The Insurrection Act: Complete History of All 30 Invocations (1808-1992)

01Complete Historical Timeline: All 30 Invocations

Invocations by Year (1808-1992)

Source and definition: the Brennan Center for Justice's Guide to Invocations of the Insurrection Act (Joseph Nunn and Elizabeth Goitein, April 2022), which records the Act being invoked in response to 30 crises from 1808 to 1992. Each row is one crisis: where several proclamations or orders covered one event (as in April 1968, when troops went to Washington DC, Chicago and Baltimore), it counts once. Invocations count whether or not troops were actually deployed. Actions under the 1792 Calling Forth Act (Whiskey Rebellion 1794, Fries's Rebellion 1799) and the 1932 Bonus Army eviction, which the Brennan Center notes did not follow the Act's procedures, are not counted here.

02Presidents Who Used the Act

Number of Invocations by President

Number of Times Invoked

The Most Frequent Users

• 1. Ulysses S. Grant (6 times, 1871-1876): Repeatedly used the Act against Ku Klux Klan and white paramilitary violence aimed at freed Black Americans and Reconstruction governments - South Carolina (1871, 1876), Louisiana (1873, 1874), Arkansas (1874) and Vicksburg, Mississippi (1874).
• 2. (Tie) Andrew Jackson (3 times, 1831-1834): Intruders on public lands in Arkansas Territory (1831), Nat Turner's rebellion in Virginia (1831) and a riot among Chesapeake and Ohio Canal laborers in Maryland (1834).
• 2. (Tie) Grover Cleveland (3 times, 1885-1894): Anti-Chinese violence in Washington Territory (1885 and 1886) and the Pullman Strike centered on Chicago (1894) - sided with employers.
• 2. (Tie) John F. Kennedy (3 times, 1962-1963): All three enforced desegregation against state governors' wishes - University of Mississippi (1962), University of Alabama (June 1963) and Alabama public schools (September 1963).
• 2. (Tie) Lyndon B. Johnson (3 times, 1965-1968): Protected civil rights marchers in Selma (1965), suppressed the Detroit riots (1967) and responded to the riots after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination (1968), one crisis covering Washington DC, Chicago and Baltimore.
• 6. (Tie) Rutherford Hayes and George H.W. Bush (2 times each): Hayes - Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Lincoln County War in New Mexico Territory (1878). Bush - Hurricane Hugo in the US Virgin Islands (1989) and the Los Angeles riots (1992).

03Invocations by Category

Why Was the Act Invoked?

04Usage by Historical Era

Frequency Across American History

Number of Invocations

Invocations by Century

05Most Notable Invocations

Civil War & Reconstruction (1861-1876)

1861	Abraham Lincoln: Invoked to suppress Confederate rebellion at start of Civil War. Most sweeping use in US history - federal troops deployed throughout seceding states.
1871- 1876	Ulysses S. Grant: Used 6 times to combat KKK terrorism against freed Black Americans in the South. Notable use in South Carolina (1871) led to mass arrests of KKK members under Ku Klux Klan Act.

Civil Rights Era (1957-1968)

1957	Dwight Eisenhower (Little Rock Nine): Federalized Arkansas National Guard and sent 101st Airborne Division to enforce school desegregation at Little Rock Central High School. Defining image: paratroopers escorting 9 Black students past screaming white mob.
1962	JFK (Ole Miss): Deployed 31,000 troops to University of Mississippi to protect James Meredith, first Black student to enroll. Riots left 2 dead, 300 injured.
1963	JFK (University of Alabama): Federalized Alabama National Guard after Gov. George Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" blocking Black students.
1965	LBJ (Selma to Montgomery): Protected civil rights marchers after "Bloody Sunday" attack on Edmund Pettus Bridge. Federalized 1,900 Alabama National Guardsmen.

Labor Conflicts (1877-1921)

1877	Rutherford Hayes (Great Railroad Strike): First use against a nationwide strike. Federal troops deployed in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois to break strike. 100+ killed nationwide.
1894	Grover Cleveland (Pullman Strike): 12,000 federal troops sent to Chicago over Illinois governor's objections. Sided with railroad companies, broke strike. 30+ strikers killed.
1914	Woodrow Wilson (Ludlow Massacre): Colorado coal mine strike. National Guard killed 21 people (including 11 children). Federal troops eventually restored order.
1921	Warren Harding (Battle of Blair Mountain): Largest labor uprising in US history. 10,000+ coal miners vs. sheriff's deputies. Federal troops deployed, miners surrendered.

