Presidents of the United States

John Adams (1735-1826) was the second President of the USA, serving from 1797 to 1801. His Vice-President was Thomas Jefferson. John Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1735. His father was a farmer. Adams graduated from Harvard University in 1755, and went on to become a lawyer in Boston.

Adams was a delegate to both the First and Second Continental Congresses, and helped draft the Declaration of Independence. After the Revolution, in 1783, Adams went to France to sign the Treaty of Paris, and became the first US ambassador to Great Britain, from 1785 to 1788 (this was a very difficult position, since the British were not pleased with the outcome of the war).

Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson had died earlier that same day.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was a founding father of the US, the author of the draft of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States of America (serving from 1801 to 1809). This great man was a long-term legislator, lawyer, diplomat, architect, inventor, agriculturist, writer, and revolutionary thinker. Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to map the newly-acquired western US territory (they returned in 1806 with maps, newly-discovered animals, and information about Indian tribes).

James Madison (1751-1836) was the fourth President of the United States of America. He was President from 1809 until 1817. Madison belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party.

Madison helped write the Virginia Constitution (1776), was a leader in the Virginia legislature (from 1776, where he worked diligently for religious freedom), and was elected to the Continental Congress (1779-1783). Madison and Thomas Jefferson became close friends, probably meeting in 1776 at the Virginia House of Delegates.

In 1787, Madison was the youngest member of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (this was the meeting at which the US Constitution was written). Madison was an advocate for a stronger central government (years later, he later changed his position, calling for states’ rights). Madison participated in editing the final draft of the US Constitution. He was the only person who kept extensive notes on this secret convention, and they are now the main record of this historic event.

Madison was elected President of the USA in 1808 and in 1812; he served from 1809 until 1817. George Clinton and Elbridge Gerry were his Vice-Presidents.

Late in life, he worked in the Virginia Constitutional Convention, helped Jefferson found the University of Virginia, and worked against slavery. Madison died on June 28, 1836 - he was 85 years old.

James Monroe (1758- July 4, 1831). The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to Spence and Elizabeth Jones Monroe. Madison fought in the Continental Army and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe, an anti-Federalist, participated in the Virginia Convention that approved the Constitution of the United States. In 1817, his first term as president began. In 1819, the USA purchased Florida from Spain for $5,000,000. Monroe was re-elected in 1820, serving until 1825. In 1823, he established the Monroe Doctrine, limiting European power and influence in the Americas. Monroe died on July 4, 1831, in New York City, New York.

John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767-February 23, 1848) was the sixth President of the USA, serving from 1825 to 1829. His Vice-President was John Calhoun. As President, Adams’ political party was “National Republican.” John Quincy Adams’ father, John Adams, was the second president of the United States.

John Quincy Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 11, 1767. Adams graduated from Harvard University in 1787, went on to become a lawyer in Boston, and was elected senator from Massachusetts in 1803. President James Madison appointed Adams Minister to the Netherlands and later, Russia. Adams helped negotiate the treaty that ended the War of 1812 (which was fought with Britain). Adams then became Madison’s Secretary of State. He later negotiated the treaty with Canada that placed the border west of the Great Lakes at the 49th parallel. He then negotiated with Spain, obtaining a treaty that returned Florida to the USA. Adams also helped draft the Monroe Doctrine, which ended European colonization of the Americas.

After winning the presidency in 1824 (beating Andrew Jackson), Adams’ term included prosperity and road and canal building (including the Erie Canal, which connected New York City and the Great Lakes). Adams lost the next presidential election (Jackson won). Adams then served in the House of Representatives until his death (1831 until 1848).

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the seventh president of the United States. Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in Waxhaw Settlement, South Carolina. After becoming a lawyer, Jackson served in Congress and was a judge. He founded the modern day Democratic Party, campaigning under the slogan “Let the people rule”. He was a major general in the War of 1812, became a national hero, and in 1828 was elected president (he served from 1829 until 1837). Jackson died on June 8, 1845, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was the eighth president of the United States. Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York. He studied law in New York City, was a lawyer, and then became senator from New York. He served as president of the USA from 1837 until 1841. During this time America entered a depression, many banks were forced to close, and legions of people lost their savings. Van Buren ran again for president in 1840, but lost to William Harrison; he ran again in 1848 as a third party candidate, but lost again. Van Buren died on July 24, 1862, in Kinderhook, New York.

