All 47 presidencies, from Washington to Trump: vice presidents, elections and running mates, inaugural addresses, and the facts that turn up as clues. Current through November 2026. "Learn more" links go to Wikipedia unless noted.
Click a name to jump to that president's entry. "Vacant" means the vice presidency was empty (before the 25th Amendment in 1967 there was no way to fill it).
There have been 47 presidencies but only 45 different people. Grover Cleveland is counted as both the 22nd and 24th president, and Donald Trump as both the 45th and 47th. learn more
Party sequence to memorize: Federalist → Democratic-Republican → Democratic vs. National Republican → Democratic vs. Whig (1830s–1850s) → Democratic vs. Republican (from 1854–56 on). Lincoln was the first Republican president. Taylor and Fillmore were the last Whigs. learn more
Under the original Constitution each elector cast two votes for president. The runner-up became vice president. The 12th Amendment (1804) changed that, after the 1800 tie between Jefferson and Burr. learn more
1. George Washington
Basics
No party (sided with the Federalists) · 1789–1797 · Virginia (Mount Vernon) · 1732–1799 bio · presidency
Vice president
John Adams (both terms)
Elections
1788–89: Unanimous. All 69 electors cast a vote for Washington. Adams finished second with 34 and became VP. No organized parties and no real opponent. 1788–89 election
1792: Unanimous again, with 132 electoral votes. Adams (77) beat George Clinton (50) for second place, an early sign of a Federalist vs. Republican split. 1792 election
Washington is the only president to win every electoral vote, and the only one never affiliated with a party.
Inaugural addresses
1789: Federal Hall, New York City (April 30). Oath given by Robert Livingston. He spoke of the "Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men." 1st inaugural
1793: Congress Hall, Philadelphia. At 135 words, the shortest inaugural address ever. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
"Father of His Country." Henry Lee eulogized him as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Henry Lee
First cabinet: Jefferson (State), Hamilton (Treasury), Knox (War), Randolph (Attorney General). learn more
Farewell Address (1796, drafted with Hamilton, printed in a newspaper and never delivered as a speech) warned against political parties, sectionalism, and permanent foreign alliances. Set the two-term tradition. Farewell Address
2. John Adams
Basics
Federalist · 1797–1801 · Massachusetts · 1735–1826 bio · presidency
Vice president
Thomas Jefferson. He was Adams's chief rival from the opposing party, which is only possible under the pre-12th Amendment system.
Elections
1796 (won): Adams 71, Jefferson 69, Thomas Pinckney 59, Aaron Burr 30. The first contested election, Federalists (Adams/T. Pinckney) vs. Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson/Burr). A president and vice president from different parties. 1796 election
1800 (lost): Jefferson 73, Burr 73, Adams 65, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 64, John Jay 1. Hurt by the Alien and Sedition Acts and by Hamilton's attacks within his own party. See Jefferson. 1800 election
Inaugural address
Congress Hall, Philadelphia. First oath given by a Chief Justice (Oliver Ellsworth).
Includes a single sentence more than 700 words long, one of the longest in any inaugural. Heavy praise for Washington, who was in attendance. inaugural
Key facts
XYZ Affair (1797–98) led to the undeclared Quasi-War with France. Adams made peace through the Convention of 1800. XYZ Affair · Quasi-War
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). Jefferson and Madison answered with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. Alien and Sedition Acts · resolutions
First president to live in the White House (November 1800). Made "midnight appointments" of judges (Judiciary Act of 1801), which led to Marbury v. Madison. Appointed John Marshall Chief Justice. Midnight Judges Act
Died July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, on the same day as Jefferson. Last words are reported as "Thomas Jefferson survives" (Jefferson had in fact died hours earlier). learn more
3. Thomas Jefferson
Basics
Democratic-Republican · 1801–1809 · Virginia (Monticello) · 1743–1826 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
Aaron Burr (1801–05; killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804 while VP) · George Clinton (1805–09) Burr–Hamilton duel
Elections
1800: Jefferson and running mate Burr each got 73 electoral votes, a tie, because electors could not mark which vote was for VP. Opponents: Adams and C. C. Pinckney. The House of Representatives decided it on the 36th ballot (February 1801). Hamilton preferred Jefferson to Burr. This led to the 12th Amendment (1804), which gave president and VP separate ballots. Jefferson called it the "Revolution of 1800," the first peaceful transfer of power between parties. 1800 election · 12th Amendment
1804: Jefferson/George Clinton 162 vs. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney/Rufus King (Federalist) 14. A landslide after the Louisiana Purchase, and the first election under the 12th Amendment. 1804 election
Inaugural addresses
1801: first inauguration in Washington, D.C. (unfinished Capitol). Oath given by his rival and cousin John Marshall. He walked to the Capitol.
"We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Called for "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none." 1st inaugural
1805: defended the Louisiana Purchase and religious freedom. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Louisiana Purchase (1803) from Napoleon for $15 million, roughly doubling the country. Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–06). Louisiana Purchase · Lewis and Clark
First Barbary War against Tripoli (1801–05). Embargo Act of 1807 (badly hurt U.S. trade). Signed the ban on importing enslaved people (effective 1808). Barbary War · Embargo Act · 1807 slave-import ban
Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review. Burr's treason trial (1807) ended in acquittal. Marbury v. Madison · Burr conspiracy
Wrote the Declaration of Independence. His self-written epitaph lists the Declaration, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and founding the University of Virginia, and leaves out the presidency. Virginia Statute
"Entangling alliances with none" is from Jefferson's first inaugural, not Washington's Farewell Address. Washington warned against "permanent alliances." learn more
4. James Madison
Basics
Democratic-Republican · 1809–1817 · Virginia (Montpelier) · 1751–1836 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
George Clinton (died in office April 1812) · Elbridge Gerry (1813; died in office November 1814). Vacant after each death. Madison is the only president to have two VPs die in office. George Clinton · Gerry
Elections
1808: Madison/George Clinton 122 vs. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney/Rufus King (Federalist) 47. Clinton also received 6 votes for president. The unpopular Embargo Act helped the Federalists recover somewhat. 1808 election
1812: Madison/Elbridge Gerry 128 vs. DeWitt Clinton/Jared Ingersoll 89. DeWitt Clinton (George Clinton's nephew) ran as an antiwar candidate backed by Federalists, a wartime election. 1812 election
Inaugural addresses
1809: wore a suit of American-made cloth. The evening's ball is considered the first inaugural ball. 1st inaugural
1813: defended the War of 1812 as just and necessary. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
"Father of the Constitution." Wrote the Virginia Plan and the Bill of Rights, and co-wrote the Federalist Papers. Shortest president (5 ft 4 in). Virginia Plan · Federalist Papers
War of 1812 ("Mr. Madison's War"). The British burned Washington in August 1814, and Dolley Madison saved Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Washington. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war (December 1814). War of 1812 · burning of Washington · Treaty of Ghent
The Federalists' Hartford Convention (1814–15) wrecked that party. Hartford Convention
Chartered the Second Bank of the United States (1816). Second Bank
5. James Monroe
Basics
Democratic-Republican · 1817–1825 · Virginia · 1758–1831 bio · presidency
Vice president
Daniel D. Tompkins (both terms)
Elections
1816: Monroe/Tompkins 183 vs. Rufus King (Federalist) 34. The last Federalist presidential candidate. 1816 election
1820: Monroe 231, John Quincy Adams 1. Effectively unopposed. One New Hampshire elector, William Plumer, voted for JQA. A legend says he wanted to keep the unanimous honor for Washington alone. 1820 election
Inaugural addresses
1817: the first inaugural held outdoors (the Capitol was still being rebuilt after the British burning). 1st inaugural
1821: the first held on March 5 because March 4 fell on a Sunday. Moved indoors because of bad weather. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
"Era of Good Feelings" (one-party rule). Last Founding Father president, called "the Last Cocked Hat." Era of Good Feelings
Monroe Doctrine (1823, largely written by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams): Europe should stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Monroe Doctrine
Missouri Compromise (1820): Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and slavery was banned north of 36°30′ in the rest of the Louisiana Territory. Panic of 1819. Adams–Onís Treaty (1819) acquired Florida from Spain. Missouri Compromise · Panic of 1819 · Adams–Onís Treaty
Liberia's capital, Monrovia, is named for him. Died July 4, 1831, the third of the first five presidents to die on the Fourth of July. Monrovia
6. John Quincy Adams
Basics
Democratic-Republican (his faction became the National Republicans; later a Whig congressman) · 1825–1829 · Massachusetts · 1767–1848 bio · presidency
Vice president
John C. Calhoun (who then switched to Jackson's side) Calhoun
Elections
1824 (won): Four Democratic-Republicans ran: Andrew Jackson 99, Adams 84, William H. Crawford 41, Henry Clay 37. No one had the required majority of 131, so under the 12th Amendment the House chose among the top three. Clay, the Speaker, backed Adams, who won (13 states) in February 1825. Adams then named Clay Secretary of State, and Jackson's backers cried "corrupt bargain." Jackson had won the most popular and electoral votes. Calhoun won the vice presidency outright. 1824 election · corrupt bargain
1828 (lost): Adams/Richard Rush 83 vs. Jackson/Calhoun 178. One of the nastiest campaigns ever: Jackson's wife Rachel was attacked, and the "coffin handbills" accused Jackson of executing militiamen. 1828 election · coffin handbills
Inaugural address
Took the oath on a book of U.S. laws rather than a Bible.
Admitted he was "less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors," a nod to the disputed 1824 result. inaugural
Key facts
Son of John Adams, the first son of a president to become president. Like his father, he did not attend his successor's inauguration.
