Presidents of the United States
William (Bill) Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001)
42nd President Terms: 2 Vice President: Albert Gore First Lady: Hilary Clinton - Arkansas Governor (1978-1980, 1982-1993) - Elected to presidency while still governor - Impeached by Congress, but acquitted by Senate - Passed anti-crime laws - Signed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada - Appointed first woman as Secretary of State
George Walker Bush (2001-2009)
43rd President Terms: 2 Vice President: Richard B. Cheney First Lady: Laura Welch - Son of 41st President - Texas Governor (1994-2001) Closest opponent won popular vote and contested voting irregularities - First president to appoint an African American secretary of state - Signed into law the No Child Left Behind act - Terrorists attack U.S. soil on Sept. 11, 2001 - established Homeland Security Act, 2002
Barack Hussein Obama ll (2009 -
44th President Terms: 1 and currently serving 2 Vice President: Joseph Biden First Lady: Michelle Robinson - The first African- American President - Former Junior U.S. Senator from Illinois - President of the Harvard Law Review - Practiced as a civil rights attorney - Served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004 - Taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School - Made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa as a senator
James Madison (1809-1817)
4th President Terms: 2 Vice President: George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry First Lady: Dorothea (Dolley) Payne Todd *First President with prior service as Congressman *"Father of the Constitution" *Played a large role in drafting the Bill of Rights *Louisiana and Indiana joined in office *Both vice-presidents died in office *President during war of 1812 *Portrait on the $5,000 bill *Shortest president (5'4")
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
27th President Term: 1 Vice President: James S. Sherman First Lady: Helen (Nellie) Herron - Civilian Governor of the Philippines (1901-1904) - Largest President (six feet and 300 pounds) - Established federal income tax - Arizona and New Mexico joined the Union - Declared the White House as "the lonesomest place in the world" -Became chief justice of the Supreme Court after presidential term - Buried at Arlington Cemetery
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
28th President Terms: 2 Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall First Lady: Ellen Louise Axson (d. 1914), Edith Bolling Galt (m.1915) - New Jersey Governor (1911-1913) - Only president to earn a PH.D. - Started regular presidential press conferences - 19th Amendment allowed women to vote - Created the League of Nations - Expanded role of government during World War 1
Warren Gamaliel Harding (1921-1923)
29th President Terms: Less than 1 Vice President: Calvin Coolidge First Lady: Florence Fling de Wolfe - Editor-publisher by trade - First President to ride in car to inauguration - First president to broadcast speech over the radio - First presidential visit to Canada and Alaska - Died in San Francisco on return trip from Alaska, after 2 1/2 years in office - "Ohio Gang" scandals rocked presidency
John Adams (1797-1801)
2nd President Term - 1 Vice President - Thomas Jefferson First Lady: Abigail Smith *Successfully Defended British Soldiers accused of murder in Boston Massacre. *Signed Declaration of Independence *Negotiated Treaty of Paris in 1783, ending the American Revolution *First President to occupy the White House *Believed avoiding war was the most important achievement of his presidency. * Father of the 6th president. *Died on 50th anniversary of Declaration of Independence.
