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Learn English as you read and listen to our American history series. The programs are written at the intermediate and upper-beginner level and are read one-third slower than regular VOA English. Download free texts, MP3s and PDFs.
Memorial Day is a national holiday observed in the United States on the last Monday in May. It is a day when Americans honor the men and women who have died fighting in America’s wars. For most Americans, it also marks the unofficial start of summer. It is a popular weekend for vacationing.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American civil rights leader. He was killed in 1968 at the age of 39. The United States remembers and honors him with a holiday on the third Monday in January
Today we are talking about Joe Biden. He took office in 2021, becoming America’s 46th President.
Today we are talking about Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. president. He was elected in 2016. Because his presidency is so new, this program will not discuss his time in office. Instead, it will discuss his early life.
Obama is the United States’ first African-American president. His father was a black man from Kenya; his mother was a white American from the Midwestern state of Kansas. For many Americans, Obama’s presidency was an important symbol in a country that permitted black people to be enslaved.
Today we are talking about George Walker Bush. He took office in 2001 as the 43rd president. Bush will surely be remembered for facing one of the biggest challenges to any president: the attacks against the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
Clinton took office in 1993, and was re-elected in 1996. In many ways, historians consider his time in office a success. The economy expanded, and the country was largely at peace.
Before he became president in 1989, Bush had a lot of experience in government. He spent four years in the United States House of Representatives, worked as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and led the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. Then, for eight years, he was vice president.
Today we are talking about Ronald Reagan. He was president for two terms, and served from 1981 to 1989. Before that, he was the governor of California, worked as an actor and led a labor union. As president, Reagan is credited for changing the direction of the country.
Carter was elected president in 1976. Until he campaigned for the office, few Americans knew who he was. But Carter said his lack of experience with the federal government made him the best candidate. After witnessing years of problems in the White House, many voters appeared to agree with him.
Many historians have described Ford as a good man facing a difficult situation. He tried to fix a troubled economy, end United States' involvement in Vietnam, and show people that the U.S. government could continue to operate after a crisis.
Nixon is well-known to many Americans for one reason: he was the only president to resign from the position. Facing possible legal action by Congress, Nixon left office early in his second term.
Many Americans recognize Johnson from a photograph of his swearing-in on November 22, 1963. Kennedy had just been shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas. After doctors announced that Kennedy had died, Johnson took the oath of office as president.
When he took office in 1961, Kennedy was 43 years old. He was the youngest elected president in United States history. Kennedy was also the first Catholic to be elected U.S. president.
Eisenhower was famous before he became president of the United States. He was a general in World War II, and led the Allied invasion of Europe. As president, Eisenhower became known for his efforts to keep peace.
Truman took office after Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. Roosevelt had been president for 12 years. But Truman was new to the position of vice president. Two other men had earlier served in the office under Roosevelt.
Today we are talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was related to an earlier president with same last name, Theodore Roosevelt. Many Americans call Franklin Roosevelt by the first letter of each word in his full name: FDR.
July 4, 1776 is the day the Continental Congress officially approved the Declaration of Independence. Celebrations began soon after with parades, public readings and other events.
Fighting in the nation’s war for independence had already begun.
But it was not until 1870 that the U.S. Congress passed a law to set July 4th as the national observance of Independence Day. The law was updated in 1938 and again in 1941.
Recently, another holiday to mark American independence was established by the U.S. Congress. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act observes the end of slavery in the United States. The U.S. now officially observes 11 yearly holidays.
State and local gatherings for Independence Day and other holidays are as old as the country itself.
The Pulitzer Prize winning historian Eric Phoner said national holidays were a way to unify the nation after the Civil War. “The Civil War consolidated national power in all sorts of ways, and national holidays are an illustration of that,” he said.
Some observers point out that Independence Day has been caught up in the country’s divisions from a very early time. In the 1780s and 1790s, two political sides argued over who should get credit for writing the Declaration of Independence. The document famously declares that “…all men are created equal.”
The Democratic Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson thought that he should get the credit while supporters of a strong central government, the Federalists, said others helped too.
In the years before the Civil War, Black Americans were often not included in official July 4 events. Instead, they would celebrate on July 5. The Black writer Frederick Douglass gave his well-known speech, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July, on July 5, 1852, at an anti-slavery gathering New York.
There is discussion in the U.S. about whether it is right to observe July 4 as Independence Day. The debates involve questions about the country’s beginnings and the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Some say the meaning of July 4 continues to change over time. They note that Franklin Roosevelt and George W. Bush were among the presidents who honored the military in Independence Day speeches.
