1.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
2.
John F. Kennedy
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Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party, and his New Frontier domestic program was largely enacted as a memorial to him after his death. Kennedy also established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Kennedys time in office was marked by high tensions with Communist states. He increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam by a factor of 18 over President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Cuba, a failed attempt was made at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in April 1961. He subsequently rejected plans by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to orchestrate false-flag attacks on American soil in order to gain approval for a war against Cuba. After military service in the United States Naval Reserve in World War II and he was elected subsequently to the U. S. Senate and served as the junior Senator from Massachusetts from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President, and Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon in the 1960 U. S, at age 43, he became the youngest elected president and the second-youngest president. Kennedy was also the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president, to date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22,1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and determined to have fired the shots that hit the President from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald two days later in a jail corridor, then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy after he died in the hospital. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, the majority of Americans alive at the time of the assassination, and continuing through 2013, believed that there was a conspiracy and that Oswald was not the only shooter. Since the 1960s, information concerning Kennedys private life has come to light, including his health problems, Kennedy continues to rank highly in historians polls of U. S. presidents and with the general public. His average approval rating of 70% is the highest of any president in Gallups history of systematically measuring job approval and his grandfathers P. J. Kennedy and Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald were both Massachusetts politicians. All four of his grandparents were the children of Irish immigrants, Kennedy had an elder brother, Joseph Jr. and seven younger siblings, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Ted. Kennedy lived in Brookline for ten years and attended the Edward Devotion School, the Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School through 4th grade. In 1927, the Kennedy family moved to a stately twenty-room, Georgian-style mansion at 5040 Independence Avenue in the Hudson Hill neighborhood of Riverdale, Bronx and he attended the lower campus of Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys, from 5th to 7th grade. Two years later, the moved to 294 Pondfield Road in the New York City suburb of Bronxville, New York. The Kennedy family spent summers at their home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in September 1930, Kennedy—then 13 years old—attended the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. In late April 1931, he required an appendectomy, after which he withdrew from Canterbury, in September 1931, Kennedy attended Choate, a boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, for 9th through 12th grade
3.
Executive order (United States)
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Executive orders are orders issued by United States Presidents and directed towards officers and agencies of the Federal government of the United States. Executive orders have the force of law, based on the authority derived from statute or the Constitution itself. The ability to such orders is also based on express or implied Acts of Congress that delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power. The United States Constitution does have a provision that explicitly permits the use of executive orders, the term executive power in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution is not entirely clear. The term is mentioned as direction to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed and is part of Article II, Section 3, the consequence of failing to comply possibly being removal from office. The U. S. Specifically, such orders must be rooted in Article II of the US Constitution or enacted by the congress in statutes. Attempts to block such orders have been successful at times when such orders exceeded the authority of the president or could be handled through legislation. Other types of orders issued by the Executive are generally classified simply as administrative rather than executive orders. Initially they took no set form, consequently, such orders varied as to form and substance. The most famous executive order was by President Abraham Lincoln when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, Political scientist Brian R. Dirck states, The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order, itself a rather unusual thing in those days. Executive orders are simply presidential directives issued to agents of the department by its boss. Until the early 1900s, executive orders went mostly unannounced and undocumented and this changed when the Department of State instituted a numbering scheme in 1907, starting retroactively with United States Executive Order 1 issued on October 20,1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. President Trumans Executive Order 10340 in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer,343 US579 placed all steel mills in the country under federal control. This was found invalid because it attempted to make law, rather than clarify or act to further a law put forth by the Congress or the Constitution, Presidents since this decision have generally been careful to cite which specific laws they are acting under when issuing new executive orders. Wars have been fought upon executive order, including the 1999 Kosovo War during Bill Clintons second term in office, however, all such wars have had authorizing resolutions from Congress. President Truman issued 907 executive orders, with 1,081 orders by Theodore Roosevelt,1,203 orders by Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt has the distinction of making a record 3,522 executive orders. Prior to 1932, uncontested executive orders had determined such issues as national mourning on the death of a president, and the lowering of flags to half-staff. President Franklin Roosevelt issued the first of his 3,522 executive orders on March 6,1933, declaring a bank holiday, Executive Order 6102 forbade the hoarding of gold coin, bullion and gold certificates
4.
United States Secretary of the Treasury
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This position in the Federal Government of the United States is analogous to the Minister of Finance in many other countries. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the Presidents Cabinet, nominees for The Secretary of the Treasury undergo a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Finance before being confirmed by the United States Senate. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the U. S. National Security Council. The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender, the Secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund. Most of the Departments law enforcement agencies such as the U. S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary of the Treasury salary is $205,700 annually,2 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury M. Peter McPherson served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from August 17,1988, to September 15,1988. 4 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth W. Dam served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from December 31,2002,5 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from June 30,2006, to July 9,2006. 7 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 25,2013, as of April 2017, there are eleven living former Secretaries of the Treasury, the oldest being George P. Shultz. The most recent Secretary of the Treasury to die was Lloyd M. Bentsen, United States Department of the Treasury
5.
