It's On My Mind

October 1, 2019 (Tuesday)

Donald J. Trump was born June 14, 1946 in New York City. He is still alive. He was 70 years old when he became President. He has served as President since 2017. He married Ivana Zelnickova, Marla Maples, and Melania Knauss (present wife). His children are Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron. He is a Republican.

Donald John Trump first became famous for being a businessman and real estate developer in New York City. He later grew to fame as the star of the reality TV show “The Apprentice.” In 2016, he shocked the world when he was elected as President of the United States.

As a child, Donald was full of energy and often got into trouble at school. At the age of thirteen, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy hoping he would learn about discipline and hard work at the school. Their plan worked. Donald developed into a student leader and star athlete while attending the academy.

After graduating from high school, Donald attended Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School of Finance (at the University of Pennsylvania) where he graduated in 1968.

By the time Donald graduated from college, Fred Trump, Donald’s father, had become a successful real estate developer. Donald went to work for his dad in Brooklyn, New York for the next five years. During this time, he learned a lot about the real estate business and how to work deals from his father.

One of Donald Trump’s dreams was to develop major buildings like skyscrapers and hotels in downtown New York City (Manhattan). His first major project began in 1976 when he purchased the run-down Commodore Hotel near Grand Central Terminal. He renovated the hotel and turned it into the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It was a great success!

Over the next several years, Donald Trump would build and renovate skyscrapers throughout Manhattan and across the United States. Some of his signature buildings include the Trump Tower, the Trump World Tower, and the Trump International.

In 2003, Donald Trump became the host of a business reality TV show called The Apprentice. In the show, several contestants competed for a job in Trump’s organization. Trump became known for using the catchphrase “You’re fired!” when eliminating a contestant. The show was a huge success. He later worked on a similar show called The Celebrity Apprentice which had famous people as the contestants.

On June 16, 2015 Trump announced that he would be running for president of the United States. He ran on issues such as securing the borders, lowering the national debt, and providing jobs for middle-class Americans. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again.” He presented himself as the anti-establishment candidate who wasn’t a politician and who personally funded most of his own campaign.

After winning the Republican nomination, Trump went up against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election. The election was hard fought and bitter, with both sides becoming embroiled in scandals. In the end, Trump won the election and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2017.

Donald Trump does not drink alcohol. He made this decision when his brother, Fred Jr., died from alcoholism. Trump has co-written several books including The Art of the Deal, Think Like a Champion, and The Art of the Comeback. Despite his success, several of Trump’s businesses have had to declare bankruptcy in order to reorganize and pay off debt. He is the first president without prior experience in the government or the military. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. While he won the presidency as a republican, he was a registered democrat between 2001 and 2009. At the time of his inauguration, Donald Trump had eight grandchildren.

Donald J. Trump – President 2017-Present

July 28, 2020 (Tuesday)

Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He will be 59 years old next week.

He was 47 years old when he became President. He was President 2009-2017. He is a Democrat. He married Michelle La Vaughn Robinson and they have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Barack Obama is most famous for being the first African American President of the United States.

Barack grew up in the state of Hawaii as well as Jakarta, a city in Indonesia. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was from Kansas while his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in Kenya, Africa. After his parents were divorced, his mother married a man from Indonesia and the family moved to Indonesia for a time. Later, Barack was raised by his grandparents in Hawaii. When he was a kid he went by the nickname “Barry”.

Barack graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1983. After graduating, he had a few different jobs including working at the Developing Communities Project in Chicago, Illinois. He soon decided he wanted to become a lawyer and he entered Harvard Law School. Upon graduating in 1991, he began practicing law.

In 1996 Barack decided to enter the world of politics. He ran for the Illinois State Senate and won. He served in the state senate until 2004 when he was elected to the United States Senate.

After three years of serving in the U.S Senate, Obama entered the 2008 presidential election. He had gained national recognition for being an excellent speaker and was very popular. His biggest hurdle would be defeating former First Lady and New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the primaries and then took on Republican candidate John McCain in the general election. He won the election and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. He was re-elected again in 2012 winning the election over Republican Mitt Romney.
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Below we’ve listed some of the events and accomplishments during Barack Obama’s presidency:

Iraq and Afghanistan Wars – Osama bin Laden (the leader of the 9/11 attacks) was finally captured and killed on May 11, 2011.

U.S. Economy – Obama pushed for higher taxes, a larger federal government, and stimulus plans to get the economy moving. While some signs showed improvement, the economy remained sluggish throughout his presidency and the national debt more than doubled.

Health Care Reform – Obama pushed for health care reform and signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in 2010. This law is sometimes called “Obamacare.” This law was intended to help poor people to be able to afford health insurance.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill – On April 20, 2010 an accident on an oil rig caused a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Tons of oil was released into the ocean for days on end. This oil contaminated much of the gulf and is considered to be one of the worst environmental disasters in world history.