William H. Harrison (1773-1841) was the ninth president of the United States. Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, in Charles City County, Virginia. He was president for only 30 days in 1841. When he was delivering his inauguration, he caught a cold which turned into pneumonia and killed him in a month. Harrison had the shortest term of any U.S. president, and was the first president to die while in office. Harrison died in the White House on April 4, 1841.

John Tyler (1790-1862) was the tenth president of the United States, Tyler was born on March 29, 1790, in Charles City County, Virginia. He was the first vice president to become the president after the current president (William Harrison’s) died in office. Tyler served for one term, 1841 until 1845. His most important achievement was signing a joint resolution that annexed Texas as a US state; this happened three days before he left office.

James K. Polk (1795-1849) was the eleventh president of the United States. Polk was born on November 2, 1795, near Pineville, North Carolina. Serving as US President from 1845 until 1849, Polk was the first president who decided not to seek a second term in office. In 1845, Polk convinced Congress to declare war on Mexico to continue the expansion of the US westward (the Mexican War lasted from 1846-1848). During his term, much of the Southwest and California became part of the United States. Polk died on June 15, 1849, in Nashville, Tennessee, only three months after leaving office.

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) was the 12th president of the United States. Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, near Barboursville, Virginia. Taylor was a military hero in the War of 1812, the Indian Wars, and in the Mexican War. He served as US president from 1849 until 1850 (only 16 months). He died suddenly in office on July 6, 1850, in Washington, D.C.

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was the 13th president of the United States. Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800 in Locke, New York. Fillmore was Vice President under Zachary Taylor, but became president after Taylor died in office. Although Fillmore was against slavery, he approved of the Compromise of 1850, which allowed more new slave states to be entered into the Union and harshly penalized people who helped runaway slaves; because of this, Fillmore lost much of his support from the North. One of Fillmore’s achievements was opening up trade with Japan (Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan). Fillmore was president from 1850 until 1853, and died on March 8, 1874, in Buffalo, New York.

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) was the 14th president of the United States. Pierce was born on November 23, 1804, in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. During his term (1853-1857), his greatest accomplishment was the Gadsden Purchase (1853); this added parts of northern of Mexico to the United States (now parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico). President Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which repealed the Missouri Compromise, creating two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and let the new settlers decide whether they would have slavery in the new territories. Pierce died on October 8, 1869, in Concord, New Hampshire.

James Buchanan (April 23, 1791-June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the USA (he was President from 1857-1861 and was a member of the Democratic party). Educated as a lawyer, Buchanan had worked as a Pennsylvania state legislator, Representative, minister to Russia, US Senator, Secretary of State (to President James K. Polk), and minister to Great Britain. After he was elected President, Buchanan fought to preserve the Union (the North and the South were heading towards war over the issue of slavery). Although he was against slavery, Buchanan let Kansas (a slave state) join the Union - this angered the anti-slavery North. Buchanan’s support of the outcome of the Dred Scott court case (in which it was ruled that Scott, a black man could not obtain his freedom because he was not a US citizen) also decreased support in the North. Lincoln became President in 1861 after Buchanan left office.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America (February 12, 1809-April 15, 1865) and one of the greatest presidents. He was President during most of the Civil War; Lincoln helped abolish slavery in the United States. Lincoln was assassinated shortly before the end of the Civil War.