Silver certificate (United States)
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Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, the certificates were initially redeemable for their face value of silver dollar coins and later in raw silver bullion. Since 1968 they have been only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete. Large-size silver certificates were issued initially in denominations from $10 to $1,000 and in 1886 the $1, $2, in 1928, all United States bank notes were re-designed and the size reduced. The small-size silver certificate was issued in denominations of $1, $5. The complete type set below is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History, the Coinage Act of 1873 intentionally omitted language authorizing the coinage of “standard” silver dollars and ended the bimetallic standard that had been created by Alexander Hamilton. By 1875 business interests invested in silver wanted the bimetallic standard restored, people began to refer to the passage of the Act as the Crime of 73. Further public agitation for silver use was driven by fear that there was not enough money in the community. Members of Congress claimed ignorance that the 1873 law would lead to the demonetization of silver, some blamed the passage of the Act on a number of external factors including a conspiracy involving foreign investors and government conspirators. In response, the Bland–Allison Act, as it came to be known, was passed by Congress on 28 February 1878, the first silver certificates were issued in denominations of $10 through $1,000. Reception by financial institutions was cautious, while more convenient and less bulky than dollar coins, the silver certificate was not accepted for all transactions. Congress used the National Banking Act of 12 July 1882 to clarify the legal status of silver certificates by clearly authorizing them to be included in the lawful reserves of national banks. A general appropriations act of 4 August 1886 authorized the issue of $1, $2, the introduction of low-denomination currency greatly increased circulation. Over the 12-year lifespan of the Bland–Allison Act, the United States government would receive a seigniorage amounting to roughly $68 million, Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh appointed a committee to investigate possible advantages to issuing smaller sized United States banknotes. Due in part to the outbreak of World War I and the end of his appointed term, any recommendations may have stalled. On 20 August 1925, Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon appointed a committee and in May 1927 accepted their recommendations for the size reduction. On 10 July 1929 the new currency was issued. This required that the Treasury maintain stocks of dollars to back
6.
Agricultural Adjustment Act
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Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus and therefore effectively raise the value of crops. The money for these subsidies was generated through a tax on companies which processed farm products. The Act created a new agency, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Agriculture Marketing Act, which established the Federal Farm Board in 1929, was seen as a strong precursor to this act. The law, in its entirety, can be read here, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. Farmers faced the most severe economic situation and lowest agricultural prices since the 1890s, overproduction and a shrinking international market had driven down agricultural prices. Soon after his inauguration, Roosevelt called the Hundred Days Congress into session to address the crumbling economy, from this Congress came the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to replace the Federal Farm Board. The Roosevelt Administration was tasked with decreasing agricultural surpluses, wheat, cotton, field corn, hogs, rice, tobacco, and milk and its products were designated as basic commodities in the original legislation. Subsequent amendments in 1934 and 1935 expanded the list of commodities to include rye, flax, barley, grain sorghum, cattle, peanuts, sugar beets, sugar cane. The Administration targeted these commodities for the reasons, Changes in the prices of these commodities had a strong effect on the prices of other important commodities. These commodities were running a surplus at the time. These items each required some amount of processing before they could be consumed by humans, Congress declared its intent, at the same time, to protect the consumers interest. For example, in an effort to reduce agricultural surpluses, the government paid farmers to reduce crop production, oranges were being soaked with kerosene to prevent their consumption and corn was being burned as fuel because it was so cheap. There were many people, however, as well as livestock in different places starving to death, farmers slaughtered livestock because feed prices were rising, and they could not afford to feed their own animals. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, plowing under of pigs was also common to prevent them reaching a reproductive age, in 1935, the income generated by farms was 50 percent higher than it was in 1932, which was partly due to farm programs such as the AAA. Tenant farming characterized the cotton and tobacco production in the post-Civil War South, as the agricultural economy plummeted in the early 1930s, all farmers were badly hurt but the tenant farmers and sharecroppers experienced the worst of it. To accomplish its goal of parity, the Act reduced crop production, the Act accomplished this by offering landowners acreage reduction contracts, by which they agreed not to grow cotton on a portion of their land. The farm wage workers who worked directly for the landowner suffered the greatest unemployment as a result of the Act, there are few people gullible enough to believe that the acreage devoted to cotton can be reduced one-third without an accompanying decrease in the laborers engaged in its production. Researchers concluded that the statistics after the Act took effect, indicate a consistent and widespread tendency for cotton croppers and, to a considerable extent, tenants to decrease in numbers between 1930 and 1935
7.
Gold Reserve Act
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The act also changed the nominal price of gold from $20.67 per troy ounce to $35. This price change incentivized foreign investors to export their gold to the United States, the increase in gold reserves due to the price change as well as the confiscation clause resulted in a large accumulation of gold in the Federal Reserve and U. S. Treasury. The increase in the money supply lowered real interest rates which increased investment in durable goods. A year earlier, in 1933, Executive Order 6102 had made it an offense for U. S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with exceptions for some jewelry. By 1975 Americans could again freely own and trade gold, the Gold Reserve Act authorized the Exchange Stabilization Fund to use such assets as were not needed for exchange market stabilization to deal in government securities. The United States was still suffering the effects of the 1929 stock market crash in 1934 when the Gold Reserve Act was enacted. President Roosevelt was challenged with decreasing unemployment, raising wages and increasing the money supply, the Gold Reserve Act, which banned the export of gold, restricted the ownership of gold and halted the convertibility of gold into paper money helped him overcome this obstacle. This act ratified the previous Executive Order 6102 which required almost all gold to be exchanged for paper currency, the Gold Reserve Act also revalued the price of gold to $35 per troy ounce. As a result, the Gold Reserve Act, an act of monetary policy, between 1933 and 1937 the GNP in the United States grew at an average rate of over 8 percent. This growth in output is due primarily to a growth in the money supply M1. Traditional beliefs about the recovery from the Great Depression hold that the growth was due to fiscal policy, Treasury holdings of gold in the US tripled from 6,358 in 1930 to 8,998 in 1935 then to 19,543 metric tonnes of fine gold by 1940. The revaluation of gold referenced was a policy decision made by the Roosevelt administration in order to devalue the dollar. The largest inflow of gold during this period was in response to the revaluation of gold. An increase in M1, which is a result of an inflow of gold, would also lower real interest rates, the international community during the depression began to shift much of its gold reserves to the United States. Foreign investors clamored over the $15 increase in value from $20.67 to $35 per troy ounce and this data shows two important aspects that involved gold in the early 20th century. The first was the expansion of gold as a currency across the globe. This data also demonstrates the rapid rise of gold reserves to the US, even in 1900 the U. S. only held 602 tonnes of gold in reserve. This was 61 tonnes less than Russia and only 57 tonnes more than France, over the next 20 years countries reserves grew as the amount of gold in the market increased and as normal trading occurred
8.