Foreign Policy – President Obama’s foreign relations accomplishments included a nuclear program agreement with Iran, toppling Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, and opening diplomatic relations with Cuba (he was the first sitting president to visit Cuba since 1928). President Trump has reversed several these actions.

What he will do after being president and how much he will be involved in world politics remains to be seen. He seems to have distanced himself from controversy.

Barack Obama – President 2009-2017

July 21, 2020 (Tuesday)

George W. Bush was born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. He is still alive. He served as President 2001-2008. He is a Republican. He was 54 years old when he became President. He married Laura Lane Welch and they had twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara.

George Bush is most famous for being president during the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and ordering the invasion of Afghanistan as retaliation. The United States also invaded Iraq and overthrew the dictator Saddam Hussein in the Second Gulf War while Bush was president.

George’s father was President George H.W. Bush. He is the second son of a president to become president, the other being 6th president John Quincy Adams (1825), son of 2nd president John Adams (1797).

George grew up in Texas with his five brothers and sisters. He was the oldest and helped to comfort his mother, Barbara, when his sister, Robin, died of leukemia. George liked sports and his favorite was baseball. He went to high school in Massachusetts and then Yale for college where he majored in history. Later, in 1975, he earned an MBA from Harvard. During the Vietnam War George served in the Air Force National Guard where he was an F-102 fighter pilot.

After earning his MBA, George returned to Texas where he entered the energy business. He also worked on his father’s presidential campaign and became part owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. He loved baseball and enjoyed being involved with the team.

In 1994 George decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter politics. He ran for the governor of Texas and won. He became a very popular governor and easily won reelection to a second term in 1998. He decided to take his popularity and run for president in 2000.

Bush ran against Bill Clinton’s Vice President, Al Gore. The election was one of the closest in history. It came down to the state of Florida. Votes were counted and recounted. Finally, Bush ended up winning the state by only a few hundred votes. Soon after Bush was elected, the U.S. economy began struggling.

On September 11, 2001 Islamic terrorists called Al-Qaeda hijacked a number of commercial airplanes. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City causing the buildings to collapse while a third plane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. There was also a fourth hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers bravely tried to gain control of the plane. Their heroism aborted one more terrorist crash into a building (probably the Capitol or the White House). On board the plane were 7 crew members, 33 passengers and 4 terrorists.

Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.* People in the United States were concerned that more attacks might happen. Bush decided to go on the offensive in order to try to stop further attacks and to catch the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. The U.S. soon launched an invasion into the country of Afghanistan in order to destroy the bases of the terrorists.

Bush also believed that Iraq and its ruler, Saddam Hussein, were helping terrorists. His advisors thought that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) such as chemical and nuclear weapons. When Iraq refused to comply with inspections (they had agreed to do that after losing the First Gulf War), the U.S. invaded.

Although the initial invasion was successful, maintaining control of Iraq, rebuilding the country, and establishing a new government proved to be extremely difficult. As casualties grew and costs increased, Bush’s popularity began to diminish. He was nearly assassinated when a man threw a grenade at him in 2005. Fortunately, the grenade did not explode.

Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq War, Bush was elected to a second term in 2004. Unemployment began to improve dropping down to 5% by the end of 2006. However, in 2007, Bush lost the support of Congress as the Democrats won a strong majority. Unemployment began to rise and his popularity reached an all-time low by the time he left office.

George and his wife Laura moved to Dallas, Texas after his second term was over. He stayed largely out of the public eye, but worked with President Bill Clinton on a relief effort for Haiti after the island had been devastated by an earthquake.

George W. Bush – President 2001-2008

*During the September 11 attacks of 2001, 2,977 people died, and 19 hijackers committed murder/suicide, and more than 6,000 others were injured. The immediate deaths included 265 on the four planes (including the terrorists), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.

July 14, 2020 (Tuesday)
Bill Clinton was born August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, and is still living. He was 46 years old at his inauguration. He served as President 1993-2001. He is a Democrat. He married Hilary Rodham and they have one daughter, Chelsea.

Bill Clinton is known for being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion in American history. He is also known for being governor of Arkansas and for being impeached while president.

His birth name was William Jefferson Blythe. His father died in a car accident before he was born. When his mother remarried, her new husband adopted Bill and changed his last name to Clinton.

As a boy, Bill liked to do crossword puzzles, sing, and play music. He excelled in school and joined the Boy Scouts. When it was time to go to college, Bill first went to Georgetown University and then spent a year in England attending Oxford. Next, he went to Yale University to earn his law degree. He met his wife, Hillary Rodham, at Yale.

After graduating from Yale, Clinton headed home to Arkansas to teach law at the University of Arkansas. He also wanted to work in politics and entered the election for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. He lost that election, but two years later won the election for Arkansas Attorney General.

