President of the United States of America | |
---|---|
Seal of the President of the United States | |
Flag of the President of the United States | |
Abbreviation | POTUS |
Residence | The White House |
Seat | District of Columbia |
Appointer | Electoral College or via succession from vice presidency |
Term length | Four years, renewable thrice |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of the United States |
Formation | April 30, 1789 |
First holder | George Washington |
The President of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The power of the presidency has grown substantially since the first president, George Washington, took office in 1789. While presidential power has ebbed and flowed over time, the presidency has played an increasingly strong role in American political life since the beginning of the 20th century, with a notable expansion during the presidency of George Van Horn Moseley. In contemporary times, the president is also looked upon as one of the world's most powerful political figures as the leader of only two remaining global superpowers. As the leader of the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP, the president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power.
Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government and vests the executive power in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the president to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by Congress, the modern presidency has primary responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy. The role includes responsibility for directing the world's most expensive military, which has the second largest nuclear arsenal.
The president is elected indirectly through the Electoral College to a four-year term, along with the vice president. Under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, ratified in 1982, no person who has been elected to two presidential terms may be elected to a third. In addition, nine vice presidents have become president by virtue of a president's intra-term death or resignation.
No. | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Vice President | Election | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
George Washington (1732–1799) |
April 30, 1789 | March 4, 1797 | No party | John Adams | 1788-1789 |
1792 | |||||||
2 | ![]() |
John Adams (1735–1826) |
March 4, 1797 | March 4, 1801 | Federalist | Thomas Jefferson | 1796 |
3 | File:Thomas jefferson.jpg | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) |
March 4, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | Democratic-Republican | Arron Burr
(1801-1804) |
1800 |
George Clinton
(1805-1809) |
1804 | ||||||
4 | ![]() |
James Madison (1751–1836) |
March 4, 1809 | March 4, 1817 | Democratic-Republican | George Clinton
(1809-1812) |
1808 |
Elbridge Gerry
(1812-1814) |
1812 | ||||||
5 | ![]() |
James Monroe (1758–1831) |
March 4, 1817 | March 4, 1825 | Democratic-Republican | Daniel D. Tompkins | 1816 |
1816 | |||||||
6 | ![]() |
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) |
March 4, 1825 | March 4, 1829 | National Republican | John C. Calhoun | 1824 |
7 | Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) |
March 4, 1829 | March 4, 1837 | Democratic | John C. Calhoun
(1829-1832) |
1828 | |
Martin van Buren
(1829-1833) |
1832 | ||||||
8 | ![]() |
Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) |
March 4, 1837 | March 4, 1841 | Democratic | Richard M. Johnson | 1836 |
9 | ![]() |
William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) |
March 4, 1841 | April 4, 1841 | Whig | John Tyler | 1840 |
10 | John Tyler (1790–1862) |
March 4, 1841 | March 4, 1845 | Non-partisan | None | None | |
11 | ![]() |
Henry Clay (1777–1852) |
March 4, 1845 | March 4, 1849 | Whig | Theodore Frelinghuysen | 1844 |
12 | ![]() |
Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) |
March 4, 1849 | July 9, 1850 | Whig | Millard Fillmore | 1848 |
13 | ![]() |
Millard Fillmore (1800–1874) |
July 9, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | Whig | None (1853-1857) | None |
14 | ![]() |
Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) |
March 4, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | Democratic | William R. King (1853) | 1852 |
None (1853-1857) | |||||||
15 | ![]() |
James Buchanan (1791–1868) |
March 4, 1857 | March 4, 1861 | Democratic | John C. Breckinridge | 1856 |
16 | ![]() |
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1890) |
March 4, 1861 | March 4, 1869 | Repubican | Hannibal Hamlin
(1861-1865) |
1860 |
Andrew Johnson
(1865-1869) |
1864 | ||||||
17 | ![]() |
George H. Pendleton (1825–1889) |
March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1877 | Democratic | Stephen J. Field
(1869-1873) |
1868 |
Winfield Scott Hancock
(1873-1877) |
1872 | ||||||
18 | ![]() |
Samuel J. Tilden (1814–1886) |
March 4, 1877 | March 4, 1881 | Democratic-Alliance | Thomas A. Hendricks | 1876 |
19 | ![]() |
Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881) |
March 4, 1881 | September 13, 1881 | National Union | James A. Garfield | 1880 |
20 | ![]() |
James A. Garfield (1831–1915) |
September 13, 1881 | March 4, 1889 | National Union | None (1881-1885) | 1884 |
John A. Logan | |||||||
21 | ![]() |
Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) |
March 4, 1889 | March 4, 1893 | National Union | William Walter Phelps | 1880 |
22 | ![]() |
Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) |
March 4, 1893 | March 4, 1897 | Democratic-Alliance | Adlai Stevenson I | 1892 |
23 | ![]() |
Willaim Jennis Bryan (1860–1901) |
March 4, 1897 | December 23, 1901 | Democratic-Alliance | Arthur Sewall
(1897-1900) |
1896 |
George B. McClellan Jr.
