US Presidents and Clues

George Washington

George Washington

First U.S. president; commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution; presided over the Constitutional Convention; refused a third term; set the precedent of peaceful transfer of power.

John Adams

Second U.S. president; first vice president; helped draft the Declaration of Independence; involved in the XYZ Affair; signed the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Thomas Jefferson

Third U.S. president; principal author of the Declaration of Independence; completed the Louisiana Purchase; founded the University of Virginia; sent Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

James Madison

Fourth U.S. president; "Father of the Constitution"; co-author of The Federalist Papers; president during the War of 1812; oversaw the burning of Washington, D.C. by British forces.

James Monroe

Fifth U.S. president; known for the Monroe Doctrine, opposing European colonialism in the Americas; president during the "Era of Good Feelings"; oversaw the acquisition of Florida from Spain.

John Quincy Adams

Sixth U.S. president; son of John Adams; helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812; served as a diplomat and congressman after his presidency; key figure in the Amistad case.

Andrew Jackson

Seventh U.S. president; hero of the Battle of New Orleans; founder of the Democratic Party; responsible for the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears; opposed the national bank.

Martin Van Buren

Eighth U.S. president; known for the Panic of 1837 economic crisis; first president born a U.S. citizen; key organizer of the Democratic Party; nicknamed "The Little Magician."

William Henry Harrison

Ninth U.S. president; shortest presidency, died 31 days into office; hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe; first president to die in office; his campaign slogan was "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too."

John Tyler

Tenth U.S. president; first vice president to assume the presidency upon the death of a sitting president; annexed Texas; expelled from the Whig Party; had 15 children.

James K. Polk

Eleventh U.S. president; oversaw the Mexican-American War; expanded U.S. territory with the Oregon Territory and the Mexican Cession; fulfilled all his campaign promises in a single term.

Zachary Taylor

Twelfth U.S. president; hero of the Mexican-American War; nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready"; opposed the Compromise of 1850; died 16 months into his presidency.

Millard Fillmore

Thirteenth U.S. president; supported the Compromise of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Act; last Whig president; opened trade with Japan; later ran as a candidate for the Know Nothing Party.

Franklin Pierce

Fourteenth U.S. president; signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to "Bleeding Kansas"; struggled with alcoholism and personal tragedies; his pro-Southern policies made him unpopular in the North.

James Buchanan

Fifteenth U.S. president; president during the lead-up to the Civil War; his inability to address the slavery crisis worsened tensions; supported the Dred Scott decision; remained unmarried.

Abraham Lincoln

Sixteenth U.S. president; issued the Emancipation Proclamation; led the U.S. during the Civil War; delivered the Gettysburg Address; assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Andrew Johnson

Seventeenth U.S. president; took office after Lincoln’s assassination; first president to be impeached, though acquitted by one vote; opposed Radical Reconstruction policies; struggled with Congress.

Ulysses S. Grant

Eighteenth U.S. president; Union general during the Civil War; administration marred by scandals like the Whiskey Ring and Credit Mobilier; supported Reconstruction and civil rights for freed slaves.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Nineteenth U.S. president; ended Reconstruction through the Compromise of 1877; oversaw the Great Railroad Strike of 1877; known for trying to reform the civil service system.

James A. Garfield

Twentieth U.S. president; assassinated early in his term; advocated for civil service reform; last president born in a log cabin; assassination led to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.

Chester A. Arthur

Twenty-first U.S. president; took office after Garfield’s assassination; signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act; reformed the Navy; known for his stylish appearance and sideburns.

Grover Cleveland

Twenty-second and twenty-fourth U.S. president; only president to serve two non-consecutive terms; known for his vetoes; opposed high tariffs and imperialism; Panic of 1893 occurred during his second term.

Benjamin Harrison

Twenty-third U.S. president; grandson of William Henry Harrison; signed the Sherman Antitrust Act; expanded the U.S. Navy; passed the McKinley Tariff, which raised protective duties.

William McKinley

Twenty-fifth U.S. president; led the U.S. during the Spanish-American War; oversaw the annexation of Hawaii and the Philippines; assassinated in 1901; championed protective tariffs.

Theodore Roosevelt

Twenty-sixth U.S. president; Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War; known for the Square Deal and trust-busting; established national parks; won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War.

William Howard Taft

Twenty-seventh U.S. president; later became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; known for his antitrust policies; supported dollar diplomacy; was famously stuck in the White House bathtub.

Woodrow Wilson

Twenty-eighth U.S. president; led the U.S. during World War I; proposed the League of Nations; passed the Federal Reserve Act; won the Nobel Peace Prize; known for his progressive reforms and segregation policies.

Warren G. Harding

Twenty-ninth U.S. president; presidency overshadowed by the Teapot Dome Scandal; campaigned on a "return to normalcy"; died in office; known for his corruption-ridden administration.

Calvin Coolidge

Thirtieth U.S. president; known for his laissez-faire economic policies; presided over the Roaring Twenties; nicknamed "Silent Cal" for his quiet demeanor; supported business over labor.

Herbert Hoover

Thirty-first U.S. president; president during the onset of the Great Depression; known for his humanitarian work during World War I; implemented the Smoot-Hawley Tariff; criticized for his handling of the economy.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thirty-second U.S. president; only president to serve four terms; led the U.S. through the Great Depression and World War II; created the New Deal; established Social Security.

Harry S. Truman

Thirty-third U.S. president; made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; oversaw the Marshall Plan; recognized the state of Israel; initiated the Korean War.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thirty-fourth U.S. president; World War II hero and commander of D-Day; oversaw the creation of the Interstate Highway System; sent federal troops to enforce school desegregation; warned of the "military-industrial complex."

John F. Kennedy

Thirty-fifth U.S. president; youngest elected president; known for the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs Invasion; initiated the Space Race; assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Thirty-sixth U.S. president; signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; launched the Great Society programs to fight poverty.

Richard Nixon

Thirty-seventh U.S. president; known for the Watergate scandal, which led to his resignation; opened relations with China; ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gerald Ford

Thirty-eighth U.S. president; took office after Nixon’s resignation; pardoned Nixon for any crimes related to Watergate; faced economic challenges like inflation; only president never elected to the office.

Jimmy Carter

Thirty-ninth U.S. president; brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel; faced the Iran hostage crisis; known for his post-presidency humanitarian efforts and winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ronald Reagan

Fortieth U.S. president; former actor and governor of California; known for Reaganomics and supply-side economic policies; survived an assassination attempt; helped end the Cold War through negotiations with the Soviet Union.

George H. W. Bush

Forty-first U.S. president; led the U.S. during the Gulf War; oversaw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War; signed the Americans with Disabilities Act; lost re-election amid economic struggles.

Bill Clinton

Forty-second U.S. president; oversaw economic prosperity and the dot-com boom; impeached for perjury related to the Monica Lewinsky scandal but acquitted; signed NAFTA; known for welfare reform.

George W. Bush

Forty-third U.S. president; led the U.S. during the September 11 attacks; initiated the War on Terror and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; signed the Patriot Act; faced criticism for handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Barack Obama

Forty-fourth U.S. president; first African American president; passed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden; known for his efforts in climate change and economic recovery.

Donald Trump

Forty-fifth U.S. president; impeached twice, first for abuse of power and second for incitement of insurrection; initiated trade wars, especially with China; passed tax cuts; oversaw Operation Warp Speed for COVID-19 vaccine development.

Joe Biden

Forty-sixth U.S. president; served as vice president under Obama; passed major infrastructure and COVID-19 relief bills; withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan; focused on climate change and voting rights reform.