Ronald Reagan’s administration drew the lesson from his immediate predecessor that it was best to focus on one or two domestic issues during the first 100 days. Perhaps best remembered from Carter’s early months is his speech from the White House to declare that energy policy and efforts to end American dependence on oil were the “moral equivalent of war.” Possibly because of his inexperience in Washington, he asked Congress to pursue several different domestic policy goals, many of which never passed into law. Jimmy Carter also had an inauspicious start. Gerald Ford’s first 100 days are best remembered for his swearing-in ceremony following Nixon’s resignation, when he announced that “our long national nightmare is over.” He pardoned Nixon one month later for any crimes the former president had committed in office. I plan for the long term.” Later, it was revealed that he had ordered a secret bombing of Cambodia during the period. Nixon told reporters: “I don’t count either the days or the hours, and I have never really thought in terms of 100 days.
While Richard Nixon also promoted an ambitious domestic agenda in the White House, his first 100 days contained no major achievements. Lyndon Johnson’s first 100 days were largely consumed by coping with the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination, but LBJ also used the period and Kennedy’s legacy to begin the groundwork to pass major civil rights and war on poverty legislation. John Kennedy entered office with an ambitious agenda, which included the creation of the Peace Corps, but his first 100 days are probably best remembered for the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Truman to Clintonįollowing FDR’s death, Harry Truman’s first 100 days were focused on the closing battles of World War II, with Germany’s surrender occurring less than one month after Truman took office.ĭwight Eisenhower’s first 100 days were similarly dominated by foreign policy, including the death of Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin and negotiations to end the Korean War. Let’s consider how the presidents have done. The authors attributed that to changes in Congress that have slowed down the lawmaking process. In a 2001 study, political scientists John Frendreis, Raymond Tatalovich and Jon Schaff determined that the presidents who followed FDR have not come close to his success levels in seeing proposed bills pass into law so early in their administrations. This flurry of activity became the standard by which future presidents would be judged.
to insure bank deposits and the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide rural electricity. These bills created the Public Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps to provide job opportunities, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In the decades since, journalists, historians and political scientists continued the practice of looking for accomplishments in the early months of a presidency.ĭuring those 100 days, FDR got many major bills through Congress to battle the economic crisis of the Great Depression. In a July 24 Fireside Chat, FDR referred to “the crowding events of the 100 days which had been devoted to the starting of the wheels of the New Deal.”
Rather, he had in mind measuring the New Deal achievements of the first 100 days of a special congressional session that year. FDR didn’t plan to put himself under scrutiny. Vice President John Nance Garner (left) affectionately pats the head of President Franklin D.
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