Ambitious program (national university, observatories he called "lighthouses of the skies," roads and canals) blocked by Congress. Tariff of Abominations (1828). Tariff of Abominations
Afterward served 17 years in the House as "Old Man Eloquent." Fought the gag rule against antislavery petitions and argued the Amistad case before the Supreme Court (1841). Collapsed at his House desk in 1848 and died two days later. Amistad case
Earliest president of whom an original photograph survives (1843). As Secretary of State, chief author of the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe Doctrine
Two Adamses: John (2nd, Federalist, father, one term, XYZ Affair) and John Quincy (6th, son, one term, "corrupt bargain"). Both lost re-election to a challenger (Jefferson, then Jackson), and neither attended his successor's inauguration. Adams family
The era of mass democracy, the Second Party System (Democrats vs. Whigs), westward expansion, and the growing fight over slavery in the territories. learn more
7. Andrew Jackson
Basics
Democratic · 1829–1837 · Tennessee (The Hermitage; born in the Waxhaws on the North/South Carolina border) · 1767–1845 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
John C. Calhoun (resigned December 1832 to become a senator from South Carolina, the first VP to resign) · Martin Van Buren (1833–37) Calhoun
Elections
1824 (lost): Won the most popular and electoral votes (99) but not a majority. The House chose John Quincy Adams. See JQA. corrupt bargain
1828: Jackson/Calhoun 178 vs. John Quincy Adams/Richard Rush 83. A rematch built on the "corrupt bargain" charge, and a vicious mudslinging campaign. His wife Rachel died weeks after the election, and Jackson blamed the attacks on her. 1828 election · Rachel Jackson
1832: Jackson/Van Buren 219 vs. Henry Clay/John Sergeant (National Republican) 49. John Floyd (South Carolina nullifiers) got 11 and William Wirt (Anti-Masonic) got 7. The main issue was Jackson's veto of the Bank recharter. The Anti-Masons held the first national nominating convention (1831), and the Democrats held their first in 1832. 1832 election · Anti-Masonic Party
Inaugural addresses
1829: the first inaugural on the Capitol's East Portico. Promised "reform" of the federal patronage system and a "just and liberal policy" toward Native Americans. The crowd of supporters then mobbed the White House reception. 1st inaugural
1833: short and held indoors, it stressed preserving the Union during the Nullification Crisis. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
"Old Hickory." Hero of the Battle of New Orleans (January 1815). Opponents called him "King Andrew I." Battle of New Orleans
Indian Removal Act (1830) led to the Trail of Tears (Cherokee removal, carried out in 1838–39 under Van Buren). Jackson ignored Worcester v. Georgia (1832). Indian Removal Act · Trail of Tears · Worcester v. Georgia
Bank War: vetoed the Second Bank's recharter (1832) and moved federal deposits to "pet banks." Censured by the Senate (1834; later expunged). Specie Circular (1836). Paid off the national debt (1835), the only time in U.S. history. Bank War · Specie Circular
Nullification Crisis (1832–33): South Carolina nullified the tariffs, and Jackson got a Force Bill passed. Other clue words: spoils system, "Kitchen Cabinet," the Petticoat (Peggy Eaton) affair. Nullification crisis · spoils system · Kitchen Cabinet · Petticoat affair
First assassination attempt on a president (1835): both of Richard Lawrence's pistols misfired, and Jackson beat him with his cane. assassination attempt
8. Martin Van Buren
Basics
Democratic · 1837–1841 · New York (Kinderhook) · 1782–1862 bio · presidency
Vice president
Richard Mentor Johnson. He fell one vote short of an electoral majority in 1836 when Virginia's electors refused to vote for him, so the Senate chose him, the only time that has happened under the 12th Amendment. R. M. Johnson
Elections
1836: Van Buren/R. M. Johnson 170. The Whigs ran several regional candidates, hoping to throw the race to the House: William Henry Harrison 73, Hugh Lawson White 26, Daniel Webster 14, Willie P. Mangum 11. Van Buren was the last sitting VP elected president until George H. W. Bush in 1988. 1836 election
1840 (lost): Van Buren 60 vs. Harrison/Tyler 234. The Democrats nominated no VP candidate. Blamed for the Panic of 1837 ("Martin Van Ruin"). 1840 election
1848 (lost): Free Soil Party nominee with Charles Francis Adams (JQA's son). Won no electoral votes but about 10% of the popular vote, which split the New York Democrats and helped Taylor win. 1848 election · Free Soil Party
Inaugural address
Noted that, unlike all his predecessors, he was born after the Revolution.
Pledged to oppose any attempt to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slave states. inaugural
Key facts
First president born a U.S. citizen (1782). Native Dutch speaker, the only president whose first language was not English.
"Little Magician," "Red Fox of Kinderhook." "Old Kinderhook" helped popularize "O.K." Organized the Albany Regency political machine.
Trail of Tears (1838), the Caroline affair with British Canada, and the Amistad mutiny (1839) all came under him. Trail of Tears · Caroline affair · Amistad
9. William Henry Harrison
Basics
Whig · March 4 – April 4, 1841 · Ohio (born at Berkeley Plantation, Virginia) · 1773–1841 bio
Vice president
John Tyler, who succeeded him
Elections
1836 (lost): The leading Whig among several regional candidates, with 73 electoral votes. 1836 election
1840: Harrison/John Tyler 234 vs. Martin Van Buren 60 (no Democratic VP nominee; R. M. Johnson got most Democratic VP votes). "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!" A Democratic paper sneered that Harrison would be happy with a log cabin and hard cider, and the Whigs turned that into the "log cabin and hard cider" campaign, the first modern campaign with songs, rallies, and slogans ("Van, Van is a used-up man"). The antislavery Liberty Party (James G. Birney) also ran. 1840 election · slogan
Inaugural address
The longest inaugural address ever (about 8,400 words, nearly two hours), given in cold, wet weather without a hat or overcoat. Edited by Daniel Webster, who joked he had killed "seventeen Roman proconsuls."
He fell ill weeks later and died 31 days into his term. Pneumonia was blamed at the time, though modern researchers suggest typhoid/enteric fever from Washington's polluted water. inaugural
Key facts
Shortest presidency, and the first president to die in office. learn more
"Old Tippecanoe": defeated Tecumseh's confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811). Won the Battle of the Thames (1813), where Tecumseh was killed. Former governor of Indiana Territory. Tippecanoe · Thames
Son of Benjamin Harrison V (signer of the Declaration) and grandfather of the 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison. Last president born before independence. Harrison family
10. John Tyler
Basics
Whig (expelled by the party in 1841; a former Democrat) · 1841–1845 · Virginia · 1790–1862 bio · presidency
Vice president
None (vacant his entire term)
How he took office
Never elected president. Succeeded Harrison on April 4, 1841, the first VP to do so. He insisted he was fully president, not "acting president," and this "Tyler Precedent" was later written into the 25th Amendment (1967). Critics called him "His Accidency." Tyler Precedent
Elections
1840: Elected VP as the "Tyler Too" in "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." 1840 election
1844: Briefly ran as a third-party candidate, then withdrew and backed Polk.
Inaugural address
No inaugural address. He took the oath at his hotel and issued a short written address to the people a few days later. accession
Key facts
Vetoed Henry Clay's bank bills. His whole cabinet resigned except Secretary of State Daniel Webster (September 1841), and the Whigs expelled him. The House rejected the first impeachment resolution against a president (1843). learn more
Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842) settled the Maine–Canada border. Annexation of Texas by joint resolution of Congress, signed March 1, 1845, days before he left office. Webster–Ashburton · Texas annexation
The USS Princeton gun explosion (1844) killed the secretaries of state and the navy. Tyler then married Julia Gardiner, whose father also died in the blast. Tyler fathered 15 children, the most of any president. USS Princeton
Later sided with the Confederacy and was elected to the Confederate Congress. Washington did not officially mourn his death in 1862.
11. James K. Polk
Basics
Democratic · 1845–1849 · Tennessee (born in North Carolina) · 1795–1849 bio · presidency
Vice president
George M. Dallas (Dallas, Texas, is probably named for him)
Elections
1844: Polk/George M. Dallas 170 vs. Henry Clay/Theodore Frelinghuysen (Whig) 105. Polk was the first "dark horse" nominee, chosen on the 9th ballot after Van Buren lost support by opposing Texas annexation. Whigs mocked "Who is James K. Polk?" 1844 election · dark horse
Expansionist platform: "re-annexation of Texas and re-occupation of Oregon." The "Fifty-four forty or fight!" slogan is linked to the Oregon dispute. Liberty Party nominee James G. Birney drew antislavery votes in New York, costing Clay the state and the election. Oregon dispute · Liberty Party
Inaugural address
Delivered in heavy rain. The first inaugural reported by telegraph (by Samuel Morse).
Declared the U.S. title to Oregon "clear and unquestionable" and welcomed Texas into the Union. inaugural
Key facts
Achieved all four stated goals in one term: the lower Walker Tariff (1846), the restored Independent Treasury (1846), the Oregon Treaty (1846, 49th parallel), and the acquisition of California. Walker Tariff · Oregon Treaty
Mexican–American War (1846–48). Polk claimed Mexico "shed American blood upon the American soil." The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) gave the U.S. the Mexican Cession. The Wilmot Proviso tried to ban slavery there and failed. war · treaty · Wilmot Proviso
"Young Hickory," Jackson's protégé, and the only Speaker of the House to become president. The phrase "Manifest Destiny" (John O'Sullivan, 1845) defines his era. Manifest Destiny
Kept his pledge to serve one term. Died of cholera about three months after leaving office, the shortest retirement of any president.
12. Zachary Taylor
Basics
Whig · 1849–1850 · Louisiana (born in Virginia, raised in Kentucky) · 1784–1850 bio
Vice president
Millard Fillmore, who succeeded him
Elections
1848: Taylor/Millard Fillmore 163 vs. Lewis Cass/William O. Butler (Democrat) 127. Free Soil: Martin Van Buren/Charles Francis Adams, 0 electoral votes, about 10% of the popular vote. Cass promoted "popular sovereignty." Taylor, a war hero who had never voted, ran on his record and took no stand on slavery's expansion. The first presidential election held on the same day in every state. 1848 election
Inaugural address
Held March 5, 1849, because March 4 was a Sunday. That gave rise to the legend that Senate president pro tempore David Rice Atchison (namesake of Atchison, Kansas) was "president for one day." He was not: Taylor's term had legally begun, and Atchison never took the oath. Atchison legend
A short address promising to govern above party. inaugural
Key facts
"Old Rough and Ready," hero of Palo Alto, Monterrey, and Buena Vista in the Mexican War. Buena Vista
A slaveholder who nonetheless opposed slavery's expansion. Wanted California and New Mexico admitted directly as states and threatened to personally hang secessionists. Clayton–Bulwer Treaty (1850) with Britain over a Central American canal. Clayton–Bulwer
Died July 9, 1850, after eating cherries and iced milk at a July 4 event (acute gastroenteritis), the second president to die in office. His body was exhumed in 1991, and tests found no arsenic poisoning. learn more
Father-in-law of Jefferson Davis (Davis's first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor, died months after their 1835 wedding).
13. Millard Fillmore
Basics
Whig · 1850–1853 · New York (Buffalo; born in a log cabin in Cayuga County) · 1800–1874 bio · presidency
Vice president
None (vacant his entire term)
How he took office
Never elected president. Succeeded Zachary Taylor on July 9, 1850, and took the oath before a joint session of Congress the next day.
1852: The Whigs denied him the nomination and chose General Winfield Scott.
1856 (lost): Nominee of the nativist American ("Know Nothing") Party with Andrew Jackson Donelson. Won only Maryland's 8 electoral votes but about 22% of the popular vote. 1856 election · Know Nothings
Inaugural address
No inaugural address. He was sworn in without one. accession
Key facts
Signed the Compromise of 1850 (Clay's plan, passed in pieces by Stephen Douglas): California admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, the slave trade (not slavery) banned in D.C., a Texas boundary settlement, and a tough new Fugitive Slave Act, which angered the North. Compromise of 1850 · Fugitive Slave Act
Sent Commodore Matthew Perry to open Japan. Perry arrived in 1853, and the Convention of Kanagawa was signed in 1854 under Pierce. Perry Expedition
The last Whig president. Created the first permanent White House library. Later first chancellor of the University at Buffalo.
14. Franklin Pierce
Basics
Democratic · 1853–1857 · New Hampshire · 1804–1869 bio · presidency
Vice president
William R. King. Ill with tuberculosis, he took his oath in Cuba under a special act of Congress, the only VP sworn in on foreign soil. He died April 18, 1853, after about six weeks in office. Vacant afterward. William R. King
Elections
1852: Pierce/William R. King 254 vs. Winfield Scott/William A. Graham (Whig) 42. Free Soil: John P. Hale. Pierce was a dark horse chosen on the 49th ballot. Democrats chanted, "We Polked you in 1844; we shall Pierce you in 1852." It was the Whigs' last presidential campaign. 1852 election
Inaugural address
The first given entirely from memory, without notes. Pierce chose to "affirm" rather than "swear" the oath.
Weeks earlier his only surviving son, Benny, had been killed in a train accident. He opened, "It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne." inaugural
Key facts
Signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854, by Stephen Douglas). It repealed the Missouri Compromise line and let settlers decide on slavery (popular sovereignty), which led to "Bleeding Kansas" and the birth of the Republican Party. Kansas–Nebraska Act · Bleeding Kansas
Gadsden Purchase (1853–54) from Mexico, for a southern railroad route. The Ostend Manifesto (1854) urged buying or seizing Cuba. Gadsden Purchase · Ostend Manifesto
Convention of Kanagawa (1854) with Japan. Kanagawa
The only elected president who sought renomination and was denied it by his own party (1856). College friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote his campaign biography.
