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Benton, Thomas Hart, U.S. Senator

(Encyclopedia)Benton, Thomas Hart, 1782–1858, U.S. Senator (1821–51), b. Hillsboro, N.C. Benton moved to Tennessee in 1809, was admitted to the bar in 1811, and served (1809–11) in the state senate. In 1815, ...

Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, 2d Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, 2d Viscount kăˈsəlrā [key], 1769–1822, British statesman, b. Ireland. Entering the Irish Parliament in 1790 and the British Parliament in 1794, he was acting chief s...

Spanish-American War

(Encyclopedia)Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ...

Johnson, Lyndon Baines

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Lyndon Baines, 1908–73, 36th President of the United States (1963–69), b. near Stonewall, Tex. Johnson lost the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination to John F. Kennedy, but accepte...

Mineta, Norman Yoshio

(Encyclopedia)Mineta, Norman Yoshio, 1931–2022, American government official, the first Asian American to be appointed to a cabinet post, b. San Jose, Calif. Of Jap...

Harris, Isham Green

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Isham Green īˈshəm [key], 1818–97, American political leader, b. Franklin co., Tenn. Admitted to the bar in 1841, he was elected in 1847 to the Tennessee senate. Harris, a states' rights ...

Fonseca, Manuel Deodoro da

(Encyclopedia)Fonseca, Manuel Deodoro da mänwĕlˈ dēo͝oᵺôˈro͝o dä fo͝onsĕˈkə [key], 1827–92, first president of Brazil (1891). A leader of the discontented militarists who helped overturn the empire...

Kahn, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Kahn, Julius kän [key], 1861–1924, American legislator, b. Germany. He arrived (1866) in California as a child. He studied law in San Francisco, was elected (1892) to the state legislature, and was...

Drew, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Elizabeth, 1935–, American journalist, b. Cincinnati. A deeply insightful analyst of the national political scene, she was the Washington correspondent for two major U.S. magazines, the Atlant...

Allison, William Boyd

(Encyclopedia)Allison, William Boyd, 1829–1908, U.S. Senator from Iowa (1873–1908), b. Ashland co., Ohio. He served (1863–71) in the House of Representatives and entered the Senate in 1873. One of the most in...