-boat sinks the SS Lusitania on 7 May, killing 1,198 and inflaming anti-German feeling in the US. However, Woodrow Wilson has no intention of bringing his country to war and actively works to bring the combatants to the negotiating table. There is a large proportion of the US population which is of German descent and many of these campaign through the German-American Bund to keep America neutral. Instead, the USA occupies Haiti in the Caribbean in an attempt to stabilise the political situation there.

The Lusitania listing to starboard and towards the bow

1916

The USA occupies the Dominican Republic in an attempt to stabilise both that and Haiti and impose lasting governments.

1917 - 1919

In 1917, two events change the US stance on involvement in the First World War. Firstly, Germany makes a clumsy attempt to involve Mexico by promising Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico if the US joins the Allied side in the war. Secondly, and more telling, is Germany's decision to return to unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking American as well as Allied ships. Congress agrees to declare war against Germany on 6 April 1917, with declarations against Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria following soon afterwards. Mobilisation begins, but it is only in 1918 that the American weight of numbers and materials begins to make a difference on the Western Front in France. More locally, between 1917-1919, the USA supports the deposed government of Costa Rica in the face of harsh repression by dictator Federico Tinoco Granados.

1921 - 1923

Warren G Harding

Died in office while visiting San Francisco.

1921 - 1922

The Harding Plan effects a gradual withdrawal of US forces from the Dominican Republic and a return to local control, but Haiti remains occupied until 1934.

1923 - 1929

Calvin Coolidge

30th president. Completed Harding's first term and served second.

1929 - 1933

Herbert Hoover

1933

When a new, liberal government is installed in Nicaragua, the US finally withdraws its troops who have been there since 1912 and who have been targeted by guerrilla attacks during the last years of the previous government.

1933 - 1945

Franklin D Roosevelt

Fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt. Served over three terms.

1941 - 1945

The USA joins the Second World War on 8 December 1941, initially against Japan, then as an ally of Great Britain against Germany and Italy, with Mexico supplying raw materials as one of the allied nations in opposition to the Axis powers.

1945 - 1953

Harry S Truman

Served two terms.

1950

Demands for change by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party result in a three-day revolt known as the Jayuya Uprising which begins on 30 October. Martial law is declared by the US authorities and the military is sent in to pacify the town. At the end of the revolt, two nationalists attempt to assassinate the US president, Harry Truman. One is killed, the other is taken alive.

1953 - 1961

Dwight D Eisenhower

Served two terms.

1954

The elected president of Guatemala is overthrown in a coup which is backed by the USA. With the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Russia at its height, the US government supports Guatemala with arms and funds.

1959 - 1975

Alaska becomes the forty-ninth US state on 3 January 1959, while Hawaii follows as the fiftieth state on 21 August.. Also from this year onwards, US forces help to prop up the local government during the Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, but they are unable to prevent communist forces from the north from gaining overall control.

1961 - 1963

John F Kennedy

Assassinated 22 November 1963.

1961 - 1962

An invasion of Cuba on 17 April 1961 by US-trained Cuban exiles, backed by the CIA, fails in the Bay of Pigs when the force runs out of materials. One immediate result of the Cuban-Soviet alliance had been the placement of ballistic missiles on the island, and this precipitates the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The USA 'blockades' Cuba, and only a last-minute climb-down by the Soviets avoids the spectre of nuclear war.

The US congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August, increasing American military involvement in Vietnam.

1964

The issue of the US ownership of the Panama Canal has long been contentious, but on 9 January it reaches boiling point on what becomes known as Martyr's Day. The riots start after a Panamanian flag is ripped during a dispute between the Canal Zone Police and Panamanian students about flying the flag alongside the American stars and stripes. Three days of fighting follow, with the US military becoming involved in regaining control of the canal.

1965 - 1966

A revolt breaks out in the Dominican Republic in1965 and it takes a landing by US marines and occupation by them and other states from the Americas to bring about a free and fair election in 1966.

1963 - 1969

Lyndon B Johnson

Completed Kennedy's first term and served second.

1969 - 1974

Richard M Nixon

1970 - 1975

Supported by US forces in Vietnam, the government of Cambodia is mired in a civil war with the Khmer Rouge guerrilla forces. The republic falls after Phnom Penh is captured.

1972

The US hands back the Swan Islands to Honduras on 1 September.

1973 - 1974

A US-backed coup deposes the democratically-elected president of Chile on 11 September 1973, which allows the creation to take place of a dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.

1974 - 1977

Gerald R Ford

1977 - 1981

Jimmy Carter

1977

The US and Panama agree the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which will eventually return ownership of the Panama Canal to Panama itself.

1981 - 1989

Ronald Reagan

Ex-actor. Served two terms.

1989 - 1993

George H W Bush

1989

The USA invades Panama on 20 December and removes Manuel Noriega from office. Noriega is detained as a prisoner of war and is tried for his various offences.

1990

The First Gulf War is triggered when Kuwait is occupied by Iraq. A United Nations coalition army is assembled in Saudi Arabia under the overall direction of the USA to force them out, with heavy Iraqi losses.

1993 - 2001

William Clinton

Served two terms.

1994

An exodus of people to the USA follows problems in Cuba. The fall of Soviet Russia has dealt the country a heavy economic blow, as this had been its only source of oil and cheap foodstuffs.

1999

On the very last day of the year, as part of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the US hands full control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

Washington DC, the capital of the United States, was specifically constructed for the purpose between 1790-1800

2001 - 2009

George W Bush

Son of George H W Bush. Served two terms.

2003 - 2008

An Anglo-American-led action forces the collapse of Iraq's dictatorial regime after just twenty-one days of fighting. Fighting to make the country secure afterwards takes much longer, as militant bombers and factional divides threaten to destabilise it completely.

2004 - 2006

There is a second exodus of Cubans to the USA, although not as large as previously.

2009 - Present

Barak Husain Obama

44th president. Son of Kenyan man and Anglo-Irish US woman.