Last year, former President Donald Trump gave a speech at Mount Rushmore in the state of South Dakota. At the time, the coronavirus health crisis was intensifying but there also were protests across the country.
The Mount Rushmore memorial includes huge sculptures of the faces of four American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Trump praised those leaders and criticized people who would damage or deface statues representing the nation’s founders.
At the time, then presidential candidate Joe Biden released a video. In it, he said that the country had not yet lived up to the promise of equality. He noted that Jefferson was a slaveholder.
“America is no fairy tale,” Biden said. It struggles with two forces, he said: “The idea that all men and women — all people — are created equal and the racism that has torn us apart.”
I’m Mario Ritter Jr.
Hillel Italie wrote this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
consolidate –v. to make something stronger and more secure
illustration –n. an example that makes an issue easier to understand
sculpture –n. a piece of art that is made by carving or molding clay, stone, metal, etc.
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VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
Today we are not going to talk about any one president. We will instead talk about the presidency itself -- what some people call “the office of the presidency.”
That does not mean the room where the leader of the United States works. Here, it means the position and powers of the U.S. president.
Sidney Milkis is part of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He and others at the Miller Center are specialists on U.S. political history.
Milkis says that, when it was created in the late 1700s, the U.S. presidency was unlike any other position in world history.
“For thousands of years before the American Constitution people thought a strong executive power and a democracy – what Jefferson called self-government – were incompatible. Because how could a sovereign people delegate tremendous responsibility to one individual and still consider themself a democracy, even a representative democracy?”
In other words, the idea of giving a lot of power to one person made sense – if the country were a monarchy and ruled by a king or queen.
And giving a lot of power to an elected group in a legislature made sense – if the country were a democracy, and voters elected representatives.
But giving a lot of power to one person in a democracy did not seem to make sense.
The writers of the Constitution understood this situation. They were concerned about giving one person too much power. Remember, the country’s founders had just fought a war for independence against the British. The American colonists had not liked being under the control of a British king.
They also worried that a strong executive could become a tyrant or corrupt, adds curator Harry Rubenstein. He is a curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.
But the Constitution’s writers had also seen the problems of a weak executive branch. Asking state legislatures to make national decisions took too long, and sometimes the problems were never resolved at all.
Historian Sidney Milkis says that, as a result of these ideas -- some of them conflicting -- the writers of the Constitution argued about what the office of the president should be.
“There were people like James Madison and [Thomas] Jefferson, who thought the president’s power should be limited, and the term ‘president’ meant ‘preside.’ And Congress and the states should be the leading venues of American democracy.”
Other people who helped write the U.S. Constitution, such as Alexander Hamilton, thought the president should be what Milkis calls “the anchor of American democracy.” Hamilton thought the president should have enough power to direct large projects for the public good.
So what happened?
Well, in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention found a unique solution. First, they agreed to make the president a one-person job. One person, they reasoned, could both make decisions more effectively than a group, and be more easily held responsible for them.
But they decided not to give the president too much power. The person would be elected for one four-year term at a time. And the president would share power with a national legislature and a supreme court.
The delegates also decided some of the details about how the president would be elected, and how to remove the person from office. And they said the president would have a number of duties. They include being the commander in chief of the military, nominating public officials, and giving Congress a report on the state of the Union. This list is comes from Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
But a lot of the job description was left open. It said the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Since it was written in 1787, that expression has informed discussions about what powers the U.S. president should really have.
Historian Sidney Milkis says Americans are still debating how much power the president should have. For most of the 19th century, he says, the powers of the president were more limited. But since the 20th century, the position has become more powerful. The president has moved closer to the center of American democracy.
But in time, Milkis says, Americans may decide to limit the president’s authority again, and give more power to Congress and state governments.
Milkis adds one more thing about the unusual invention of the U.S. president. It was unclear that the public would trust a national executive. But as our America’s Presidents series shows, for the most part, Americans respect the office of the president. Instead of fearing our great leaders, says Milkis, we honor them.
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
incompatible - adj. not able to exist together without trouble or conflict : not going together well
sovereign - adj. having independent authority and the right to govern itself
preside - v. to be in charge of something
venue - n. the place where an event takes place
anchor - n. a person or thing that provides strength and support
unique - n. belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person
While the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, some Americans are marking the day with sadness.
The United American Indians of New England call the national holiday a National Day of Mourning. They will mark the day in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the place where some of North America’s first European settlers landed.
Organizers describe the event as a time to remember “the genocide of millions of native people, the theft of native lands and the relentless assault on native culture.”
