List of presidents of the United States
The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a 4-year term by the people through the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
United States of America
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the United States |
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Political parties |
Federalism |
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Since the office was established in 1789, 44 men have served as president. The first, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms in office (the only president to have done so) and is therefore counted as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States; the 45th and current president is Donald Trump (since January 20, 2017). There are currently four living former presidents. The most recent former president to die was George H. W. Bush, on November 30, 2018.
The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. 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. 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.[1]
Of those who have served as the nation's president, four 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). 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 presidency, as opposed to a caretaker president. The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution put Tyler's precedent into law in 1967. It also established a mechanism by which an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency could be filled. Richard Nixon was the first president to fill a vacancy under this provision when he selected Gerald Ford for the office following Spiro Agnew's resignation in 1973. The following year, Ford became the second to do so when he chose Nelson Rockefeller to succeed him after he acceded to the presidency. As no mechanism existed for filling an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency before 1967, the office was left vacant until filled through the next ensuing presidential election and subsequent inauguration.
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, there were no parties. Soon after the 1st Congress convened, factions began rallying around dominant Washington administration officials, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Greatly 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.[2]
Presidents
Presidency[lower-alpha 1] | President | Party[lower-alpha 2] | Election | Vice President | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | April 30, 1789[lower-alpha 3] – March 4, 1797 |
George Washington | Unaffiliated | 1788–89 | John Adams[lower-alpha 4] | ||
1792 | |||||||
2 | March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 |
John Adams | Federalist | 1796 | Thomas Jefferson[lower-alpha 5] | ||
3 | March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 |
Thomas Jefferson | Democratic- Republican |
1800 | Aaron Burr | ||
1804 | George Clinton | ||||||
4 | March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817 |
James Madison | Democratic- Republican |
1808 | George Clinton[lower-alpha 6] | ||
Vacant after April 20, 1812 | |||||||
1812 | Elbridge Gerry[lower-alpha 6] | ||||||
Vacant after November 23, 1814 | |||||||
5 | March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 |
James Monroe | Democratic- Republican |
1816 | Daniel D. Tompkins | ||
1820 | |||||||
6 | March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829 |
John Quincy Adams | Democratic- Republican |
1824 | John C. Calhoun | ||
7 | March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837 |
Andrew Jackson | Democratic | 1828 | John C. Calhoun[lower-alpha 7][lower-alpha 8] | ||
Vacant after December 28, 1832 | |||||||
1832 | Martin Van Buren | ||||||
8 | March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 |
Martin Van Buren | Democratic | 1836 | Richard Mentor Johnson | ||
9 | March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 |
William Henry Harrison[lower-alpha 6] | Whig | 1840 | John Tyler | ||
10 | April 4, 1841[lower-alpha 9] – March 4, 1845 |
John Tyler | Whig[lower-alpha 10] | Vacant throughout presidency | |||
11 | March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 |
James K. Polk | Democratic | 1844 | George M. Dallas | ||
12 | March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 |
Zachary Taylor[lower-alpha 6] | Whig | 1848 | Millard Fillmore | ||
13 | July 9, 1850[lower-alpha 11] – March 4, 1853 |
Millard Fillmore | Whig | Vacant throughout presidency | |||
14 | March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857 |
Franklin Pierce | Democratic | 1852 | William R. King[lower-alpha 6] | ||
Vacant after April 18, 1853 | |||||||
15 | March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 |
James Buchanan | Democratic | 1856 | John C. Breckinridge | ||
16 | March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 |
Abraham Lincoln[lower-alpha 12] | Republican | 1860 | Hannibal Hamlin | ||
National Union | 1864 | Andrew Johnson | |||||
17 | April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869 |
Andrew Johnson | National Union[lower-alpha 13] | Vacant throughout presidency | |||
18 | March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877 |
Ulysses S. Grant | Republican | 1868 | Schuyler Colfax | ||
1872 | Henry Wilson[lower-alpha 6] | ||||||
Vacant after November 22, 1875 | |||||||
19 | March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 |
Rutherford B. Hayes | Republican | 1876 | William A. Wheeler | ||
20 | March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 |
James A. Garfield[lower-alpha 14] | Republican | 1880 | Chester A. Arthur | ||
21 | September 19, 1881[lower-alpha 15] – March 4, 1885 |
Chester A. Arthur | Republican | Vacant throughout presidency | |||
22 | March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889 |
Grover Cleveland | Democratic | 1884 | Thomas A. Hendricks[lower-alpha 6] | ||
Vacant after November 25, 1885 | |||||||
23 | March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 |
Benjamin Harrison | Republican | 1888 | Levi P. Morton | ||
24 | March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 |
Grover Cleveland | Democratic | 1892 | Adlai Stevenson I | ||
25 | March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901 |
William McKinley[lower-alpha 16] | Republican | 1896 | Garret Hobart[lower-alpha 6] | ||
Vacant after November 21, 1899 | |||||||
1900 | Theodore Roosevelt | ||||||
26 | September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909 |
Theodore Roosevelt | Republican | Vacant through March 4, 1905 | |||
1904 | Charles W. Fairbanks | ||||||
27 | March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913 |
William Howard Taft | Republican | 1908 | James S. Sherman[lower-alpha 6] | ||
Vacant after October 30, 1912 | |||||||
28 | March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 |
