Sitting Presidents During Major American Wars

Who was the president during each of the major U.S. wars? Heres a list of the most significant wars the U.S. has been involved in, and the wartime presidents who held office during those times.   The American Revolution   The Revolutionary War, also called the American War for Independence,  was fought from 1775 through 1783.  George Washington  was president. Spurred on by the Boston Tea Party in 1773, 13 North American colonies fought Great Britain in an effort to escape from British rule and to become a country unto themselves. The War of 1812 James Madison  was president when the U.S. next challenged Great Britain in 1812. The British did not graciously accept American independence after the Revolutionary War. Britain began seizing American sailors and doing its best to interrupt American trade. The War of 1812 has been called the Second War of Independence. It lasted until 1815.   The Mexican-American War The U.S. clashed with Mexico in 1846 when Mexico resisted  James K. Polks vision of a manifest destiny for America. War was declared as part of Americas effort to forge westward. The first battle took place on the Rio Grande. By 1848, America had taken possession of a huge swath of land, including the modern-day states of Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and Arizona.   The Civil War The War Between the States lasted from 1861 until 1865.  Abraham Lincoln  was president. Lincolns opposition to slavery was well known and seven southern states promptly seceded from the union when he was elected, leaving him with a real mess on his hands. They formed the Confederate States of America and the Civil War broke out as Lincoln took steps to bring them back into the fold — and to emancipate their slaves in the process. Four more states seceded before the dust from the first Civil War battle had settled.   The Spanish American War This was a brief one, technically lasting less than a year in 1898. Tensions first began escalating between the U.S. and Spain in 1895 as Cuba fought back against Spains dominance and the U.S. supported its efforts. William McKinley  was president. Spain declared war against America on April 24, 1898. McKinley responded by declaring war as well on April 25. Not one to be upstaged, he made his declaration retroactive to April 21. The whole thing was over by December, with Spain relinquishing Cuba and ceding the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S. Who Was President During WW1? The First World War broke out in 1914. It pitted the Central Powers (Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) against the formidable Allied Powers of the U.S., Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Romania, France, and Russia. By the time the war ended in 1918, more than 16 million people were dead, including civilians.  Woodrow Wilson  was president at the time. Presidents During WW2 Raging from 1939 until 1945, World War II actually monopolized the time and attention of two presidents:  Franklin Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. It began when Hitler invaded Poland and France. Great Britain declared war on Germany two days later. Soon, more than 30 countries were involved, with Japan  (among several other countries) joining forces with Germany. By V-J Day in August 1845, this had become the most devastating war in history, claiming between 50 and 100 million lives. The exact total has never been calculated.   The Korean War Dwight Eisenhower  was president when the Korean War broke out just five years later in 1950. Credited with being the opening salvo of the Cold War, the Korean War began when North Korean soldiers invaded other Soviet-backed Korean territories in June. The U.S. got involved to support South Korea in August. There was some concern that the fighting would mushroom into World War III, but it resolved in 1953, at least to some extent. The Korean peninsula continues to be a hotbed of political tension.   The Vietnam War Its been called the most unpopular war in American history, and four presidents (Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon) inherited this nightmare. It lasted 15 years, from 1960 through 1975. At issue was a division not unlike that which prompted the Korean War, with Communist North Vietnam and Russia opposing U.S.-backed South Vietnam. The ultimate death toll included almost 30,000 Vietnamese civilians and roughly an equal number of American soldiers. With chants of Not our war! resounding across the U.S., President Nixon finally pulled the plug in 1973. It was two more years before U.S. forces were officially withdrawn from the region in 1975 and Communist forces took control of Saigon.   The Persian Gulf War This one landed in President  George H. W. Bushs lap in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August. He thumbed his nose at the Union Nations Security Council when it instructed him to withdraw his forces. Saudi Arabia and Egypt requested the assistance of the U.S. to help prevent Iraqs invasion of neighboring territories. America, along with several allies, complied. Operation Desert Storm raged for 42 days until President Bush declared a ceasefire in February 1991.   The Iraq War Peace or something like it settled over the Persian Gulf until 2003 when Iraq again prompted hostilities in the region.  George W. Bush  was at the helm at the time. The U.S., aided by Great Britain, successfully invaded Iraq, then insurgents took exception to this state of affairs and hostilities broke out again. The conflict didnt resolve until Barack Obamas presidency when American forces withdrew from the region by December 2011.