List of presidents of the United States

Last updated

The White House, official residence of the president of the United States, in July 2008 White House Washington.JPG
The White House, official residence of the president of the United States, in July 2008

The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, [1] indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. [2] The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. [3] Since the office was established in 1789, 45 men have served in 46 presidencies. The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. [4] Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is therefore counted as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, giving rise to the discrepancy between the number of presidencies and the number of individuals who have served as president. [5]

Contents

The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. [6] Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945. He is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. [7] Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected president more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once. [8]

Four presidents died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy), and one resigned (Richard Nixon, facing impeachment and removal from office). [9] John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency during a presidential term, and set the precedent that a vice president who does so becomes the fully functioning president with his own administration. [10]

Throughout most of its history, American politics has been dominated by political parties. The Constitution is silent on the issue of political parties, and at the time it came into force in 1789, no organized parties existed. Soon after the 1st Congress convened, political factions began rallying around dominant Washington administration officials, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. [11] Concerned about the capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his eight-year presidency. He was, and remains, the only U.S. president never affiliated with a political party. [12]

The incumbent president is Joe Biden, who assumed office on January 20, 2021. [13]

Presidents

List of presidents of the United States from 1789 – till date.
No. [lower-alpha 1] PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term [14] Party [lower-alpha 2] [15] ElectionVice President [16]
1 Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg George Washington
(1732–1799)
[17]
April 30, 1789

March 4, 1797
Unaffiliated 1788–1789

1792

John Adams [lower-alpha 3]
2 John Adams, Gilbert Stuart, c1800 1815.jpg John Adams
(1735–1826)
[19]
March 4, 1797

March 4, 1801
Federalist 1796 Thomas Jefferson [lower-alpha 4]
3 Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800.jpg Thomas Jefferson
(1743–1826)
[21]
March 4, 1801

March 4, 1809
Democratic-
Republican
1800

1804

Aaron Burr

George Clinton

4 James Madison.jpg James Madison
(1751–1836)
[22]
March 4, 1809

March 4, 1817
Democratic-
Republican
1808

1812

George Clinton [lower-alpha 5]

Vacant after
April 20, 1812


Elbridge Gerry [lower-alpha 5]


Vacant after
November 23, 1814

5 James Monroe White House portrait 1819.jpg James Monroe
(1758–1831)
[24]
March 4, 1817

March 4, 1825
Democratic-
Republican
1816

1820

Daniel D. Tompkins
6 John Quincy Adams by Charles Osgood.jpg John Quincy Adams
(1767–1848)
[25]
March 4, 1825

March 4, 1829
Democratic-
Republican
[lower-alpha 6]

National Republican

1824 John C. Calhoun [lower-alpha 7]
7 Andrew jackson head.jpg Andrew Jackson
(1767–1845)
[28]
March 4, 1829

March 4, 1837
Democratic 1828

1832

John C. Calhoun [lower-alpha 8]

Vacant after
December 28, 1832


Martin Van Buren

8 Martin Van Buren circa 1837 crop.jpg Martin Van Buren
(1782–1862)
[29]
March 4, 1837

March 4, 1841
Democratic 1836 Richard Mentor Johnson
9 William Henry Harrison by James Reid Lambdin, 1835 crop.jpg William Henry Harrison
(1773–1841)
[30]
March 4, 1841

April 4, 1841 [lower-alpha 5]
Whig 1840 John Tyler
10 John Tyler crop.jpg John Tyler
(1790–1862)
[31]
April 4, 1841 [lower-alpha 9]

March 4, 1845
Whig [lower-alpha 10]

Unaffiliated

Vacant throughout
presidency
11 JKP.jpg James K. Polk
(1795–1849)
[34]
March 4, 1845

March 4, 1849
Democratic 1844 George M. Dallas
12 Zachary Taylor restored and cropped.jpg Zachary Taylor
(1784–1850)
[35]
March 4, 1849