(1901-1901) |
1900 | ||||||
24 | ![]() |
George B. McClellan Jr. (1865–1940) |
August 3, 1901 | March 4, 1905 | Democratic-Alliance | None | None |
25 | ![]() |
Robert Todd Lincoln (1843–1911) |
March 4, 1905 | May 29, 1911 | National Union | William McKinley
(1905-1909) |
1904 |
Theodore Roosevelt
(1909-1911) |
1908 | ||||||
26 | ![]() |
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1921) |
May 29, 1911 | March 4, 1917 | National Union 1911-1912 Progressive 1912-1917 |
None (1911-1913) | 1912 |
Hiram Johnson1913-1917 | |||||||
27 | ![]() |
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1922) |
March 4, 1917 | March 4, 1921 | Democratic-Alliance | James M. Cox | 1916 |
28 | ![]() |
Philander C. Knox (1853–1921) |
March 4, 1921 | October 12, 1921 | National Union | William Borah
|
1920 |
29 | ![]() |
William Borah (1865–1940) |
October 12, 1921 | March 4, 1929 | National Union 1921-1922 Progressive 1923-1929 |
None (1921-1925) | 1924 |
Calvin Coolidge 1925-1929 | |||||||
30 | ![]() |
Carter Glass (1858–1946) |
March 4, 1929 | August 9, 1933 | Democratic-Alliance | Al Smith | 1928 |
31 | ![]() |
William M. Calder (1869–1945) |
March 4, 1933 | January 20, 1945 | National Union | Joseph I. France
(1933-1937) |
1932 |
Alf Landon
(1937-1941) |
1936 | ||||||
Wendell Willkie
(1941-1944) |
1940 | ||||||
32 | ![]() |
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1951) |
January 20, 1945 | January 20, 1949 | Democratic-Alliance | Alben W. Barkley | 1944 |
33 | ![]() |
George V.H. Moseley (1874–1960) |
January 20, 1949 | November 7, 1960 | People's Militant | William J. Bulow
(1949-1953) |
1948 |
Douglas MacArthur
(1953-1957) |
1952 | ||||||
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
(1957-1960) |
1956 |
No. | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Vice President | Election | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | - | Vacant Under control of the Senate and House of Representatives |
November 7, 1960 | January 20, 1961 | - | - | - |
No. | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Vice President | Election | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
34 | ![]() |
John F. Kennedy (1917-1998) |
January 20, 1961 | January 20, 1969 | Democratic-Alliance | Adlai Stevenson II
(1961-1965) |
1960 |
Hubert Humphrey
(1965-1969) |
1964 | ||||||
35 | ![]() |
Ronald Reagan (1911–2009) |
January 20, 1969 | January 20, 1977 | National Union | Margaret Chase Smith | 1968 |
1972 | |||||||
36 | ![]() |
Henry M. Jackson (1912-1983) |
January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic-Alliance | Adlai Stevenson III | 1976 |
37 | ![]() |
Richard Nixon (b. 1913) |
January 20, 1981 | January 20, 1989 | National Union | George H. W. Bush | 1980 |
1984 | |||||||
38 | ![]() |
Joe Biden (b. 1942) |
January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1997 | Democratic-Alliance | Mario Cuomo | 1988 |
1992 | |||||||
39 | ![]() |
George W. Bush (b. 1946) |
January 20, 1997 | January 20, 2005 | National Union | Alan Keyes | 1996 |
2000 | |||||||
40 | ![]() |
Amy Klobuchar (b. 1960) |
January 20, 2005 | January 20, 2013 | Democratic-Alliance | Arnold Schwarzenegger | 2004 |
2008 | |||||||
41 | ![]() |
Donald Trump (b. 1946) |
January 20, 2013 | January 20, 2021 | Reform | Virgil Goode | 2012 |
2016 | |||||||
42 | ![]() |
Barack Obama (b. 1961) |
January 20, 2021 | (Currently In Office) | Democratic-Alliance | Bernie Sanders | 2020 |
Living Former President(s)[]
Currently, there are 5 living former Presidents. The most recent death of a former President was John F. Kennedy, aged 93, and the most recent death of an Incumbent President was that of Van Horn Moseley on November 7, 1960, aged 86. Pictured in order of service:
See also[]
Historical rankings of presidents of the United States
List of vice presidents of the United States
List of Prime Ministers of Canada and Quebec
List of presidents of the Confederate States
Emperor of Mexico
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