Native American groups have been holding the National Day of Mourning since 1970. But they say their message is especially urgent this year. That is because the town of Plymouth is getting ready to hold a number of events marking the settlers’ arrival. The Pilgrims first landed in the Native Americans’ land, what is now Massachusetts, nearly 400 years ago.
As the anniversary nears, ancestors of the native people who met the Pilgrims want to make sure the world hears the whole story. The Wampanoag tribe helped the European settlers survive. Its members say the settlers brought diseases, racism and oppression.
What happens on the National Day of Mourning?
This year, on November 28, people taking part in the National Day of Mourning will gather at mid-day on Cole’s Hill. The hill overlooks Plymouth Rock, a memorial to the colonists’ arrival. The area also has a large statue of the Wampanoag leader in 1620.
At the gathering, Native Americans from tribes around New England will beat drums, offer prayers and read speeches. Then they will march through the streets of Plymouth, joined by like-minded supporters.
Organizers say that this year, the marchers will call attention to the situation of missing and murdered native women. They will also note government action on migrants from Latin America and the detentions of children. The organizers have already made signs saying, “We didn’t cross the border – the border crossed us!”
How have the events affected ideas about Thanksgiving?
Francis Bremer is an expert on the Pilgrims and professor emeritus of history at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. He thinks the nation is listening better to what the native groups are saying. He calls their message “a side of the story that’s too often been ignored.”
Paula Peters is a Wampanoag writer and activist. Peters sees progress in how Americans think about their history. They are starting to look past the false Thanksgiving story about Pilgrims and natives living peacefully together, she says.
She adds that the work of native groups continues to honor their ancestors. They are taking their history out of the margins and moving it to the center of attention.
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
William Cole wrote this story for the Associated Press. Kelly Jean Kelly adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
relentless – adj. continuing without becoming weaker, less severe
assault – n. attack or criticism
margin – n. the part of a page that is above, below, or to the side of the printed part
Last month, United States lawmakers launched an impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump.
The move is unusual in American history. Only three out of 44 U.S. presidents have faced impeachment. But so far, none of them has ever been convicted and removed from office.
Andrew Johnson
The possibility of impeaching top public officials for treason or other high crimes is written in the U.S. Constitution. A majority of delegates to the Constitutional Convention approved the process in 1787. But lawmakers did not first use it against a president until more than 80 years later.
At that time, the country was recovering from a civil war. President Andrew Johnson clashed repeatedly with some members of Congress. They disagreed about civil rights for newly freed slaves, and about how to deal with the southern states that had left the union.
To limit the president’s power, Congress passed a rule saying the president could not remove a Cabinet official without the approval of lawmakers. Johnson showed his objection to the rule by dismissing a Cabinet member while Congress was out of session.
Lawmakers answered the move in 1868 by impeaching Johnson for violating the rule. They also noted their disapproval of some of the angry public statements he made. They added charges that he “had brought disgrace and ridicule to the presidency,” writes historian Elizabeth Varon of the University of Virginia.
The case went to the Senate for trial. A number of senators were ready to vote to remove Johnson from office. However, the president’s lawyers argued that his actions were not really “high crimes.” Senators also knew that if Johnson were removed, he would be replaced by a politician many did not like. In the end, they voted to let him keep his job – but only by one vote.
Johnson did not seek another term as president.
Richard Nixon
For more than a hundred years, the U.S. House of Representatives did not bring impeachment articles against another president.
Then, in 1974, House members charged President Richard Nixon with asking people who worked for him to commit illegal acts. Among them were secret efforts to try to find damaging information about Nixon’s opponents. The president was also charged with trying to block the government’s investigation into his actions.
For several years during the investigation, many politicians and voters had supported Nixon. The president even won re-election in 1972. But in time, more evidence about Nixon’s abuses of power were made public. Lawmakers in his own party decided they could no longer support him. One party leader visited Nixon and warned that, if the case went to trial, more than two-thirds of the senators would vote to convict him.
Nixon decided to resign instead and turn his job over to the vice president. He returned to private life as, in the words of Miller Center researcher Ken Hughes, a broken man. But he later re-entered public life, wrote books and advised later presidents.
Bill Clinton
In 1998, House members again approved articles of impeachment. This time they were against President Bill Clinton.
The articles charged him with lying under oath about his relationship with a 25-year-old woman who worked at the White House. They also charged him with blocking investigations by interfering with witnesses.
The following year, senators held a trial to decide whether to convict Clinton. His supporters argued that his actions did not harm the country or the government. But critics said his actions challenged the rule of law and so could be considered “high crimes.”
In the end, senators’ votes were divided about in half – not enough to remove Clinton from office. He completed the remaining two years of his term as a popular president with a majority of voters, even if many thought he was dishonest.