Associated Press
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The Associated Press is an American multinational nonprofit news agency headquartered in New York City that operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. The AP is owned by its contributing newspapers and radio and television stations in the United States, all of which stories to the AP. Most of the AP staff are members and are represented by the Newspaper Guild, which operates under the Communications Workers of America. As of 2007, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,000 television, the photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The AP operates 243 news bureaus in 120 countries and it also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, as part of their cooperative agreement with the AP, most member news organizations grant automatic permission for the AP to distribute their local news reports. The AP employs the inverted pyramid formula for writing that enables the news outlets to edit a story to fit its available publication area without losing the storys essentials. Cutbacks at rival United Press International in 1993 left the AP as the United States primary news service, although UPI still produces and distributes stories and photos daily. Other English-language news services, such as the BBC, Reuters, some historians believe that the Tribune joined at this time, documents show it was a member in 1849. The New York Times became a member shortly after its founding in September 1851, initially known as the New York Associated Press, the organization faced competition from the Western Associated Press, which criticized its monopolistic news gathering and price setting practices. The revelations led to the demise of the NYAP and in December 1892, when the AP was founded, news became a salable commodity. The invention of the press allowed the New York Tribune in the 1870s to print 18,000 papers per hour. During the Civil War and Spanish–American War, there was a new incentive to print vivid, Melville Stone, who had founded the Chicago Daily News in 1875, served as AP General Manager from 1893 to 1921. He embraced the standards of accuracy, impartiality, and integrity, the cooperative grew rapidly under the leadership of Kent Cooper, who built up bureau staff in South America, Europe and, the Middle East. He introduced the telegraph typewriter or teletypewriter into newsrooms in 1914, in 1935, AP launched the Wirephoto network, which allowed transmission of news photographs over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. This gave AP a major advantage over other media outlets. While the first network was only between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, eventually AP had its network across the whole United States, in 1945, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Associated Press v. The decision facilitated the growth of its main rival United Press International, AP entered the broadcast field in 1941 when it began distributing news to radio stations, it created its own radio network in 1974
9.
Harry S. Truman
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Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, assuming the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the waning months of World War II. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, but the conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He also used weapons to end World War II, desegregated the U. S. armed forces, supported a newly independent Israel. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his familys 600-acre farm near Independence, in the last months of World War I, he served in combat in France as an artillery officer with his National Guard unit. After the war, he owned a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined the Democratic Party. Truman was first elected to office as a county official in 1922. After serving as a United States Senator from Missouri and briefly as Vice President, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Germany surrendered on Trumans 61st birthday, just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year. Although this decision and the issues that arose as a result of it remain the subject of debate to this day. Truman presided over a surge in economic prosperity as America sought readjustment after long years of depression. His presidency was a point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy. Truman helped found the United Nations in 1945, issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to contain Communism and his political coalition was based on the white South, labor unions, farmers, ethnic groups, and traditional Democrats across the North. Truman was able to rally groups of supporters during the 1948 presidential election. The Soviet Union became an enemy in the Cold War, Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949, but was unable to stop Communists from taking over China. When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he sent U. S. troops, after initial successes in Korea, however, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention, and the conflict was stalemated throughout the final years of Trumans presidency. Scholars, starting in 1962, ranked Trumans presidency as near great, Harry S. Truman was born on May 8,1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. His parents chose the name Harry after his mothers brother, Harrison Harry Young, while the S did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial has been written and printed followed by a period
10.
C. Douglas Dillon
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Clarence Douglas Dillon was an American diplomat and politician, who served as U. S. Ambassador to France and as the 57th Secretary of the Treasury. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Dillon was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of American parents, Anne McEldin and financier Clarence Dillon. Although Dillon grew up as a patrician, his paternal grandfather, after leaving Poland, his grandfather settled in Texas after the American Civil War and married Dillons Swedish-American grandmother. Dillons father later changed his name to Dillon, his grandmothers maiden name. Dillons mother was descended from Grahams Lairds of Tamrawer Castle at Kilsyth, Stirling, Dillon began his education at Pine Lodge School in Lakehurst, Ocean County, New Jersey which he attended at the same time as the three Rockefeller brothers Nelson, Laurance, and John. He continued at Groton School in Massachusetts, then at Harvard University, A. B. magna cum laude 1931 in American history, Dillon earned a varsity letter for football his senior year. In 1938 be became Vice-President and Director of Dillon, Read & Co. a firm that bore his fathers name. After his World War II service on Guam, on Saipan, in 1946 he became chairman of Dillon, Read, by 1952 he had doubled the firms investments. Dillon had been active in Republican politics since 1934 and he worked for John Foster Dulles in Thomas E. Deweys 1948 presidential campaign. In 1951 he organized the New Jersey effort to secure the 1952 Republican nomination for Dwight D. Eisenhower and he was also a major contributor to Eisenhowers general election campaign in 1952. President Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to France in 1953, following that appointment he became Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs in 1958 before becoming Under Secretary of State the following year. In 1961, John F. Kennedy, appointed Republican, Dillon Treasury Secretary, Dillon remained Treasury Secretary under President Lyndon B. Johnson until 1965. Dillon was important in securing presidential power for reciprocal tariff reductions under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and he also played a role in crafting the Revenue Act of 1962, which established a 7 percent investment credit to spur industrial growth. He supervised revision of rules to benefit corporate investment. A close friend of John D. Rockefeller III, he was chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1972 to 1975 and he also served alongside John Rockefeller on the 1973 Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs, and under Nelson Rockefeller in the Rockefeller Commission to investigate CIA activities. He had been president of Harvard Board of Overseers, chairman of the Brookings Institution, with his first wife, Dillon collected impressionist art. He was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum, serving as its President. He built up its Chinese galleries and served as a member of the Museums Centennial committee and he personally donated $20 million to the museum and led a fundraising campaign, which raised an additional $100 million
11.