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was the 17th president of the United States. Johnson was born on December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president, and became president after Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Johnson was the only US president who never went to school; he was self-taught. During the Civil War, Andrew Johnson was the only Southern senator who remained loyal to the Union. During his presidency, Johnson authorized the purchase of Alaska from Russia. He was impeached in 1868, but not convicted. Johnson died on July 31, 1875, at Carter Station, Tennessee.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was the 18th president of the United States. Grant was born on April 22, 1822 in Port Pleasant, Ohio. He was a popular commander of the Union Army in the Civil War. The transcontinental railroad (the east-west railroad across the USA) was completed during Grant’s term. Grant’s two terms (1869-1877) were littered with scandals that involved some of the underqualified people that Grant had put in high offices; Grant declined to run for a third term. Grant died on July 23, 1885, in Mount McGregor, New York.

Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893) was the 19th president of the United States. Hayes was born on October 4, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio. Hayes ended the reconstruction of the south after the Civil War. During his term as president (1877-1881) the country became more prosperous, but Hayes did not run for a second term. He died on January 17, 1893, in Fremont, Ohio.

James Garfield (1831-1881) was the 20th president of the United States. Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in Orange, Ohio. In 1881, four months after becoming president, Garfield was shot and fatally wounded by a person who had wanted, but was not given, a government job by Garfield. Garfield died on September 19, 1881, in Elberon, New Jersey.

Chester Arthur (Oct. 5, 1829-Nov. 18, 1886) was the 21st President of the USA (serving from 1881-1885). Before he was President, Arthur had been the Vice-President of the USA, serving under President James A. Garfield. After Garfield was assassinated, Arthur became President. During his term as President, he tried to reform the civil service system. Early in his career, Arthur worked as a lawyer and as the customs collector for the Port of New York City (but Arthur was ousted from that office for doing political favors for his party supporters).

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was both the 22nd and the 24th President of the United States. Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey. In 1886, during Cleveland’s first term as president, France gave the United States the Statue of Liberty. In 1888, Cleveland lost his bid for re-election to Benjamin Harrison but Cleveland won the presidency back in 1892. Cleveland served as President from 1885 to 1889, and from 1893 to 1897. He died on June 24, 1908, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was the 23rd president of the United States. Harrison was born on August 20, 1833, in North Bend, Ohio. When he ran for the presidency against current president Grover Cleveland, Cleveland got more popular votes, but Harrison won the election since he received more electoral votes. Harrison’s increased tariffs (taxes) on foreign goods and increased government spending caused him to lose the 1892 presidential election to Grover Cleveland. Harrison died on March 13, 1901, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

William McKinley (1843-1901) was the 25th president of the United States. McKinley was born on January 28, 1843, in Niles, Ohio. McKinley was elected for two terms as president, but only served from 1897 to 1901. During his presidency, the U.S. started and quickly won the Spanish-American War in 1898; the US fought Spain in Cuba, resulting in the independence of Cuba from Spain. Also as a result of this war, the US took possession of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Later, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed. For the first time in history the United States became a world power. In 1900 McKinley easily won his second presidential election, but on September 6, 1901, he was shot by an anarchist (a person who hates all governments). McKinley died eight days later, on Sept. 14, 1901, in Buffalo, New York.

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th president of the United States. Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, New York. Roosevelt increased the size of the U.S. Navy and started construction of the Panama Canal (a canal across Panama to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean). Roosevelt served from 1901 until 1909. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, in Oyster Bay, New York.

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) was the 27th president of the United States. Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft served as US president from 1909 to 1913. Taft ran for a second term, but was defeated by Woodrow Wilson. The flowering cherry trees in Washington, D.C. were given to the US from Japan during Taft’s presidency. Eight years after leaving office, Taft was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court; he retired one month before he died. Taft died on March 8, 1930, in Washington, D.C.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the 28th president of the United States. Wilson was born on December 29, 1856, in Staunton, Virginia. Wilson was a college professor, college president, and governor of New Jersey before becoming president. During Wilson’s two presidential terms (1913-1921) he tried to keep America out of World War I (Wilson was re-elected using the slogan “He kept us out of war”), but he eventually declared war on Germany. Wilson founded the League of Nations (it was an organization that was devoted to maintaining world peace, but was proven to be a failure when World War II began in the 1930s). Wilson suffered a stroke in late 1919, and was an invalid for the rest of his term. Wilson died on February 3, 1924, in Washington, D.C.

Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923) was the 29th president of the United States. Harding was born on November 2, 1865, near Corsica, Ohio. During his presidency (he served from 1921 until 1923), Harding appointed some dishonest and unqualified people for his cabinet. This brought many scandals, including the Teapot Dome scandal (involving oil field leases), which tarnished Harding’s reputation and overshadowed almost everything else he did in his term. Prohibition (the 18th Constitutional Amendment that made the use of alcohol illegal - it was later repealed) began during Harding’s presidential term. Harding died in office on August 2, 1923, in San Francisco, California.

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) was the 30th president of the United States. Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. A popular president, Coolidge first served as Vice President under Warren Harding but took over the presidency in 1923 after Harding died in office. In 1924, Coolidge was elected to a second term. Known as ‘Silent Cal,’ Coolidge said very little. Coolidge reduced government spending and cut taxes during his administration (which lasted from 1923 until 1929). Coolidge died on January 5, 1933 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964) was the 31st president of the United States. Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa. Hoover served as president from 1929 until 1933, during the first years of the Great Depression (this was a time of economic collapse which started in October, 1929, after the New York Stock Exchange prices fell dramatically and many banks closed). By 1933, 13 million Americans were out of work and had lost their savings. Although Hoover tried to help the economy, much of America thought that he wasn’t doing enough. In 1932 he lost his re-election bid to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hoover died on October 20, 1964, in New York City, New York.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) (1882-1945) was the 32nd president of the United States. FDR was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt was elected to the US presidency for an unprecedented four terms, more than any other president. He tried to lift America out of the Great Depression by establishing many government programs, including farm relief, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and work-relief program. Roosevelt also improved the U.S.’s relations with Latin America with the “Good Neighbor Policy.” In World War II the United States tried to remain neutral, but after Pearl Harbor (when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii) America entered the war, helping defend the Allies (Great Britain, France, USSR, Australia, etc.) against Germany and Japan. Weakened by polio, which he contracted in 1921, Roosevelt died before the war ended, on April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia (during his fourth term as president).

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was the 33rd president of the United States. Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri. After FDR died in office (in 1945), Truman became president. He served from 1945 to 1953. In 1945 Truman authorized dropping two atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II. Truman won the next election for office, although it had been widely predicted that he would lose. In 1950 he sent troops to South Korea (to help protect against invading communist North Korean troops), entering the Korean War. Truman died on December 26, 1972, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dwight David Eisenhower (“Ike”) (1890-1969) was the 34th president of the United States. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas. Eisenhower had been the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II. During his presidency, Eisenhower increased social welfare programs. Eisenhower worked to bring peace to the world; in 1953, he helped end the Korean War. He helped create the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in order to stop the spread of communism. In 1954, after the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was illegal, Eisenhower sent US troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to help integrate the public schools. He also initiated the construction of the US Interstate Highways (designed for the transport of military troops) in 1956. Eisenhower was president from 1953 until 1961. He died on March 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was the 35th president of the United States. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was from a powerful family. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic to become president, and was also the youngest person elected president. When he was 43 years old, Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon for the Presidency. Kennedy was a hero during World War II, serving on a PT boat in the Pacific Ocean. Kennedy served as President from 1961 to 1963. During that time he advanced the U.S. space program and set the goal of putting Americans on the moon by the end of the decade (Americans eventually set foot on the the moon in 1969, meeting Kennedy’s goal, but he did not live to see it). Kennedy also supported civil rights for African-Americans, and helped established the Peace Corps. On November 22, 1963, while visiting Dallas, Texas, Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) was the 36th president of the United States. LBJ was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas. After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Vice-President Johnson became President. In 1964, Johnson was easily elected President. Johnson created a “war on poverty” and escalated the unpopular Vietnam War. Johnson did not run for a second term. Johnson served as President from 1963 until 1969. Johnson died on January 22, 1973, near Johnson City, Texas.

Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) was the 37th president of the United States. Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California. He served almost two terms as president (1969-1974). Nixon was the first president to visit China (In 1972); this began a process of developing crucial diplomatic ties with the Chinese communist regime. He also strengthened ties with the Soviet communist regime (early in his pre-presidential career, Nixon had gained popularity by accusing many Americans of being communists). In 1972 Nixon was re-elected by a landslide (beating George McGovern). First escalating the unpopular Vietnam War, Nixon later ended the US involvement in it. In 1974, the Watergate scandal was exposed (Nixon had ordered illegal election campaign activities to help his re-election). In 1974, Congress began the process the impeachment process, but instead, on August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first president to resign from office. Vice-President Gerald Ford then became president.

Gerald R. Ford (1913- 2006) was the 38th president of the United States. Ford was born on July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Michigan. Ford is the only president who wasn’t elected to the office of President or Vice-President (he served as President from 1974 to 1977). When Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned (after being involved in a scandal), Ford took his place. When Richard Nixon resigned the presidency (after the Watergate scandal), Ford became president. A month later, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he might have committed while in office; many Americans were upset over this decision, but Ford wanted to help the country recover from the trauma of Nixon’s Watergate scandal. Ford lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter.

James (Jimmy) Earl Carter, Jr. (1924- ) was the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Carter’s achievements included creating a new Department of Energy, and negotiating the 1979 Camp David Agreement. Sixty-three Americans were taken hostage in Iran during Carter’s term; this crisis together with stagflation (rising prices with stagnant wages), his boycotting the Olympics, and the gas crisis made Carter’s popularity decline. Carter ran for president again in 1980, but Ronald Reagan was elected.

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America (from 1981 to 1989); his Vice-President was George H. W. Bush. During Reagan’s two terms as US President, the American hostages in Iran were freed, communism in the Soviet Union fell (this was symbolized by the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall separating communist East Berlin and democratic West Berlin), and US taxes were lowered.

George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924 - November 30, 2018) was the 41st President of the United States of America. Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, but spent much of his early life in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was President from 1989 until 1993; he lost his re-election bid to William (Bill) Clinton. Bush’s Vice-President was James Danforth (Dan) Quayle.

William (Bill) Jefferson Clinton (1946- ) was the 42nd President of the United States. William Jefferson Blythe IV was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. Bill was born three months after his natural father died in a car accident; his mother wed Roger Clinton when Bill was four years old. Clinton served during a time of peace and prosperity. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve as president for two full terms (Clinton served from 1993 to 2001). In 1998 a scandal resulted in Clinton being the second president to be impeached by the House of Representatives; the Senate found him not guilty, and Clinton finished his second term. Clinton’s Vice-President was Albert (Al) Gore, Jr.

George Walker Bush (July 6, 1946 - ) was the 43rd President of the United States of America. He became President on January 20, 2001. His Vice-President was Richard Cheney. George W. Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but grew up in Texas. Before becoming President, Bush served as Governor of Texas. His father, George Herbert Walker Bush, was the 41st president.

Barack Obama (born August 4, 1961) was the 44th President of the United States of America. He was first elected President on November 4, 2008 (as a Democrat), and was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. He was re-elected for a second term in 2012. His Vice-President both times was Joseph Biden. Barack Obama ws the first African-American president of the USA. Obama was born in Hawaii. His father, also called Barack Obama, was from Kogelo, Kenya, Africa; his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was from Kansas, USA.

Obama graduated from Columbia University (1983), then worked as a community organizer in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard Law School (1991) and was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Michelle Robinson and Obama married in 1992; they have 2 daughters. He was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, 1998, and 2002 (he lost in 2000). Obama was elected to the US Senate in 2004 (Dem-IL). Barack has written two books, Dreams from My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006). Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, 2009.

Donald Trump (born in New York on June 14, 1946) became the 45th President of the United States in 2017. His Vice President is Michael Pence. Previously known as a business tycoon and reality TV star, Trump’s celebrity translated to politics when he successfully ran for the Presidency in the 2016 election as a Republican. This was his first elected office. Trump earned an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and he then entered the family business of real estate development.