Urban Riots (1943-1992)

1943	Franklin D. Roosevelt (Detroit Race Riot): 6,000 federal troops deployed. Riot killed 34 people, injured 433. Troops restored order in 24 hours.
1967	LBJ (Detroit Riots): Deadliest of 1967 "Long Hot Summer" riots. 82nd & 101st Airborne deployed. 43 dead, 1,189 injured, 7,200 arrested.
1968	LBJ (MLK Assassination Riots): After Martin Luther King Jr. killed, riots erupted in 100+ cities. Federal troops deployed to Washington DC, Baltimore, Chicago.
1992	George H.W. Bush (LA Riots): Last invocation. Rodney King verdict sparked 6 days of rioting. 4,000 California National Guard + 4,000 active-duty troops deployed. 63 dead, $1 billion damage.

06How the Law Works

Three Legal Pathways for Invocation

• Section 251 - State Request: Governor or state legislature requests federal military assistance to suppress insurrection. Most common pathway. Used in 1992 LA Riots.
• Section 252 - Federal Law Enforcement: President can deploy troops when "unlawful obstructions" prevent enforcement of federal law. No state consent needed.
• Section 253 - Constitutional Rights Protection: President can deploy troops to protect constitutional rights when state is "unable, fails, or refuses" to do so. Used for civil rights enforcement in 1950s-60s.

Concerns & Controversies

• Vague Language: Terms like "insurrection," "rebellion," "domestic violence" are not defined in the law
• Broad Presidential Discretion: Courts give extreme deference to president's determination of when Act is needed
• No Time Limits: No specification of how long troops can be deployed
• No Congressional Role: President can act unilaterally without Congressional approval
• Rarely Tested in Courts: Very few judicial challenges to invocations
• Posse Comitatus Exception: One of only exceptions allowing military domestic law enforcement

07Statistical Analysis

Invocations Per Decade (1800s-2020s)

Number of Invocations by Decade

08Recent Controversies & Future

21st Century Debates

2005	Hurricane Katrina: George W. Bush administration considered invoking the Act to take command of the relief and security effort in Louisiana after Gov. Kathleen Blanco declined to hand control of her National Guard to federal authorities. It ultimately did not, citing political and legal concerns. It would not have been a first: the Act had been used over governors' objections during the civil rights era, and in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo struck St. Croix (at the territorial governor's request). The dispute was over federalizing a disaster response against a governor's wishes.
2020	George Floyd Protests: President Trump threatened to invoke Act against state governors' wishes. Defense Secretary Mark Esper publicly opposed. Never invoked.
2025	Southern Border: President Trump signed executive order (January 2025) requiring report on whether to invoke Act for border enforcement. April 2025 report recommended against invocation.
2025	ICE Protests: Trump repeatedly floated invoking Act for protests in Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago. Local officials strongly opposed. In January 2026, after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, Trump threatened on Truth Social to invoke the Act in Minnesota if state officials did not quell protests (ACLU, January 16, 2026). Not invoked as of October 19, 2026.
2025	National Guard Deployments: In June 2025, Trump federalized California National Guard troops for Los Angeles under a separate statute (10 U.S.C. 12406) rather than the Insurrection Act. On December 23, 2025, in Trump v. Illinois, the Supreme Court refused to allow a Guard deployment in Illinois to proceed, saying the government had "failed to identify a source of authority" allowing the military to execute the laws there (St. Louis Public Radio/NPR, December 23, 2025).
2026	Midterm Elections: Asked in a September 28, 2026 TIME interview whether he would rule out a state of emergency around the November 3, 2026 midterms, Trump said "I don't rule anything out or in"; asked specifically about the Insurrection Act, he said he had never used it and "I could use it."

Proposed Reforms

• Brennan Center Recommendations: Define key terms ("insurrection," "rebellion"), require Congressional notification, impose time limits, establish judicial review
• 2006-2007 Amendment (Repealed): Bush-era expansion allowed use for natural disasters without governor consent. Repealed in 2008 after governors protested federal overreach
• State Governors' Coalition: Oppose any expansion of unilateral presidential authority to deploy troops against state wishes
• Civil Liberties Groups: Argue law is dangerously vague, gives excessive power to president, lacks checks and balances

09Data Sources & Methodology