15. James Buchanan
Basics
Democratic · 1857–1861 · Pennsylvania · 1791–1868 bio · presidency
Vice president
John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky (at 36, the youngest VP ever). He later ran against Lincoln in 1860 and became a Confederate general. Breckinridge
Elections
1856: Buchanan/John C. Breckinridge 174 vs. John C. Frémont/William L. Dayton 114, the first Republican ticket ("Free soil, free speech, free men, Frémont"). Millard Fillmore/Andrew Jackson Donelson (American/Know Nothing) won 8. Buchanan had been minister to Britain during the Kansas–Nebraska fight, so he was "untainted" by it. 1856 election
Inaugural address
Said the question of slavery in the territories would be "speedily and finally settled" by the Supreme Court. Two days later came Dred Scott v. Sandford (March 6, 1857), and Buchanan had privately pressured justices on the outcome.
The only bachelor president. His niece Harriet Lane served as White House hostess. The only president from Pennsylvania. Harriet Lane
Backed Kansas's proslavery Lecompton Constitution, splitting his party with Stephen Douglas. Kansas was finally admitted as a free state on January 29, 1861, during Buchanan's last weeks. Lecompton Constitution
Panic of 1857, the Utah War (1857–58), and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859). Panic of 1857 · Harpers Ferry
Seven Deep South states seceded after Lincoln's election. Buchanan argued secession was illegal but that he had no power to stop it. Often ranked among the worst presidents.
Pierce signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854). Buchanan backed the Lecompton Constitution (1857–58) and was president when Kansas became a state (1861). Don't swap them.
From secession to the end of Reconstruction: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the first presidential impeachment, and the scandals of the Grant years. learn more
16. Abraham Lincoln
Basics
Republican (ran on the National Union ticket in 1864) · 1861–1865 · Illinois (Springfield; born in a log cabin in Kentucky) · 1809–1865 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
Hannibal Hamlin of Maine (1861–65) · Andrew Johnson of Tennessee (March 4 – April 15, 1865) Hamlin
Elections
1858 (lost, U.S. Senate): The Lincoln–Douglas debates in Illinois made him nationally famous, after his "House Divided" speech ("A house divided against itself cannot stand"). Douglas kept the seat. debates · House Divided
1860: a four-way race. Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin (Republican) 180. John C. Breckinridge/Joseph Lane (Southern Democrat) 72. John Bell/Edward Everett (Constitutional Union) 39. Stephen A. Douglas/Herschel V. Johnson (Northern Democrat) 12. Lincoln won with only about 40% of the popular vote and was not even on the ballot in most Southern states. The Democrats split at Charleston and Baltimore. Clue words: "Honest Abe," "the Rail-Splitter," the Wide Awakes marching clubs. South Carolina seceded in December 1860. 1860 election · Constitutional Union · Wide Awakes
1864: Lincoln/Andrew Johnson (National Union) 212 vs. George B. McClellan/George H. Pendleton (Democrat) 21. The Republicans renamed themselves the National Union Party and added Johnson, a pro-Union Southern Democrat. "Don't change horses in the middle of the stream." Sherman's capture of Atlanta (September 1864) turned the tide. McClellan, the general Lincoln had fired, ran on a peace platform he partly rejected. 1864 election · National Union Party
Inaugural addresses
1861: appealed to the South: "We are not enemies, but friends." Closed with "the mystic chords of memory" and "the better angels of our nature." 1st inaugural
1865: only about 700 words. Called the war God's judgment on slavery and closed, "With malice toward none, with charity for all... to bind up the nation's wounds." Frederick Douglass attended, and John Wilkes Booth was in the crowd. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
The Civil War began at Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861). Lincoln suspended habeas corpus (Ex parte Merryman). Fort Sumter · Ex parte Merryman
Emancipation Proclamation: announced September 22, 1862, after Antietam, and effective January 1, 1863. It freed enslaved people only in areas in rebellion. The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863; about 272 words) begins "Four score and seven years ago." The 13th Amendment passed Congress in January 1865 and was ratified in December 1865. Emancipation Proclamation · Gettysburg Address · 13th Amendment
1862 laws: the Homestead Act, the Morrill Land-Grant Act (which founded colleges such as Kansas State), and the Pacific Railway Act. Homestead Act · Morrill Act · Pacific Railway Act
Shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 (Good Friday, during Our American Cousin). He died the next morning, the first president assassinated. assassination
The tallest president (6 ft 4 in) and the only one to hold a patent (1849, buoying boats over shoals). Visited Kansas Territory in December 1859. patent
17. Andrew Johnson
Basics
Democratic (elected VP on the National Union ticket) · 1865–1869 · Tennessee (Greeneville; born in Raleigh, North Carolina) · 1808–1875 bio · presidency
Vice president
None (vacant his entire term)
How he took office
Never elected president. Sworn in at Kirkwood House, his hotel, on April 15, 1865, hours after Lincoln died. (He appeared drunk at his own VP inauguration that March.) He was also a target of the Booth conspiracy, but his would-be attacker, George Atzerodt, lost his nerve.
Elections
1864: Elected VP with Lincoln. He was the only senator from a seceded state who stayed loyal to the Union. 1864 election
1868: Sought but was denied the Democratic nomination, which went to Horatio Seymour.
Inaugural address
No inaugural address, only brief remarks after taking the oath. accession
Key facts
Lenient "Presidential Reconstruction" with mass pardons for ex-Confederates, as Southern states passed Black Codes. Vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau bill and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Congress overrode him on the Civil Rights Act). Opposed the 14th Amendment. His "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour (1866) backfired. Freedmen's Bureau · Civil Rights Act of 1866 · Swing Around the Circle
First president impeached (February 24, 1868), for firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate acquitted him in May 1868 by one vote (35–19, one short of two-thirds). The key "not guilty" vote came from Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas. impeachment · Tenure of Office Act · Edmund Ross
The Alaska Purchase (1867, $7.2 million, from Russia) was called "Seward's Folly." Alaska Purchase
A former tailor with no formal schooling, whose wife Eliza helped him improve his reading and writing. The only former president later elected to the U.S. Senate (1875).
Two Johnsons: Andrew Johnson (17th, Tennessee, succeeded Lincoln, impeached 1868) and Lyndon B. Johnson (36th, Texas, succeeded JFK, Great Society). Both were Southern Democrats who became president after an assassination. LBJ
18. Ulysses S. Grant
Basics
Republican · 1869–1877 · Illinois (Galena; born in Point Pleasant, Ohio) · 1822–1885 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
Schuyler Colfax (1869–73; tarred by the Crédit Mobilier scandal and dropped) · Henry Wilson (1873 until he died in office on November 22, 1875; vacant afterward) Colfax · Wilson
Elections
1868: Grant/Schuyler Colfax 214 vs. Horatio Seymour/Francis Preston Blair Jr. (Democrat) 80. Grant's slogan was "Let us have peace" (from his letter accepting the nomination). Republicans "waved the bloody shirt." Votes of newly enfranchised Black Southerners supplied his popular-vote margin. 1868 election · bloody shirt
1872: Grant/Henry Wilson 286 vs. Horace Greeley/B. Gratz Brown (Liberal Republican, also endorsed by the Democrats). Greeley died on November 29, 1872, after the election and before the Electoral College met, so his electors scattered their votes, most to Thomas Hendricks. Victoria Woodhull (Equal Rights Party) was the first woman to run for president. 1872 election · Greeley · Woodhull
Inaugural addresses
1869: urged ratification of the 15th Amendment and called for "proper treatment of the original occupants of this land." Said he would have "a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people." 1st inaugural
1873: on a bitterly cold day (about 16°F), he complained that he had been "the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history." 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Born Hiram Ulysses Grant. As a general he was "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, and he accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox (April 9, 1865). Appomattox
The 15th Amendment (1870). The Enforcement Acts and the Ku Klux Klan Act (1871) were used to crush the first Klan. The Department of Justice was created in 1870. 15th Amendment · Enforcement Acts
Scandals (Grant himself was not shown to be corrupt): Black Friday gold panic (1869, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk), Crédit Mobilier (exposed 1872), the Whiskey Ring (1875), and the Belknap bribery scandal (1876). The Panic of 1873 began a long depression. Black Friday · Crédit Mobilier · Whiskey Ring · Panic of 1873
Signed the law creating Yellowstone, the first national park (1872). Dying of throat cancer, he finished his Personal Memoirs, published by Mark Twain's firm, days before his death in 1885. Yellowstone · Memoirs
Close, bitter elections, civil service reform, tariffs, silver vs. gold, Populists, and the leap to overseas empire in 1898. The name comes from Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner's novel The Gilded Age (1873). learn more
1876: Hayes/William A. Wheeler 185 vs. Samuel J. Tilden/Thomas A. Hendricks (Democrat) 184. Tilden won the popular vote by about 250,000 and needed just one more electoral vote. Returns from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina (plus one Oregon elector) were disputed. Congress created a 15-member Electoral Commission, which gave every disputed vote to Hayes on 8–7 party-line votes (Justice Joseph Bradley was the swing). 1876 election · Electoral Commission
In the informal Compromise of 1877, Democrats accepted Hayes in return for withdrawing federal troops from the South, which ended Reconstruction. Opponents called him "Rutherfraud" and "His Fraudulency." Compromise of 1877
Inaugural address
March 4 fell on a Sunday, and with the result so contested he took the oath privately in the White House Red Room on Saturday, March 3. The public ceremony followed on March 5.
"He serves his party best who serves his country best." Proposed a single six-year presidential term and called for civil service reform. inaugural
Key facts
Sent federal troops against the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Vetoed the Bland–Allison silver act (1878), and Congress overrode him. Railroad Strike · Bland–Allison
Pledged to serve one term and kept it. Fired Chester Arthur as Collector of the Port of New York (1878), striking at Roscoe Conkling's machine.
First Lady "Lemonade Lucy" banned alcohol in the White House. Started the White House Easter Egg Roll (1878) and had the first White House telephone installed. Lucy Hayes
A Union general who was wounded several times in the war.
20. James A. Garfield
Basics
Republican · March 4 – September 19, 1881 · Ohio (Mentor) · 1831–1881 bio
Vice president
Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded him
Elections
1880: Garfield/Chester A. Arthur 214 vs. Winfield Scott Hancock/William H. English (Democrat) 155. The Republican convention deadlocked between the Stalwarts (Conkling, who wanted a third term for Grant) and the Half-Breeds (James G. Blaine). Garfield won as a dark horse on the 36th ballot, and Stalwart Arthur was added to balance the ticket. The popular-vote margin was under 2,000 votes, the closest in history. James B. Weaver ran for the Greenback Party. 1880 election · Stalwarts · Half-Breeds
Inaugural address
Called the rise of Black Americans "from slavery to the full rights of citizenship" the most important political change since the Constitution, and urged universal education as the remedy for illiteracy.
Called for civil service regulation by law. inaugural
Key facts
Shot July 2, 1881, at a Washington railroad station by Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker who shouted, "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts... Arthur is president now!" Garfield died September 19 of infections largely caused by his doctors' unsterile probing. Alexander Graham Bell tried to locate the bullet with a metal detector. He was the second president assassinated. assassination · Guiteau
The murder spurred the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883). Pendleton Act
The last president born in a log cabin. Before politics he was a preacher, a college president (Hiram College), and a Union general. The only sitting House member elected president. Published an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem (1876). learn more
21. Chester A. Arthur
Basics
Republican · 1881–1885 · New York (born in Fairfield, Vermont) · 1829–1886 bio · presidency
Vice president
None (vacant his entire term)
How he took office
Never elected president. Succeeded Garfield, taking the oath at his New York City home in the early morning of September 20, 1881. He took it again in the Capitol on September 22.
Elections
1880: Elected VP on Garfield's ticket as the Stalwart balance. 1880 election
1884: Lost the Republican nomination to James G. Blaine. He was secretly ill with kidney disease (Bright's disease) and did not campaign hard for it.
