The President of the United States is the Head of State and Head of Government of the United States of America, as well as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Leader of the Executive Branch of the government.
Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president and charges him with the execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances. Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government have substantially grown and each modern president, despite possessing no formal legislative powers beyond signing or vetoing Congressional passed bills, is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his party and the foreign and domestic policy of the United States. The president is frequently described as one of the "Big Three": the group of the most powerful persons in the world, besides the Emperor of the French Empire and the Emperor of Japan. As of the Second Amendment, the President cannot serve more than two terms. This was after President Franklin D. Roosevelt who served a total of 7 terms (a total of 24 years in office). Despite this, there is no specific area in the Constitution saying that the two terms have to be consecutive. As a result, current President Jimmy Carter remains the only President to date to not serve two consecutive terms. (First term was from 1977-1981 and Second term began in 2013 and is expected to end in 2017).
Presidents of the United States[]
There have been several political parties to hold office in the United States and gain the presidency, they include:
- Independent/No Political Party (2)
- Federalist (1)
- Democratic-Republican (13)
- Nationalist (9)
- Republican-Socialist (5)
- Progressive Conservative (5)
- Green (1)
| # | Portrait | Name | Term Length | Party | Vice-President(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
George Washington | 1789-1797 | No Party | John Adams |
| 2 | 
|
John Adams | 1797-1801 | Federalist | Thomas Jefferson |
| 3 | 
|
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1817 | Democratic-Republican | Aaron Burr (1801–1805), George Clinton (1805–1809), vacant (1809-1817) |
| 4 | 
|
Henry Dearborn | 1817-1825 | Nationalist | William H. Crawford |
| 5 | File:William Harris Crawford.jpg | William H. Crawford | 1825 (Assassinated) | Nationalist | Henry Clay |
| 6 | 
|
Henry Clay | 1825-1829 | Nationalist | vacant |
| 7 | 
|
Peter Buell Porter | 1829-1837 | Democratic-Republican | Levi Lincoln, Jr. |
| 8 |   |
Marten Van
Buren |
1837 - 1841 | Democratic-Republican | Richard M. Johnson |
| 9 |   |
Andrew Jackson | 1841 - 1845
(died in office) |
Democratic-Republican | William Henry Harrison (1841)
John C. Calhoun (1841-1845) (became President) |
| 10 |   |
John C. Calhoun | 1845 - 1849 | No Party | John A. Macdonald |
| 11 |   |
John Tyler | 1849 - 1857 | Nationalist | Nathaniel P. Banks |
| 12 |   |
George M.
Dallas |
1857 -1865 | Democratic-Republican | James Buchanan |
| 13 |   |
Hannibal Hamlin | 1865-1873 | Republican-
Socialist |
John C. Frémont |
| 14 |   |
John C. Frémont | 1873 - 1881 | Republican-Socialist | Abraham Lincoln |
| 15 |   |
Grover
Cleveland |
1881-1889 | Democratic- | Thomas A. Hendricks |
| 16 |   |
John Wilkes
Booth |
1889-1897 | Nationalist | Charles Foster |
| 17 |   |
William
McKinley |
1897-1901
(assassinated) |
Nationalist | Garret Hobart (1897-1899)
Vacant (1899-1901) Theodore Roosevelt (1901) |
| 18 |   |
Theodore
Roosevelt |
1901-1909 | Nationalist (1901-1902)
Republican-Socialist (1902-1909) |
Charles W. Fairbanks |
| 19 |   |
Samuel J.
Randall |
1909 - 1913 | Nationalist | William H. Taft |
| 20 |   |
Woodrow
Wilson |
1913-1921 | Democratic- | Thomas Marshall |
| 21 |   |
James M. Cox | 1921 - 1922
(died in office) |
Democratic-Republican | Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| 22 |   |
Franklin
Delano Roosevelt |
1922-1946
(died in office) |
Democratic-Republican | Herbert Hoover (1922-1933)
John N. Garner (1933-1941) Henry A. Wallace (1941-1946) (became President) |
| 23 |   |
Henry A. Wallace | 1946 - 1949 | Republican-Socialist | Harry S. Truman |
| 24 |   |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1949 -1957 | Progressive
Conservative |
Richard M. Nixon |
| 25 |   |
Barry
Goldwater |
1957-1961 | Nationalist | William Miller |
| 26 |   |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1969 | Democratic-Republican | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| 27 |   |
Richard M. Nixon | 1969-1973
(resigned) |
Progressive-Conservative | Spiro T. Agnew |
| 28 |   |
Spiro T. Agnew | 1973-1977 | Progressive-Conservative | Richard Cheney |
| 29 |   |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | Democratic-Republican | Walter Mondale |
| 30 |   |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1984 | Progressive
Conservative |
George H W Bush |
| 31 |   |
Bernard
Sanders |
1985-1993 | Republican-Socialist | Shirley Chisholm |
| 32 |   |
George H W Bush | 1993-2001 | Progressive Conservative | Stephen Harper |
| 33 |   |
Ralph Nader | 2001-2005 | Green | Winona LaDuke |
| 34 |   |
Imelda
Marcos |
2008-2013 | Democratic-Republican | Bill Clinton |
| 35 |   |
Jimmy Carter | 2013-Present (Present Day: February 1st, 2013) | Democratic-Republican | Joseph Biden |