Ronald Reagan
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Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who was the 40th President of the United States, from 1981 to 1989. Before his presidency, he was the 33rd Governor of California, from 1967 to 1975, after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader. Raised in a family in small towns of northern Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor, Reagan was twice elected President of the Screen Actors Guild, the labor union for actors, where he worked to root out Communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a speaker at General Electric factories. Having been a lifelong Democrat, his views changed and he became a conservative and in 1962 switched to the Republican Party. In 1964, Reagans speech, A Time for Choosing, in support of Barry Goldwaters foundering presidential campaign, Building a network of supporters, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. Entering the presidency in 1981, Reagan implemented sweeping new political, in his first term he survived an assassination attempt, spurred the War on Drugs, and fought public sector labor. During his re-election bid, Reagan campaigned on the notion that it was Morning in America, foreign affairs dominated his second term, including ending of the Cold War, the bombing of Libya, and the Iran–Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an empire, and during his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate. Jack, a salesman and storyteller, was the grandson of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Tipperary, Reagan had one older brother, John Neil Reagan, who became an advertising executive. As a boy, Reagans father nicknamed his son Dutch, due to his fat little Dutchman-like appearance and Dutchboy haircut, Reagans family briefly lived in several towns and cities in Illinois, including Monmouth, Galesburg, and Chicago. In 1919, they returned to Tampico and lived above the H. C, Pitney Variety Store until finally settling in Dixon. After his election as president, residing in the upstairs White House private quarters, for the time, Reagan was unusual in his opposition to racial discrimination, and recalled a time in Dixon when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night and have breakfast the next morning, after the closure of the Pitney Store in late 1920 and the familys move to Dixon, the midwestern small universe had a lasting impression on Reagan. Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in acting, sports and his first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park in 1927. Over a six-year period, Reagan reportedly performed 77 rescues as a lifeguard and he attended Eureka College, a Disciples-oriented liberal arts school, where he became a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a cheerleader, and studied economics and sociology. While involved, the Miller Center of Public Affairs described him as an indifferent student and he majored in economics and sociology, and graduated with a C grade
12.
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
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Numerous conspiracy theories have been put forth to explain the circumstances surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. These include accusations of involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Johnson, Cuban President Fidel Castro, the KGB, or even some combination thereof. Some conspiracy theories claim that the United States government covered up crucial information in the aftermath of the assassination. Former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi estimated that a total of 42 groups,82 assassins, in 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the only person responsible for assassinating Kennedy. Later, several other experts refuted the committees assessment of the following a series of tests. In addition, the recordings were found to have originated from a DPD officers microphone other than the one which had originally been thought, other federal and municipal investigations have been conducted, most of which support the conclusions reached in the Warren Commission report. Nonetheless, a significant percentage of Americans polled still indicate a belief in some sort of conspiracy, within two hours, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit and arraigned that evening. Shortly after 1,30 am, Saturday, Oswald was arraigned for murdering President Kennedy as well. On Sunday, November 24, at 11,21 a. m. nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald as he was being transferred from the city jail to the county jail. Immediately after the shooting, many suspected that the assassination was part of a larger plot. Rubys shooting of Oswald compounded initial suspicions, among conspiracy theorists, Mark Lane has been described as writing the first literary shot with his article, Defense Brief for Oswald, in the December 19,1963, edition of the National Guardian. Published in May 1964, has credited as the first book alleging a conspiracy. In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone, the HSCA concluded that at least four shots were fired with a high probability that two gunmen fired at the President, and that a conspiracy was probable. The HSCA stated that the Warren Commission failed to investigate adequately the possibility of a conspiracy to assassinate the President, the Ramsey Clark Panel and the Rockefeller Commission both supported the Warren Commissions conclusions. According to author John McAdams, The greatest and grandest of all conspiracy theories is the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory, others have frequently referred to it as the mother of all conspiracies. The number of books written about the assassination of Kennedy has been estimated to be in the range of 1,000 to 2,000, according to Vincent Bugliosi, 95% of those books are pro-conspiracy and anti-Warren Commission. Author David Krajicek describes Kennedy assassination enthusiasts as belonging to conspiracy theorists on one side, public opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans believe there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. However, on the question of a government cover-up, different polls show both a minority and majority of Americans who believe the government engaged in one and these same polls also show that there is no agreement on who else may have been involved
13.
Jim Marrs
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Jim Marrs is an American former newspaper journalist and New York Times best-selling author of books and articles on a wide range of alleged cover ups and conspiracies. Marrs is a prominent figure in the JFK conspiracy press and his book Crossfire was a source for Oliver Stones film JFK and he has written books asserting the existence of government conspiracies regarding aliens, 9/11, telepathy, and secret societies. He was once a reporter in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and has taught a class on the assassination of John F. Kennedy at University of Texas at Arlington for 30 years. Marrs is a member of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth, after a leave of absence to serve with a Fourth Army intelligence unit during the Vietnam War, he became military and aerospace writer for the newspaper and an investigative reporter. Since 1980, Marrs has been a writer, author. He has also published a weekly newspaper along with a monthly tourism tabloid, a cable television show. Since 1976, Marrs has taught a course on the assassination of Kennedy at the University of Texas at Arlington, in May 1997, Marrs investigation of UFOs, Alien Agenda, was published by HarperCollins Publishers. The paperback edition was released in mid-1998 and it has been translated into several foreign languages and become the top-selling UFO book in the world. Marrs even devotes a chapter to theories that the moon may be a UFO, but if rigorous analysis escapes Marrs, little else does, this is the most entertaining and complete overview of flying saucers and their crew in years. In early 2000, HarperCollins published Rule by Secrecy, which claimed to trace a hidden history connecting modern secret societies to ancient and this book also reached the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2003, his book The War on Freedom probed the alleged conspiracies of the 9/11 attacks and it was released in 2006 under the title The Terror Conspiracy. Beginning in 2000, he began teaching a course on UFOs at the University of Texas at Arlington, Marrs usually also gives a book signing at Brave New Books in Austin, Texas at least once a year. In October 2011, Marrs started his own program, The View from Marrs on the Jeff Rense Radio network airing three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 pm Central time. Marrs has on his show a variety of guests and dedicated the entire month of November to the latest information regarding the JFK assassination. He also has subject matter on UFO research, survival tips and this radio program was put on hiatus due to his two upcoming book contracts. February 2013 Marrs book, Our Occulted History, Do the Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens. was published by HarperCollins. In 1989, Marrs book, Crossfire, The Plot That Killed Kennedy, was published and reached the New York Times Paperback Non-Fiction Best Seller list in mid-February 1992 and it became a basis for the Oliver Stone film JFK. According to Stephen E. Johnson from the ticket in 1964, sylvia Meagher is a critic of the Warren Commission and author of Master Index to the JFK Assassination and Accessories After the Fact
14.