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
30th President Terms: 2 (elected to 1) Vice President: Charles G. Dawes First Lady: Grace Anna Goodhue - Massachusetts governor (1919-1920) - Sworn in as president by his father, a justice of the peace - Believed in minimal government - Named "Silent Cal" for refusal to engage in small talk - Did not choose to run for reelection - Born on 96th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
Herbert Clark Hoover (1929-1933)
31st President Terms: 1 Vice President: Charles Curtis First Lady: Lou Henry - Orphaned at age 9 - Mining engineer in Australia, Chine, and England - Circled the globe 5 times by age 33 - International relief work in World War 1 - Self made millionaire by age 40 - All payment for public service went to charity - Humanitarian - Held no political office prior to presidency - Believed prosperity was "just around the corner"
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945)
32nd President Terms: Elected to 4 Vice Presidents: John N. Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Harry S. Truman First Lady: Eleanor Roosevelt - New York governor (1929-1933) - Paralyzed by polio in 1921 - Only president elected to four consecutive terms - Expanded government to combat Great Depression - "New Deal" relief programs - Died at beginning of fourth term - Portrait on dime
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
33rd President Terms: 2 (elected to 1) Vice President: Alben W. Barkley First Lady: Elizabeth (Bess) Virginia Wallace - Middle name just the initial "S" because of family disagreement - Sign on his desk "The Buck Stops Here" - Ordered use of atomic bomb - Start of Cold War with U.S.S.R. - Truman Doctrine stated that United States would help other nations battle Communist control - Negotiated North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - Ordered troops into Korean War
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
34th President Terms: 2 Vice President: Richard M. Nixon First Lady: Mamie Geneva Doud - Nickname "Ike" - Supreme Allied Commander during World War 11 - First television campaign - Helped end Korean War - Success in space with artificial satellite - Start of Vietnam War - Enforced school desegregation - Ended diplomatic relations with Cuba - Hawaii and Alaska joined Union - First President over all 50 states
John Tyler (1841-1845)
10th President Term: Less than 1 yr First Lady: Letitia Christian (d. 1842) Julia Gardiner 9m. 1841) - Virginia governor (1825-1827) - First Vice President to become president on death of predecessor - Became "President without a Party" after Whig's severed all ties - First president married while in office - First president married while in office - First impeachment attempt (failed) - Set up trade relations with China - Florida joined Union
James Knox Polk (1845-1849)
11th President Term: 1 yr First Lady: Sarah Childress - Tennessee Governor (1839-1841) - Speaker of the House - First dark-horse (little known) candidate - Mexican War victory extended nation's boundaries to Pacific OCean - 1849 Gold Rush spurred western expansion -First Elected President to not seek reelection - Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin joined Union
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
12th President Term: Less than 1 year Vice President: Millard Fillmore First Lady: Margaret Mackall Smith - Soldier for 40 years - Called "Old Rough & ready" by troops for unkempt appearance - Never voted until his own election - First election to be held at the same time in all states - Died in the White House after 16 months in office - Related to fourth President, also Confederate General Robert E. Lee
Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
13th President Term: Less than 1 year (Not elected) First Lady: Abigail Powers - Married his teacher - Last Whig president - Compromise of 1850 delayed Civil War by 10 years - Enforced Fugitive Slave Laws - Financed expedition to the Far East, opening door to trade with Japan - California joined the Union
George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993)
41st President Terms:1 Vice President: Dan Quayle First Lady: Barbara Pierce - Director of CIA in 1975 - Father of 43rd president - Elected on 200th anniversary of presidency - Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Soviet Union - Fall of Berlin Wall - Collapse of Soviet Union - Leader in Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait
Franklin Pierce (1835-1857)
14th President Terms: 1 Vice President: William R. King First Lady Jane Means Appleton - New Hampshire Senator at age 32 - Appointed Jefferson David (future President of the Confederate States) Secretary of War - Supported Immigrant rights - Unsuccessful attempt to seize Cuba from Spain - Purchased land from Mexico, establishing present border - Passed controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, nullifying Missouri Compromise
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
15th President Term: 1 Vice President: John C. Breckinridge First Lady: Never Married - Only Bachelor President - 40 years prior service in Congress - Campaigned on "Save the Union" theme - During presidency, six slave states seceded to form new "Confederate States of America" - Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas joined the Union - Democrats split into North and SOuth during 1860 presidential election, but neither would nominate him
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
