US Presidents

Benjamin Harrison

(August 20, 1833 - March 13, 1901) was the 23rd President of the United States (1889-1893); he was the grandson of the ninth President.. Had become a prominent local attorney, Presbyterian church leader and politician in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the American Civil War, he served the Union for most of the war as a colonel and on February 14, 1865 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from January 23, 1865. Afterwards, he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Indiana but was later elected to the U.S. Senate by the Indiana legislature.

James Buchanan

(April 23, 1791 - June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He is, to date, the only president from Pennsylvania and the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor.

Donald Trump

An American businessman, past host of celebrity apprentice. Has been accused of being racist and sexist. Known for wanting to "make America great again", and build a wall. 45th president.

Ulysses S. Grant

Birth first name was Hiram (April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877). In 1865, as commanding general, Grant led the Union Armies to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War, which ended shortly after Robert E. Lee surrendered to him at Appomattox. Grant then implemented Congressional Reconstruction, often at odds with President Andrew Johnson. Twice elected president, Grant led the Radical Republicans in their effort to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect African-American citizenship, and defeat the Ku Klux Klan.

Gerald Ford

Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr (but used nickname "Jerry") (July 14, 1913 - December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and, prior to this, was the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974 under President Richard Nixon. He was the first person appointed to the Vice Presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, after Spiro Agnew resigned. When he became president upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he became the first and to date only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected by the Electoral College. Before ascending to the Vice Presidency, this president served nearly 25 years as the Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, eight of them as the Republican Minority Leader.

George W. Bush

This president (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. Bush was elected president in 2000 after a close and controversial election, becoming the fourth president to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes nationwide than his opponent. He is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams (with the other familial presidential relations having been the Harrisons grandfather and grandson, as well as the Roosevelts having been 5th cousins). He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. Eight months into his first term as president, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. In response, he launched the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan, launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq, launched in 2003. In addition to national security issues, he also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, social security reform, and amending the Constitution to disallow same-sex marriage. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and funding for the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and enhanced interrogation techniques.

Jimmy Carter

With given names James Earl--though he went by a nickname--(born October 1, 1924) this president is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. Carter, raised in rural Georgia, was a peanut farmer who served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as the Governor of Georgia, from 1971 to 1975. He was elected President in 1976, running as an outsider who promised truth in government in the wake of the Watergate scandal. He is the second oldest (after George H. W. Bush) of America's four living former presidents.

John F. Kennedy

(May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), commonly known as Jack or by his 3 initials, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. Notable events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race—by initiating Project Apollo (which later culminated in the moon landings), the building of the Berlin Wall, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and increased US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Harry S. Truman

(May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953). The final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Under this president, the U.S. successfully concluded World War II; in the aftermath of the conflict, tensions with the Soviet Union increased, marking the start of the Cold War.

Franklin Pierce

(November 23, 1804 - October 8, 1869) was the 14th President of the United States (1853-1857). His inability as president to calm tensions over slavery kept the country on the path to the Civil War. Genial and well-spoken, was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation. His polarizing actions in championing and signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession, and leaving him widely regarded as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history

Thomas Jefferson

3rd U.S. President (1801-1809). He was an American Founding Father, and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). He was a spokesman for democracy, and embraced the principles of republicanism and the rights of the individual with worldwide influence.

James Madison

4th U.S. President (1809-1817). He was an American statesman, political theorist and he is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights.

James Monroe

5th U.S. President (1817-1825). He was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States.

John Quincy Adams

6th U.S. President (1825 - 1829) He was an American statesman who also served as a diplomat, a Senator and member of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties.

Andrew Jackson

7th U.S. President (1829-1837). He gained national fame through his role in the War of 1812, where he won decisive victories over the Indians and then over the main British invasion army at the Battle of New Orleans. His army was sent to Florida where, without orders, he deposed the small Spanish garrison. This led directly to the treaty which formally transferred Florida from Spain to the United States.

Martin Van Buren

8th U.S. President (1837-1841). Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth secretary of state.

Bill Clinton

This President (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served from 1993 to 2001 as the 42nd President of the United States. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president from the baby boomer generation. He has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. Before becoming president, he was the Governor of Arkansas for five terms, serving from 1979 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1992. He was also the state's Attorney General from 1977 to 1979.