Now, in 2019, lawmakers are launching another impeachment investigation into a president. Leaders in the House have said they will decide by the end of the year whether to issue charges.
I’m Pete Musto and I'm Dorothy Gundy.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
convict - v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law
out of session - n. not holding formal meetings (such as a court of law or legislature)
article - n. a separate part of a legal document that deals with a single subject
commit - v. to do something that is illegal or harmful
under oath - n. having made a formal promise to tell the truth in a court of law
challenge - v. to question the action or authority of something
“Gerrymander” is an old word for an idea that is still important today in the United States.
The term was first used in 1812 by an artist who made pictures for a newspaper. The artist wanted to call attention to a strangely-shaped voting area in the state of Massachusetts. The area looked like an animal: a salamander, to be exact. It had a strange shape because Massachusetts officials made it that way to help the political party of the state’s governor, Elbridge Gerry. So the newspaper called the area a “Gerry-mander.”
Over time, many people exchanged the hard "g" for a soft "g." Today, creating a voting area for the purpose of helping a political party is commonly called “gerrymandering.” The issue remains in the news because politicians have a chance to re-create voting districts every 10 years, after the nation’s population is counted.
In most states, officials from the majority party change the boundaries of voting districts after the count is completed. Each area must have about the same number of people. But officials can group similar voters together. Or they can split up groups of like-minded voters to limit their power.
Critics of gerrymandering argue that the way a voting district is mapped strongly influences which party wins a race, especially races for the U.S. Congress. They say the custom is not democratic – it puts the interests of political parties over those of voters.
Some politicians defend the practice – especially when they are in the majority. They say gerrymandering is legal, part of the political process or not really an important issue. They also say the Constitution gives the power to create voting areas to state lawmakers.
Once again, critics object. They say the courts, including the Supreme Court, could and should step in.
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
The United States Congress is supposed to represent the U.S. population. Yet the number of people who live in the country keeps changing.
So every 10 years, on years that end with a zero, the federal government organizes a nationwide census. That is, the government counts up the people who live in the U.S. and its territories.
Census workers also ask questions to help officials better understand the kind of people who live in each home or household. Questions include residents’ ages, their ethnic group or groups, and what kind of place they live in: a house, apartment building or other kind of home.
Individuals’ answers are kept private for 72 years. But the general information is widely shared.
For example, everyday Americans can get the number for the total U.S. population. They can learn what percent of Americans are children or older adults; male or female; African-American, white, native, Latino or mixed.
They can find out about how many people are immigrants or speak a language other than English. They can get an idea of how much money the average household earns, and how many people have completed high school, college or advanced degree programs.
This and other information helps the government make decisions related to housing, schools, budgets and other issues. The information also helps identify how many lawmakers an area will send to the U.S. House of Representatives. After a Census, some areas gain seats; others lose them.
The Census is such an important part of the country’s record-keeping, it is required by law. The Constitution-writers required a Census count, beginning in 1790. Today, anyone who does not provide answers can be charged up to $5,000.
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
resident - n. someone who lives in a particular place
Many news stories about the United States government tell about Congress and American lawmakers. The U.S. Congress is the nation’s legislature. It is made of two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives is called “the House” for short. And sometimes it is called “the People’s House.”
That term was chosen as a nickname because the men who wrote the U.S. Constitution in 1787 set few restrictions on who could serve there. They wanted the House to be as close as possible to everyday Americans.
One of the writers of the Constitution, James Madison, wrote about the House years later. He noted, “The door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.”
In other words, House members can be born in the United States or in any other country. They can be as young as 25 years old, or -- as some members have been -- into their 90s. They do not have to be rich. And they do not have to belong to any religion.
However, in reality, for many years only free white men were permitted to serve as lawmakers. Women and other groups had limited legal rights, to say the least. However, as laws changed over time, members of the House also changed.
The website of the U.S. House of Representatives notes, “The House’s first African-American member was elected in 1870. The first Hispanic member took office in 1877, the first woman member in 1917, the first Asian-American member in 1957, and the first African-American woman member in 1969.”
The country’s Constitution-writers also made the terms for House members short, compared to the president and senators – only two years. One reason is so House members would have to stay in close contact with the people who live in the area they represent. Otherwise, voters would soon have a chance to push them out of office.
Speaking of voters…
One of the other central ideas about the House of Representatives is that known as “proportional representation.” The idea was that each member of the House would represent 30,000 U.S. citizens. That situation would enable states with large populations to send more lawmakers to Congress.