Federal Reserve System
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The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. Over the years, events such as the Great Depression in the 1930s, the U. S. Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act, maximizing employment, stabilizing prices, and moderating long-term interest rates. The first two objectives are sometimes referred to as the Federal Reserves dual mandate. S, the Fed conducts research into the economy and releases numerous publications, such as the Beige Book. S. member banks, and various advisory councils. The federal government sets the salaries of the seven governors. Nationally chartered commercial banks are required to hold stock in the Federal Reserve Bank of their region, thus, the Federal Reserve System has both private and public components to serve the interests of the public and private banks. The structure is considered unique among central banks and it is also unusual in that the United States Department of the Treasury, an entity outside of the central bank, prints the currency used. The U. S. Government receives all the annual profits, after a statutory dividend of 6% on member banks capital investment is paid. In 2015, the Federal Reserve made a profit of $100.2 billion, the primary motivation for creating the Federal Reserve System was to address banking panics. Before the founding of the Federal Reserve System, the United States underwent several financial crises, a particularly severe crisis in 1907 led Congress to enact the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. Today the Federal Reserve System has responsibilities in addition to ensuring the stability of the financial system. S. S and this practice is called fractional-reserve banking. As a result, banks usually invest the majority of the funds received from depositors, on rare occasions, too many of the banks customers will withdraw their savings and the bank will need help from another institution to continue operating, this is called a bank run. Bank runs can lead to a multitude of social and economic problems, the Federal Reserve System was designed as an attempt to prevent or minimize the occurrence of bank runs, and possibly act as a lender of last resort when a bank run does occur. Many economists, following Milton Friedman, believe that the Federal Reserve inappropriately refused to lend money to banks during the bank runs of 1929. Because some banks refused to clear checks from certain others during times of economic uncertainty, to address these problems, Congress gave the Federal Reserve System the authority to establish a nationwide check-clearing system. It took over this role from the private sector clearing houses which operated during the Free Banking Era, whether public or private, through its discount window and credit operations, Reserve Banks provide liquidity to banks to meet short-term needs stemming from seasonal fluctuations in deposits or unexpected withdrawals. Longer term liquidity may also be provided in exceptional circumstances, the rate the Fed charges banks for these loans is called the discount rate. By making these loans, the Fed serves as a buffer against unexpected day-to-day fluctuations in reserve demand and this contributes to the effective functioning of the banking system, alleviates pressure in the reserves market and reduces the extent of unexpected movements in the interest rates. For example, on September 16,2008, the Federal Reserve Board authorized an $85 billion loan to stave off the bankruptcy of international insurance giant American International Group
15.
United States Department of the Treasury
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The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue, the Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. On February 13,2017, the Senate confirmed Steven Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury, the first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who was sworn into office on September 11,1789. Hamilton was asked by President George Washington to serve after first having asked Robert Morris, Hamilton almost single-handedly worked out the nations early financial system, and for several years was a major presence in Washingtons administration as well. His portrait is on the obverse of the U. S. ten-dollar bill while the Treasury Department building is shown on the reverse. Besides the Secretary, one of the best-known Treasury officials is the Treasurer of the United States whose signature, along with the Treasury Secretarys, the Treasury prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. The Department also collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, the Congress had no power to levy and collect taxes, nor was there a tangible basis for securing funds from foreign investors or governments. The delegates resolved to issue paper money in the form of bills of credit, the Congress stipulated that each of the colonies contribute to the Continental governments funds. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4,1776, despite the infusion of foreign and domestic loans to pay for a war of independence, the United Colonies were unable to establish a well-organized agency for financial administration. Michael Hillegas was first called Treasurer of the United States on May 14,1777, the Treasury Office was reorganized three times between 1778 and 1781. The $241.5 million of paper Continental Dollars devalued rapidly, by May 1781, the dollar collapsed at a rate of from 500 to 1000 to 1 against hard currency. Protests against the worthless money swept the colonies and angry Americans coined the expression not worth a Continental, Robert Morris was designated Superintendent of Finance in 1781 and restored stability to the nations finances. Morris, a colonial merchant, was nicknamed the Financier because of his reputation for procuring funds or goods on a moments notice. His staff included a Comptroller, a Treasurer, a Register, and auditors, who managed the finances through 1784. The Treasury Board of three Commissioners continued to oversee the finances of the confederation of former colonies until September 1789, the First Congress of the United States was called to convene in New York on March 4,1789, marking the beginning of government under the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton took the oath of office as the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11,1789, Hamilton had served as George Washingtons aide-de-camp during the Revolution, and was of great importance in the ratification of the Constitution. Because of his financial and managerial acumen, Hamilton was a choice for solving the problem of the new nations heavy war debt. Hamiltons first official act was to submit a report to Congress in which he laid the foundation for the financial health
16.