Inaugural address
No regular inaugural address, only brief remarks after his oath at the Capitol. accession
Key facts
A product of Roscoe Conkling's New York machine, he had been fired by Hayes as Collector of the Port of New York. Yet he surprised reformers by signing the Pendleton Act (1883), which created a merit-based civil service. Pendleton Act
Signed the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), after vetoing a 20-year version. Chinese Exclusion Act
Began rebuilding the Navy with steel warships.
Nicknames "Elegant Arthur" and "the Gentleman Boss." Hired Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate the White House.
22. Grover Cleveland (first term)
Basics
Democratic · 1885–1889 · New York (Buffalo; born in Caldwell, New Jersey) · 1837–1908 bio · presidency
Vice president
Thomas A. Hendricks (died in office November 25, 1885; vacant afterward) Hendricks
Elections
1884: Cleveland/Thomas A. Hendricks 219 vs. James G. Blaine/John A. Logan (Republican) 182. Cleveland admitted he might have fathered a child out of wedlock, and Republicans chanted, "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" (Democrats answered, "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"). Democrats attacked Blaine over the Mulligan letters: "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, the continental liar from the state of Maine." Reform Republicans called Mugwumps bolted to Cleveland. Days before the vote, a pro-Blaine minister, Samuel Burchard, called the Democrats the party of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." That offended Irish Catholic voters, and Cleveland carried New York by about 1,000 votes and with it the election. He was the first Democrat elected since Buchanan in 1856. 1884 election · Mugwumps
1888 (lost): Cleveland/Allen G. Thurman 168 vs. Benjamin Harrison/Levi P. Morton 233. Cleveland won the popular vote by about 90,000 but lost his home state of New York. The tariff was the main issue. Also: the Murchison letter, and Indiana vote-buying ("blocks of five"). 1888 election
Inaugural address
Delivered from memory, without notes, on his mother's Bible.
Promised economy in government, civil service reform, and fair treatment of Native Americans and freedmen. 1st inaugural
Key facts
"Grover the Good," famous for honesty and for vetoes. He vetoed hundreds of private pension bills, and in vetoing the Texas Seed Bill wrote, "though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people."
The only president married in the White House: in 1886 he wed 21-year-old Frances Folsom. Frances Cleveland
Signed the Interstate Commerce Act (1887), which created the first federal regulatory agency, and the Dawes Act (1887), which broke up tribal lands. Dedicated the Statue of Liberty (1886). Interstate Commerce Act · Dawes Act
Earlier he had been sheriff of Erie County, mayor of Buffalo, and governor of New York.
23. Benjamin Harrison
Basics
Republican · 1889–1893 · Indiana (Indianapolis; born in North Bend, Ohio) · 1833–1901 bio · presidency
Vice president
Levi P. Morton of New York
Elections
1888: Harrison/Levi P. Morton 233 vs. Grover Cleveland/Allen G. Thurman 168. Harrison lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College, helped by carrying New York and Indiana. Campaign themes: the protective tariff, a "front porch" campaign from Indianapolis, and cartoons asking whether "Grandfather's Hat" fit him. 1888 election
1892 (lost): Harrison/Whitelaw Reid 145 vs. Cleveland/Adlai E. Stevenson 277. James B. Weaver/James G. Field (Populist) won 22 electoral votes, including Kansas. Harrison's wife Caroline died two weeks before the election, so neither man campaigned actively. 1892 election · Populists
Inaugural address
Delivered in a downpour in 1889, the centennial year of Washington's first inauguration.
Supported the protective tariff, generous pensions for Union veterans, and civil service enforcement. inaugural
Key facts
Grandson of William Henry Harrison, the only grandfather–grandson pair of presidents. Nicknamed "Little Ben" (5 ft 6 in) and "the Human Iceberg." Harrison family
Six states admitted, the most under any president: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington (1889), and Idaho and Wyoming (1890). The Oklahoma Land Rush (1889) and the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) also came under him. Land Rush · Wounded Knee
Electricity was installed in the White House (1891), but the Harrisons were said to be afraid to touch the switches.
24. Grover Cleveland (second term)
Basics
Democratic · 1893–1897 · New York · 1837–1908 bio · presidency
Vice president
Adlai E. Stevenson (I), grandfather of the 1952 and 1956 Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II Stevenson I
Elections
1892: Cleveland/Adlai E. Stevenson 277 vs. Benjamin Harrison/Whitelaw Reid 145 vs. James B. Weaver/James G. Field (Populist) 22. A rematch of 1888, and the first non-consecutive return to the presidency. The Populists' Omaha Platform called for free silver, a graduated income tax, and government ownership of railroads. 1892 election · Omaha Platform
Inaugural address
Delivered in snow and cold. Called for tariff reform and sound money, and warned against "paternalism" in government. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
The Panic of 1893 began the worst depression before the 1930s. Cleveland pushed repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and arranged a gold loan from J. P. Morgan (1895). Coxey's Army of unemployed marched on Washington (1894). Panic of 1893 · Coxey's Army
Sent federal troops to break the Pullman Strike (1894), led by Eugene V. Debs. Pullman Strike
Withdrew the treaty to annex Hawaii and condemned the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani. The Venezuela boundary crisis with Britain (1895) produced the Olney interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. Hawaii · Venezuela crisis
Had secret surgery for mouth cancer aboard a yacht (1893). His own party repudiated him in 1896 and nominated Bryan.
Cleveland counts twice, as the 22nd and 24th president, so Benjamin Harrison (23rd) sits between his two terms. Trump is the only other president with non-consecutive terms (45th and 47th).
25. William McKinley
Basics
Republican · 1897–1901 · Ohio (Canton; born in Niles) · 1843–1901 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
Garret Hobart (died in office November 21, 1899; vacant afterward) · Theodore Roosevelt (March 4 – September 14, 1901) Hobart
Elections
1896: McKinley/Garret Hobart 271 vs. William Jennings Bryan/Arthur Sewall (Democrat) 176. The Populists also nominated Bryan, but with Tom Watson as his running mate. At the Democratic convention Bryan gave the "Cross of Gold" speech for free silver at 16:1: "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." McKinley ran a front-porch campaign from Canton, funded by Mark Hanna's record war chest, while Bryan toured some 18,000 miles by train. A realigning election, with the gold standard vs. free silver as the issue. 1896 election · Cross of Gold · front porch · Mark Hanna
1900: McKinley/Theodore Roosevelt 292 vs. Bryan/Adlai E. Stevenson 155. Slogan: "the full dinner pail." Bryan campaigned against imperialism in the Philippines. 1900 election
Inaugural addresses
1897: the first inauguration filmed by a motion-picture camera. "War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed." "We want no wars of conquest." 1st inaugural
1901: defended the new overseas possessions after the war with Spain. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Spanish–American War (1898). After the USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor ("Remember the Maine!") and amid yellow journalism, diplomat John Hay (soon Secretary of State) called it a "splendid little war." In the Treaty of Paris the U.S. gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (for $20 million), which led to the Philippine–American War. war · USS Maine · Treaty of Paris
Annexed Hawaii by the Newlands Resolution (1898). Hay's Open Door notes (1899–1900) concerned China. Newlands Resolution · Open Door
The Dingley Tariff (1897) set record-high rates, and the Gold Standard Act (1900) followed. As a congressman he had written the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Dingley Tariff · Gold Standard Act
Shot September 6, 1901, by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. He died September 14, the third president assassinated. The last Civil War veteran to serve as president. Alaska's tallest peak was renamed Denali in 2015, and the federal name was restored to Mount McKinley in 2025. assassination · Denali / Mount McKinley
Trust-busting, conservation, four constitutional amendments in seven years (16th–19th), the Great War, and the "return to normalcy." learn more
26. Theodore Roosevelt
Basics
Republican (Progressive "Bull Moose" in 1912) · 1901–1909 · New York (Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay) · 1858–1919 bio · presidency
Vice president
None 1901–05 · Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana (1905–09) Fairbanks
How he took office
Succeeded McKinley on September 14, 1901, sworn in at a private home in Buffalo. At 42 he became the youngest president ever. Mark Hanna had warned, "Don't any of you realize there's only one life between this madman and the presidency?"
Elections
1900: Elected VP on McKinley's ticket. New York boss Thomas Platt pushed him into the job to get him out of the governorship. 1900 election
1904: Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks 336 vs. Alton B. Parker/Henry G. Davis (Democrat) 140. Ran on the "Square Deal." Eugene V. Debs ran as a Socialist. On election night TR promised not to seek another term, a pledge he later regretted. 1904 election · Square Deal
1912 (lost): Denied the Republican nomination, he formed the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party with Hiram Johnson and ran on "New Nationalism." Results: Wilson 435, TR 88, Taft 8. TR's second place is the best third-party finish ever. On October 14, 1912, in Milwaukee, he was shot by John Schrank. The folded speech and eyeglass case in his pocket slowed the bullet, and he spoke for about 90 minutes: "It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." 1912 election · Bull Moose Party · shooting
Inaugural address
1901: no inaugural address on taking office.
1905: a short address (under 1,000 words). "Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us." Warned that the problems of industrial civilization tested self-government. 1905 inaugural · 1901 swearing-in
Key facts
Led the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill (1898). Rough Riders
"Trust Buster": Northern Securities (1904). Mediated the 1902 anthracite coal strike. The Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act (1906) followed Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. He coined the terms "muckraker" and "bully pulpit." Northern Securities · coal strike · Pure Food and Drug Act
Conservation with Gifford Pinchot: the Forest Service, the Antiquities Act (1906; Devils Tower was the first national monument), and about 230 million acres protected. Antiquities Act
"Speak softly and carry a big stick." Secured the Panama Canal Zone (Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, 1903). The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904). Sent the Great White Fleet around the world (1907–09). big stick · Panama treaty · Roosevelt Corollary · Great White Fleet
Nobel Peace Prize (1906) for brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the Russo-Japanese War, the first American Nobel laureate. The teddy bear is named for him (1902). Treaty of Portsmouth · teddy bear
James S. Sherman ("Sunny Jim"), who died in office October 30, 1912, days before the election. His 8 electoral votes went to Nicholas Murray Butler instead. Sherman
Elections
1908: Taft/James S. Sherman 321 vs. William Jennings Bryan/John W. Kern (Democrat) 162. TR handpicked Taft as his successor. It was Bryan's third loss (1896, 1900, 1908). 1908 election
1912 (lost): Won renomination over TR at a bitter convention but finished third, carrying only Utah and Vermont (8 electoral votes), the worst showing ever for an incumbent. 1912 election
Inaugural address
A blizzard forced the ceremony indoors into the Senate chamber.
Pledged to carry on Roosevelt's reforms and to revise the tariff. inaugural
Key facts
The only person to be both president and Chief Justice (1921–30, appointed by Harding). learn more
"Dollar Diplomacy" in Latin America and East Asia. The Payne–Aldrich Tariff (1909) and the Ballinger–Pinchot affair (1910) split the party with TR. Dollar Diplomacy · Payne–Aldrich · Ballinger–Pinchot
Brought more antitrust suits than TR, and Standard Oil was broken up in 1911. Congress passed the 16th (income tax) and 17th (direct election of senators) Amendments, both ratified in 1913. Arizona and New Mexico became states (1912). Standard Oil case · 16th · 17th
The heaviest president (over 300 lb), and the first to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game (1910). The last president with facial hair (a mustache).