But the Constitution-writers of 1787 struggled with how to count a state’s population. At that time, more than 650,000 enslaved people lived in the country. After much debate, the Constitution-writers decided the enslaved population would be only partly counted for legal and tax purposes. The decision is known as the 3/5 compromise.
The first U.S. House of Representatives had 67 members. As the country’s population grew, the number of House members increased – from 105, to 142, and so on. After the approval of constitutional amendments following the Civil War, most formerly enslaved people were fully counted in the state’s population.
The House continued to grow into the 20th century. Finally, in 1929, lawmakers officially limited the total number of House members to 435. Today, each member of the House represents about 700,000 people.
What do members of the House do?
Members of the House, along the senators, develop national laws. They also help voters who live in their districts deal with problems related to the government.
And members of the House have other important jobs. They can investigate people with government ties who are suspected of wrongdoing. For example, members of the House have looked into cases of bribery, corruption, and abuses of power.
In the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee demanded information from private citizens suspected of communist activity. But critics said the committee had gone too far. In time, the Supreme Court limited Congress’ power to investigate issues related to the law, instead of people’s private beliefs.
Over its history, the House has brought impeachment charges against government officials, including presidents, more than 60 times. But only a few officials were removed from office. Of those, some were federal judges accused of being drunk at court.
‘Power of the purse’ and war powers
Members of Congress also have what some call “the power of the purse.” In other words, they control how the government spends public money.
The House of Representatives website explains that the Constitution-writers wanted to put spending decisions in the hands of the people’s representatives in Congress.
Similarly, the Constitution-writers did not want the chief executive to decide alone whether to take the country to war. They wanted to make war difficult to enter. They also wanted to prevent the president from going to war because of political or personal interests. So they wrote that the Congress had the power to declare war.
But in truth, lawmakers have only officially “declared war” 11 times. The last time was in 1942. Since then, Congress has simply approved the use of military force.
I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
merit - n. a good quality or feature that deserves to be praised
profession - n. the act of declaring or saying something openly
proportional - adj. having a size, number, or amount that is directly related to or appropriate for something
impeachment - n. the charge of a crime done while in office
purse - n. an amount of money that a person, organization, or government has available to use
executive - n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company or organization
The Senate is one of the two parts of the United States Congress, the legislature that makes the country’s laws.
The Congress has two parts because the men who wrote the U.S. Constitution could not agree on details of the new form of government.
Men from states with large populations thought they should be able to send more lawmakers to Congress. After all, their states had more people.
But men from states with smaller populations thought each state should have the same number of lawmakers. After all, people in small states did not want their voices to be lost.
So the Constitution-writers agreed that part of Congress should be based on states’ populations, and the other part of Congress should have equal representation.
The Senate is the part with equal representation. Each state has two senators, no matter how big or small its population.
Differences between the Senate and House
The Constitution-writers expected members of the Senate – called senators – to help set limits on the office of the president. They gave senators the power to decide whether to try and remove the president and other government officials accused of wrongdoing. Senators also approve or reject the president’s choices for top government positions, including Supreme Court justices. And senators have powers to approve treaties with other countries.
At the same time, the Constitution-writers wanted the Senate to limit what they feared would be the strong emotions of voters. James Madison called it a “fence” against the passion of the people.
George Washington reportedly said the Senate would “cool” laws proposed by House members, who were more closely connected with everyday Americans.
Because senators have so much responsibility, the Constitution-writers required them to be a little older than House members – at least 30 years old, compared to 25. And they decided that each senator would serve six years – compared to two for members of the House. A longer time in office would make the Senate stronger and reduce political pressures, they reasoned.
However, not all senators finish their terms at once. Every two years, one-third of senators must leave their office or seek re-election. The other two-thirds remain in place.
Finally, the Constitution-writers decided that state lawmakers would elect the state’s senators. This situation would permit states some additional power in the federal government. However, in 1913, the Constitution was changed to permit voters to elect senators directly.
The work of the Senate
The Senate does its lawmaking work through 16 regular committees. They study and make decisions on the federal budget, foreign relations, national laws and other issues.
Senators also gather together to talk – a lot – about why they plan to vote a certain way, and why other senators should support them. Unlike in the House of Representatives, the Senate permits senators to debate at length.
Because of all their talk, the Senate has been called the world’s “greatest deliberative body.”
But others have pointed out that the Senate is a group of very different, independent individuals. Getting a majority to agree can be extremely difficult. One former Senate leader said trying to get them to move together was like “herding cats.” Another described it as “loading frogs into a wheelbarrow.”
I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
no matter - n. to say that something does not, will not, or should not affect something else
regular - adj. normal or usual
certain - adj. used to refer to something or someone that is not named specifically