Woodrow Wilson | Democratic | 1912 | Thomas R. Marshall | ||
1916 | |||||||
29 | March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 |
Warren G. Harding[lower-alpha 6] | Republican | 1920 | Calvin Coolidge | ||
30 | August 2, 1923[lower-alpha 17] – March 4, 1929 |
Calvin Coolidge | Republican | Vacant through March 4, 1925 | |||
1924 | Charles G. Dawes | ||||||
31 | March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 |
Herbert Hoover | Republican | 1928 | Charles Curtis | ||
32 | March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt[lower-alpha 6] | Democratic | 1932 | John Nance Garner | ||
1936 | |||||||
1940 | Henry A. Wallace | ||||||
1944 | Harry S. Truman | ||||||
33 | April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953 |
Harry S. Truman | Democratic | Vacant through January 20, 1949 | |||
1948 | Alben W. Barkley | ||||||
34 | January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | Republican | 1952 | Richard Nixon | ||
1956 | |||||||
35 | January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 |
John F. Kennedy[lower-alpha 18] | Democratic | 1960 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
36 | November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969 |
Lyndon B. Johnson | Democratic | Vacant through January 20, 1965 | |||
1964 | Hubert Humphrey | ||||||
37 | January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 |
Richard Nixon[lower-alpha 8] | Republican | 1968 | Spiro Agnew[lower-alpha 8] | ||
1972 | |||||||
Vacant, Oct. 10 – Dec. 6, 1973 | |||||||
Gerald Ford[lower-alpha 19] | |||||||
38 | August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 |
Gerald Ford | Republican | Vacant through December 19, 1974 | |||
Nelson Rockefeller[lower-alpha 19] | |||||||
39 | January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 |
Jimmy Carter | Democratic | 1976 | Walter Mondale | ||
40 | January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
Ronald Reagan | Republican | 1980 | George H. W. Bush | ||
1984 | |||||||
41 | January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 |
George H. W. Bush | Republican | 1988 | Dan Quayle | ||
42 | January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
Bill Clinton | Democratic | 1992 | Al Gore | ||
1996 | |||||||
43 | January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 |
George W. Bush | Republican | 2000 | Dick Cheney | ||
2004 | |||||||
44 | January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 |
Barack Obama | Democratic | 2008 | Joe Biden | ||
2012 | |||||||
45 | January 20, 2017 – Incumbent |
Donald Trump | Republican | 2016 | Mike Pence | ||
Sources: [3][4][5] |
Subsequent public office
Three former presidents held another U.S. federal office after serving as president.
President | Presidency | Subsequent service | |
---|---|---|---|
John Quincy Adams | 6 | 1825–1829 | U.S. representative from Massachusetts (1831–1848) |
Andrew Johnson | 17 | 1865–1869 | U.S. senator from Tennessee (1875) |
William Howard Taft | 27 | 1909–1913 | Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930) |
Additionally, several former presidents campaigned unsuccessfully for another term as president or for other U.S. state or federal elective offices after serving as president.
President | Presidency | Office sought unsuccessfully | |
---|---|---|---|
John Quincy Adams | 6 | 1825–1829 | Governor of Massachusetts (1833) |
Martin Van Buren | 8 | 1837–1841 | President of the United States (1844) |
President of the United States (1848) | |||
Millard Fillmore | 13 | 1850–1853 | President of the United States (1856) |
Andrew Johnson | 17 | 1865–1869 | U.S. senator from Tennessee (1870) |
U.S. representative from Tennessee (1872) | |||
Ulysses S. Grant | 18 | 1869–1877 | President of the United States (1880) |
Theodore Roosevelt | 26 | 1901–1909 | President of the United States (1912) |
Herbert Hoover | 31 | 1929–1933 | President of the United States (1940) |
See also
- Acting president of the United States
- Founding Fathers of the United States
- List of presidents of the Continental Congress
- List of vice presidents of the United States
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- Due to logistical delays, instead of being inaugurated on March 4, 1789, the date scheduled for operations of the federal government under the new Constitution to begin, Washington's first inauguration was held 1 month and 26 days later. As a result, his first term was only 1,404 days long (as opposed to the usual 1,461), and was the shortest term for a U.S. president who served a full term.
- Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, 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.
- 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.
- Died in office of natural causes.
- 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.
- Resigned from office
- John Tyler was sworn in as president on April 6, 1841.
- 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 in September 1841.
- Millard Fillmore was sworn in as president on July 10, 1850.
- Died April 15, 1865; see Assassination of Abraham Lincoln for further details.
- 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. Later, while president, 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.
- Died September 19, 1881; see Assassination of James A. Garfield for further details.
- Chester A. Arthur was initially sworn in as president on September 20, 1881, and then again on September 22.
- Died September 14, 1901; see Assassination of William McKinley for further details.
- Calvin Coolidge was initially sworn in as president on August 3, 1923, and then again on August 21.
- Died November 22, 1963; see Assassination of John F. Kennedy for further details.
- Appointed as vice president under terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, Section 2.
References
- "The Constitution: Amendments 11–27". U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. Retrieved October 1, 2008.
- Jamison, Dennis (December 31, 2014). "George Washington's views on political parties in America". The Washington Times. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- "Presidents". whitehouse.gov. Washington, D.C.: White House. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- "Chronological List of Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents of the United States". , Washington, D.C.: Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- Kelly, Martin (February 17, 2020). "Chart of the Presidents and Vice Presidents". thoughtco.com. New York, New York: Dotdash. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to President of the United States. |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: List of Presidents of the United States |
- Whitehouse.gov: The Presidents
- Hauenstein Center | Presidential Leadership Studies at Grand Valley State University