12/29/1808 – 7/31/1875 Party: National Union Timeline; 1865-1869 Before running with Lincoln, Johnson served in the U.S. house of representatives (1843-1853), was the governor of Tennessee (1853-1857) and in the Tennessee Senate (1875). As Southern slave states, including Tennessee, seceded to form the Confederate States of America, Johnson remained firmly with the Union. He was…
2/12/1809 – 4/15/1865 Party: Republican Timeline; 1861-1865 Lincoln lived a quiet life working various traits. He volunteered in the Illinois Mafia and shortly after was elected captain in the Black Hawk War (1832). After the war he aspired to be a legislator but kept falling short, although he did hold a position on the Illinois…
4/23/1791 – 6/1/1868 Party: Democratic Timeline; 1857-1861 Buchanon studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812 where he established a successful law practice, getting into politics shortly after where he was on the Pennsylvania house of representatives (1814-1816) and U.S. house of representatives for Pennsylvania’s 3rd district (1821-1823), and the 4th district (1823-1831)…
11/23/1804 – 10/8/1869 Party: Democratic Timeline; 1853-1857 Pierce was studying law as his father was rising in political ranks, he joined his father’s campaign and helped him become governor in 1827. By 1833, the younger Pierce was elected to Congress as New Hampshire’s “at large” district representative where he stayed until moving to Senator(1837-1842). After…
1/7/1800 – 3/8/1874 Party: Whig Timeline; 1850-1853 Fillmore started work in a law office at an early age, being admitted to the bar in 1823. Entering politics in 1828, he served in the New York assembly (1829-1832) and eventually won a spot in congress as New York’s 32nd district representative (1833-1835) and again (1837-1843). Then…
11/24/1784 – 7/9/1850 Party: Whig Timeline; 1849-1850 Taylor enlisted in the Army in 1806 and was commissioned first lieutenant of the infantry in 1808. He served for almost 40 years, going through the War of 1812, Blackhawk War (1832) and the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) where he reached the rank of brigadier general, eventually advancing…
11/2/1795 – 6/15/1849 Party: Democratic Timeline; 1845-1849 Polk had an interest in politics and practiced law early on, being admitted to the bar in 1820. He served On Tennessee’s House of Representative’s 6th district (1825-1833) and 9th district (1833-1839) as well as becoming the speaker of the house (1835-1839), before moving on to Governor of…
3/29/1790 – 1/18/1862 Party: Whig Timeline; 1841-1845 Tyler served as a Virginia state legislator, governor (1825-1827), U.S. representative (1816-1821), and U.S. senator (1827-1836) before his election as vice president (1841). He was put on the ticket to attract states’ rights Southerners to what was then a Whig coalition to defeat Van Buren’s re-election bid. Tyler was…
2/9/1773-4/4/1841 Party: Whig Timeline; 1841 Harrison served as the first territorial congressional delegate from the Northwest Territory (1799-1800), governor of the Indiana Territory (1801-1812), and later as a U.S. representative (1816-1819) and senator from Ohio (1825-1828). He originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, where he…
12/5/1782 – 7/24/1862 Party: Democratic Timeline; 1837-1841 Van Buren gained his fame as a political organizer and an accomplished lawyer as well as building the organizational structure for the Democratic Party, primarily in New York where he also held titles of Senator (1821-1828) and Governor (1829). He also held position of Secretary of State (1829-1831),…