Attorney Firings--History Repeating

As the political drama is unfolding in the Capitol over eight federal attorney firings, I am trying to find historical perspective that has political resemblance with it. Over the last few days, the following information came to light in addition to what we already knew so far. There might be 26 out of 93 U.S. attorneys who might have been considered for firing. Also, the Democratic leadership in Congress was mulling over no-confidence motion against Attorney-General Alberto Gonzalez. Although this move is non-binding, it is also very unusual. My research into Congressional history found one instance: in 1886, the U.S. Senate approved such a resolution against then-President Grover Cleveland's Attorney-General A.H. Garland as he had refused to provide documents concerning the firing of a federal prosecutor.

List and Timeline of U.S. Presidents

1. George Washington (1789-1797)
2. John Adams (1797-1801) (Political Party: Federalist)
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) (Democratic-Republican)
4. James Madison (1809-1817) (Democratic-Republican)
5. James Monroe (1817-1825) (Democratic-Republican)
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) (Democratic-Republican)
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) (Democrat)
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) (Democrat)
9. William H. Harrison (March 1841-April 1841) (Political Party: WHIG)
10. John Tyler (1841-1845) (WHIG)
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849) (Democrat)
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) (WHIG)
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) (WHIG)
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) (Democrat)
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861) (Democrat)
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) (Republican)
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) (Democrat)
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) (Republican)
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) (Republican)
20. James A. Garfield (March 1881- September 1881) (Republican)
21. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) (Republican)
22. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) (Democrat)
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) (Republican)
24. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) (Democrat)
25. William McKinley (1897-1901) (Republican)
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) (Republican)
27. William H. Taft (1909-1913) (Republican)
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) (Democrat)
29. Warren H. Harding (1921-1923) (Republican)
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) (Republican)
31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) (Republican)
32. Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945) (Democrat)
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) (Democrat)
34. Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) (Republican)
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) (Democrat)
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) (Democrat)
37. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) (Republican)
38. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) (Republican)
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) (Democrat)
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) (Republican)
41. George Bush (1989-1993) (Republican)
42. William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001) (Democrat)
43. George W. Bush (2001- 2009) (Republican)
44. Barack H. Obama (2009-2017) (Democrat)
45. Donald J. Trump (2017-2021) (Republican)

46. Joe Biden (2021-2025) (Democrat)

George H.W. Bush (1924-2018)
41st President Passes away
America's last Second World War-generation president has departed on November 30, 2018 at the age of 94. A devoted husband, a loving father, a humble public servant, a decorated soldier, country's top intelligence officer and commander-in-chief, George H.W. Bush, left a legacy of decades of public services, upholding the national interest over partisan interest and promoting decency and civility in the national political landscape. Bush won the landslide presidential poll in 1988 vanquishing Democrat Michael Dukakis, saw his poll numbers rise more than 90 percent and subsequently crash after he broke his pledge "read my leaps, no new taxes".

Remains of the 41st President Lie in Honor on Capitol Rotunda
Body of former President George H.W. Bush on December 3, 2018 was brought to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for a public view that would provide opportunity for the nation's politicians and general public to pay their homage to a great stateman, father figure, patriot, and most importantly, a very decent human.

Funeral Held at the Washington National Cathedral
In presence of four former presidents and first ladies, world dignitaries and other invited guests, rich tributes were paid on December 5, 2018 at a solemn funeral ceremony in the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life, public service and sacrifices of 41st President George H.W. Bush's life. The day was earlier declared as a Day of National Mourning and a federal holiday by President Donald Trump.


George H.W. Bush Buried beside Wife Barbara
The remains of the 41st President of the USA, George H.W. Bush, made the final journey on December 6, 2018, and after somber ceremonies, the former president, patriot, CIA chief, Vice President and Congressman was buried beside his deceased wife, Barbara Bush, at Texas A-and-M University. 

