Most significant day in each presidency since FDR

[President Johnson]

Which day would you consider the most important date in each presidency since FDR?


I'd suggest the following:

Franklin Roosevelt: December 7, 1941. Attack on Pearl Harbor that finally caused the US to enter World War II

Harry Truman: March 12, 1947. When he announced the Truman Doctrine before congress, that laid the groundwork for major foreign policy decisions.

Dwight Eisenhower: The only one I'm really unsure about. Maybe September 2, 1958, when he signed the National Defense Education Act.

John F. Kennedy: October 28, 1962. When the Cuban Missile Crisis way finally resolved.

Lyndon Johnson: July 2, 1964. Signed the Civil Rights Act into law. There's also a case to make for August 4, 1964 (Gulf of Tonkin incident) or January 31, 1968 (Tet Offensive).

Richard Nixon: June 17, 1972. The day of the Watergate break-in. July 16, 1969 is also a contender for the moon landing or January 27, 1973 (Paris Peace Accords).

Gerald Ford: April 30, 1975. Fall of Saigon.

Jimmy Carter: July 15, 1979. Crisis of Confidence speech.

Ronald Reagan: August 13, 1981. When he signed the Economic Recovery Act, the foundation for Reaganomics. June 12, 1987 is also a contender ("tear down this wall" speech).

George Bush: November 9, 1989. The day the iron curtain came down.

Bill Clinton: February 12, 1999? The day the senate acquitted him. November 8, 1994 (Republican Revolution) is a major contender as well.

George W. Bush: September 11, 2001. No further explanation needed.

Barack Obama: March 23, 2010, when he signed the ACA.

Donald Trump: January 6, 2021. Attempted coup.

Joe Biden: Either August 16, 2022 (Inflation Reduction Act) or February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

[Orser67]

Agreed on FDR, Ford, Bush II, Obama, Trump, and Biden.

For Truman, I think it's a tough call between various markers for the start of the Cold War (including the Berlin airlift), the day WW2 ended, and the day the Korean War started.

For JFK I think his assassination is neck-and-neck with the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think the latter is more significant in a lot of ways, but the former just had such a huge cultural significance.

LBJ's complicated presidency has a huge number of dates to choose from. At the moment, I'm a little partial to the day he was re-elected, which validated his agenda in 1964 and gave him massive majorities to the lead the country for the next four years. There's also the day he announced he wouldn't seek reelection.

For Nixon, I'd personally go with the day he resigned. Though ultimately it's kind of a matter of perspective on the most important date for Watergate.

For Carter, there's also the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the start of the Iran hostage crisis (also the failure of Operation Eagle Claw). I do like the crisis of confidence speech for being symbolic of his presidency.

For Reagan, I think in a lot of ways the key date was the day of his assassination attempt, since his survival ensured he'd continue to be president (as opposed to the more moderate Bush) and bolstered his popularity.

For Bush, the fall of the Iron Curtain arguably has the most worldwide impact, and certainly has the most cultural significance as an historical event. But there's a couple other dates involving the fall of the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact, and there's also the Gulf War to consider.

For Clinton, a date I'd throw in is the end of the second government shut down of the 104th Congress. That day signified Clinton's victory in budgetary stand-offs with Newt Gingrich (and more broadly marked the success of his triangulation strategy), which boosted his popularity going into the 1996 election and, in some sense, marked the end of the 1994 Republican Revolution.