List of presidents of the United States by time in office

Last updated

Longest presidency
Shortest presidency
Cropped Portrait of FDR.jpg
Franklin D. Roosevelt
4,422 days
(19331945)
William Henry Harrison daguerreotype edit.jpg
William Henry Harrison
31 days
(1841)

This is a list of presidents of the United States by time in office. The listed number of days is calculated as the difference between dates, which counts the number of calendar days except the last day. The length of a full four-year presidential term of office usually amounts to 1,461 days (three common years of 365 days plus one leap year of 366 days). If the last day is included, all numbers would be one day more, except Grover Cleveland would have two more days, as he served two non-consecutive terms. [lower-alpha 1]

Contents

Of the individuals elected president of the United States, four died of natural causes while in office (William Henry Harrison, [1] Zachary Taylor, [2] Warren G. Harding [3] and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, [4] James A. Garfield, [4] [5] William McKinley [6] and John F. Kennedy) and one resigned from office (Richard Nixon). [7]

William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office, while Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest. Roosevelt is the only American president to have served more than two terms. Following ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment in 1951, presidents—beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower—have been ineligible for election to a third term or, after serving more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president, to a second term. The amendment contained a grandfather clause that explicitly exempted the incumbent president, then Harry S. Truman, from the new term limitations.

Grover Cleveland is the only president to leave office and return for a second non-consecutive term. Consequently, while there have been 46 presidencies in the nation's history, only 45 people have been sworn into office as Cleveland is numbered as both the 22nd and 24th president.

Presidents by time in office

RankPresidentLength
in days
Order of presidencyNumber of terms
1 Franklin D. Roosevelt 4,422 [lower-alpha 2] 32nd • March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 [lower-alpha 3] Three full terms; died 2 months and 23 days into fourth term
2
tie
Thomas Jefferson 2,9223rd • March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809Two full terms
James Madison 2,9224th • March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817Two full terms
James Monroe 2,9225th • March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825Two full terms
Andrew Jackson 2,9227th • March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837Two full terms
Ulysses S. Grant 2,92218th • March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877Two full terms [lower-alpha 4]
Grover Cleveland 2,922 [lower-alpha 5] 22nd • March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889
24th • March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897
Two full terms (non-consecutive) [lower-alpha 6]
Woodrow Wilson 2,92228th • March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921Two full terms
Dwight D. Eisenhower 2,92234th • January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961Two full terms
Ronald Reagan 2,92240th • January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989Two full terms
Bill Clinton 2,92242nd • January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001Two full terms
George W. Bush 2,92243rd • January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009Two full terms
Barack Obama 2,92244th • January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017Two full terms
14 George Washington 2,865 [lower-alpha 7] 1st • April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797Two full terms
15 Harry S. Truman 2,84033rd • April 12, 1945 [lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1953One partial term (3 years, 9 months, and 8 days), followed by one full term
16 Theodore Roosevelt 2,72826th • September 14, 1901 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1909One partial term (3 years, 5 months, and 18 days), followed by one full term [lower-alpha 9]
17 Calvin Coolidge 2,04130th • August 2, 1923 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1929One partial term (1 year, 7 months, and 2 days), followed by one full term
18 Richard Nixon 2,02737th • January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 [lower-alpha 10] One full term; resigned 1 year, 6 months, and 20 days into second term
19 Lyndon B. Johnson 1,88636th • November 22, 1963 [lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1969One partial term (1 year, 1 month, and 29 days), followed by one full term
20 William McKinley 1,654 [lower-alpha 1] 25th • March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901 [lower-alpha 3] One full term; assassinated: died 6 months and 10 days into second term, 8 days after being shot
21 Abraham Lincoln 1,50316th • March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 [lower-alpha 3] One full term; assassinated: died 1 month and 11 days into second term, 1 day after being shot
22
tie
John Quincy Adams 1,4616th • March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829One full term [lower-alpha 6]
Martin Van Buren 1,4618th • March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841One full term [lower-alpha 6] [lower-alpha 11]
James K. Polk 1,46111th • March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849One full term
Franklin Pierce 1,46114th • March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857One full term [lower-alpha 6]
James Buchanan 1,46115th • March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861One full term
Rutherford B. Hayes 1,46119th • March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881One full term
Benjamin Harrison 1,46123rd • March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893One full term [lower-alpha 6]
William Howard Taft 1,46127th • March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913One full term [lower-alpha 6]
Herbert Hoover 1,46131st • March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933One full term [lower-alpha 6]
Jimmy Carter 1,46139th • January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981One full term [lower-alpha 6]
George H. W. Bush 1,46141st • January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993One full term [lower-alpha 6]
Donald Trump 1,46145th • January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021One full term [lower-alpha 6]
34 John Adams 1,460 [lower-alpha 1] 2nd • March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801One full term [lower-alpha 6]
35 John Tyler 1,43010th • April 4, 1841 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1845One partial term (3 years and 11 months)
36 Andrew Johnson 1,41917th • April 15, 1865 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1869One partial term (3 years, 10 months, and 17 days)
37 Chester A. Arthur 1,26221st • September 19, 1881 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1885One partial term (3 years, 5 months, and 13 days)
38 Joe Biden 1,155 [lower-alpha 12] 46th • January 20, 2021 – Incumbent Currently serving
39 John F. Kennedy 1,03635th • January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 [lower-alpha 3] Assassinated: died 2 years, 10 months, and 2 days into term
40 Millard Fillmore 96913th • July 9, 1850 [lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1853One partial term (2 years, 7 months, and 23 days)
41 Gerald Ford 89538th • August 9, 1974 [lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1977One partial term (2 years, 5 months, and 11 days) [lower-alpha 13]
42 Warren G. Harding 88129th • March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 [lower-alpha 3] Died 2 years, 4 months, and 29 days into term
43 Zachary Taylor 49212th • March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 [lower-alpha 3] Died 1 year, 4 months, and 5 days into term
44 James A. Garfield 19920th • March 4 – September 19, 1881 [lower-alpha 3] Assassinated: died 6 months and 15 days into term; 79 days after being shot
45 William Henry Harrison 319th • March 4 – April 4, 1841 [lower-alpha 3] Died 31 days into term