Woodrow Wilson

This man, going by his middle name (his given name is Thomas)(December 28, 1856 - February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 and leader of the Progressive Movement. He served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910 and was Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. He led his Democratic Party to win control of both the White House and Congress in 1912.

Lyndon B. Johnson

(August 27, 1908 - January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963-1969), a position he assumed after his service as the 37th Vice President (1961-1963). He is a Democrat from Texas, served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a United States Senator from 1949 to 1961, including six years as Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. He campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, but ran as Vice President with John F. Kennedy heading the ticket for the 1960 presidential election. After their election, this president succeeded Kennedy following the latter's assassination on November 22, 1963; he completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right in the 1964 election, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater. He is one of four people who served in both offices of the executive branch as well as both houses of Congress.

Andrew Johnson

(December 29, 1808 - July 31, 1875) was the 17th President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson became president as he was Vice President at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, Johnson came to office as the Civil War concluded. The new president favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the former slaves, and he came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. The first American president to be impeached, he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Abraham Lincoln

(February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis.[1][2] In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

William McKinley

(January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901, six months into his second term. Led the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry, and maintained the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of inflationary proposals.

Millard Fillmore

(January 7, 1800 - March 8, 1874) was the 13th President of the United States (1850-1853), the last Whig president, and the last president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties. Fillmore was the only Whig president that did not die in office or get expelled from the party, and Fillmore appointed the only Whig Supreme Court Justice. He is consistently included in the bottom 10 of historical rankings of Presidents of the United States. As Zachary Taylor's vice president, he assumed the presidency after Taylor's death. Fillmore was a lawyer from western New York state, and an early member of the Whig Party. He served in the state legislature (1829-1831), as a U.S. Representative (1833-1835, 1837-1843), and as New York State Comptroller (1848-1849). He was elected vice president of the United States in 1848 as Taylor's running mate, and served from 1849 until Taylor's death in 1850, at the height of the "Crisis of 1850" over slavery.

John Tyler

(March 29, 1790 - January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841-1845). He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison, and became president after his running mate's death in April 1841. Tyler's opposition to nationalism and emphatic support of states' rights endeared him to his fellow Virginians but alienated him from both major parties in Washington. A firm believer in manifest destiny, President Tyler sought to strengthen and preserve the Union through territorial expansion, most notably the annexation of the independent Republic of Texas in his last days in office.

Zachary Taylor

(November 24, 1784 - July 9, 1850) was the 12th President of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general. His status as a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican-American War won him election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died sixteen months into his term, before making any progress on the status of slavery, which had been inflaming tensions in Congress. Taylor was born to a prominent family of planters who migrated westward from Virginia to Kentucky in his youth. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and made a name for himself as a captain in the War of 1812. He climbed the ranks establishing military forts along the Mississippi River and entered the Black Hawk War as a colonel in 1832. His success in the Second Seminole War attracted national attention and earned him the nickname "Old Rough and Ready".

William Howard Taft

(September 15, 1857 - March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913) and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930). He is the only person to have served in both of these offices. He was like really, really fat.

George Washington

1st U.S. President (1789 - 1797). He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

John Adams

2nd U.S. President (1797-1801). He was an American Founding Father, a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. He was an Enlightenment political theorist who promoted republicanism, and a strong central government.

Calvin Coolidge

Going by his middle name (his given name is John) this man (July 4, 1872 - January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923-1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont, he worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action. Soon after, he was elected as the 29th Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative, and also as a man who said very little.

Theodore Roosevelt

Serving 1901 - March 4, 1909 (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) he was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party (GOP) and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912. He is known for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity. Born into a wealthy family in New York City, he was a sickly child who suffered from asthma. To overcome his physical weakness, he embraced a strenuous life. He was home-schooled and became an eager student of nature. He attended Harvard College where he studied biology, boxed, and developed an interest in naval affairs. He quickly entered politics, determined to become a member of the ruling class. In 1881 he was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he became a leader of the reform faction of the GOP. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established him as a learned historian and writer.

