Man of Steel essays

Man of Steel essays IN the years 1927 to 1953 a man who was exactly what the USSR needed took power, Joseph Stalin. From the start Stalin had a vision of what he wanted for the country and stuck to it. With doing this he led them through his amazing economic plan, and also prepared them for war. Joseph Stalin really was the man of steel. Stalin was one of the few leaders of the USSR who actually had a vision. Some may say that this vision was the reason for most of his success. From the very start of his leadership, he started the country moving forward and never backwards. One of Stalin's greatest achievements was the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union with his economic plan. To have a strong economic system, a country needs the three factors of production; land, labor and capital. Stalin accomplished this more than any other former leader of the USSR. He may have been lacking in capital but he had a full workforce to provide labor, and he also controlled large amounts of land filled with natural resources. Under his rule industrialization of his country increased by thirteen percent. Much of the industrialization occurred within his five-year plans. From 1928 to 1937, the Soviet had many gains, all of which happened in only nine years. In 1904-1905 Russia was severely beaten in the Russo-Jap war. Stalin took note of this and saw that he had to prepare his country for another war, which he saw was coming. To do this, production of massive amounts of military weapons was established. Also, by warning his people of a war that may come, he brought his country closer together. Under his ruling, during World War II, the Soviet became the second most powerful nation in the world, economically and militarily Despite Stalins forceful tactics he got what he needed done and he got it done fast. How many leaders can say they accomplished as much as Stalin did in only ten months? He eliminated the people of opp ...

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President James A. Garfield ( November 19, 1831- September 19, 1881) was an educator, lawyer, and a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate and to the U.S. Congress before becoming the 20th American president on March 4, 1881. He served only until Sept. 19, 1881, when he died from complications caused by an assassins bullet 11 weeks before. Fast Facts: James A. Garfield Known For: 20th president of the United StatesBorn: Nov. 19, 1831 in Cuyahoga County, OhioParents: Abram Garfield, Eliza Ballou GarfieldDied: Sept. 19, 1881 in Elberon,  New JerseyEducation: Williams CollegeSpouse: Lucretia RudolphChildren: Seven; two died in infancy Early Life Garfield was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Abram Garfield, a farmer, and  Eliza Ballou Garfield. His father died when Garfield was just 18 months old. His mother tried to make ends meet with the farm, but he and his three siblings, two sisters and a brother, grew up in relative poverty. He attended a local school before moving on to Geauga Academy in Geauga  County, Ohio in 1849. He then went to the Western Reserve  Eclectic  Institute (later called Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio, teaching to help pay his way. In 1854, he attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with honors two years later. On Nov. 11, 1858, Garfield married  Lucretia Rudolph, who had been a student of his at the Eclectic Institute. She was working as a teacher when Garfield wrote to her and they began courting. She contracted malaria while serving as first lady but lived a long life after Garfields death, dying on March 14, 1918. They had two daughters and five sons, two of whom died when they were infants. Career Before the Presidency Garfield began his career as an instructor in classical languages at the Eclectic Institute and was its president from 1857 to 1861. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860, and he was ordained a minister in the  Disciples of Christ  church, but he soon turned to politics. He served as an Ohio state senator from 1859 to 1861. Garfield joined the Union army in 1861, taking part in the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga and reaching the rank of major general. He was elected to Congress while still in the military, resigning to take his seat as a U.S. representative and serving from 1863 to 1880. During this time he had an extramarital affair with a woman in  New York City. He later admitted the indiscretion and was forgiven by his wife. Becoming President In 1880, the Republicans nominated Garfield to run for president as a compromise candidate between conservatives and moderates. Conservative candidate Chester A. Arthur was nominated as vice president. Garfield was opposed by Democrat Winfield Hancock. Acting upon the advice of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield shied away from actively campaigning, speaking to reporters and voters from his home in  Mentor, Ohio, in what was referred to as the first â€Å"front porch† campaign. He won 214 out of 369 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments Garfield was in office for only six and a half months. He spent much of that time dealing with patronage issues. The one major issue that he faced was an investigation of whether mail route contracts were being awarded fraudulently, with tax money going to those involved. The investigation implicated members of his Republican Party, but Garfield didnt flinch from continuing. In the end, revelations from the incident, called the Star Route Scandal, resulted in important civil service reforms. Assassination On  July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, shot  Garfield  in the back in the Washington, D.C., railroad station while he was on his way to a family vacation in  New England. The president lived until Sept. 19 of that year. Guiteau apparently was driven by politics, saying to police after he surrendered, Arthur is now president of the United States. He was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. The cause of death was massive hemorrhaging and slow  blood poisoning, which was later described as being related more to the unsanitary way physicians treated the president than to the wounds themselves. Doctors of the time were unschooled in the role of hygiene in preventing infection. The standard procedure was to devote most of the treatment effort to removing the bullet, and a number of doctors repeatedly poked his wound in an unsuccessful search. Legacy Garfield served the second shortest presidential term in American history, topped only by the 31-day term of William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, who caught a cold that turned into fatal pneumonia. Garfield was buried in Lake View Cemetery in  Cleveland. Upon his death, Vice President Arthur became president. Because of Garfields brief time in office, he couldnt achieve much as president. But by allowing the investigation into the mail scandal to continue despite its effect on members of his own party, Garfield paved the way for civil service reform. He also was an early champion of the rights of African-Americans, believing that education was the best hope for improving their lives. In his inaugural address, he said: â€Å"The elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people.†¦It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both.† Garfields prolonged death is credited with helping to establish the American president as a celebrity. The public and the media of the day were described as being obsessed with  his lengthy passing, more so even than they had been with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln 16 years before. Sources James Garfield. WhiteHouse.gov.James A. Garfield: President of the United States. Encyclopedia Brittanica.