List of presidents of the United States Facts for Kids

The White House, official residence of the president of the United States, in July 2008

The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. The incumbent president is Donald Trump, who assumed office on January 20, 2025. Since the office was established in 1789, 45 men have served in 47 presidencies; the discrepancy arises because of Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump, who were elected to two non-consecutive terms. Cleveland is counted as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, while Trump is counted as the 45th and 47th president.

The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945. He is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected president more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once.

Four presidents died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy), and one resigned (Richard Nixon, facing impeachment and removal from office). John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency during a presidential term, setting the precedent that a vice president who does so becomes the fully functioning president with a new, distinct administration.

Throughout most of its history, American politics has been dominated by political parties. The Constitution is silent on the issue of political parties, and at the time it came into force in 1789, no organized parties existed. Soon after the 1st Congress convened, political factions began rallying around dominant Washington administration officials, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Concerned about the capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his eight-year presidency. He was, and remains, the only U.S. president who never affiliated with a political party.

Presidents

List of presidents of the United States from 1789 – till date.
No.	Name (birth–death)	Term		Election	Vice President
1	George Washington (1732–1799)	April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797	Unaffiliated	1788–89 1792	John Adams
2	John Adams (1735–1826)	March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801	Federalist	1796	Thomas Jefferson
3	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)	March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809	Democratic- Republican	1800 1804	Aaron Burr George Clinton
4	James Madison (1751–1836)	March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817	Democratic- Republican	1808 1812	George Clinton Vacant after April 20, 1812 Elbridge Gerry Vacant after November 23, 1814
5	James Monroe (1758–1831)	March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825	Democratic- Republican	1816 1820	Daniel D. Tompkins
6	John Quincy Adams (1767–1848)	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829	Democratic- Republican National Republican	1824	John C. Calhoun
7	Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)	March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837	Democratic	1828 1832	John C. Calhoun Vacant after December 28, 1832 Martin Van Buren
8	Martin Van Buren (1782–1862)	March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841	Democratic	1836	Richard Mentor Johnson
9	William Henry Harrison (1773–1841)	March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841	Whig	1840	John Tyler
10	John Tyler (1790–1862)	April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845	Whig Unaffiliated	–	Vacant throughout presidency
11	James K. Polk (1795–1849)	March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849	Democratic	1844	George M. Dallas
12	Zachary Taylor (1784–1850)	March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850	Whig	1848	Millard Fillmore
13	Millard Fillmore (1800–1874)	July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853	Whig	–	Vacant throughout presidency
14	Franklin Pierce (1804–1869)	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857	Democratic	1852	William R. King Vacant after April 18, 1853
15	James Buchanan (1791–1868)	March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861	Democratic	1856	John C. Breckinridge
16	Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)	March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865	Republican National Union	1860 1864	Hannibal Hamlin Andrew Johnson
17	Andrew Johnson (1808–1875)	April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869	National Union Democratic	–	Vacant throughout presidency
18	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877	Republican	1868 1872	Schuyler Colfax Henry Wilson Vacant after November 22, 1875
19	Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893)	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881	Republican	1876	William A. Wheeler
20	James A. Garfield (1831–1881)	March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881	Republican	1880	Chester A. Arthur
21	Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)	September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885	Republican	–	Vacant throughout presidency
22	Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889	Democratic	1884	Thomas A. Hendricks Vacant after November 25, 1885
23	Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893	Republican	1888	Levi P. Morton
24	Grover Cleveland (1837–1908)	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897	Democratic	1892	Adlai Stevenson I
25	William McKinley (1843–1901)	March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901	Republican	1896 1900	Garret Hobart Vacant after November 21, 1899 Theodore Roosevelt
26	Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)	September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909	Republican	– 1904	Vacant through March 4, 1905 Charles W. Fairbanks
27	William Howard Taft (1857–1930)	March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913	Republican	1908	James S. Sherman Vacant after October 30, 1912
28	Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)	March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921	Democratic	1912 1916	Thomas R. Marshall
29	Warren G. Harding (1865–1923)	March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923	Republican	1920	Calvin Coolidge
30	Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)	August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929	Republican	– 1924	Vacant through March 4, 1925 Charles G. Dawes
31	Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)	March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933	Republican	1928	Charles Curtis
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)	March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945	Democratic	1932 1936 1940 1944	John Nance Garner Henry A. Wallace Harry S. Truman
33	Harry S. Truman (1884–1972)	April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953	Democratic	– 1948	Vacant through January 20, 1949 Alben W. Barkley
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)	January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961	Republican	1952 1956	Richard Nixon
35	John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)	January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963	Democratic	1960	Lyndon B. Johnson
36	Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)	November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969	Democratic	– 1964	Vacant through January 20, 1965 Hubert Humphrey
37	Richard Nixon (1913–1994)	January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974	Republican	1968 1972	Spiro Agnew Vacant: October 10 – December 6, 1973 Gerald Ford
38	Gerald Ford (1913–2006)	August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977	Republican	–	Vacant through December 19, 1974 Nelson Rockefeller
39	Jimmy Carter (1924–2024)	January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981	Democratic	1976	Walter Mondale
40	Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)	January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989	Republican	1980 1984	George H. W. Bush
41	George H. W. Bush (1924–2018)	January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993	Republican	1988	Dan Quayle
42	Bill Clinton (b. 1946)	January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001	Democratic	1992 1996	Al Gore
43	George W. Bush (b. 1946)	January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009	Republican	2000 2004	Dick Cheney
44	Barack Obama (b. 1961)	January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017	Democratic	2008 2012	Joe Biden
45	Donald Trump (b. 1946)	January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021	Republican	2016	Mike Pence
46	Joe Biden (b. 1942)	January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025	Democratic	2020	Kamala Harris
47	Donald Trump (b. 1946)	January 20, 2025 – Incumbent	Republican	2024	JD Vance

List of presidents of the United States facts for kids

Presidents

See also