Under the U.S. Constitution, the President of the United States is the head of state and the head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and head of the federal government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition. The president is also the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. armed forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College (or by the House of Representatives should the Electoral College fail to award an absolute majority of votes to any person). Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected to the office of the president more than twice or serve more than a total of 10 years.[1] Upon death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the Vice President assumes the office.
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This list includes only those persons who were sworn into office as president following the ratification of the United States Constitution, which took effect on March 4, 1789. For American leaders before this ratification, see President of the Continental Congress. The list does not include any Acting Presidents under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
There have been forty-three people sworn into office, and forty-four presidencies, due to the fact that Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the twenty-second and the twenty-fourth president. Of the individuals elected as president, four died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), one resigned (Richard Nixon), and four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy). The first president was George Washington, who was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous Electoral College vote. William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office at 31 days in 1841. At over twelve years, Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest time in office, and is the only president to serve more than two terms; he died shortly into his fourth term in 1945. The current president is Barack Obama; he assumed the office on January 20, 2009, and is the first president of African American descent. He is also the first president born outside the Contiguous United States, having been born in Hawaii.
No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
Presidency[n 1] | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Vice President | Term[n 1] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington [2][3][4][5] |
April 30, 1789 | March 4, 1797 | no party | John Adams | 1 | |
2 | |||||||
2 | John Adams [6][7][8][9] |
March 4, 1797 | March 4, 1801 | Federalist | Thomas Jefferson | 3 | |
3 | Thomas Jefferson [10][11][12][13] |
March 4, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | Democratic-Republican | Aaron Burr | 4 | |
George Clinton | 5 | ||||||
4 | James Madison [14][15][16][17] |
March 4, 1809 | March 4, 1817 | Democratic-Republican | George Clinton[n 2] March 4, 1809 – April 20, 1812 |
6 | |
vacant[n 3] April 20, 1812 – March 4, 1813 |
|||||||
Elbridge Gerry[n 2] March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 |
7 | ||||||
vacant [n 3] November 23, 1814 – March 4, 1817 |
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5 | James Monroe [18][19][20][21] |
March 4, 1817 | March 4, 1825 | Democratic-Republican | Daniel D. Tompkins | 8 | |
9 | |||||||
6 | John Quincy Adams [22][23][24][25] |
March 4, 1825 | March 4, 1829 | Democratic-Republican National Republican |
John C. Calhoun | 10 | |
7 | Andrew Jackson [26][27][28][29] |
March 4, 1829 | March 4, 1837 | Democratic | John C. Calhoun [n 4] March 4, 1829 – December 28, 1832 |
11 | |
vacant[n 3] December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833 |
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Martin Van Buren | 12 | ||||||
8 | Martin Van Buren [30][31][32][33] |
March 4, 1837 | March 4, 1841 | Democratic | Richard Mentor Johnson | 13 | |
9 | William Henry Harrison [34][35][36][37] |
March 4, 1841 | April 4, 1841[n 2] | Whig | John Tyler | 14 | |
10[n 5] | John Tyler [38][39][40][41] |
April 4, 1841 | March 4, 1845 | Whig April 4, 1841 – September 13, 1841 |
vacant [n 3] | ||
no party[n 6] September 13, 1841 – March 4, 1845 |
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11 | James K. Polk [42][43][44][45] |
March 4, 1845 | March 4, 1849 | Democratic | George M. Dallas | 15 | |
12 | Zachary Taylor [46][47][48][49] |
March 4, 1849 | July 9, 1850[n 2] | Whig | Millard Fillmore | 16 | |
13 | Millard Fillmore [50][51][52][53] |
July 9, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | Whig | vacant [n 3] | ||
14 | Franklin Pierce [54][55][56][57] |
March 4, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | Democratic | William R. King[n 2] March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 |
17 | |
vacant [n 3] April 18, 1853 – March 4, 1857 |
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15 | James Buchanan [58][59][60][61] |
March 4, 1857 | March 4, 1861 | Democratic | John C. Breckinridge | 18 | |
16 | Abraham Lincoln [62][63][64][65] |
March 4, 1861 | April 15, 1865[n 7] | Republican National Union[n 8] |