Federal Reserve Note
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Federal Reserve Notes, also United States banknotes or U. S. banknotes, are the banknotes currently used in the United States of America. Denominated in United States dollars, Federal Reserve Notes are printed by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing on paper made by Crane & Co. of Dalton, Federal Reserve Notes are the only type of U. S. banknote currently produced. The notes are then put into circulation by the Federal Reserve Banks, at which point they become liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks, Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender, with the words this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private printed on each note. They have replaced United States Notes, which were issued by the Treasury Department. Federal Reserve Notes are backed by the assets of the Federal Reserve Banks and these assets are generally Treasury securities which have been purchased by the Federal Reserve through its Federal Open Market Committee in a process called debt monetizing. This monetized debt can increase the supply, either with the issuance of new Federal Reserve Notes or with the creation of debt money. This increase in the base leads to a larger increase in the money supply through fractional-reserve banking as deposits are lent. Prior to centralized banking, each bank issued its own notes. The first institution with responsibilities of a bank in the U. S. was the First Bank of the United States. Its charter was not renewed in 1811, in 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered, its charter was not renewed in 1836, after President Andrew Jackson campaigned heavily for its disestablishment. From 1837 to 1862, in the Free Banking Era there was no central bank. From 1862 to 1913, a system of banks was instituted by the 1863 National Banking Act. The first printed notes were Series 1914, in 1928, cost-cutting measures were taken to reduce the note to the size it is today. The authority of the Federal Reserve Banks to issue notes comes from the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, legally, they are liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States government. Although not issued by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Notes carry the signature of the Treasurer of the United States, at the time of the Federal Reserves creation, the law provided for notes to be redeemed to the Treasury in gold or lawful money. The Emergency Banking Act of 1933 removed the gold obligation and authorized the Treasury to satisfy these redemption demands with current notes of equal face value, under the Bretton Woods system, although citizens could not possess gold, the federal government continued to maintain a stable international gold price. This system ended with the Nixon Shock of 1971, present-day Federal Reserve Notes are not backed by convertibility to any specific commodity, but only by the collateral assets that Federal Reserve Banks post in order to obtain them. Series 1914 FRN were the first of two large-size issues, denominations were $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 printed first with a red seal and then continued with a blue seal
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Richard Belzer
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Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He portrayed the character for 23 years from 1993 to 2016, Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Frances and Charles Belzer, a tobacco and candy retailer. He grew up in a Jewish family and he described his mother as frequently physically abusive, and declared that his comedy career began when trying to make his mother laugh in order to distract her from abusing him and his brother. After graduating from Fairfield Warde High School, Belzer worked as a reporter for the Bridgeport Post, Belzer attended Dean College, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in Franklin, Massachusetts, but was expelled for leading demonstrations for truly stupid causes. He worked at a variety of jobs, including sales and as a census taker. After his first divorce, Belzer relocated to New York City, moved in with singer Shelley Ackerman, and began working as a stand-up comic at Pips, The Improv, and Catch a Rising Star. He participated in the Channel One comedy group that satirized television and became the basis for the cult movie The Groove Tube, Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for Saturday Night Live and made three guest appearances on the show between 1975 and 1980. He also opened for musician Warren Zevon during his tour supporting the release of his album Excitable Boy, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Belzer became an occasional film actor. He is noted for roles in Fame, Café Flesh, Night Shift. He appeared in the videos for the Mike + The Mechanics song Taken In and for the Pat Benatar song Le Bel Age. He appeared in A Very Brady Sequel as an LAPD detective. S, several of his sketches were released on National Lampoon albums, drawn from the Radio Hour, including several bits in which he portrayed a pithy call-in talk show host named Dick Ballentine. In the late 1970s, he co-hosted Brink & Belzer on 660AM WNBC radio in New York City and he has been a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show. In 1987, he hosted a morning program on WJFK-FM in Washington. Following the departure of Randi Rhodes from Air America Radio, Belzer guest-hosted the afternoon program on the network, in the 1990s, Belzer appeared frequently on television. He was a regular on The Flash as a news anchor, in several episodes of Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman, he played Inspector William Henderson. Barry Levinson, executive director of Homicide, said Belzer was an actor in audition when he read lines from the script for Gone for Goode. Levinson asked Belzer to take time to reread and practice the material, at his second reading, Levinson said Belzer was still terrible, but that the actor eventually found confidence in his performance. The other two actors are John Ratzenberger and George Wendt, who played Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson, respectively, in Cheers, St. Elsewhere, The Tortellis, Wings, The Simpsons, and Frasier
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Central Intelligence Agency
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As one of the principal members of the U. S. Intelligence Community, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is focused on providing intelligence for the President. Though it is not the only U. S. government agency specializing in HUMINT and it exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as the Special Activities Division. Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2010, the CIA has increasingly expanded its roles, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center, has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations, when the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, warning/informing American leaders of important overseas events, with Pakistan described as an intractable target. Counterintelligence, with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the Executive Office also supports the U. S. military by providing it with information it gathers, receiving information from military intelligence organizations, and cooperates on field activities. The Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of the CIA, each branch of the military service has its own Director. The Directorate has four regional groups, six groups for transnational issues. There is a dedicated to Iraq, regional analytical offices covering the Near East and South Asia, Russia and Europe, and the Asian Pacific, Latin American. The Directorate of Operations is responsible for collecting intelligence. The name reflects its role as the coordinator of intelligence activities between other elements of the wider U. S. intelligence community with their own HUMINT operations. This Directorate was created in an attempt to end years of rivalry over influence, philosophy, in spite of this, the Department of Defense recently organized its own global clandestine intelligence service, the Defense Clandestine Service, under the Defense Intelligence Agency. This Directorate is known to be organized by regions and issues. The Directorate of Science & Technology was established to research, create, many of its innovations were transferred to other intelligence organizations, or, as they became more overt, to the military services. For example, the development of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was done in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the U-2s original mission was clandestine imagery intelligence over denied areas such as the Soviet Union. It was subsequently provided with signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence capabilities, subsequently, NPIC was transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
