What are the historical instances of the Insurrection Act being invoked by US presidents?

1. Early republic and the first invocations

The statute’s origins date to the early republic and was used by presidents such as George Washington and John Adams to suppress state‑level rebellions and enforce federal law in the young nation ^[2], with Thomas Jefferson invoking federal force in 1808 related to enforcement of maritime embargoes around Lake Champlain as early formal applications of the authority ^[4].

2. Jackson, Nat Turner, and the antebellum uses

In the antebellum period presidents—including Andrew Jackson—used the Act in the 1830s for matters tied to domestic unrest and protection of federal interests; cited histories list Jackson’s interventions in the early 1830s and even references to responses to slave rebellions such as Nat Turner in broader overviews ^{[5] [6]}.

3. Civil War and Reconstruction: repeated federal interventions

The Civil War and Reconstruction produced some of the most frequent and consequential invocations, with Abraham Lincoln using broad federal authority in 1861 against secession and Ulysses S. Grant invoking the statute multiple times during Reconstruction to suppress violent resistance and white supremacist insurgency in Southern states ^{[5] [4]}.

4. Labor conflicts and turn‑of‑the‑century deployments

Scholars note the Act’s considerable use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to quell violent labor disputes and strike‑related disorder; the law was invoked during a series of labor conflicts where federal troops were used to restore order or protect federal interests ^{[7] [6]}.

5. Civil‑rights era enforcement by presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson

Mid‑20th century invocations were often framed not as suppressing riots but as enforcing federal civil‑rights law: Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson federally deployed troops or federalized the National Guard to enforce school desegregation and protect voting rights against state obstruction ^{[7] [8]}.

6. The last formal invocation: 1992 Los Angeles unrest

The most recent acknowledged use of the Insurrection Act occurred in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush responded to the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict at the request of California’s governor, marking the end of a three‑decade gap that remains the longest lull in formal invocations ^[2].

7. How often, and who has used it — counts and contested numbers

Authoritative counts vary slightly by framing, but major legal centers report about 30 invocations across U.S. history and note that roughly 15–17 presidents have invoked the statute on those occasions, meaning a minority of presidents employed it and most invocations are historically concentrated rather than evenly distributed across administrations ^{[9] [1] [10]}.

8. What counts as an invocation and disputed cases

Not every deployment of federal forces is an uncontested “Insurrection Act” invocation: scholars and watchdogs flag several high‑profile incidents where criteria or procedures were not followed and label them contested or unlawful uses, and the Brennan Center warns that some past episodes are routinely mischaracterized without tracing the precise proclamations and legal prerequisites ^{[1] [2]}.

Conclusion: episodic, high‑stakes tool, not routine policy

Historically the Insurrection Act has been an episodic instrument—used in concentrated historical moments from the early republic through Reconstruction, labor unrest, civil‑rights enforcement, and the 1992 L.A. riots—totaling about 30 invocations and employed by a minority of presidents; comprehensive incident‑level lists and primary proclamations are compiled by the Brennan Center and historical encyclopedias for those seeking the full roster ^{[1] [2] [5]}.