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. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. Since the office was established in 1789, 49 people have served in 51 presidencies. The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump served two non-consecutive terms and are therefore counted as the 22nd and 24th and the 45th and 47th president of the United States respectively, giving rise to the discrepancy between the number of presidencies and the number of individuals who have served as 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, and set the precedent that a vice president who does so becomes the fully functioning president with their own 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 never affiliated with a political party.
The incumbent president is Pete Buttigieg, who assumed office on January 20, 2049. The president-elect is Vivek Ramaswamy, who will assume office on January 20, 2053.
No | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term | Party | Election | Vice President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington (1732–1799) |
April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 |
Unaffiliated | 1788–1789
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 throughoutpresidency | ||
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 throughoutpresidency | ||
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 | 1860
1864 |
Hannibal Hamlin
Andrew Johnson | ||
National Union | |||||||
17 | Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) |
April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869 |
National Union | – | Vacant throughoutpresidency | ||
Democratic | |||||||
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 throughoutpresidency | ||
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 throughMarch 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 throughMarch 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 throughJanuary 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 throughJanuary 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. 1946-2039) |
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
Democratic | 1992
1996 |
Al Gore | ||
43 | George W. Bush (1946-2042) |
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 (1946-2043) |
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 |
Republican | 2016 | Mike Pence | ||
46 | Joe Biden (1942-2035) |
January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025 |
Democratic | 2020 | Kamala Harris | ||
47 | Donald Trump (1946-2043) |
January 20, 2025 – January 20, 2029 |
Republican | 2024 | JD Vance | ||
48 | JD Vance (b. 1984) |
January 20, 2029 – January 20, 2037 |
Republican | 2028
2032 |
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Tulsi Gabbard | ||
49 | Tulsi Gabbard (b. 1981) |
January 20, 2037 – January 20, 2045 |
Republican | 2036
2040 |
Ron DeSantis | ||
50 | Ron DeSantis (b. 1978) |
January 20, 2045 – January 20, 2049 |
Republican | 2044 | Vivek Ramaswamy | ||
51 | Pete Buttigieg (b. 1982) |
January 20, 2049 – Incumbent |
Democratic | 2048 | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
President-elect[]
No | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term | Party | Election | Vice President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
52 | Vivek Ramaswamy (b. 1985) |
To be sworn in on January 20, 2053 |
Republican | 2052 | Ron DeSantis |