In 1978, Clinton ran for Governor of Arkansas and won. After serving for one term he lost the next election. Bill didn’t give up, however, and ran again two years later. He was reelected and this time stayed in office until 1992, when he was elected president. He earned his name the “Comeback Kid” for coming back and being elected governor for the second time.

When Clinton ran for president, many thought that he had no chance to beat current president George H.W. Bush. However, a third independent candidate ran as well, businessman Ross Perot. This opened the door for Clinton, whose moderate stances on the issues managed to win a number of votes from undecided voters. He became the first two term president from the Democratic Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was the first U.S. President born after the end of World War II. When he was a teenager he got to meet and shake hands with President John F. Kennedy.

Early on in his presidency the Democratic majority in congress was defeated and the Republicans won control of both houses. Clinton worked together with his rival Republicans and soon the economy was doing well. It did so well that the federal budget was balanced for the first time in years.

In 1998, allegations were brought that Clinton had lied while under oath. This is perjury. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton, which would cause him to no longer be president. However, the Senate didn’t agree and he was allowed to stay in office. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were the only presidents to be impeached by Congress until the impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019. None of the three was convicted by the Senate.

Clinton has kept busy since leaving office writing books and giving speeches. He also worked with Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush in relief efforts for victims of major natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina, the Asian Tsunami, and the earthquake in Haiti. In 2008 he worked with his wife Hillary in her bid to become president. She had been a U.S. Senator from New York and U.S. Secretary of State. She ran for president in 2016 but lost to Donald Trump.

William J. Clinton – President 1993-2001

July 7, 2020 (Tuesday)

George H.W. Bush was born June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts and died November 30, 2018 (aged 94) in Houston, Texas. He married Barbara Pierce and they had six children, George, robin, John Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. He was 64 years old when he became president. He served as president 1989-1993. He was a Republican.

George H. W. Bush is most known for being president during the Persian Gulf War. He is also famous for his two sons; George W. Bush, who was also president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida. Two men named “George Bush” served as president and came to be known fondly as “Bush41” and “Bush43.’

George H. W. Bush was born in Massachusetts, but grew up in Connecticut. His father was a U.S. Senator and a Wall Street executive. George’s success started early as he was president of his senior class in high school and also captain of the baseball team.

When George graduated from high school he had planned to go to Yale University, but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in World War II, George decided to join the Navy. He was only 18 years old when he finished his training and became a Navy pilot, making him the Navy’s youngest pilot ever. George flew a number of combat missions with the Navy including one where his plane was shot down and he was rescued from his floating raft by a submarine in the ocean.

Upon leaving the Navy, George attended Yale University where he graduated with honors after just two and a half years. He played first baseman for the baseball team at Yale and led them to two College World Series. After college, George and his wife Barbara moved to Texas where he worked in the oil industry for many years.

Bush decided to follow his father into political office. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966. After four years, he gave up his seat to run for senate at President Nixon’s request. However, he lost the election. Nixon then appointed Bush to be Ambassador to the United Nations.

George served in a number of political positions during the coming years including Chairman of the Republican Party, special envoy to China, and Director of the CIA. During Jimmy Carter’s administration he went back to work in Texas and also began making his plans to run for president.

Bush ran for president in 1980, but fell behind to Ronald Reagan in the Republican primary. However, Reagan chose Bush to be his running mate and soon George was elected to vice president. After two terms as vice president with Ronald Reagan, Bush ran for president and won the election in 1988.

When George H. W. Bush took the office of president, the world was undergoing a major change. The Soviet Union was collapsing and with it communism in Eastern Europe. New nations were forming out of the Soviet Union and the United States began to slowly establish relations with them.

In the country of Panama, the leader Manuel Noriega had seized power after losing the democratic elections. He also was known to have helped to traffic drugs into the United States. In order to capture Noriega and bring the Panama Canal back under stable leadership, the U.S. invaded Panama and seized Noriega bringing him back to the U.S. to stand charges.

On August 1, 1990 Iraq, ruled by the dictator Saddam Hussein, invaded the small oil rich country of Kuwait. Led by the United States, a national coalition of forces fought back Iraqi forces. Saddam’s army was soon crushed and he was forced out of Kuwait. Many restrictions were put on Saddam’s government including regular inspections by the United Nations.

The economy began to struggle near the end of Bush’s term. He had to go back on his campaign promise of “no new taxes” in order to try and keep the national deficit down. As a result, he lost the next election to Bill Clinton.

Bush retired to Texas after leaving the presidency. He worked with fellow former president Bill Clinton to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He also followed his sons’ political careers. One son, George W. Bush, became the 43rd president of the United States, while the other son, Jeb Bush, was a long time governor of Florida. George H.W. Bush died on November 30, 2018.

George H.W. Bush – President 1989-1993