| 22nd Amendment |
an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that ensures that no person can be elected to more than two four-year terms as President of the United States. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, was passed in reaction to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office. |
| Abraham Lincoln |
the 16th President of the United States (1861-1865), who was Commander-in-Chief of the Union troops during the American Civil War and who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, thus bringing an end to slavery in the United States (b.1809--d.1865). |
| Barack Obama |
the 44th President of the United States. Before his 2004 election to the U.S. Senate, in which he served until November 2008, Barack Obama worked as an attorney, a community organizer, and an Illinois state senator (1997-2004). He is the first African-American to be elected to the U.S. presidency (b.1961). |
| Bill Clinton |
42nd President of the United States (1993-2001) and, previously, Governor of Arkansas for several terms; born William Jefferson Blythe III, subsequently William Jefferson Clinton (b.1946). |
| Charles de Gaulle |
a French general and president of France from 1959 to 1969 (b.1890--d.1970). |
| Chief Executive |
the President of the United States. [1/2 definitions] |
| commodore |
a title of courtesy given to the senior captain of a merchant fleet or to the president of a yacht club. [1/2 definitions] |
| copresident |
combined form of president. |
| Eleanor Roosevelt |
civil rights activist, diplomat, and First Lady to President Franklin Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945; born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (b.1884--d.1962). |
| electoral college |
a body of people chosen to officially elect the President and Vice President of the United States, based on the popular vote in each state. |
| Emancipation Proclamation |
the declaration first introduced in 1862 by President Lincoln that freed all the slaves from Confederate states that were not yet under Union control during the United States Civil War. |
| Espionage Act |
a U.S. law passed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered World War I. The Espionage Act made it a crime to convey information with the intent to interfere with the operation of the U.S. military or its recruitment of troops, to disclose information relating to national defense, or to promote the success of the country's enemies. |
| executive privilege |
the right of the President of the United States to withhold from Congress and the judiciary important information concerning certain executive activities. |
| first lady |
(often cap.) the wife or official hostess of a chief executive, esp. of the U.S. president. [1/2 definitions] |
| Fourteen Points |
the provisions of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's proposed plan for peace in Europe after World War I, first enumerated in a speech to the U.S. Congress in 1918. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war, ultimately included only four of the Fourteen Points, including the creation of a League of Nations. |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
the 32nd President of the United States, who served four terms (1933-1945). Roosevelt initiated sweeping social and economic programs to tackle the Great Depression, was leader of the Allied Powers during World War II, and worked to establish Social Security (b.1882--d.1945). |
| Frederick Douglass |
U.S. abolitionist and orator, who served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War (b. 1818--d. 1895). |
| George Washington |
the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the U.S. War of Independence and the first President of the United States (1789-1797). During his presidency, Washington focused on bringing a spirit of unity to the newly formed nation, creating a new capital, and expanding U.S. territory westward (b.1732--d.1799). |
| Harry S. Truman |
the 33rd President of the United States (1945 to 1953), who ordered the dropping of atomic bombs for the purpose of bringing an end to World War II in Japan (b.1884--d.1972). |
| Ho Chi Minh |
a Vietnamese political leader and president of North Vietnam in 1954-69 (b.1890--d.1969). |
| Inauguration Day |
the day the President of the United States is inaugurated, January 20 following the presidential election. |