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Bimetallism
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In the 19th century, there was a great deal of scholarly debate and political controversy regarding the use of bimetallism in place of the gold or silver standard. Bimetallism was intended to increase the supply of money, stabilize prices, some scholars argued that bimetallism was inherently unstable owing to Greshams law and the advent of a monometallic standard inevitable. Other scholars claimed that in practice bimetallism had an effect on economies. It become completely moot following the 1971 Nixon shock, after all of the worlds currencies have operated as more or less freely floating fiat money unconnected to the value of silver or gold. Nonetheless, academics continue to debate the relative use of the metallic standards. In 1881, a reform in Argentina introduced a bimetallic standard. Units of gold and silver pesos would exchange with paper peso notes at given par values, unlike many metallic standards the system was very decentralized, no national monetary authority existed and all control over convertibility rested with the five banks of issue. The period of convertibility lasted only 17 months, from December 1884 the banks of issue refused to exchange gold at par for notes. The suspension of convertibility was soon accommodated by the Argentine government, since, having no power over the monetary system. This effectively established a standard at the rate which had been used for French coinage since 1785. This rate was close to the market rate in 1803. As a consequence, silver powered the French economy and gold was exported, then the Forty-Niners went to California and found enough gold to make it a less precious metal. Now the market rate fell below 15.5 to 1, frenchmen responded by exporting silver to India and importing nearly two-fifths of the world’s production of gold in the period from 1848 to 1870. Napoleon III introduced five franc coins which provided a substitute for the silver five franc coins which were hoarded. The national coinages introduced in Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy were based on France’s bimetallic currency and these countries joined France in a treaty signed on 23 December 1865 which established the Latin Monetary Union. Greece joined the LMU in 1868 and about twenty other countries adhered to its standards, a surplus of silver led the LMU to limit free coinage of silver in 1874 and to end it in 1878, effectively abandoning bimetallism for the gold standard. However advocates of a return to bimetallism did not cease to appear, after the crash of 1825, William Huskisson argued strongly within the Government for bimetallism, as a way to increase credit. Similarly, after the crisis of 1847, Alexander Baring headed an external bimetallist movement hoping to prevent the undue restriction of the currency
20.
Executive Order 6102
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The effect of the order, in conjunction with the statute under which it was issued, was to criminalize the possession of monetary gold by any individual, partnership, association or corporation. The stated reason for the order was that hard times had caused hoarding of gold, stalling economic growth, by the late 1920s, the Federal Reserve had almost hit the limit of allowable credit that could be backed by the gold in its possession. If gold could not be owned, then it could not be legally redeemed. If it could not be redeemed, then it could not constrain the central bank.67 per troy ounce. Order 6102 specifically exempted customary use in industry, profession or art—a provision that covered artists, jewelers, dentists, the order further permitted any person to own up to $100 in gold coins. The same paragraph also exempted gold coins having recognized special value to collectors of rare and this protected recognized gold coin collections from legal seizure and likely melting. The price of gold from the Treasury for international transactions was thereafter raised to $35 an ounce, the resulting profit that the government realized funded the Exchange Stabilization Fund established by the Gold Reserve Act in 1934. Executive Order 6102 also led to the ultra-rarity of the 1933 Double Eagle gold coin, the order caused all gold coin production to cease and all 1933 minted coins to be destroyed. About 20 illegal coins were stolen, leading to a standing United States Secret Service warrant for arrest, a legalized surviving coin sold for over $7.5 million in 2002, making it one of the most valuable coins in the world. Numerous individuals and companies were prosecuted related to President Roosevelts Executive Order 6102, the prosecutions took place under subsequent Executive Orders 6111,6260,6261 and the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. The circumstances of the case were that a New York attorney named Frederick Barber Campbell had one deposit at Chase National Bank of over 5,000 troy ounces of gold, when Campbell attempted to withdraw the gold, Chase refused, and Campbell sued Chase. A federal prosecutor then indicted Campbell on the day for failing to surrender his gold. Ultimately, the prosecution of Campbell failed, but the authority of the government to seize gold was upheld. The case was cause for the Roosevelt administration to issue a new order under the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Executive Orders 6260,6261, related to the seizure of gold and the prosecution of gold hoarders. A few months later, Congress passed the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 which ratified President Roosevelts orders, a new set of Treasury regulations was issued providing civil penalties of confiscation of all gold and imposition of fines equal to double the value of the gold seized. Secret Service agents discovered the sale with the help of the buyer, farber, his father, and 12 others were arrested in four American cities after a sting operation conducted by the United States Secret Service. The arrests took place simultaneously in New York and three California cities, San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, morris Anolik was arrested in New York with $5,000 in U. S. In all, $24,000 in gold was seized by Secret Service Agents during the operation, david Baraban and his son Jacob Baraban owned a refining company
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History of the United States dollar
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The history of the United States Dollar refers to more than 240 years since the Continental Congress of the United States authorized the issuance of Continental Currency in 1775. On April 2,1792, the United States Congress created the United States dollar as the standard unit of money. The term dollar had already been in usage since the colonial period when it referred to eight-real coin used by the Spanish throughout New Spain. By the end of 1778, Continental Currency retained only between 1⁄5 to 1⁄7 of its face value. By 1780, Continental bills – or Continentals – were worth just 1⁄40 of their face value, Congress tried to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, but this met with little or no success. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless they ceased to circulate as money, Benjamin Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war. In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Congress appointed Robert Morris to be Superintendent of Finance of the United States following the collapse of Continental currency. In 1782, Morris advocated the creation of the first financial institution chartered by the United States, the Bank of North America was funded in part by specie loaned to the United States by France. Morris helped finance the final stages of the war by issuing notes in his name, the Bank of North America also issued notes convertible into specie. On July 6,1785, the Continental Congress of the United States authorized the issuance of a new currency, article One states they were prohibited to make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts. The United States Mint was created by Congress following the passing of the Coinage Act of 1792 and it was primarily tasked with producing and circulating coinage. The first Mint building was in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States, the Mint was originally placed within the Department of State, until the Coinage Act of 1873 when it became part of the Department of the Treasury. The Mint had the authority to convert any precious metals into standard coinage for anyones account with no seigniorage charge beyond refining costs, Congress acted on Hamiltons recommendations in the Coinage Act of 1792, which established the dollar as the basic unit of account for the United States. The word dollar is derived from Low Saxon cognate of the High German Thaler, in the early 19th century, gold rose in relation to silver, resulting in the removal from commerce of nearly all gold coins, and their subsequent melting. Therefore, in the Coinage Act of 1834, the 15,1 ratio of silver to gold was changed to a 16,1 ratio by reducing the weight of the gold coinage. This created a new U. S. dollar that was backed by 1.50 g of gold, however, the previous dollar had been represented by 1.60 g of gold. The result of this revaluation, which was the first devaluation of the U. S. dollar, was that the value in gold of the dollar was reduced by 6%, moreover, for a time, both gold and silver coins were useful in commerce. In 1853, the weights of U. S. silver coins were reduced and this had the effect of placing the nation effectively on the gold standard
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United States Note
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A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note, is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the U. S. Having been current for more than 100 years, they were issued for longer than any form of U. S. paper money. They were known popularly as greenbacks, a name inherited from the earlier greenbacks, the Demand Notes, often termed Legal Tender Notes, they were named United States Notes by the First Legal Tender Act, which authorized them as a form of fiat currency. They were originally issued directly into circulation by the U. S. Treasury to pay expenses incurred by the Union during the American Civil War, during the next century, the legislation governing these notes was modified many times and numerous versions were issued by the Treasury. S. Treasury Seals and serial numbers in place of green ones, existing United States Notes remain valid currency in the United States, however, as no United States Notes have been issued since January 1971, they are increasingly rare in circulation. The Act of July 17,1861 authorized United States Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to raise money via the issuance of $50,000,000 in Treasury Notes payable on demand. These Demand Notes were paid to creditors directly and used to meet the payroll of soldiers in the field. While issued within the framework of Treasury Note Debt, the Demand Notes were intended to circulate as currency and were of the same size as banknotes. During December 1861, economic conditions deteriorated and a suspension of specie payment caused the government to cease redeeming the Demand Notes as coins, the beginning of 1862 found the Unions expenses increasing, and the government was having trouble funding the escalating war. Demand Notes—which were used, among other things, to pay Union soldiers—were unredeemable, congressman and Buffalo banker Elbridge G. Spaulding prepared a bill, based on the Free Banking Law of New York, that eventually became the National Banking Act of 1863. This caused tremendous controversy in Congress, as hitherto the Constitution had been interpreted as not granting the government the power to issue a paper currency. Spaulding justified the action as a means of carrying into execution the powers granted in the Constitution to raise and support armies. Initially, the emission was limited to $150,000,000 total face value between the new Legal Tender Notes and the existing Demand Notes, the Act also intended for the new notes to be used to replace the Demand Notes as soon as practical. The Demand Notes had been issued in denominations of $5, $10, and $20, in addition, notes of entirely new design were introduced in denominations of $50, $100, $500 and $1000. The Demand Notes printed promise of payment On Demand was removed, Legal tender status guaranteed that creditors would have to accept the notes despite the fact that they were not backed by gold, bank deposits, or government reserves, and had no interest. The Act did provide that the notes be receivable by the government for short term deposits at 5% interest, the rationale for these terms was that the Union government would preserve its credit-worthiness by supporting the value of its bonds by paying their interest in gold. Lastly, by making the bonds available for purchase at par in United States Notes, the limitations of the legal tender status were quite controversial. This controversy would continue until the removal of the exceptions during 1933, the largest amount of greenbacks outstanding at any one time was calculated as $447,300,203.10
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Congressional Research Service
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The Congressional Research Service, known as Congresss think tank, is a public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works primarily and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential and its staff of approximately 600 employees includes lawyers, economists, reference librarians, and social, natural, and physical scientists. In fiscal year 2016, CRS was appropriated a budget of roughly $106.9 million by Congress, CRS is joined by two major congressional support agencies. The Congressional Budget Office provides Congress with budget-related information, reports on fiscal, budgetary, and programmatic issues, and analyses of budget policy options, costs, and effects. The Government Accountability Office assists Congress in reviewing and monitoring the activities of government by conducting independent audits, investigations, collectively, the three agencies employ more than 4,000 people. CRS reports are widely regarded as in depth, accurate, objective, and timely, there have been numerous attempts to pass legislation requiring all reports to be made available online, most recently in 2012, but none have been enacted. In 1914, Senator Robert La Follette Sr. and Representative John M, the move also reflected the expanding role of the librarian and the professionalization of the profession. The new department was charged with responding to requests for information. They were promoted by Archibald MacLeish, the Librarian of Congress, about 100 Public Affairs Bulletins were generated before congressional appropriators ended their production in 1951. When the Congressional Research Service Review was launched in 1980, it continued for a more than a decade before congressional appropriators, once again. As inquiries increased from 400,000 questions per year in 1980 to 598,000 in 2000, CRS sought to prepare itself for future challenges, CRS offers Congress research and analysis on all current and emerging issues of national policy. CRS offers timely and confidential assistance to all Members and committees that request it, limited only by CRS’s resources, in all its work, CRS analysts are governed by requirements for confidentiality, timeliness, accuracy, objectivity, balance, and nonpartisanship. CRS services are not limited to those that directly to enacting new laws. For example, CRS attempts to assess emerging issues and developing problems so that it will be prepared to assist the Congress if, although it rarely conducts field research, CRS assists committees in other aspects of their study and oversight responsibilities. In addition, it offers courses, including legal research seminars and institutes on the legislative process, the budget processes. At the beginning of each Congress, CRS also provides a seminar for new Members. CRS is now divided into six research divisions, each of which is further divided into subject specialist sections. The six divisions are, American Law, Domestic Social Policy, Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade, Government and Finance, Knowledge Services, CRS supports the Members, committees, and leaders of the House and Senate at all stages of the legislative process, Ideas for legislation