July 9, 1850 [lower-alpha 5]
Whig 1848 Millard Fillmore
13 Fillmore.jpg Millard Fillmore
(1800–1874)
[36]
July 9, 1850 [lower-alpha 11]

March 4, 1853
Whig Vacant throughout
presidency
14 Mathew Brady - Franklin Pierce - alternate crop (cropped).jpg Franklin Pierce
(1804–1869)
[38]
March 4, 1853

March 4, 1857
Democratic 1852 William R. King [lower-alpha 5]

Vacant after
April 18, 1853

15 James Buchanan.jpg James Buchanan
(1791–1868)
[39]
March 4, 1857

March 4, 1861
Democratic 1856 John C. Breckinridge
16 Abraham Lincoln O-77 matte collodion print.jpg Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865)
[40]
March 4, 1861

April 15, 1865 [lower-alpha 5]
Republican

National Union [lower-alpha 12]

1860

1864

Hannibal Hamlin

Andrew Johnson

17 Andrew Johnson photo portrait head and shoulders, c1870-1880-Edit1.jpg Andrew Johnson
(1808–1875)
[42]
April 15, 1865 [lower-alpha 13]

March 4, 1869
National Union [lower-alpha 14]

Democratic

Vacant throughout
presidency
18 Ulysses S Grant by Brady c1870-restored.jpg Ulysses S. Grant
(1822–1885)
[43]
March 4, 1869

March 4, 1877
Republican 1868

1872

Schuyler Colfax

Henry Wilson [lower-alpha 5]


Vacant after
November 22, 1875

19 President Rutherford Hayes 1870 - 1880 Restored.jpg Rutherford B. Hayes
(1822–1893)
[44]
March 4, 1877

March 4, 1881
Republican 1876 William A. Wheeler
20 James Abram Garfield, photo portrait seated.jpg James A. Garfield
(1831–1881)
[45]
March 4, 1881

September 19, 1881 [lower-alpha 5]
Republican 1880 Chester A. Arthur
21 Chester A. Arthur by Abraham Bogardus - black & white.jpg Chester A. Arthur
(1829–1886)
[46]
September 19, 1881 [lower-alpha 15]

March 4, 1885
Republican Vacant throughout
presidency
22 Grover Cleveland - NARA - 518139 (cropped).jpg Grover Cleveland
(1837–1908)
[48]
March 4, 1885

March 4, 1889
Democratic 1884 Thomas A. Hendricks [lower-alpha 5]

Vacant after
November 25, 1885

23 Benjamin Harrison, head and shoulders bw photo, 1896.jpg Benjamin Harrison
(1833–1901)
[49]
March 4, 1889

March 4, 1893
Republican 1888 Levi P. Morton
24 Grover Cleveland - NARA - 518139 (cropped).jpg Grover Cleveland
(1837–1908)
[48]
March 4, 1893

March 4, 1897
Democratic 1892 Adlai Stevenson I
25 Mckinley.jpg William McKinley
(1843–1901)
[50]
March 4, 1897

September 14, 1901 [lower-alpha 5]
Republican 1896

1900

Garret Hobart [lower-alpha 5]

Vacant after
November 21, 1899


Theodore Roosevelt

26 Theodore Roosevelt by the Pach Bros.jpg Theodore Roosevelt
(1858–1919)
[51]
September 14, 1901 [lower-alpha 16]

March 4, 1909
Republican

1904

Vacant through
March 4, 1905

Charles W. Fairbanks

27 William Howard Taft, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front.jpg William Howard Taft
(1857–1930)
[53]
March 4, 1909

March 4, 1913
Republican 1908 James S. Sherman [lower-alpha 5]

Vacant after
October 30, 1912

28 President Wilson 1919.jpg Woodrow Wilson
(1856–1924)
[54]
March 4, 1913

March 4, 1921
Democratic 1912

1916

Thomas R. Marshall
29 Warren G Harding-Harris & Ewing.jpg Warren G. Harding
(1865–1923)
[55]
March 4, 1921