28. Woodrow Wilson
Basics
Democratic · 1913–1921 · New Jersey (born in Staunton, Virginia) · 1856–1924 bio · presidency
Vice president
Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana (both terms), best known for "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar." Marshall
Elections
1912: Wilson/Thomas R. Marshall 435 vs. Theodore Roosevelt/Hiram Johnson (Progressive) 88 vs. William Howard Taft/James S. Sherman (Republican; Butler replaced the late Sherman) 8. Eugene V. Debs/Emil Seidel (Socialist) won about 6% but no electoral votes. Wilson won with only about 42% of the popular vote, thanks to the Republican split. Wilson's "New Freedom" ran against TR's "New Nationalism." Wilson was nominated on the 46th ballot. 1912 election · New Freedom · New Nationalism
1916: Wilson/Marshall 277 vs. Charles Evans Hughes/Charles W. Fairbanks (Republican) 254. Slogan: "He kept us out of war." California decided it by about 3,800 votes. Hughes reportedly went to bed thinking he had won. 1916 election
Inaugural addresses
1913: "This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication." Laid out his reform agenda on the tariff, banking, and industry. 1st inaugural
1917: March 4 was a Sunday, so he took a private oath and gave the public address March 5, weeks before entering the war. "We are provincials no longer." 2nd inaugural
Key facts
The only president with a Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins). Former president of Princeton and governor of New Jersey. The first president since John Adams to deliver the State of the Union in person (1913).
New Freedom laws: the Underwood Tariff with an income tax (1913), the Federal Reserve Act (1913), the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission (1914). Underwood Tariff · Federal Reserve Act · Clayton Act · FTC
World War I: the Lusitania sinking (1915), the Zimmermann Telegram, and the request for war on April 2, 1917 ("The world must be made safe for democracy"). The Fourteen Points (January 1918) proposed the League of Nations, but the Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, rejected the Treaty of Versailles. Also the Espionage (1917) and Sedition (1918) Acts and the Palmer raids. Lusitania · Zimmermann · Fourteen Points · League · Espionage Act
Suffered a severe stroke in October 1919, and his wife Edith Wilson controlled access to him. Won the Nobel Peace Prize (1919). The 18th (Prohibition) and 19th (women's suffrage) Amendments were ratified. His administration expanded segregation in the federal workforce. Sent the Pershing expedition after Pancho Villa (1916). Edith Wilson · 19th Amendment · Villa expedition
1920: Harding/Calvin Coolidge 404 vs. James M. Cox/Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat) 127. Slogan: "Return to normalcy." Harding ran a front-porch campaign from Marion and won about 60% of the popular vote. He was picked as a compromise candidate in the legendary "smoke-filled room." It was the first presidential election after the 19th Amendment, and returns were broadcast by radio station KDKA. Eugene Debs won about 3% while in prison. 1920 election · normalcy · smoke-filled room
Inaugural address
The first president to ride to his inauguration in an automobile, and the first to use loudspeakers.
"Our supreme task is the resumption of our onward, normal way." Rejected the League: "We seek no part in directing the destinies of the Old World." inaugural
Key facts
Teapot Dome scandal: Interior Secretary Albert Fall secretly leased naval oil reserves (Teapot Dome, Wyoming; Elk Hills, California) for bribes. He was the first cabinet member sent to prison. The "Ohio Gang" cronies and the Veterans Bureau scandal added to it. Teapot Dome · Ohio Gang
The Washington Naval Conference (1921–22) limited battleships. The Budget and Accounting Act (1921) created the Bureau of the Budget and the GAO. Commuted Debs's sentence. Naval Conference · Budget Act
Died August 2, 1923, in San Francisco, probably of a heart attack, on his "Voyage of Understanding" tour. He was the first sitting president to visit Alaska. A former newspaper publisher (the Marion Star).
Two Roosevelts: Theodore (26th, Republican, Rough Rider, Square Deal, youngest president) and Franklin (32nd, Democrat, New Deal, four terms). They were fifth cousins, and FDR's wife Eleanor was TR's niece. Roosevelt family
From Coolidge prosperity to the Crash, the New Deal, World War II, and the opening of the Cold War. The 20th Amendment moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20 (first used in 1937). learn more
30. Calvin Coolidge
Basics
Republican · 1923–1929 · Massachusetts (Northampton; born in Plymouth Notch, Vermont) · 1872–1933 bio · presidency
Vice president
None 1923–25 · Charles G. Dawes (1925–29), who shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for the Dawes Plan on German reparations Dawes · Dawes Plan
How he took office
Succeeded Harding. Visiting his family's Vermont farmhouse, he was sworn in by his father, John Coolidge, a notary public, by kerosene lamp at about 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923. 1923 swearing-in
Elections
1920: Elected VP with Harding. He had won national fame for breaking the 1919 Boston police strike: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time." police strike
1924: Coolidge/Charles G. Dawes 382 vs. John W. Davis/Charles W. Bryan (Democrat) 136 vs. Robert La Follette/Burton K. Wheeler (Progressive) 13. La Follette won only his home state of Wisconsin but about 17% of the popular vote. "Keep Cool with Coolidge." The Democrats needed a record 103 ballots to nominate Davis. 1924 election
Inaugural address
1925: the first inaugural broadcast nationally by radio. The oath was given by Chief Justice (and ex-president) William Howard Taft, the only former president to swear in another.
Urged tax cuts and thrift: "Economy is idealism in its most practical form." 1925 inaugural
Key facts
"Silent Cal." The only president born on the Fourth of July (1872). "The chief business of the American people is business" (1925 speech to newspaper editors).
Signed the Indian Citizenship Act (1924) and the Immigration Act of 1924 (national-origins quotas). Tax cuts under Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon. Indian Citizenship Act · Immigration Act
Vetoed the McNary–Haugen farm relief bill twice. The Kellogg–Briand Pact (1928) renounced war. McNary–Haugen · Kellogg–Briand
Announced "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." His teenage son Calvin Jr. died in 1924 of blood poisoning from a blister he got playing tennis.
"The business of America is business" was not in Coolidge's inaugural. It paraphrases a 1925 speech to newspaper editors.
31. Herbert Hoover
Basics
Republican · 1929–1933 · California (born in West Branch, Iowa, the first president born west of the Mississippi) · 1874–1964 bio · presidency
Vice president
Charles Curtis of Kansas, born in Topeka and a member of the Kaw Nation through his mother. He was the first VP of Native American ancestry and had been Senate Majority Leader. Charles Curtis
Elections
1928: Hoover/Charles Curtis 444 vs. Al Smith/Joseph T. Robinson (Democrat) 87. Smith, governor of New York, was the first Catholic major-party nominee and a "wet" (anti-Prohibition), and he faced heavy anti-Catholic prejudice. Hoover broke the "Solid South," winning several Southern states. A Republican ad promised "a chicken in every pot." 1928 election · Al Smith
1932 (lost): Hoover/Curtis 59 vs. Franklin D. Roosevelt/John Nance Garner 472, a landslide driven by the Depression. 1932 election
Inaugural address
"I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope," seven months before the Crash.
Stressed enforcing Prohibition. (He had earlier called it an experiment "noble in motive," in a 1928 letter.) inaugural
Key facts
"The Great Engineer" (Stanford-trained mining engineer) and "Great Humanitarian": led the Commission for Relief in Belgium and the U.S. Food Administration in WWI. Commerce Secretary under Harding and Coolidge. Belgian relief
The Stock Market Crash (Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929) began the Great Depression. Signed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff (1930), which deepened it. Created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932). Crash · Smoot–Hawley · RFC
Troops under Douglas MacArthur drove out the Bonus Army of WWI veterans (1932). Shantytowns were called "Hoovervilles." Bonus Army · Hooverville
"The Star-Spangled Banner" became the national anthem (1931). Hoover Dam is named for him. He and his wife Lou spoke Mandarin Chinese. A Quaker. He lived 31 years after leaving office and later led the Hoover Commissions. Hoover Dam
Hoover never personally promised "a chicken in every pot." That line came from a 1928 Republican campaign ad. campaign slogans
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Basics
Democratic · 1933–1945 · New York (Hyde Park) · 1882–1945 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
John Nance Garner of Texas (1933–41; said the vice presidency was "not worth a bucket of warm spit") · Henry A. Wallace (1941–45) · Harry S. Truman (January 20 – April 12, 1945) Garner · Wallace
Elections
1920 (lost): Ran for VP with James M. Cox. 1920 election
1932: FDR/John Nance Garner 472 vs. Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis 59. He flew to Chicago to accept the nomination in person, the first nominee to do so, and pledged "a new deal for the American people." Theme song: "Happy Days Are Here Again." Norman Thomas ran as a Socialist. 1932 election
1936: FDR/Garner 523 vs. Alf Landon/Frank Knox (Republican) 8. Landon, the governor of Kansas, carried only Maine and Vermont (46 states to 2), so FDR's manager James Farley quipped, "As Maine goes, so goes Vermont." The Literary Digest poll predicted a Landon win and the magazine soon folded, while George Gallup's poll got it right. William Lemke ran for the Union Party. 1936 election · Alf Landon · Literary Digest
1940: FDR/Henry A. Wallace 449 vs. Wendell Willkie/Charles McNary (Republican) 82. He broke the two-term tradition. "Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." 1940 election · Willkie
1944: FDR/Harry S. Truman 432 vs. Thomas E. Dewey/John W. Bricker (Republican) 99. A wartime election. The "Fala speech" mocked Republican attacks on his dog. 1944 election · Fala
Inaugural addresses
1933 (March 4, the last March inaugural): "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." Asked for "broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency." 1st inaugural
1937 (the first on January 20): "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." 2nd inaugural
1941: the first third-term inaugural, on the spirit of democracy. 1945: a short address of about 560 words on the White House South Portico, quoting Emerson: "The only way to have a friend is to be one." 3rd inaugural · 4th inaugural
Key facts
The only president elected four times, with the longest tenure (just over 12 years). Paralyzed by polio (diagnosed 1921). Distant cousin of TR. His wife Eleanor was TR's niece.
New Deal: the Hundred Days, the "Brain Trust," and the "alphabet agencies" (CCC, TVA, AAA, NRA, WPA, SEC, FDIC). The Social Security Act and the Wagner Act (both 1935). Fireside chats on radio. The 1937 court-packing plan failed. Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member. New Deal · Social Security · fireside chats · court packing
World War II: the Four Freedoms (January 1941 State of the Union), Lend-Lease (1941), and the Atlantic Charter with Churchill (1941). Pearl Harbor: "a date which will live in infamy" (December 8, 1941). Executive Order 9066 interned Japanese Americans (1942). The GI Bill (1944). The Yalta Conference (February 1945). Four Freedoms · Lend-Lease · Infamy speech · EO 9066 · Yalta
As president-elect he survived an assassination attempt in Miami (February 1933) by Giuseppe Zangara, who killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak instead. FDR died April 12, 1945, of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia, while sitting for a portrait. The 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition (1933), and the 22nd Amendment (1951) was a reaction to his four terms. Zangara · 22nd Amendment
The "Four Freedoms" (speech, worship, from want, from fear) come from FDR's January 1941 State of the Union, not his third inaugural two weeks later.
33. Harry S. Truman
Basics
Democratic · 1945–1953 · Missouri (Independence; born in Lamar) · 1884–1972 bio · presidency
Vice president
None 1945–49 · Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky (1949–53, "the Veep") Barkley
How he took office
Succeeded FDR on April 12, 1945, after only 82 days as VP. He had not been told about the atomic bomb project. 1945 swearing-in
Elections
1944: Replaced Henry Wallace as FDR's running mate. 1944 election
1948: Truman/Alben W. Barkley 303 vs. Thomas E. Dewey/Earl Warren (Republican) 189 vs. Strom Thurmond/Fielding Wright (States' Rights "Dixiecrat") 39. Henry A. Wallace/Glen Taylor (Progressive) won no electoral votes. With the Democrats split three ways, every poll predicted Dewey. Truman's whistle-stop tour attacked the "do-nothing" 80th Congress, and crowds yelled "Give 'em hell, Harry!" The Chicago Daily Tribune's early headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" became an iconic photo. 1948 election · headline · Dixiecrats
Inaugural address
1949: the first televised inauguration.