Herbert Hoover

This president (August 10, 1874 - October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933). Born to a Quaker family with middle name "Clark", was a professional mining engineer. He achieved American and international prominence in humanitarian relief efforts in war-time Belgium and served as head of the U.S. Food Administration during World War I. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business under the rubric "economic modernization". In the presidential election of 1928, he easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no elected-office experience. He is the most recent cabinet secretary to be elected President of the United States, as well as one of only two Presidents (along with William Howard Taft) elected without electoral experience or high military rank. America was at the height of an economic bubble at the time, facilitating a landslide victory for him over Democrat Al Smith.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

This president (January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States. A Democrat, he was elected four times and served from March 1933 to his death in April 1945. He was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. A dominant leader of the Democratic Party, he built a New Deal Coalition that realigned American politics after 1932, as his New Deal domestic policies defined American liberalism for the middle third of the 20th centu

George H. W. Bush

This president, (born June 12, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993). A Republican, he had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States (1981-1989), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. He is the oldest living former President and Vice President. He is also the last living former President who is a veteran of World War II. He is often referred to as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush 41", "Bush the Elder", Bush I, or "George Bush, Sr." to distinguish him from his son, a former President. Prior to his son's fame or notability, he was widely known simply as George Bush.

Grover Cleveland

With given name "Stephen " (though he goes by his middle name) this man (March 18, 1837 - June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States; and, therefore was the only US president to serve two terms not in a row (1885-1889 and 1893-1897) and to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was one of the two Democrats (alongside Woodrow Wilson) elected to the presidency in the era of Republican political domination dating from 1861 to 1933.

James Garfield

With middle name "Abram " the man (November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881) served as the 20th President of the United States (1881), after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863-81). His accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive appointments; energizing U.S. naval power; and purging corruption in the Post Office Department. He made notable diplomatic and judiciary appointments, including a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Garfield appointed several African-Americans to prominent federal positions. As President, he advocated a bi-metal monetary system, agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African-Americans. He proposed substantial civil service reform, eventually passed by Congress in 1883 and signed into law by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. His presidency lasted just 200 days—from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881, as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Only William Henry Harrison's presidency, of 31 days, was shorter. He was the second of four United States Presidents who were assassinated.

Chester Arthur

With middle name "Alan" he (October 5, 1829 - November 18, 1886) was the 21st President of the United States (1881-85); he succeeded James Garfield upon the latter's assassination. At the outset, he struggled to overcome his reputation, stemming from his beginnings in politics as a politician from the New York City Republican political machine. He succeeded by embracing the cause of civil service reform. His advocacy for, and subsequent enforcement of, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was the centerpiece of his administration.

Rutherford Hayes

With middle name "Birchard" this man (October 4, 1822 - January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States (1877-1881). As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction, began the efforts that led to civil service reform, and attempted to reconcile the divisions left over from the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Warren Harding

With middle name "Gamaliel" this man (November 2, 1865 - August 2, 1923) was the 29th President of the United States (1921-23), a Republican from Ohio who served in the Ohio Senate and then in the United States Senate, where he played a minor role.

William Harrison

With middle name "Henry" he (February 9, 1773 - April 4, 1841) was the ninth President of the United States (1841), an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when inaugurated, the oldest president to take office until Ronald Reagan in 1981. Harrison died on his 32nd day in office[a] of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history. His death sparked a brief constitutional crisis, but its resolution settled many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by the Constitution until the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, who was the 23rd President from 1889 to 1893.

Barack Obama

With middle name "Hussein" he (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.

James Polk

With middle name "Knox ", he (November 2, 1795 - June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845-1849). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.[1] He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835-1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839-1841). Polk was the surprise (dark horse) candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to invade and annex Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System.

Richard Nixon

With middle name "Milhous" this man (January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, served from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to resign the office. A member of the Republican Party, Nixon had previously served as a U.S. Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

Ronald Reagan

With middle name "Wilson" he (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was an American actor and politician. He was the 40th President of the United States (1981-89), and served as the 33rd Governor of California (1967-75) prior to his presidency.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

With nickname "Ike" this man (October 14, 1890 - March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe; he had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. He was the last U.S. President to have been born in the 19th century.