David's Desk

Presidents of the 1970’s

8G History Lesson 140 Assignment

In this week’s assignment, I will be summarizing the lives of three different presidents. They are Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter, and they were all president during the 1970s.

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in California. He received an education from Duke University, and decided to pursue law. He met Thelma Ryan and married her in 1940. Nixon also served a short term in the Navy during World War I. After the Navy, he became a member of the House of Representatives. Nixon’s popularity was boosted after his role in the investigation of Alger Hiss.

In the 1952 election, Nixon became Eisenhower’s vice president. Nixon didn’t do much while vice president, but he gained a large amount of popularity.

As president, Nixon was involved in overseas relations, like helping to improve relations between the U.S, China, and the U.S.S.R. But the main thing he is remembered for is the Watergate Scandal. The scandal involved a break-in of the Democratic Party Headquarters. 5 men broke in and stole important government documents. The men were on the Republican Committee to re-elect the president. Nixon tried to cover up this, and it led to an investigation.

Nixon decided to resign to avoid becoming impeached. This was the end of his political career, and he died on April 22, 1994.

Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was born on July 14, 1913 in Nebraska. His parents divorced while he was a baby, and he went with his mom to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford was a good football player when he was at the University of Michigan.

Ford served in Congress for 25 years, and was very popular and well-liked. He was thrust into the vice presidency when Nixon’s VP resigned, then when Nixon himself resigned, Ford became president. One of Ford’s first acts was to completely pardon Nixon. This was very controversial. Ford tried to limit inflation and helped to end the Vietnam war. Ford was almost assassinated twice!

During Ford’s reelection, he ran mostly behind Jimmy Carter, and eventually lost. Ford retired after leaving the White House, and enjoyed golfing and skiing. On December 26, 2006 Ford passed away.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter (full name James Earl Carter Jr.) was born on October 1, 1924 in Georgia. Carter, like both Nixon and Ford, went to college before serving in the Navy for a few years. Carter left the army after he heard the news that his father had passed away. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate, and then became governor of Georgia.

After his term as governor ended, he decided to run for president in the Democrat party. He was not very well known at the time, but he won the main election by a margin of 57 electoral votes.

Carter helped to form peace between Israel and Egypt and formed the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. The presidency was also marked by a few small scandals, but they were not very large in comparison to the Watergate Scandal when Nixon was in office.

Carter was defeated in the 1980 re-election by a large margin. After leaving the White House, Carter became a humanitarian and a diplomat. He is the longest lived former president, and he passed away at the age of 100 in 2024.

(Left to Right) Presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gerald-Ford

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jimmy-Carter/Life-after-the-presidency

John F. Kennedy

8G History Lesson 135 Assignment

In this assignment, I will summarize the life and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy, also known as JFK.

Childhood and Early Career

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Massachusetts. He was the second of nine children, and his parents were Roman Catholics. His father was a multi-millionaire businessman. John joined the U.S. navy in 1941, and when his time serving was up, he returned home in 1945 to pursue a career in politics. The war impacted him for the rest of his life, he suffered from many sustained injuries, and he also had Addison disease. This didn’t stop him from pursuing a career in politics.

Career in Politics

At age 29, he decided to run for Congress. He easily beat his opponent, and served 3 terms in the House of Representatives as a liberal Democrat. After his terms in the House, he ran for Senate, and again easily won.

As senator, Kennedy wanted to abolish the Electoral College vote, protested for labor reform, and supported civil rights legislation. Slowly, Kennedy achieved higher levels of recognition, and then decided to run for president in the 1960 election.

In the 1960 election, Kennedy and vice president Lyndon B. Johnson barely defeated Richard Nixon, Kennedy became the youngest president ever, at the age of 43.

Kennedy’s main accomplishments as president included helping to avoid a potential nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, helping to lay the foundations for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and challenging a man to land on the moon by the end of the century. Kennedy also increased the military presence in the Vietnam war, and cut taxes.