16th President Terms: Elected to 2 Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson First Lady: Mary Todd - First republican President - President during the Civil War - Assassinated beginning of second term - Emancipation Proclamation freed southern slaves - West Virginia, Nevada joined the Union - Birthday celebrated nationally - Portrait on $5 bill, penny - likeness carved on Mount Rushmore
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
17th President Term: Less than 1 (not elected) Vice President: none First Lady: Eliza McCardle - Tailor by trade - Tennessee governor (1853-1857) - Only southern senator during Civil War who refused to secede with his state - Start of Southern Reconstruction - Slavery officially abolished - Purchased Alaska from Russia - Nebraska joined Union
Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869-1877)
18th President Terms: 2 Vice President: Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson First Lady: Julia Dent - U.S. "Unconditional Surrender" Grant - Elected at age 46 - No prior political experience - Continued Southern Reconstruction - Political corruption at all levels of office - Colorado joined Union - Portrait on $50 bill - Transcontinental railroad completed - Telephone invented 1876 - Established Yellowstone National Park
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1877-1881)
19th President Term: 1 Vice President: William A. Wheeler First Lady: Lucy Ware Webb - Volunteer counsel for Underground Railway, helping slaves win freedom - Ohio governor (1868-1872, 1876-1877) -Congress had to create special Electoral Commission to decide the election - Declared winner of election just 56 hours before inauguration - Withdrew troops from South - Labor unions grew
George Washington (1789-1797)
1st President Terms 2 Vice President - John Adams First Lady: Martha Dandridge Custis *Commander of the Continental Army,*President of Constitutional Convention, *Unanimously elected twice, *Did not want to run for a second term, * Increased States in Union from 11 to 16, * Portrait on the Dollar bill & Quarter, *likeness carved on Mount Rushmore, *Namesake of Nation's Capital, *Birthday celebrated nationally
James Abram Garfield (1881)
20th President Term: Less than 1 Vice President: Chester Alan Arthur First Lady: Lucretia (Crete) Rudolph - Last president born in a log cabin - Former teacher and preacher - At 1880 Republican Convention, received no votes on first presidential ballot - Served only 6 months - Second President to be assassinated - Alexander Graham Bell tried unsuccessfully to locate the bullet in Garfield's back - Death served as catalyst for civil serve reform
Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)
21st President Term: Less than 1 (not elected) Vice President: None First Lady: Widowed in 1880 - Well dressed, called "Gentleman Boss" - Defender of civil rights for blacks - Removed from post as Collector of Port of New York in 1878 due to corruption, but overcame scandal to later become vice president and president - Passed first civil service law - Modernized navy - Unsuccessfully vetoed bill prohibiting Chinese immigration
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
22nd President Term: 1 Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks First Lady: Frances Folsom (m. 1886) - Reputation as an honest politician - Nw York Governor (1883-1885) - First Democratic President after Civil War - Only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms - Married in White House - Dedicated Statue of Liberty - Forced return of illegal railroad lands - Favored low tariffs - Portrait on $1,000 bill
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
23rd President Term: 1 Vice President: Levi P. Morton First Lady: Caroline Lavinia Scott - Called "Little Ben" because of his size - Grandson of the ninth president - Inaugurated 100 years after Washington - Established first Pan American Congress -Enlarged the Navy - Favored high tariffs - North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming joined the Union
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
24th President Term: 1 Vice President: Adlai E. Stevenson First Lady: Frances Folsom - Only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms - First president to have a child born in the White House - Sent Federal troops to break up a train strike that was interfering with the mail - Withdrew Senate bill to annes Hawaii - Utah joined the Union Portrait on the $1,000 bill
William McKinley (1897-1901)
25th President Term: Elected to 2 Vice President: Garret A. Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt First Lady: Ida Saxton - Ohio Governor (1892-1896) - Spanish-American war victory - Aided Cuba's fight for independence - Acquired Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and America Samoa - Hawaii became a Territory - Assassinated in second term - Namesake of Alaska's Mount Mckinley, North America's highest peak - Portrait on $500 bill
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
26th President Term: 2 (elected to 1) Vice President: Charles W. Fairbanks First Lady: Edith Kermit Carow - New York governor (1898-1900) - Nobel Peace Prize recipient for ending Russo-Japanese War - Doubled the number of national parks - As "Trust-Buster", tried to limit power of big business - Initiated creation of Panama Canal - Settled Alaska/Canada border dispute - Oklahoma joined the union - Likeness carved on Mount Rushmore - Teddy Bear namesake
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963)
