[1] In 1938, the U.S. government took over the management of the Dollar Steamship Co., which was in financial difficulties and transferred their assets to the newly formed American President Lines.

On October 5[5] or October 6,[6][7][8] 1848 the Pacific Mail's first of these steamers, the SS California, departed from New York City to run service from Panama to the West Coast, traveling around Cape Horn to San Francisco—coincidentally, the California Gold Rush began in January of that year, and the steamer—and its sisters, Oregon and Panama—took on many hopeful miners en route.

Also, faster speed meant that the vessel could complete more voyages in a given time period, which compensated for the diminished cargo capacity.

By 1850 Pacific Mail maintained a monopoly over the Panama-Oregon trade, helped by the purchase of two steamers from Empire City Line.

Large numbers of prospective gold miners paying for passage to California had meant that by 1850, the capital of Pacific Mail had increased from $400,000 to over $2 million.

Aspinwall invested in the Panama Railroad Company, which would replace old wagon trails across the Isthmus, cutting travel time from four days to four hours.

[5][7] During the American Civil War (1861–65), Pacific Mail used its steamers to transport gold to the East Coast to support the Northern cause.

This in turn meant that, at last, Pacific Mail was able to provide complete service from New York to the West Coast via the Isthmus, without competition.

In 1875, William Henry Aspinwall, died on January 18 at the age of 68, but Pacific Mail continued on, and soon began service to Australia and New Zealand.

During World War I, Dollar ordered the construction of $30 million worth of ships in China, and in 1923 bought seven “502 President Type” liners from the U.S.

[2][10] On October 26, 1929,[14] just as the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was beginning, Dollar Steamship Line (renamed that same year) ordered two 21,936-gross register ton (GRT) steam turbo-electric ocean liners—the largest yet built for a US shipping company.

In December 1937 ‘’President Hoover’’ ran aground off the east coast of Taiwan, and was written off as a constructive total loss.

In June 1938 ‘’President Coolidge’’ was arrested (seized under admiralty law) in San Francisco for a £35,000 unpaid debt.

[2][18] American Mail Line was also sold to tobacco magnate Richard J. Reynolds and reorganized as an independent company.

APL worked on the management of some of the Administration's ships, maintaining and overhauling them as well as crewing them and being responsible for the handling of cargo and passengers.

In 1944, an additional 16 ships were built specifically for APL, including SS President Buchanan, a Victory class vessel.

Rather than the Dollar family taking back the company, it was sold to a group of investors led by Ralph K. Davies for $18.3 million.

[2][21][23] The increasing use of air travel meant that the company's passenger services had steadily been declining throughout the 1960s, and by 1973, the last APL liner, the SS President Wilson, completed her final round-the-world trip and was sold off.

Also in 1973, American Mail Line was fully absorbed into APL, and its ships were subsequently given traditional "President" names.

At the same time, the company built its three largest vessels to date: three C-9 class diesel-powered container ships, the first of which was the President Lincoln.

Double-stacking containers in well cars was developed in the late 1970s and first deployed in 1981, but APL was the first shipping line to fully embrace and exploit the concept.

[24] At the same time, the company continued to modernize its fleet, with ever-larger and faster ships, all of which were outfitted for container transport.

In 1990, APL had a special request for Union Pacific 3985 to pull a 143-car doublestack train between Cheyenne, Wyoming and North Platte, Nebraska.

The company also invested heavily in information technology, using this to keep track of its ever-growing fleet of trains, containers and ships.

[21][23][24] In 1993, the company continued to increase its revenues, and entered a 30-year agreement with the Port of Los Angeles to open a new terminal, at a cost of $70 million.

Commissioner of the Customs and Excise Department, Roy Tang Yun-kwong, added that APL would likely face criminal charges for breaching Hong Kong Law in this incident.

[35] In 2019, American President Lines and the captain of the involved ship was charged with violating the Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations, which they both pleaded not guilty to.

The accident occurred because APL Denver had crossed the path of Wan Hai 301 while it was moving through the separation scheme.

APL Denver was heavily damaged, with at least 300 tonnes of oil spilled into the water near Pasir Gudang Port.

[38] Since October 2020, APL has focused exclusively on U.S. Government business - leaving CMA CGM as the sole brand in the transpacific.