On Friday, November 22, 1963, JFK was riding with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy (whom he married in 1953) in a procession in Dallas, Texas, when suddenly he was struck by two bullets. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office to become president the next day. On the same day, Lee Oswald was accused of the assassination, but it remains a controversy today. Nobody has been able to explain Lee’s motives as to why he committed the act.

Kennedy is often remembered as one of the greatest presidents, but sadly, he didn’t really have much time to accomplish anything outstanding. His family line still lives on today. U.S. politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is JFK’s nephew.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy

How I Would Invest $2000

Personal Finance Lesson 145 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be breaking down how I would invest $2000 if someone gave it to me and had to keep it invested for at least 5 years. Then, I will explain why I picked my investments.

If I was given $2000, I would make sure to diversify my investments. Here is what I would invest in. The number is how much of the $2000 I would invest in that particular thing.

I would invest the majority in Bitcoin, because it is scarce (there will only ever be 21,000,000 bitcoin) and in high demand. The demand will most likely keep increasing as more and more people realize that it is one of the best and most powerful currencies out there. It is also decentralized, meaning that no one person or government makes the rules about bitcoin. I would also invest in gold, which is also very scarce and in very high demand. The S&P 500 is another thing I would invest in. This will help to diversify my investing portfolio. It is also fairly inexpensive, and less risky than buying single stocks, which I had considered.

Thanks for reading!

Also, if you are interested in bitcoin or want to learn more about it, here are some resources:

https://www.bitcoin.org

https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information.html

My Top 5 Investing Tips

Personal Finance Lesson 140 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be giving 5 tips of investing advice. (Note: I am not by any means an investment professional, this is a required school assignment!)

Top 5 Investing Tips

Diversify: This is one of the most important things to do when investing in anything. If you invest only in one stock and that stock drops, you would lose a lot of money! Diversification helps minimize your losses and maximize your gains.
Use index funds: Index funds are an easy way to diversify, and they can help reduce transaction fees. It is less expensive to buy index funds than each of the individual stocks.
Research: Things will change over time, so investment advice given years ago may not be as relevant today. Make sure you do your research so you know what you are getting into.
Pay attention to your investments: This seems obvious, but make sure you are regularly checking on your investments to see how they are doing. If you need to, you can sell off or buy more assets.
Make an emergency fund: A very important one! Set aside some cash or easily exchangeable assets, so that you have extra funds for an emergency. Make sure they are easily exchangeable, you don’t want to have real estate as your emergency fund!

These are my top 5 investing tips. I didn’t recommend specific stocks or investments, that is up to you! Personally, I would invest in bitcoin, gold and other precious metals, and stocks or index funds.

If you have any other tips you would like to add, please comment below.

America in the 1950’s

8G History Lesson 130 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be summarizing the events and culture in America during the 1950’s.

Civil Rights Movement

The 50’s saw increased awareness of the civil rights movement. This was a time when America was segregated. Schools, restaurants, pools, parks, and even water fountains were segregated, separating the Black and White facilities. This was extremely unfair, and people had been against it for a long time, but the movement was brought to light in the 50’s. One of the significant events was the Montgomery bus boycott. This started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person that got on the bus. Black Americans at the time were expected to give up their seats anytime a white person got onto the bus. This sparked a full-on boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, with Martin Luther King Jr. as the leader. It lasted almost a whole year.

There were also many other acts of protest, including marches. A famous one was the Selma march. Tragically, many people that peacefully protested during the marches were brutally hurt and sometimes killed by the police force, as in the Bloody Sunday event during the Selma march. The issues of racial equality are still prominent today, and movements such as Black Lives Matter have gained popularity.

Television and Music

Television became very common in American households during the 1950’s. In 1950, only about 9 percent of Americans owned a television set, but by the end of the 50’s it was nearing 90 percent. Popular shows included I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, and many others. Quiz shows also became popular. Today, over 96 percent of Americans have a TV.

A new type of music became popular in the 50’s. Called rock and roll, it was a hybrid of many different styles. One of the first and most famous rock and roll artist was none other than the great Elvis Presley. Rock and roll remains one of the most (if not the most) popular genres of music today.