Hannibal Hamlin | 19 | |
Andrew Johnson | 20 | ||||||
17 | Andrew Johnson [66][67][68][69] |
April 15, 1865 | March 4, 1869 | Democratic National Union[n 8] |
vacant [n 3] | ||
National Union[n 8] no party[n 9] |
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18 | Ulysses S. Grant [70][71][72][73] |
March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1877 | Republican | Schuyler Colfax | 21 | |
Henry Wilson[n 2] March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 |
22 | ||||||
vacant [n 3] November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 |
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19 | Rutherford B. Hayes [74][75][76][77] |
March 4, 1877 | March 4, 1881 | Republican | William A. Wheeler | 23 | |
20 | James A. Garfield [78][79][80][81] |
March 4, 1881 | September 19, 1881[n 7] | Republican | Chester A. Arthur | 24 | |
21 | Chester A. Arthur [82][83][84][85] |
September 19, 1881 | March 4, 1885 | Republican | vacant [n 3] | ||
22 | Grover Cleveland [86][87][88][89] |
March 4, 1885 | March 4, 1889 | Democratic | Thomas A. Hendricks[n 2] March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 |
25 | |
vacant [n 3] November 25, 1885 – March 4, 1889 |
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23 | Benjamin Harrison [90][91][92][93] |
March 4, 1889 | March 4, 1893 | Republican | Levi P. Morton | 26 | |
24 | Grover Cleveland (second term) [86][87][88][89] |
March 4, 1893 | March 4, 1897 | Democratic | Adlai E. Stevenson I | 27 | |
25 | William McKinley [94][95][96][97] |
March 4, 1897 | September 14, 1901[n 7] | Republican | Garret Hobart[n 2] March 4, 1897 – November 21, 1899 |
28 | |
vacant [n 3] November 21, 1899 – March 4, 1901 |
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Theodore Roosevelt | 29 | ||||||
26 | Theodore Roosevelt [98][99][100][101] |
September 14, 1901 | March 4, 1909 | Republican | vacant [n 3] | ||
Charles W. Fairbanks | 30 | ||||||
27 | William Howard Taft [102][103][104][105] |
March 4, 1909 | March 4, 1913 | Republican | James S. Sherman[n 2] March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 |
31 | |
vacant [n 3] October 30, 1912 – March 4, 1913 |
|||||||
28 | Woodrow Wilson [106][107][108][109] |
March 4, 1913 | March 4, 1921 | Democratic | Thomas R. Marshall | 32 | |
33 | |||||||
29 | Warren G. Harding [110][111][112][113] |
March 4, 1921 | August 2, 1923[n 2] | Republican | Calvin Coolidge | 34 | |
30 | Calvin Coolidge [114][115][116][117] |
August 2, 1923 | March 4, 1929 | Republican | vacant [n 3] | ||
Charles G. Dawes | 35 | ||||||
31 | Herbert Hoover [118][119][120][121] |
March 4, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | Republican | Charles Curtis | 36 | |
32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt [122][123][124][125] |
March 4, 1933 | April 12, 1945[n 2] | Democratic | John Nance Garner | 37[n 10] | |
38 | |||||||
Henry A. Wallace | 39 | ||||||
Harry S. Truman | 40 | ||||||
33 | Harry S. Truman [126][127][128][129] |
April 12, 1945 | January 20, 1953 | Democratic | vacant [n 3] | ||
Alben W. Barkley | 41 | ||||||
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower [130][131][132][133] |
January 20, 1953 | January 20, 1961[n 11] | Republican | Richard Nixon | 42 | |
43 | |||||||
35 | John F. Kennedy [134][135][136][137] |
January 20, 1961 | November 22, 1963[n 7] | Democratic | Lyndon B. Johnson | 44 | |
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson [138][139][140][141] |
November 22, 1963 | January 20, 1969 | Democratic | vacant [n 3] | ||
Hubert Humphrey | 45 | ||||||
37 | Richard Nixon [142][143][144][145] |
January 20, 1969 | August 9, 1974[n 4] | Republican | Spiro Agnew[n 4] January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 |
46 | |
47 | |||||||
vacant [n 3] October 10, 1973 – December 6, 1973 |
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Gerald Ford December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 |
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38 | Gerald Ford [146][147][148][149] |
August 9, 1974 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | vacant [n 3] August 9, 1974 – December 19, 1974 |
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Nelson Rockefeller December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 |
|||||||
39 | Jimmy Carter [150][151][152][153] |
January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | Walter Mondale | 48 | |
40 | Ronald Reagan [154][155][156][157] |
January 20, 1981 | January 20, 1989 | Republican | George H. W. Bush | 49 | |
50 | |||||||
41 | George H. W. Bush [158][159][160][161] |
January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | Republican | Dan Quayle | 51 | |
42 | Bill Clinton [162][163][164][165] |
January 20, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Al Gore | 52 | |
53 | |||||||
43 | George W. Bush [166][167][168][169] |
January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | Dick Cheney | 54 | |
55 | |||||||
44 | Barack Obama [170][171][172][173] |
January 20, 2009 | Incumbent | Democratic | Joe Biden | 56 |
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