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Of years evenly divisible by 100, only those evenly divisible by 400 are leap years. The years 1800 and 1900 are divisible by 100, but not by 400. John Adams's term and William McKinley's first term did not include a 366-day leap year, so those terms were one day shorter than a normal full term. 2000, being divisible by 400, had 366 days, thus Bill Clinton's second term was not shorter than his first.
  2. The Twentieth Amendment (ratified in 1933) moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20. The 1937 presidential inauguration was the first to take place on the new date. As a result, Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office (1933–1937) was only 1,418 days long, 1 month and 12 days shorter than a normal term.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Died in office
  4. Did not seek re-election in 1876. He sought a non-consecutive third term in 1880, but was defeated for renomination at the Republican National Convention.
  5. Each of Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms in office was 1,461 days long.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Incumbent president who sought a second consecutive full term, but was defeated either for renomination or in a presidential election.
  7. Due to logistical delays, George Washington's first term began 1 month and 26 days after the scheduled start of operations of the new government under the Constitution. As a result, the term was only 1,404 days long.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Succeeded to presidency.
  9. Did not seek re-election in 1908. In 1912, he ran for a non-consecutive second full term, this time on the Progressive Party ticket, but was defeated.
  10. Resigned from office
  11. Subsequently sought a non-consecutive second term, first in 1844, but was defeated for renomination at the Democratic National Convention, and then again in 1848 (this time on the Free Soil Party ticket), but was defeated.
  12. As of March 20, 2024
  13. Sought election to a full term in 1976, but was defeated.

See also

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References

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