On August 21st, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA.  Alaska joined earlier the same year to be the 49th state.

Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign in 1980 faced a number of hurdles, including a nomination battle from the left by Edward Kennedy, stagnation in the economy, and various foreign policy issues. Most crushingly, during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, diplomats and officers at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran were taken hostage. The hostages were released after 444 days, just minutes after Ronald Reagan had taken the oath of office of President of the United States, which he won by defeating Carter's re-election bid.

Occurring in the midst of the greatest economic crisis in the country’s history and a world war, FDR’s electoral victories were significant for their breadth of support.  Roosevelt campaign against business interests and the lax banking regulations, positioning himself as on the side of progressive reformers and the common man.  The only group mentioned as an answer choice that would disagree with his sentiments is Bankers.

The Civil War and Reconstruction were widely viewed as Republican attempts to publish Southerners throughout the South.  For nearly a century, this caused the entire former Confederacy to vote so overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party that often Republicans would not run in state and local elections.  This phenomenon was referred to as the “Solid South” for voting Democratic in a large block.

The Warren Court, lead by Chief Justice Earl Warren, ran a program of liberal reforms and loose interpretation of the Constitution from 1953 to 1969. The Court was lauded (and criticized) for helping to end racial segregation in America and expanding civil liberties, as well as, judicial power and Federal power. The Warren Court was controversial in its time for often ignoring legal precedent in favor of encouraging a movement towards liberalism.

Ross Perot jumped into the 1992 presidential election in February of 1992 by declaring on CNN that he would run if petitions were filed on his behalf in all 50 states. A grassroots movement sprung up, and Perot was the frontrunner for a large chunk of the summer of 1992, until he abruptly quit amid falling numbers in mid-July. In October, Perot reentered to continue pushing his key issues, particularly a blend of free-market economic ideals, technological advances, and a tough-on-crime attitude, all designed to cut government expenditures and balance the federal budget. Perot would end up winning 19% of the popular vote as a third party candidate, but won no electoral votes.

In the election of 1964, LBJ defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater in a landslide. The most significant reason for this heavily lopsided victory was LBJ’s successful attempt to associate himself with the recently assassinated President Kennedy. He was also a southern Democrat, helping him to carry many southern states that would generally go to a Republican.

John F. Kennedy narrowly defeating Richard Nixon describes the result of the election of 1960.

The House Un-American Activities Committee was formed in 1938, with the expressed purpose of investigating disloyalty and subversive activities among American citizens. The committee focused its investigations on suspected communists, who were believed to hold positions of influence within American society. Charges of espionage were famously brought against Alger Hiss in the 1940s. 

Herbert Hoover made this statement as part of his inaugural address in 1929. As fate would have it though, the stock market would crash seven months later, sending the nation into the deepest depression in its history. This quote has become known mostly for the sad irony underpinning it.

The FDIC, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, was meant to act as insurance for people who deposited their savings into private banks. That way if the bank went under the federal government would reimburse the account holder up to a certain amount. This was meant to inspire confidence in banks and get people to deposit in banks again, so the banks could then begin loaning money again.