August 2, 1923 [lower-alpha 5]
Republican 1920 Calvin Coolidge
30 Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg Calvin Coolidge
(1872–1933)
[56]
August 2, 1923 [lower-alpha 17]

March 4, 1929
Republican

1924

Vacant through
March 4, 1925

Charles G. Dawes

31 President Hoover portrait.jpg Herbert Hoover
(1874–1964)
[58]
March 4, 1929

March 4, 1933
Republican 1928 Charles Curtis
32 FDR 1944 Color Portrait.jpg Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882–1945)
[59]
March 4, 1933

April 12, 1945 [lower-alpha 5]
Democratic 1932

1936


1940


1944

John Nance Garner

Henry A. Wallace


Harry S. Truman

33 TRUMAN 58-766-06 (cropped).jpg Harry S. Truman
(1884–1972)
[60]
April 12, 1945 [lower-alpha 18]

January 20, 1953
Democratic

1948

Vacant through
January 20, 1949

Alben W. Barkley

34 Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959.jpg Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1890–1969)
[62]
January 20, 1953

January 20, 1961
Republican 1952

1956

Richard Nixon
35 John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait.jpg John F. Kennedy
(1917–1963)
[63]
January 20, 1961

November 22, 1963 [lower-alpha 5]
Democratic 1960 Lyndon B. Johnson
36 37 Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg Lyndon B. Johnson
(1908–1973)
[64]
November 22, 1963 [lower-alpha 19]

January 20, 1969
Democratic

1964

Vacant through
January 20, 1965

Hubert Humphrey

37 Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg Richard Nixon
(1913–1994)
[66]
January 20, 1969

August 9, 1974 [lower-alpha 8]
Republican 1968

1972

Spiro Agnew [lower-alpha 8]

Vacant:
October 10 December 6, 1973


Gerald Ford [lower-alpha 20]

38 Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 3).jpg Gerald Ford
(1913–2006)
[67]
August 9, 1974 [lower-alpha 21]

January 20, 1977
Republican Vacant through
December 19, 1974

Nelson Rockefeller [lower-alpha 20]

39 JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg Jimmy Carter
(b. 1924)
[68]
January 20, 1977

January 20, 1981
Democratic 1976 Walter Mondale
40 Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg Ronald Reagan
(1911–2004)
[69]
January 20, 1981

January 20, 1989
Republican 1980

1984

George H. W. Bush
41 George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped).jpg George H. W. Bush
(1924–2018)
[70]
January 20, 1989

January 20, 1993
Republican 1988 Dan Quayle
42 Bill Clinton.jpg Bill Clinton
(b. 1946)
[71]
January 20, 1993

January 20, 2001
Democratic 1992

1996

Al Gore
43 George-W-Bush.jpeg George W. Bush
(b. 1946)
[72]
January 20, 2001

January 20, 2009
Republican 2000

2004

Dick Cheney
44 Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg Barack Obama
(b. 1961)
[73]
January 20, 2009

January 20, 2017
Democratic 2008

2012

Joe Biden
45 Donald Trump official portrait.jpg Donald Trump
(b. 1946)
[74]
January 20, 2017

January 20, 2021
Republican 2016 Mike Pence
46 Joe Biden presidential portrait.jpg Joe Biden
(b. 1942)
[13]
January 20, 2021

