Under the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. 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 United States 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. Furthermore, no person who served more than two years of a term - to which someone else was elected - may be elected more than once.[1] Upon the 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.[2] The list does not include any Acting Presidents under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
There have been 43 people sworn into office, and 44 presidencies, as Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the 22nd and 24th president. Of the individuals elected as president, four died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison[3] Zachary Taylor,[4] Warren G. Harding,[5] and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln,[6] James A. Garfield,[7][6] William McKinley,[8] and John F. Kennedy) and one resigned (Richard Nixon).[9]
George Washington was the first president and inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous Electoral College vote. William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office with 32 days in 1841, and Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest with over twelve years, but died shortly into his fourth term in 1945. He is the only president to serve more than two terms and a constitutional amendment was passed to prevent that from reoccurring. John F. Kennedy was the first president of Roman Catholic faith, and the current president, Barack Obama, is the first president of African-American descent; he assumed the office on January 20, 2009.[10]
No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
No. [n 1] |
President | Took office | Left office | Party | Term [n 1] |
Vice President | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington (1732β1799) [11][12][13] |
April 30, 1789 | March 4, 1797 | no party | 1 (1789) | John Adams | ||
2 (1792) | ||||||||
2 | John Adams (1735β1826) [14][15][16] |
March 4, 1797 | March 4, 1801 | Federalist | 3 (1796) | Thomas Jefferson | ||
3 | Thomas Jefferson (1743β1826) [17][18][19] |
March 4, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | Democratic- Republican |
4 (1800) | Aaron Burr | ||
5 (1804) | George Clinton | |||||||
4 | James Madison (1751β1836) [20][21][22] |
March 4, 1809 | March 4, 1817 | Democratic- Republican |
6 (1808) | George Clinton[n 2] March 4, 1809 β April 20, 1812 |
||
vacant[n 3] April 20, 1812 β March 4, 1813 |
||||||||
7 (1812) | Elbridge Gerry[n 2] March 4, 1813 β November 23, 1814 |
|||||||
vacant[n 3] November 23, 1814 β March 4, 1817 |
||||||||
5 | James Monroe (1758β1831) [23][24][25] |
March 4, 1817 | March 4, 1825 | Democratic- Republican |
8 (1816) | Daniel D. Tompkins | ||
9 (1820) | ||||||||
6 | John Quincy Adams (1767β1848) [26][27][28] |
March 4, 1825 | March 4, 1829 | Democratic- Republican; National Republican |
10 (1824) | John C. Calhoun | ||
7 | Andrew Jackson (1767β1845) [29][30][31] |
March 4, 1829 | March 4, 1837 | Democratic | 11 (1828) | John C. Calhoun[n 4] March 4, 1829 β December 28, 1832 |
||
vacant[n 3] December 28, 1832 β March 4, 1833 |
||||||||
12 (1832) | Martin Van Buren | |||||||
8 | Martin Van Buren (1782β1862) [32][33][34] |
March 4, 1837 | March 4, 1841 | Democratic | 13 (1836) | Richard Mentor Johnson | ||
9 | William Henry Harrison (1773β1841) [35][36][37] |
March 4, 1841 | April 4, 1841 [n 2] |
Whig | 14 (1840) | John Tyler | ||
10 [n 5] |
John Tyler (1790β1862) [38][39][40] |
April 4, 1841 | March 4, 1845 | Whig April 4, 1841 β September 13, 1841 |
vacant[n 3] | |||
no party[n 6] September 13, 1841 β March 4, 1845 |
||||||||
11 | James K. Polk (1795β1849) [41][42][43] |
March 4, 1845 | March 4, 1849 | Democratic | 15 (1844) | George M. Dallas | ||
12 | Zachary Taylor (1784β1850) [44][45][46] |
March 4, 1849 | July 9, 1850 [n 2] |
Whig | 16 (1848) | Millard Fillmore | ||
13 | Millard Fillmore (1800β1874) [47][48][49] |
July 9, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | Whig | vacant[n 3] | |||
14 | Franklin Pierce (1804β1869) [50][51][52] |
March 4, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | Democratic | 17 (1852) | William R. King[n 2] March 4, 1853 β April 18, 1853 |
||
vacant[n 3] April 18, 1853 β March 4, 1857 |
||||||||
15 | James Buchanan (1791β1868) [53][54][55] |
March 4, 1857 | March 4, 1861 | Democratic | 18 (1856) | John C. Breckinridge | ||
16 | Abraham Lincoln (1809β1865) [56][57][58] |
March 4, 1861 | April 15, 1865 [n 7] |
Republican | 19 (1860) | Hannibal Hamlin | ||
Republican National Union[n 8] |
20 (1864) | Andrew Johnson | ||||||
17 | Andrew Johnson (1808β1875) [59][60][61] |
April 15, 1865 | March 4, 1869 | Democratic National Union[n 8]; no party[n 9] |
vacant [n 3] |
|||
18 | Ulysses S. Grant (1822β1885) [62][63][64] |
March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1877 | Republican | 21 (1868) | Schuyler Colfax | ||
22 (1872) | Henry Wilson[n 2] March 4, 1873 β November 22, 1875 |
