United States History On This Date: April 1

1841—President William Henry Harrison's Health Declines

A Washington paper reports on April 1, that Harrison's health was decidedly better. In fact, Harrison's condition had seriously weakened, and Cabinet members and family were summoned to the White House—his wife Anna had remained in Ohio due to her own illness. According to papers in Washington on Friday, Harrison had rallied, despite a Baltimore Sun report that his condition was of a "more dangerous character".
1863 — Civil War: Battle of Suffolk Begins
Union forces under Maj. Gen. John A. Dix began defending Suffolk, Virginia, against Confederate troops led by Gen. James Longstreet. The engagement protected vital Union supply lines and demonstrated how even secondary theaters played crucial roles in the broader Civil War campaign.
1918 — U.S. Forces Enter Major Combat in World War I
Although the United States declared war in 1917, April 1, 1918 marked the first significant American‑led combat operations on the Western Front. The arrival of fresh U.S. troops boosted Allied morale and signaled a turning point in the long‑stalemated conflict.
1865 — Civil War: Battle of Five Forks
Confederate forces under Gen. George Pickett suffered a decisive defeat at Five Forks, Virginia. The loss shattered the defensive line protecting Petersburg and Richmond, accelerating the collapse of the Confederacy during the war’s final, desperate days.

Truman's Conscience American History Blogmanac Mission Statement Revisited 2026

Welcome to Truman’s Conscience American History Blogmanac.  As a public school teacher that has taught World & American history for the past 20 years I have been an off and on again custodian of this small humble effort to share my all consuming love for the historical arc of the United States.  I am forever drawn to its promise and call for every citizen to contribute to the American community to further the ideals called for in it’s Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  This coming academic year I will be starting my 21st and last year before retirement and that drive to consume myself in passing of that love to my students will take on a fresh effort as it does every year with the promise of  young minds open to learning just what the promise of the United States of America is historically, politically, socially, and economically.

The most admired historical American figure for me is the brother of our 35^th President, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  I was a 13 year old high school student the year he was assassinated.  I remember to this day how the news affected my mother as she awakened me shortly after midnight of June 5^th, 1968.  She was visibly upset and crying telling me to go watch the news coverage of the assassination attempt as it was a point in our history I should never forget.  She talked to me later that morning about the loss she felt after the loss of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and now Senator Robert Kennedy who she felt was so full of promise and hope like his older brother.  My father, who was away on an overseas cruise in the navy, related to me the very same feelings of disappointment and a feeling that our country was so much less without him.  My father passed on his sense of love for his country and the promise its arc of history gave us.

 

I read a speech by RFK in my college years where he once talked of that promise and the light our nation’s ideals, though woefully unrealized, offered to not only its citizens but to the rest of the world as well.  He felt it was his duty to be one of the many custodians of that promise and light our country offered and gave his life for that belief.  My blog of American History is a reflection of that custodianship, though a small and humble one.  This is an invitation to join me as we explore where we have been, our mistakes, and the things we have done right to further what Jefferson called for to guarantee every citizen no matter what their station in life an, “….unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Come join us.

 

American History Blogmanac will be here.

Ulysses S. Grant 3 Day Mini-Series Event History.com

Just saw an ad on MSNBC for a History.com three night special event on Ulysses S. Grant our 18^th President and General of the Union Army that literally saved the country.  Over the past few years there seems to be a shift in the perspective of Grant in the academic community.  This ‘revisionist’ look is taking him in as more of a heavyweight than he was essentially given credit for.  I’m really looking forward to it as I am just two years past my reading of William S. McFeely’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography on Ulysses S. Grant. McFeely passed away late last year and I understand that Leonardo DiCaprio is the executive producer of the mini-series.  I’ll review the series as it runs each night here at Truman’s Conscience American History Blogmanac.  More updates on the series as I run across it as so far all I know is it starts on Memorial Day evening, Monday, May 25^th.

American History By The Day: May, 17th

The American Revolution - Political*:  On this day in 1774 the citizens of Providence, Rhode Island, are the first to call for an intercolonial congress to combat the Coercive Acts.  This call is followed by one from Philadelphia on May, 21st, and another from New York on May, 23rd.  Instead of supporting Boston's call for immediate nonimportation, these cities advocate a discussion of possible common strategies at the proposed intercolonial congress.