Incumbent
Democratic 2020 Kamala Harris

See also

Notes

  1. Presidents are numbered according to uninterrupted periods served by the same person. For example, George Washington served two consecutive terms and is counted as the first president (not the first and second). Upon the resignation of 37th president, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford became the 38th president even though he simply served out the remainder of Nixon's second term and was never elected to the presidency in his own right. Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd president and the 24th president because his two terms were not consecutive. A vice president who temporarily becomes acting president under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution is not counted, because the president remains in office during such a period.
  2. Reflects the president's political party at the start of their presidency. Changes during their time in office are noted. Also reflects the vice president's political party unless otherwise noted beside the individual's name.
  3. Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted, nor did they exist at the time of the first presidential election in 1788–89. When they did develop, during Washington's first term, Adams joined the faction that became the Federalist Party. The elections of 1792 were the first ones in the United States that were contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. [18]
  4. The 1796 presidential election was the first contested American presidential election and the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing political parties. Federalist John Adams was elected president, and Jefferson of the Democratic-Republicans was elected vice president. [20]
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Died in office [23]
  6. Early during John Quincy Adams' term, the Democratic-Republican Party dissolved; his allies in Congress and at the state level were referred to as "Adams' Men" during the Adams presidency. When Andrew Jackson became president in 1829, this group became the "Anti-Jackson" opposition, and organized themselves as the National Republican Party. [26]
  7. John Calhoun, formerly a Democratic-Republican, founded the Nullifier Party in 1828 to oppose the Tariff of 1828 and advance the cause of states' rights, but was brought on as Andrew Jackson's running mate in the 1828 presidential election in an effort to broaden the democratic coalition led by Jackson. [27]
  8. 1 2 3 Resigned from office [23]
  9. John Tyler succeeded to the presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison. [32]
  10. John Tyler was elected vice president on the Whig Party ticket in 1840. His policy priorities as president soon proved to be opposed to most of the Whig agenda, and he was expelled from the party five months after assuming office. [33]
  11. Millard Fillmore succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor. [37]
  12. When he ran for reelection in 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln formed a bipartisan electoral alliance with War Democrats by selecting Democrat Andrew Johnson as his running mate, and running on the National Union Party ticket. [41]
  13. Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Abraham Lincoln. [42]
  14. While president, Andrew Johnson tried and failed to build a party of loyalists under the National Union banner. Near the end of his presidency, Johnson rejoined the Democratic Party. [42]
  15. Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency upon the death of James A. Garfield. [47]
  16. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency upon the death of William McKinley. [52]
  17. Calvin Coolidge succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. [57]
  18. Harry S. Truman succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. [61]
  19. Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded to the presidency upon the death of John F. Kennedy. [65]
  20. 1 2 Appointed as vice president under terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, Section 2 [23]
  21. Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency upon the resignation of Richard Nixon. [67]

Related Research Articles

April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 246 days remain until the end of the year.

December 29 is the 363rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; two days remain until the end of the year.

January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 336 days remain until the end of the year.

July 29 is the 210th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 155 days remain until the end of the year.

May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 216 days remain until the end of the year.

October 29 is the 302nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 63 days remain until the end of the year.

September 29 is the 272nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 93 days remain until the end of the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Rush Rhees</span> American academic administrator

Benjamin Rush Rhees was the third president of the University of Rochester, serving from 1900 to 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Shreve</span> Canadian-American architect (1877–1946)

Richmond Harold Shreve was a Canadian-American architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henrietta Baker Chanfrau</span> American actress

Henrietta Baker Chanfrau was an American stage actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hew Ainslie</span> Scottish poet (1792–1878)

Hew Ainslie was a Scottish poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Bayard Woodward</span> American psychiatrist

Samuel Bayard Woodward (1787–1850) was an American psychiatrist who was the first superintendent of the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, and a co-founder and first president of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane.

Howard Bishop Lewis was a chemistry professor and past president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (AMBSB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitefield J. McKinlay</span> American politician

Whitefield J. McKinlay was a teacher, state legislator, and real estate businessman who lived in Charleston, South Carolina and then Washington D.C. The Library of Congress has a glass plate negative portrait of him. In other photographs he is among leaders of Charleston's African American community. He was a Republican. Many of his letters remain.