Set out four courses for foreign policy, including support for the UN, the Marshall Plan, and a North Atlantic security pact. The fourth, "Point Four," offered technical aid to developing nations. 1949 inaugural
Key facts
Ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945). Attended the Potsdam Conference. V-E Day fell on his 61st birthday (May 8, 1945). atomic bombings · Potsdam
Cold War: the Truman Doctrine (1947, Greece and Turkey), the Marshall Plan (1948), the Berlin Airlift (1948–49), and NATO (1949). Recognized Israel 11 minutes after its founding (1948). The Korean War (1950–53), including firing General Douglas MacArthur (1951). Truman Doctrine · Marshall Plan · Berlin Airlift · Korean War
Executive Order 9981 (1948) desegregated the armed forces. His "Fair Deal" program. The Taft–Hartley Act passed over his veto (1947). EO 9981 · Fair Deal · Taft–Hartley
His desk sign read "The buck stops here." The "S" is just an initial, not short for a name. Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate him at Blair House (November 1, 1950). The last president without a college degree. assassination attempt
From Korea and Sputnik to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Gulf War. Television transforms campaigns, starting with the 1952 ads and the 1960 debates. learn more
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Basics
Republican · 1953–1961 · Kansas (born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Abilene, Kansas; retired to a farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) · 1890–1969 bio · presidency
Vice president
Richard Nixon (both terms)
Elections
1952: Eisenhower/Richard Nixon 442 vs. Adlai Stevenson II/John Sparkman (Democrat) 89. "I Like Ike." "I shall go to Korea." The Republican formula was K1C2: Korea, Communism, Corruption. Nixon saved his place on the ticket with the televised "Checkers speech" about a political fund. The first campaign with major TV spot ads ("Eisenhower Answers America"). 1952 election · Checkers speech
1956: Eisenhower/Nixon 457 vs. Stevenson/Estes Kefauver 73 (one Alabama elector voted for Walter B. Jones). A rematch held during the Suez and Hungarian crises. 1956 election
Inaugural addresses
1953: opened with a prayer he had written himself, and framed the Cold War as a contest between freedom and slavery. 1st inaugural
1957: January 20 was a Sunday, so the oath was private and the public ceremony was held January 21. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
A five-star general and Supreme Allied Commander who led D-Day (June 6, 1944). Later president of Columbia University and first Supreme Commander of NATO. D-Day
Korean Armistice (July 1953). The domino theory. The Eisenhower Doctrine (1957). Covert CIA coups in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954). The U-2 incident (1960, Francis Gary Powers). armistice · domino theory · Eisenhower Doctrine · U-2 incident
The Interstate Highway System (Federal-Aid Highway Act, 1956). Sputnik (1957) led to NASA (1958) and the National Defense Education Act. Alaska and Hawaii became states (1959). "Under God" was added to the Pledge (1954). Highway Act · Sputnik · NASA
Civil rights: appointed Earl Warren, who wrote Brown v. Board (1954). Sent the 101st Airborne to protect the Little Rock Nine (1957). Signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. Brown · Little Rock Nine
His Farewell Address (January 1961) warned against the "military-industrial complex." He is buried in Abilene at his presidential library. Farewell Address · Eisenhower Library (Abilene)
"Military-industrial complex" comes from Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961), not an inaugural.
35. John F. Kennedy
Basics
Democratic · 1961–1963 · Massachusetts (born in Brookline) · 1917–1963 bio · presidency
Vice president
Lyndon B. Johnson
Elections
1960: Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson 303 vs. Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (Republican) 219. Senator Harry F. Byrd received 15 votes from unpledged Southern electors (plus one Oklahoma faithless elector). The popular-vote margin was only about 112,000. The first televised presidential debates (four, beginning September 26, 1960): the tanned Kennedy looked better than the pale, recovering Nixon, and radio listeners reportedly thought Nixon won. Kennedy was the first Catholic president and addressed the issue before Houston ministers. "New Frontier." Claims of a "missile gap." Fraud was alleged in Illinois and Texas. 1960 election · debates
Inaugural address
"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."
"The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans." "Pay any price, bear any burden."
Robert Frost recited "The Gift Outright" from memory when the glare kept him from reading his new poem. inaugural
Key facts
The youngest person elected president (43), and the first born in the 20th century. A PT-109 war hero. His book Profiles in Courage won the Pulitzer Prize. PT-109 · Profiles in Courage
Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961). The Berlin Wall went up (1961), and he declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" (1963). The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962, 13 days, naval "quarantine"). The Limited (Partial) Test Ban Treaty (1963). Bay of Pigs · Missile Crisis · Berliner speech · Test Ban
Founded the Peace Corps (1961) and the Alliance for Progress. Set the moon goal ("We choose to go to the Moon," Rice University, 1962). Peace Corps · moon speech
Assassinated November 22, 1963, in Dallas's Dealey Plaza. Lee Harvey Oswald fired from the Texas School Book Depository and was himself shot by Jack Ruby two days later. The Warren Commission investigated. JFK was the fourth president assassinated. assassination · Warren Commission
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
Basics
Democratic · 1963–1969 · Texas (Stonewall / Johnson City) · 1908–1973 bio · presidency
Vice president
None 1963–65 · Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota (1965–69) Humphrey
How he took office
Sworn in aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963, by federal judge Sarah T. Hughes, the only woman to swear in a president. Jacqueline Kennedy stood beside him. 1963 swearing-in
Elections
1960: Elected VP with JFK. Earlier he was the powerful Senate Majority Leader. 1960 election
1964: Johnson/Hubert H. Humphrey 486 vs. Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller (Republican) 52. Johnson won about 61% of the popular vote, the largest share since 1820. The "Daisy" ad (a girl picking petals before a nuclear blast) aired only once but suggested Goldwater was reckless. Goldwater: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." His slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" was parodied as "In your guts, you know he's nuts." Goldwater carried Arizona and five Deep South states. 1964 election · Daisy ad · Goldwater
1968: After a weak showing against Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary, he announced on March 31, 1968: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party." 1968 election
Inaugural addresses
1963: no inaugural address on taking office. Days later he told Congress, "Let us continue."
1965: described an American "covenant" of justice, liberty, and union, the vision of the Great Society. 1965 inaugural
Key facts
Great Society and the War on Poverty. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (after Selma), Medicare and Medicaid (1965), Head Start, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Immigration and Nationality (Hart–Celler) Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act (1968). Created HUD and the Transportation Department. Great Society · Civil Rights Act · Voting Rights Act · Medicare · Hart–Celler
Vietnam: the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 1964) led to massive escalation. The Tet Offensive (1968) brought a "credibility gap" and antiwar protests ("Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"). Tonkin Resolution · Tet
Appointed Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice (1967). The 24th (poll tax ban, 1964) and 25th (succession, 1967) Amendments were ratified. Known for the persuasive "Johnson treatment." Thurgood Marshall
37. Richard Nixon
Basics
Republican · 1969–1974 · California (born in Yorba Linda) · 1913–1994 bio · presidency
Vice presidents
Spiro Agnew (resigned October 10, 1973, pleading no contest to tax evasion tied to bribes from his Maryland days) · Gerald Ford (December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974), the first VP appointed under the 25th AmendmentAgnew · 25th Amendment
Elections
1952, 1956: Elected VP with Eisenhower. The "Kitchen Debate" with Khrushchev (1959). Kitchen Debate
1960 (lost): lost narrowly to JFK. After losing the 1962 California governor's race, he said, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." 1960 election
1968: Nixon/Spiro Agnew 301 vs. Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie (Democrat) 191 vs. George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (American Independent) 46. Wallace's total includes one faithless North Carolina elector, and he was the last third-party candidate to win electoral votes outright. A year of turmoil: the King and RFK assassinations and the riots at the Chicago Democratic convention. Nixon ran on "law and order" and the "Southern strategy" and hinted at a plan to end the war. 1968 election · Wallace · Chicago convention
1972: Nixon/Agnew 520 vs. George McGovern/Sargent Shriver (Democrat) 17 (Massachusetts and D.C.). Nixon won 49 states. McGovern's first running mate, Thomas Eagleton, withdrew after revelations of electroshock therapy. One Virginia elector voted for Libertarian John Hospers and Tonie Nathan, the first woman to receive an electoral vote. The Watergate break-in (June 17, 1972) was carried out by Nixon's re-election committee (CREEP). 1972 election
Inaugural addresses
1969: "The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker." Urged Americans to "lower our voices" and stop "shouting at one another." 1st inaugural
1973: reworked JFK's line: "let each of us ask—not just what will government do for me, but what can I do for myself?" 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Visited China (February 1972), opening relations. Détente: SALT I and the ABM Treaty with the USSR (1972). China trip · SALT
Vietnam: "Vietnamization" and appeals to the "silent majority" (1969 speech). The Cambodia incursion led to the Kent State shootings (1970). The Paris Peace Accords (January 1973). The draft ended. silent majority · Kent State · Paris Accords
Domestic: the EPA (1970), the Clean Air Act, the 26th Amendment (voting age 18, 1971), and the "Nixon shock" ending dollar–gold convertibility (1971). The Apollo 11 moon landing (1969). EPA · 26th Amendment · Nixon shock
Watergate: the Saturday Night Massacre (October 1973). "I am not a crook" (November 1973). United States v. Nixon (July 1974) unanimously forced release of the tapes, including the "smoking gun." The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. He resigned August 9, 1974, the only president to resign. Watergate · Saturday Night Massacre · U.S. v. Nixon
38. Gerald Ford
Basics
Republican · 1974–1977 · Michigan (Grand Rapids; born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska) · 1913–2006 bio · presidency
Vice president
Vacant August–December 1974 · Nelson Rockefeller (December 19, 1974 – 1977), also appointed under the 25th Amendment. For two years neither the president nor the VP had been elected to his office. Rockefeller
How he took office
The only president never elected president or vice president. The House Minority Leader from Michigan, he was appointed VP after Agnew resigned (1973) and became president when Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974.
Elections
1976 (lost): Ford/Bob Dole (senator from Russell, Kansas) 240 vs. Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale 297 (one Washington elector voted for Reagan). Ford narrowly beat Ronald Reagan for the nomination. In a debate he claimed "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." Dole and Mondale held the first vice-presidential debate. The Nixon pardon hurt Ford. 1976 election · Bob Dole
Inaugural address
No formal inaugural. In remarks after his oath in the East Room: "Our long national nightmare is over." He also said, "I am a Ford, not a Lincoln." swearing-in
Key facts
Pardoned Nixon (September 8, 1974), probably costing him the 1976 election. Offered conditional clemency to draft evaders. pardon
Faced inflation with "WIN" buttons ("Whip Inflation Now"). The Fall of Saigon (April 1975), the Mayaguez incident (May 1975), and the Helsinki Accords (1975). WIN · Saigon · Mayaguez · Helsinki
Two assassination attempts by women in California in September 1975: Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (Sacramento) and Sara Jane Moore (San Francisco). Fromme · Moore
A University of Michigan football star, an Eagle Scout, and a member of the Warren Commission. First Lady Betty Ford later founded the Betty Ford Center.
39. Jimmy Carter
Basics
Democratic · 1977–1981 · Georgia (Plains) · 1924–2024 (died December 29, 2024, at 100, the longest-lived president) bio · presidency
1976: Carter/Walter Mondale 297 vs. Gerald Ford/Bob Dole 240. A Washington outsider after Watergate ("Jimmy Who?"), he promised, "I'll never lie to you." He won the South back for the Democrats. 1976 election
1980 (lost): Carter/Mondale 49 vs. Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush 489. Independent John B. Anderson won about 6.6%. Carter survived a primary challenge from Ted Kennedy. Reagan in the debate: "There you go again" and "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" The Iran hostage crisis and stagflation doomed Carter. 1980 election
Inaugural address
Sworn in as "Jimmy" (not James) Carter, then walked the parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue. Opened by thanking Ford "for all he has done to heal our land."
