August 3
1923
Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, hours after the death of President Warren G. Harding.
August 5
1861
Lincoln imposed the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. Lincoln and Congress agreed to impose a 3 percent tax on annual incomes over $800.
August 6
1965
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote.
August 8
1974
President Richard M. Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate burglary scandal. He was the first president in American history to resign.
1945
President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations Charter and the United States became the first nation to complete the ratification process and join the new international organization.
August 9
1974
One day after the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of the White House.
August 10
1949
President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Bill, which established the Department of Defense.
1874
Future President Herbert Hoover was born on August 10 in 1874 in West Branch, Iowa.
August 14
1935
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees.
August 21
1959
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state of United States of America.
August 26
1964
Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated to run for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