La Roy Sunderland was an American minister and abolitionist. He left the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1842 after a dispute over slavery and helped organize the Wesleyan Methodist Church the next year. He was also a noted mental philosopher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemuel Hopkins</span> American poet and physician

Lemuel Hopkins was an American poet and physician who was a member of the Hartford Wits, a group of literary satirists active in the late eighteenth century. A politically conservative Federalist, he coauthored The Anarchiad (1786–1787), a lengthy satiric poem critical of popular democracy and of the Articles of Confederation. His fellow authors on the poem were three other leading Wits: David Humphreys, Joel Barlow, and John Trumbull. Hopkins practiced medicine in Litchfield and Hartford and received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Yale University in 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell LaFayette Cecil</span> American physician

Russell LaFayette Cecil, was an American physician who edited the first Cecil Textbook of Medicine in 1927.

Tom Mercer Girdler was an American businessperson who served as the first president of Republic Steel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Washington, Cuba</span> Consejo popular in Villa Clara, Cuba

George Washington, also known as Washington, is a village and ward in Villa Clara Province, Cuba, located in the municipality of Santo Domingo. In 2012, it was inhabited by 2,023 people.

References

  1. Rossiter (1962), p. 86.
  2. Shugart (2004), pp. 633–636.
  3. Epstein (2005), p. 318.
  4. Matuz (2001), p. xxii.
  5. Schaller & Williams (2003), p. 192.
  6. McHugh & Mackowiak (2014), pp. 990–995.
  7. Skau (1974), pp. 246–275.
  8. Peabody & Gant (1999), p. 565.
  9. Abbott (2005), pp. 627–644.
  10. Dinnerstein (1962), pp. 447–451.
  11. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), p. 197; Nardulli (1992), p. 179.
  12. LOC (2); Jamison (2014).
  13. 1 2 whitehouse.gov (g).
  14. LOC; whitehouse.gov.
  15. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), pp. 257–258.
  16. LOC.
  17. McDonald (2000).
  18. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), pp. 197, 272; Nardulli (1992), p. 179.
  19. Pencak (2000).
  20. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), p. 274.
  21. Peterson (2000).
  22. Banning (2000).
  23. 1 2 3 Neale (2004), p. 22.
  24. Ammon (2000).
  25. Hargreaves (2000).
  26. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), p. 228; Goldman (1951), p. 159.
  27. Guide to U.S. Elections (2010), p. 892; Houpt (2010), pp. 26, 280.
  28. Remini (2000).
  29. Cole (2000).
  30. Gutzman (2000).
  31. Shade (2000).
  32. Abbott (2013), p. 23.
  33. Cash (2018), pp. 34–36.
  34. Rawley (2000).
  35. Smith (2000).
  36. Anbinder (2000).
  37. Abbott (2005), p. 639.
  38. Gara (2000).
  39. Gienapp (2000).
  40. McPherson (b) (2000).
  41. McSeveney (1986), p. 139.
  42. 1 2 3 Trefousse (2000).
  43. McPherson (a) (2000).
  44. Hoogenboom (2000).
  45. Peskin (2000).
  46. Reeves (2000).
  47. Greenberger (2017), pp. 174–175.
  48. 1 2 Campbell (2000).
  49. Spetter (2000).
  50. Gould (a) (2000).
  51. Harbaugh (2000).
  52. Abbott (2005), pp. 639–640.
  53. Gould (b) (2000).
  54. Ambrosius (2000).
  55. Hawley (2000).
  56. McCoy (2000).
  57. Senate.
  58. Hoff (a) (2000).
  59. Brinkley (2000).
  60. Hamby (2000).
  61. Abbott (2005), p. 636.
  62. Ambrose (2000).
  63. Parmet (2000).
  64. Gardner (2000).
  65. Abbott (2005), p. 633.
  66. Hoff (b) (2000).
  67. 1 2 Greene (2013).
  68. whitehouse.gov (a).
  69. Schaller (2004).
  70. whitehouse.gov (b).
  71. whitehouse.gov (c).
  72. whitehouse.gov (d).
  73. whitehouse.gov (e).
  74. whitehouse.gov (f).

Works cited

General

Expert studies

Presidential biographies

Online sources