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executive order

(Encyclopedia)executive order, in the United States, official document initiated and signed by the president containing directives concerning how the executive branch shall carry out its responsibilities under the ...

Taft, William Howard

(Encyclopedia)Taft, William Howard, 1857–1930, 27th President of the United States (1909–13) and 10th chief justice of the United States (1921–30), b. Cincinnati. Taft retired from public life and taught ...

Cortelyou, George Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Cortelyou, George Bruce kôrˈtəlyo͞o [key], 1862–1940, American public official and business executive, b. New York City. He taught school, and after learning stenography, he became secretary to ...

Chiang Kai-shek

(Encyclopedia)Chiang Kai-shek jyäng kī-shĕk, jyäng [key], 1887–1975, Chinese Nationalist leader. He was also called Chiang Chung-cheng. After completing military training with the Japanese Army, he returned t...

Platt, Thomas Collier

(Encyclopedia)Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the ...

Wilson, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Benjamin, 1721–88, English portrait painter and electrician who opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Newton's gravitational-opti...

Galbraith, John Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Galbraith, John Kenneth gălˈbrāth [key], 1908–2006, American economist and public official, b. Ontario, Canada, grad. Univ. of Toronto (B.S., 1931), Univ. of California, Berkeley (M.S., 1933; Ph....

Bonaparte, Charles Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Bonaparte, Charles Joseph, 1851–1921, U.S. cabinet official, b. Baltimore; grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte and Elizabeth Patterson. A lawyer and political leader in Baltimore, he identified himself w...

Bache, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Bache, Richard, 1737–1811, American merchant, b. Yorkshire, England. He came to New York City in 1765 to join an older brother in the mercantile business. Bache soon moved to Philadelphia in the int...

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