|||||||
vacant[n 3] November 22, 1875 β March 4, 1877 |
||||||||
19 | Rutherford B. Hayes (1822β1893) [65][66][67] |
March 4, 1877 | March 4, 1881 | Republican | 23 (1876) | William A. Wheeler | ||
20 | James A. Garfield (1831β1881) [68][69][70] |
March 4, 1881 | September 19, 1881 [n 7] |
Republican | 24 (1880) | Chester A. Arthur | ||
21 | Chester A. Arthur (1829β1886) [71][72][73] |
September 19, 1881 | March 4, 1885 | Republican | vacant[n 3] | |||
22 | Grover Cleveland (1837β1908) [74][75] |
March 4, 1885 | March 4, 1889 | Democratic | 25 (1884) | Thomas A. Hendricks[n 2] March 4, 1885 β November 25, 1885 |
||
vacant[n 3] November 25, 1885 β March 4, 1889 |
||||||||
23 | Benjamin Harrison (1833β1901) [76][77][78] |
March 4, 1889 | March 4, 1893 | Republican | 26 (1888) | Levi P. Morton | ||
24 | Grover Cleveland (1837β1908) [74][75] |
March 4, 1893 | March 4, 1897 | Democratic | 27 (1892) | Adlai E. Stevenson I | ||
25 | William McKinley (1843β1901) [79][80][81] |
March 4, 1897 | September 14, 1901 [n 7] |
Republican | 28 (1896) | Garret Hobart[n 2] March 4, 1897 β November 21, 1899 |
||
vacant[n 3] November 21, 1899 β March 4, 1901 |
||||||||
29 (1900) | Theodore Roosevelt | |||||||
26 | Theodore Roosevelt (1858β1919) [82][83][84] |
September 14, 1901 | March 4, 1909 | Republican | vacant[n 3] | |||
30 (1904) | Charles W. Fairbanks | |||||||
27 | William Howard Taft (1857β1930) [85][86][87] |
March 4, 1909 | March 4, 1913 | Republican | 31 (1908) | James S. Sherman[n 2] March 4, 1909 β October 30, 1912 |
||
vacant[n 3] October 30, 1912 β March 4, 1913 |
||||||||
28 | Woodrow Wilson (1856β1924) [88][89][90] |
March 4, 1913 | March 4, 1921 | Democratic | 32 (1912) | Thomas R. Marshall | ||
33 (1916) | ||||||||
29 | Warren G. Harding (1865β1923) [91][92][93] |
March 4, 1921 | August 2, 1923 [n 2] |
Republican | 34 (1920) | Calvin Coolidge | ||
30 | Calvin Coolidge (1872β1933) [94][95][96] |
August 2, 1923 | March 4, 1929 | Republican | vacant[n 3] | |||
35 (1924) | Charles G. Dawes | |||||||
31 | Herbert Hoover (1874β1964) [97][98][99] |
March 4, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | Republican | 36 (1928) | Charles Curtis | ||
32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882β1945) [100][101][102] |
March 4, 1933 | April 12, 1945 [n 2] |
Democratic | 37 (1932) [n 10] |
John Nance Garner | ||
38 (1936) | ||||||||
39 (1940) | Henry A. Wallace | |||||||
40 (1944) | Harry S Truman | |||||||
33 | Harry S Truman (1884β1972) [103][104][105] |
April 12, 1945 | January 20, 1953 | Democratic | vacant[n 3] | |||
41 (1948) | Alben W. Barkley | |||||||
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890β1969) [106][107][108] |
January 20, 1953 | January 20, 1961 [n 11] |
Republican | 42 (1952) | Richard Nixon | ||
43 (1956) | ||||||||
35 | John F. Kennedy (1917β1963) [109][110][111] |
January 20, 1961 | November 22, 1963 [n 7] |
Democratic | 44 (1960) | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson (1908β1973) [112][113] |
November 22, 1963 | January 20, 1969 | Democratic | vacant[n 3] | |||
45 (1964) | Hubert Humphrey | |||||||
37 | Richard Nixon (1913β1994) [114][115][116] |
January 20, 1969 | August 9, 1974 [n 4] |
Republican | 46 (1968) | Spiro Agnew[n 4] January 20, 1969 β October 10, 1973 |
||
47 (1972) | ||||||||
vacant[n 3] October 10, 1973 β December 6, 1973 |
||||||||
Gerald Ford December 6, 1973 β August 9, 1974 |
||||||||
38 | Gerald Ford (1913β2006) [117][118][119] |
August 9, 1974 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | vacant[n 3] August 9, 1974 β December 19, 1974 |
|||
Nelson Rockefeller December 19, 1974 β January 20, 1977 |
||||||||
39 | Jimmy Carter (1924β ) [120][121][122] |
January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | 48 (1976) | Walter Mondale | ||
40 | Ronald Reagan (1911β2004) [123][124][125] |
January 20, 1981 | January 20, 1989 | Republican | 49 (1980) | George H. W. Bush | ||
50 (1984) | ||||||||
41 | George H. W. Bush (1924β ) [126][127][128] |
January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | Republican | 51 (1988) | Dan Quayle | ||
42 | Bill Clinton (1946β ) [129][130][131] |
January 20, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | 52 (1992) | Al Gore | ||
53 (1996) | ||||||||
43 | George W. Bush (1946β ) [132][133][134] |
January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | 54 (2000) | Dick Cheney | ||
55 (2004) | ||||||||
44 | Barack Obama (1961β ) [135][136][137] |
January 20, 2009 | Incumbent | Democratic | 56 (2008) | Joe Biden |
As of December 2011[update], there are four living former presidents of the United States. The most recent death of a former president was that of Gerald Ford (1974β1977), on December 26, 2006.
President | Term of office | Date of birth |
---|---|---|
Jimmy Carter | 1977β1981 | October 1, 1924 |
George H. W. Bush | 1989β1993 | June 12, 1924 |
Bill Clinton | 1993β2001 | August 19, 1946 |
George W. Bush | 2001β2009 | July 6, 1946 |