JIMMY CARTER (OCTOBER 1, 1924 - DECEMBER 29, 2024)

Carter, First Centenary Living Ex-President, Breathes His Last

Jimmy Carter, who rose from being a modest peanut farmer at a small rural hamlet, Plains, in Georgia to the governor's mansion to the White House in the 1976 Presidential Election, died on December 29, 2024 at the age of 100. He was survived by three sons and a daughter in addition to billions of admirers throughout the globe. In 2005, Carter aptly stated that he was more popular as ex-president than a sitting president. Many historians see Jimmy Carter's ascendency to presidency as a political accident as the country was looking for an escapist route from the dark era of Watergate Scandal and Carter was a natural choice for many voters over the only unelected person who was the president of the U.S. at that time, incumbent President Gerald Ford. 

Jimmy Carter's father was a segregationist and his mother was a firebrand liberal. Jimmy Carter was not without political controversy and was accused by the Democratic Party's Left wing of using racial overtone in the 1970 Georgia Governor Election in which his campaign had shown photos of Former Governor Carl Sanders with Black basketball players during a bitter runoff.  After winning the poll, he veered towards the center and won many Liberals' heart. 

Jimmy Carter is the last Democrat who has won Texas, winning the 189 of 254 counties of the Lone Star State in 1976. Carter faced political headwind from the very beginning as his White House aides, almost all of them imported from Georgia, didn't get along well with Congressional leaders. However, Jimmy Carter's single-most significant legacy was Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, marking the first time that an Arab nation had normalized relations with Israel after the Six Day War in 1967. After a 10-day secluded negotiation in the Camp David between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, three leaders announced an agreement at a White House event. Six months later, March 29, 1979, a peace agreement between Anwar Sadat and Begin was signed in a celebratory White House setting. However, a burdensome, high inflation and failure to secure release of 52 American hostages were his unraveling in the 1980 Presidential Election. 

For his peace effort and diplomatic endeavors and breakthroughs, the Norwegian Nobel Committee bestowed Jimmy Carter with Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The Nobel Committee lauded Carter for "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts" and drew a sharp contradiction with then-President George W. Bush by focusing on Carter's push for "mediation and cooperation" instead of a "situation currently marked by threats of use of power". Jimmy Carter joined two other presidents before him--Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson--as Nobel Peace Prize awardee and later would be joined by 44th President Barack Obama. 

Six-day State Funeral Begins with Homage in Plains, Archery, and Atlanta

The six-day state funeral for one of most, if not the most, humanitarian American Presidents began on January 4, 2025, with his body taken through small towns in Georgia, which the 39th President had attributed to and amplified for the value systems that he had inherited and taken to the White House and his post-presidential mission throughout the world. Throngs of people and honor guards offered their respect as the casket of Former President Jimmy Carter was being taken through Plains, Archery and numerous other small towns before heading to Atlanta. His body later lay in repose at the Carter Presidential Library. Carter's body will go from Atlanta to Washington D.C. and then back to Plains for a private burial. 

Former Presidents, Dignitaries Attend State Funeral where Carter Eulogized as Man of Honesty

On January 9, 2025, Former President Jimmy Carter's body was moved from the Capitol, where the 39th President lie in state for visitation by tens of thousands of people, to the National Cathedral in Washington. Steven Ford, son of Former President Gerald Ford, read the eulogy written by his father for Carter before his 2006 death. Jimmy Carter gave eulogy at the funeral of Ford in 2006. The one time rivals became close personal and family friends after their "brief season" of rivalry. Ford likened their friendship to that of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, as per the read by Steven Ford.

Joshua and Jason Carter, two grandsons of the former president, gave their separate eulogies. President Joe Biden, who had agreed to Carter's request to give eulogy, eulogized the 39th President of the USA as a man of "character". All former presidents were present during the somber, but dignified, ceremony. Later in the day, Carter family flew to Georgia where the most famous son of Plains, Georgia would be interred in a private funeral.