Quoted Micah 6:8: "do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." inaugural
Key facts
The Camp David Accords (1978) between Egypt's Sadat and Israel's Begin. The Panama Canal Treaties (1977) returned the canal by 1999. Full diplomatic relations with China (1979). Camp David · Panama treaties
The Iran hostage crisis lasted 444 days (November 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981), including the failed rescue mission Operation Eagle Claw (1980). The hostages were freed minutes after Reagan took office. hostage crisis · Eagle Claw
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan brought the Carter Doctrine and the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Created the Departments of Energy (1977) and Education (1979). The 1979 "Crisis of Confidence" ("malaise") speech. Three Mile Island (1979). Carter Doctrine · boycott · malaise speech
A peanut farmer and Navy nuclear engineer. Won the Nobel Peace Prize (2002) for post-presidential work, and is famous for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat
Carter never actually said "malaise" in the 1979 speech. The press gave it that name.
40. Ronald Reagan
Basics
Republican · 1981–1989 · California (born in Tampico, Illinois) · 1911–2004 bio · presidency
Vice president
George H. W. Bush (both terms)
Elections
1980: Reagan/George H. W. Bush 489 vs. Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale 49. John B. Anderson/Patrick Lucey (independent) won 0 electoral votes. "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" 1980 election
1984: Reagan/Bush 525 vs. Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro 13 (Minnesota and D.C.). Ferraro was the first woman on a major-party ticket. The "Morning in America" ad. On his age in a debate: "I will not make age an issue... I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Reagan won 49 states, and 525 is the most electoral votes ever. 1984 election · Ferraro · Morning in America
Inaugural addresses
1981: the first inaugural on the Capitol's West Front. "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Iran released the hostages minutes later. 1st inaugural
1985: January 20 was a Sunday, so he took a private oath. The public ceremony on January 21 was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of extreme cold. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Former Hollywood actor ("the Gipper"), Screen Actors Guild president, and governor of California. Nicknamed "the Great Communicator." At 69 he was the oldest president at first inauguration up to that time.
Shot by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981 ("Honey, I forgot to duck"). Press secretary James Brady was badly wounded. assassination attempt
"Reaganomics" (supply-side tax cuts). Fired the striking air traffic controllers (PATCO, 1981). Appointed Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman Supreme Court justice (1981). The Tax Reform Act of 1986. Reaganomics · PATCO · O'Connor
Cold War: called the USSR an "evil empire" (1983). The Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"). The invasion of Grenada (1983). The Iran–Contra affair. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (Berlin, June 12, 1987). The INF Treaty (1987). His Challenger disaster speech (1986) quoted "slipped the surly bonds of earth." SDI · Grenada · Iran–Contra · "Tear down this wall" · INF Treaty · Challenger
41. George H. W. Bush
Basics
Republican · 1989–1993 · Texas (born in Milton, Massachusetts) · 1924–2018 bio · presidency
1988: Bush/Dan Quayle 426 vs. Michael Dukakis/Lloyd Bentsen (Democrat) 111. A faithless West Virginia elector voted Bentsen for president. Bush was the first sitting VP elected president since Van Buren (1836). "Read my lips: no new taxes," a "kinder, gentler nation," and "a thousand points of light." The Willie Horton/furlough attack ads, the Dukakis tank photo, and Bentsen's line to Quayle: "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." 1988 election · "Read my lips" · "no Jack Kennedy" · Horton ad
1992 (lost): Bush/Quayle 168 vs. Bill Clinton/Al Gore 370. Ross Perot won about 19% as an independent but no electoral votes. Bush had broken his tax pledge in the 1990 budget deal. "It's the economy, stupid." 1992 election
Inaugural address
Took the oath on the Bible Washington used in 1789, in the bicentennial year of the presidency.
"A new breeze is blowing." He repeated his calls for "a thousand points of light" (volunteerism) and a "kinder" and "gentler" nation. inaugural · points of light
Key facts
WWII Navy pilot, shot down near Chichi Jima (1944). Afterward a Texas oilman, congressman, UN ambassador, envoy to China, CIA director, and VP.
The fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) and the end of the USSR (December 1991). The invasion of Panama to capture Noriega (1989). START I (1991). He spoke of a "new world order." Berlin Wall · Soviet collapse · Panama
The Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield (1990) and Desert Storm (January–February 1991) expelled Iraq from Kuwait. Gulf War
Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) and the Clean Air Act amendments. Appointed Justices Souter and Clarence Thomas. Signed NAFTA (1992; Congress approved it under Clinton). Father of George W. Bush. ADA
1992: Clinton/Al Gore 370 vs. George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle 168. Ross Perot/James Stockdale (independent) won about 19% of the popular vote, the best third-party showing since TR in 1912, but no electoral votes. Clinton won with about 43%. He was "the Comeback Kid" after the New Hampshire primary. Campaign strategist James Carville's motto: "It's the economy, stupid." Clinton played the saxophone on Arsenio Hall. Bush was caught glancing at his watch during a town-hall debate. 1992 election · Perot campaign · "economy, stupid"
1996: Clinton/Gore 379 vs. Bob Dole/Jack Kemp (Republican) 159. Ross Perot/Pat Choate (Reform) won about 8%. Dole, the senator from Russell, Kansas, and a wounded WWII veteran, resigned from the Senate to campaign. At 73 he was the oldest first-time major-party nominee to that point. Clinton promised "a bridge to the 21st century." 1996 election · Bob Dole
Inaugural addresses
1993: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Maya Angelou read "On the Pulse of Morning." 1st inaugural · Angelou poem
1997: the "bridge to the 21st century" theme, and the first inauguration streamed live on the Internet. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
A Rhodes Scholar who became the nation's youngest governor (Arkansas, at 32). Nicknamed "Bubba" and "Slick Willie."
Family and Medical Leave Act (his first major bill, 1993), the NAFTA vote, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the Brady Bill. His health-care plan, led by Hillary Clinton, failed. FMLA · NAFTA · DADT · health plan
In 1994 Gingrich's "Contract with America" brought a Republican Congress. The 1995–96 government shutdowns followed. Welfare reform (1996) and balanced budgets with surpluses (1998–2001). "The era of big government is over" (1996 State of the Union). Contract with America · shutdowns · welfare reform
Abroad: the Oslo Accords handshake (1993), the Dayton Agreement for Bosnia (1995), the Kosovo bombing (1999), and the Good Friday Agreement (1998). Oslo · Dayton · Kosovo
Impeached December 19, 1998 (perjury and obstruction of justice, from the Lewinsky scandal and Kenneth Starr's Whitewater investigation). Acquitted February 12, 1999. He was the second president impeached and the first elected president impeached. impeachment · Lewinsky scandal · Whitewater
"The era of big government is over" was Clinton's 1996 State of the Union, not an inaugural.
43. George W. Bush
Basics
Republican · 2001–2009 · Texas (born in New Haven, Connecticut) · born 1946 bio · presidency
2000: Bush/Dick Cheney 271 vs. Al Gore/Joe Lieberman 266 (one D.C. elector abstained). Gore won the popular vote by about 540,000. Florida was decided by 537 votes after weeks of recounts over "hanging chads" and Palm Beach's "butterfly ballot." The Supreme Court stopped the recount in Bush v. Gore (December 12, 2000, 5–4). Ralph Nader (Green) won about 2.7% nationally and drew about 97,000 Florida votes. Lieberman was the first Jewish major-party VP nominee. Bush campaigned on "compassionate conservatism." 2000 election · Bush v. Gore · Florida recount · Nader
2004: Bush/Cheney 286 vs. John Kerry/John Edwards (Democrat) 251. One Minnesota elector voted for Edwards for president. Ohio was decisive. The "Swift Boat" ads attacked Kerry's war record, and Republicans called him a "flip-flopper." Bush won about 50.7%, the first popular-vote majority since 1988. 2004 election · Swift Boat
Inaugural addresses
2001: called for "civility, courage, compassion, and character." "I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators." 1st inaugural
2005: the "freedom agenda": "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands," with the goal of "ending tyranny in our world." 2nd inaugural
Key facts
"Dubya." Son of the 41st president (the second father–son pair, after the Adamses). Former Texas governor and part-owner of the Texas Rangers.
September 11, 2001 attacks (he spoke through a bullhorn at Ground Zero). The war in Afghanistan (October 2001), the USA PATRIOT Act, and the Department of Homeland Security. The "axis of evil" (Iran, Iraq, North Korea) in the 2002 State of the Union. 9/11 · Afghanistan war · PATRIOT Act · axis of evil
The Iraq War (March 2003). The "Mission Accomplished" banner (May 2003). Saddam Hussein captured (December 2003). The troop "surge" (2007). Iraq War · Mission Accomplished
Domestic: No Child Left Behind (2002), tax cuts, Medicare Part D (2003), and PEPFAR (AIDS relief). Hurricane Katrina (2005). The 2008 financial crisis and TARP bailout. NCLB · Medicare Part D · PEPFAR · Katrina · TARP
44. Barack Obama
Basics
Democratic · 2009–2017 · Illinois (Chicago; born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the only president born outside the contiguous 48 states) · born 1961 bio · presidency
Vice president
Joe Biden of Delaware (both terms)
Elections
2008: Obama/Joe Biden 365 vs. John McCain/Sarah Palin (Republican) 173. Obama was the first African American president. Slogans: "Hope," "Change We Can Believe In," "Yes We Can." He beat Hillary Clinton in a long primary fight. The financial crisis struck mid-campaign. Palin was the first woman on a Republican ticket. Obama won one electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd district, the first split of Nebraska's votes. 2008 election · campaign · Hope poster
2012: Obama/Biden 332 vs. Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan (Republican) 206. Romney was hurt by the leaked "47 percent" video. Obama's slogan was "Forward." 2012 election · Romney
Inaugural addresses
2009: the largest crowd ever on the National Mall (estimated at 1.8 million). "We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." He called for "a new era of responsibility." The oath was flubbed and retaken the next day. 1st inaugural
2013 (public ceremony January 21, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day): linked "Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall." He took the oath on Bibles that belonged to Lincoln and King. 2nd inaugural
Key facts
Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, his first year in office. Earlier he was the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review and a U.S. senator, and gave the 2004 Democratic convention keynote ("no red states and blue states"). Nobel
The Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare," 2010), the stimulus (Recovery Act, 2009), the Lilly Ledbetter Act (his first bill signed), and Dodd–Frank (2010). Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (2010). DACA (2012). ACA · Recovery Act · Ledbetter Act · Dodd–Frank · DACA
Osama bin Laden killed by Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan (May 2, 2011). U.S. troops left Iraq (2011). The Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement (2015). The Cuban thaw, including a visit to Havana (2016). bin Laden raid · Iran deal · Paris Agreement · Cuban thaw
Appointed Sonia Sotomayor (the first Hispanic justice) and Elena Kagan. The Senate blocked his 2016 nominee, Merrick Garland. Garland nomination
45. Donald Trump (first term)
Basics
Republican · 2017–2021 · New York (born in Queens; he changed his legal residence to Florida in 2019) · born 1946 bio · 1st presidency
2016: Trump/Mike Pence 304 vs. Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (Democrat) 227. Clinton, the first woman nominated by a major party, won the popular vote by about 2.9 million. Trump flipped the "Blue Wall" states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin). A record seven faithless electors. "Make America Great Again." Also: the Clinton email controversy and FBI Director Comey's late letter, the Access Hollywood tape, and Russian interference. Gary Johnson (Libertarian) and Jill Stein (Green) also ran. Trump was the first president with no prior government or military service. 2016 election · email controversy · Access Hollywood tape
2020 (lost): Trump/Pence 232 vs. Joe Biden/Kamala Harris 306. Held during the COVID-19 pandemic with massive mail-in voting. Trump refused to concede and claimed fraud, and on January 6, 2021, his supporters attacked the Capitol during the electoral count. 2020 election · January 6
Inaugural address
2017: "This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."