The Civil War - Approach*:  On this day in 1838 pro-slavery mob grows angry because of the anti-slavery meetings held in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Hall.  They burn it to the ground.

Presidential Election - National*:  On this day in 1888 similary named and similarly motivated as the May 16th Union Labor Party in Cincinnati, Ohio, the United Labor Party holds its convention in Cincinnati, Ohio as well.  Robert H. Cowdrey of Illinoois is nominated for President, and W.H.T. Wakefield of Kansas for Vice-President.

*Source:  The Almanac of American History, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

American History By The Day: May 16th

American Politics:  A.J. Sweeter is nominated for President of the United States by the The Union Labor Party with Charles E. Cunningham of Arkansas for Vice-President in Cincinatti, Ohio on this date in 1888.  This is one several parties being formed to support the growing movement of the new militant American laborers.

American Government:  The Department of Interior takes on an added office - The Bureau of Mines on this day in 1910.

A Little American Anecdotal Humor

At a White House press conference various reporters were vainly firing questions at President Calvin Coolidge whose fame for being a man of very few words was transcendental with regards to his personality. Silent Cal didn't disappoint:

"Have you anything to say about prohibition?"

"No."

"Have you anything to say about the World Court?"

"No."

"About the farm situation?"

"No."

"About the forthcoming senatorial campaign?"

"No."

The conference was breaking up as the disappointed reporters began to file out of the room.

"And," the President suddenly called out, "don't quote me."

Happy Birthday To Our 13th President Millard Fillmore

You know your Presidency has an element of insignificance when you can't even get an honorable mention on Wikipedia's front page on your birthday. On this day the Unitarian and former Congressman from Summerhill, New York was born in 1800. He was 50 years and 184 days old on the day he succeeded Zachary Taylor, our 12th President, when he died in office on July 9th, 1850. His short term of office would be 2 years and 236 days.

The were few significant events during his short tenure in the White House: the admission of California as the 31st state in the union on Sept. 9th, 1850; the enactment of the fugitive slave law on Sept. 11, 1850; the departure of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in November of 1852 to open commercial ports; and finally his appointment of Associate Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis on Sept. 22, 1851 to the United States Supreme Court.

In the election of 1848 he would be elected to the Vice Presidency on the ticket with ol' Rough and Ready, Gen. Zachary Taylor. The twice married Fillmore was a member of the Whig party who had the dubious distinction of a sitting President unable to win the nomination of his own party when he decided to run for another term in the 1852 election losing out to ol' Fuss n' Feathers, Gen. Winfield Scott. Fillmore would suffer through an excruciating 53 ballots during the three day Whig convention in Maryland Institute Hall in Baltimore, Maryland July 17th through July 20th, 1852. He would start out with 133 votes on the first ballot and ending up with 112 on the final and deciding 53rd ballot. Though his Presidency would earn little to no respect he did manage to get two counties named after him in Minnesota and Nebraska and get his likeness on a 13 cent green stamp when a series was issued in 1938 honoring all the Presidents.

In Joseph Kane's Facts About the Presidents we learn some interesting comparative data about the 13th President:

• He was the second President born in New York
• He was the second President whose father was alive when he was inaugurated
• He was the second President to remarry
• He was the fourth President to marry a widow
• He was the first President to have a step mother

When he left office on March 4th, 1853 he became the Chancellor of the University of Buffalo. He would live 21 years and 4 days after the end of his term of office. He died on March 8th, 1874 in Buffalo, NY at the age of 74 years and 60 days. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY. His second wife, Caroline Fillmore would survive him by 7 years, 156 days.

Presidential Fact Of The Day

On this day, January 4th, 1965 President Lyndon Baines Johnson proposed his "Great Society" program in his State of the Union Address. As he was 15 days from finishing the late John F. Kennedy's term as his successor following the assassination of the 35th President on November 22, 1963, the proposal included elements of stalled initiatives from John F. Kennedy's original "New Frontier" proposals. LBJ's two main goals were the eradication of poverty and racial injustice.

LBJ had been elected to office by his own right on November 3rd, 1964 by defeating Barry Goldwater in the largest landslide for a Presidential candidate to date: 486 electoral votes to 52. This formed the basis of his mandate to enact his Great Society program that also included the formation of Medicare , Medicaid, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though this program had different targeted goals it rivaled FDR's "New Deal" in scope and size.