35th President Terms: Less than 1 Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson First Lady: Jacqueline Bouvier - Youngest man elected president - First president born in 20th century - First Catholic President - Worked for civil rights and equality - Established Peace Corps - Forced U.S.S.R. to withdraw nuclear missiles from Cuba - Assassinated after 2 1/2 years in office - Buried at Arlington Cemetery - Portrait on 50 cent coin
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969)
36th President Terms: 2 (1 elected) Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey First Lady: Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor - Sworn in as president aboard Air Force One - Passed civil rights and antipoverty measures - Established Medicare -Escalation of Vietnam War - War policy caused riots - Chose not to run for reelection "because of division in the American House" regarding war
Richard Milhous Nixon (1969-1974)
37th President Terms: Elected to 2 Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew, Gerald R. Ford First Lady: Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan - Only person whose Vice Presidential and Presidential terms were not consecutive - Congratulated (by special telephone connection) the first man on the moon. - Improved relations with Soviet Union and China - Pulled American troops out of Vietnam - Watergate political scandal - First president to resign when faced with certain impeachment
Gerald Rudolph Ford (1974-1977)
38th President Term: Less than 1 (not elected) Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller First Lady: Elizabeth "Betty" Bloomer - Turned down Nation Football League (NFL) contract in order to study law - Appointed as Richard Nixon's vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned - Only president who did not win election to office of with vice president or president - Final American Troop withdrawal from Vietnam while in office
James (Jimmy) Earl Carter (1977-1981)
39th President Terms: 1 Vice President: Walter Mondale First Lady: Rosalynn Smith - Peanut farmer - Georgia governor (1971-1975) First Graduate of U.S. Naval Academy to become president - Negotiated Camp David peace accord between Egypt and Israel - returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama - Established full diplomatic relations with China - Iran terrorists hostage crisis
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
3rd President Terms: 2 Vice President: Aaron Burr, George Clinton First Lady: Widowed *Author of the Declaration of Independence *Virginia Governor (1779-1781) *Jeffersonian Democracy (Believed the States had Rights) *First constitutional transfer of power between political groups *Purchased Louisiana from France *Ohio joined the Union *Portrait on $2 bill, nickel *Likeness carved on Mount Rushmore
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1981-1989)
40th President terms:2 Vice President George H.W. Bush First Lady: Nancy Davis - Actor appeared in over 50 movies - California Governor (1967-1975) - Oldest elected president - Iran hostages released on Inauguration Day - "Reaganomics" to improve U.S. economy - Iran - Contras arms scandal - Expanded Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) - Built up U.S. military power - Appointed first woman to Supreme Court
James Monroe (1817-1825)
5th President Terms: 2 Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins First Lady: Elizabeth Kotright - Virginia Governor (1799-1802,1811) - Captured Florida from Spain - Received every electoral college vote except one in 1820 election - Signed Missouri Compromise - Monroe Doctrine declared America Closed to further foreign colonization - Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri joined the Union. - Died on 55th anniversary of Declaration of Independence.
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
6th President 1 term Vice President: John C. Calhoun First Lady: Louisa Catherine Johnson - Son of second President - Named "Old Man Eloquent" because of his persuasive speeches - First president photographed - Member of Congress for 18 years after term as President - First congressman to assert government's right to free slaves in times of war - In the 1841 Amistad rebellion, successfully defended black rebels with argument that everyone has a right to freedom
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
7th President 2 terms Vice President: John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren First Lady: Widowed in 1828 - First president from poor family - War hero nicknamed "Old Hickory" - Founder of Democratic Party - Indian Removal Act forced migration by national convention - Arkansas, Michigan joined the Union - Portrait on $20 bill
Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
8th President 1 term Vice President: Richard M. Johnson First Lady: Widowed in 1819 - New York Governor (1829) - Ran for president 3 times - "O.K." comes from campaign slogan "Old Kinderhook" - First Great Depression, Panic of 1837 - Believed government role should be small even in times of need - Helped form first Political Machine, an organization that trades favors for votes
William Henry Harrison (1841)
9th President less than 1 year First Lady: Ann Tuthill Symmes - Studied to become a Doctor - Indiana Territory governor (1800-1812) - First Whig President - Second oldest president ever elected (age 68) - Grandfather of 23rd President - Served one month, shortest term of all presidents - First President to die in office, dies in White House