"From this day forward, it's going to be only America First." A dispute over the crowd size followed. 1st inaugural
Key facts
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017). Three Supreme Court justices: Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. The First Step Act (2018). Created the Space Force (2019). tax act · First Step Act · Space Force
Withdrew from the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. USMCA replaced NAFTA. The Singapore summit with Kim Jong Un (2018), and he became the first sitting president to step into North Korea (2019). The Abraham Accords (2020). USMCA · Singapore summit · Abraham Accords
The Mueller investigation (2017–19). A 35-day government shutdown over border-wall funding (2018–19). The COVID-19 pandemic and Operation Warp Speed (2020). Mueller · shutdown · Warp Speed
Impeached twice, the only president impeached more than once. First in December 2019 over the Ukraine call (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress), acquitted February 2020. Then on January 13, 2021, for incitement of insurrection, acquitted February 2021 after he had left office (57–43 to convict, short of two-thirds). He skipped Biden's inauguration, the first outgoing president to do so since Andrew Johnson. 1st impeachment · 2nd impeachment
46. Joe Biden
Basics
Democratic · 2021–2025 · Delaware (born in Scranton, Pennsylvania) · born 1942 bio · presidency
Vice president
Kamala Harris of California, the first woman, first Black American, and first South Asian American vice president Harris
Elections
2008, 2012: Elected VP with Obama. He had served in the Senate from 1973 to 2009 (first elected at 29), and his earlier presidential runs in 1988 and 2008 failed. 2008 election
2020: Biden/Kamala Harris 306 vs. Donald Trump/Mike Pence 232. Biden won about 81 million votes, the most ever. He framed it as a "battle for the soul of the nation." Held amid the pandemic, with record mail-in voting. Biden flipped Arizona and Georgia, and was the first challenger to beat an incumbent since Clinton in 1992. 2020 election · campaign
2024: After a poor debate against Trump (June 27, 2024), he withdrew on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Harris. He was the first incumbent to abandon a re-election bid since LBJ in 1968. withdrawal
Inaugural address
2021: two weeks after the January 6 attack, with crowds limited by COVID-19 and security (the Mall was filled with flags instead). "Democracy has prevailed." The theme was unity: "my whole soul is in it."
Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet, read "The Hill We Climb." inaugural · Gorman poem
Key facts
At 78 he was the oldest president inaugurated up to that time. The second Catholic president, after JFK.
The American Rescue Plan (2021), the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021), the CHIPS and Science Act (2022), and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022). Juneteenth became a federal holiday (2021). Rescue Plan · infrastructure · CHIPS · IRA · Juneteenth
Withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan (August 2021). A suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. service members. Supported Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion. Afghanistan withdrawal · Kabul attack
Appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court (2022). Jackson
47. Donald Trump (second term)
Basics
Republican · 2025– · Florida (Palm Beach; born in Queens, New York) · born 1946 bio · 2nd presidency
Vice president
JD Vance of Ohio, a former senator and author of Hillbilly Elegy, and the first millennial vice president Vance
Elections
2024: Trump/JD Vance 312 vs. Kamala Harris/Tim Walz (Democrat; Walz was governor of Minnesota) 226. Trump swept all seven swing states and won the popular vote (about 49.8%), the first Republican to do so since 2004. Harris replaced Biden as the nominee without primaries after his July withdrawal. Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (July 13, 2024; his ear was grazed and a spectator, Corey Comperatore, was killed) and a second attempt at his West Palm Beach golf course (September 15, 2024). He had become the first former president convicted of a crime (34 felony counts in New York, May 2024). 2024 election · Harris campaign · Butler attempt · Florida attempt · NY case
Inaugural address
January 20, 2025: moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of extreme cold, the first indoor inaugural since Reagan in 1985. At 78 he was the oldest person ever inaugurated.
"The golden age of America begins right now." Said he was "saved by God to make America great again." Pledged to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America," to restore the name Mount McKinley, and to plant "the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars." 2nd inaugural · Gulf naming
Key facts (as of November 2026)
The second president to serve non-consecutive terms, after Cleveland. The 22nd Amendment bars him from being elected again. 22nd Amendment
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), initially led by Elon Musk. The sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs (April 2, 2025). The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" tax-and-spending law, signed July 4, 2025. DOGE · Liberation Day tariffs · OBBBA
U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites (June 2025). Withdrew again from the Paris Agreement. Iran strikes
The longest federal government shutdown in history: 43 days, October 1 – November 12, 2025. 2025 shutdown
Trump is both the 45th and 47th president. A question about "the 46th president" means Biden. Answer "Trump" for "the 45th" or "the 47th," but read carefully if a question asks which term.
1800: Jefferson and Burr tied at 73 electoral votes. The House picked Jefferson on the 36th ballot, which led to the 12th Amendment. 1800 election
1824: No majority among Jackson, Adams, Crawford, and Clay. The House picked John Quincy Adams, and Jackson's side called it the "corrupt bargain." 1824 election · contingent elections
Related: In 1836 the Senate chose the vice president (Richard M. Johnson). In 1876 a special Electoral Commission, not the House, settled Hayes–Tilden. Electoral Commission
The 12th Amendment sends a deadlocked presidential race to the House (one vote per state delegation, choosing among the top three) and a deadlocked VP race to the Senate (choosing between the top two).
Won the presidency while losing the popular vote
Year
Winner
Popular-vote winner
How
More
1824
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
House vote ("corrupt bargain"). Not every state held a popular vote.
The "zero-year curse" (also called Tecumseh's curse): every president elected in a year ending in 0 from 1840 through 1960 died in office (Harrison, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, FDR, JFK). Reagan (elected 1980) was shot but survived. learn more
Assassinations and major attempts
Killed (4): Lincoln (1865, Booth), Garfield (1881, Guiteau), McKinley (1901, Czolgosz), Kennedy (1963, Oswald). learn more
Andrew Jackson, 1835: Richard Lawrence's two pistols misfired. This was the first attempt on a sitting president. learn more
Theodore Roosevelt, 1912 (as a former president and candidate): shot in Milwaukee by John Schrank, then finished his speech. learn more
Franklin D. Roosevelt, February 1933 (as president-elect): Giuseppe Zangara missed FDR in Miami and fatally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. learn more
Harry S. Truman, 1950: Puerto Rican nationalists attacked Blair House, and White House police officer Leslie Coffelt was killed. learn more
Gerald Ford, September 1975: two attempts weeks apart, by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and Sara Jane Moore. Fromme · Moore
Ronald Reagan, 1981: wounded by John Hinckley Jr. learn more
George W. Bush, 2005: in Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live grenade that failed to explode. learn more
Donald Trump, 2024 (as a candidate and former president): wounded in the ear at Butler, Pennsylvania (July 13), and targeted again at his West Palm Beach golf course (September 15). Butler · West Palm Beach
Resignations
Richard Nixon (August 9, 1974, Watergate) is the only president to resign. learn more
Vice presidents who resigned: John C. Calhoun (1832, to enter the Senate) and Spiro Agnew (1973, criminal charges). Calhoun · Agnew
Impeachments
President
Impeached by House
Charges
Senate result
More
Andrew Johnson
February 24, 1868
Violating the Tenure of Office Act (firing Stanton)
Acquitted May 1868, 35–19, one vote short. Kansas senator Edmund Ross voted not guilty.
Nixon was never impeached. The House Judiciary Committee approved articles, but he resigned before the full House voted. No president has ever been removed by the Senate. learn more
Non-consecutive terms
Grover Cleveland: 22nd (1885–89) and 24th (1893–97). He lost in 1888 while winning the popular vote. learn more
Donald Trump: 45th (2017–21) and 47th (2025–). He lost in 2020. learn more
Presidential relatives
Father and son: John Adams (2) and John Quincy Adams (6). George H. W. Bush (41) and George W. Bush (43). Adams family · Bush family
Grandfather and grandson: William Henry Harrison (9) and Benjamin Harrison (23). Harrison family
Fifth cousins: Theodore Roosevelt (26) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (32). Eleanor Roosevelt was TR's niece. Roosevelt family
Also: Madison and Taylor were second cousins. Adlai Stevenson I (VP) was the grandfather of the 1950s nominee Adlai Stevenson II.
Watch for "two Harrisons" (William Henry, the grandfather, 9th, died after 31 days; Benjamin, the grandson, 23rd, Sherman Antitrust Act) and "two Bushes" (George H. W., 41st, Gulf War; George W., 43rd, 9/11 and Iraq).
Vice presidents who became president
Succeeded on a death (8): Tyler, Fillmore, A. Johnson, Arthur, T. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and L. B. Johnson. Succeeded on a resignation (1): Ford.
Of those, only TR, Coolidge, Truman, and LBJ later won a full term of their own.
Elected while sitting VP: John Adams (1796), Jefferson (1800), Van Buren (1836), and George H. W. Bush (1988).
Elected later as a former VP: Nixon (1968) and Biden (2020). learn more
Key amendments
Amendment
Year
What it does
Why it matters
More
12th
1804
Separate electoral ballots for president and VP. The House picks from the top 3, the Senate from the top 2 for VP.
A response to the 1800 Jefferson–Burr tie. Used in 1824 (House) and 1836 (Senate).
The VP becomes president if the office is vacant. A VP vacancy is filled by nomination plus confirmation by both houses. Covers presidential disability.
Used to appoint Ford (1973) and Rockefeller (1974). Wrote the Tyler Precedent into law.
Youngest president: Theodore Roosevelt (42, by succession). Youngest elected: John F. Kennedy (43). learn more
Oldest at inauguration: Donald Trump (78, in 2025), who passed Joe Biden (78, in 2021). Reagan (69, in 1981) held the record before them.
Longest-lived: Jimmy Carter (100). Youngest to die: JFK (46).
Longest tenure: FDR (just over 12 years). Shortest: William Henry Harrison (31 days). learn more
Most electoral votes: Reagan, 525 (1984). Unanimous: only Washington.
Inaugural records: longest, W. H. Harrison (about 8,400 words). Shortest, Washington's second (135 words).
Kansas connections
Dwight D. Eisenhower: born in Texas but raised in Abilene, Kansas (Abilene High School, class of 1909). His Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home are in Abilene, where he is buried. Eisenhower Library · Abilene
Charles Curtis of Topeka: Hoover's VP (1929–33), the first vice president of Native American ancestry (Kaw Nation), and earlier Senate Majority Leader. Charles Curtis · Kaw Nation
Alf Landon, governor of Kansas: the 1936 Republican nominee, who lost 46 states to 2 (carrying only Maine and Vermont) to FDR, 523–8. Alf Landon · 1936 election
Bob Dole of Russell, Kansas: Ford's running mate in 1976 and the 1996 Republican nominee (lost to Clinton). A wounded WWII veteran and longtime Senate Republican leader. Bob Dole · 1996 campaign
Also: Bleeding Kansas (after Pierce's Kansas–Nebraska Act, 1854), Buchanan's Lecompton Constitution fight, and Kansas statehood (January 29, 1861). Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas cast a deciding vote to acquit Andrew Johnson (1868). Kansas went Populist for James B. Weaver in 1892. Atchison, Kansas, is named for David Rice Atchison, the "president for one day" legend. Bleeding Kansas · Edmund Ross · Atchison
"This Kansan…" clues usually point to Eisenhower (Abilene), Curtis (VP, Kaw), Landon (1936), or Dole (Russell; 1976 VP nominee and 1996 presidential nominee).