us presidents

George Washington

( - ) 1789 - 1797 ; first president, set precedents ( 2 terms, cabinet ), warnings ( avoid political parties, keep neutral, avoid sectionalism, avoid government debt )

John Adams

( fed ) 1797 - 1801 ; XYZ affair ( avoided war with France ), Alien and Sedition Acts ( made it difficult for immigrants to become citizens, restricted speech against government )

Thomas Jefferson

( dem-rep ) 1801 - 1809 ; peaceful transfer of power, Louisiana Purchase in 1803 ( from France ), Lewis + Clark, the U.S. doubled in size, Embargo Act of 1807 ( aimed to maintain neutrality, hurt U.S. economy but stimulated domestic manufacturing )

James Madison

( dem-rep ) 1809 - 1817 ; War of 1812 with Britain ( “second war for independence” ), fostered nationalism following War of 1812, solidified existence of the U.S.

James Monroe

( dem-rep ) 1817 - 1825 ; Monroe Doctrine, Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 ( gained Florida from Spain ), “Era of Good Feelings”, Missouri Compromise of 1820 ( admitted Missouri as slave and Maine as free, maintaining balance in the Senate ), Convention of 1818 with Britain ( established border at 49th parallel for joint occupation of Oregon territory )

John Quincy Adams

( dem-rep ) 1825 - 1829 ; "Corrupt Bargain” ( won president in HoR with help of Henry Clay, who then became Secretary of State, corrupt? ), championed Henry Clay’s “American System” ( infrastructure - roads, canals, etc. ), supportive of scientific / educational initiatives, “Tariff of Abominations” passed to help northern manufacturing but angered Southerners + decreased popularity

Andrew Jackson

( dem ) 1829 - 1837 ; expansion of presidential power, vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, Indian Removal Act of 1830 ( forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans / Cherokee - Trail of Tears )

Martin Van Buren

( dem ) 1837 - 1841 ; Panic of 1837 ( economy crashed after taking office, refusal to address issue prolonged the crisis ), independent treasury system passed in 1840 ( proposed separating government funds from private banks ), avoided conflict with Britain along the U.S. - Canadian border by managing conflicts, such as the Aroostook War

William Henry Harrison

( whig ) 1841; died after 1 month in office, first Whig president

John Tyler

( whig ) 1841 - 1845 ; first VP to become president after death / established succession precedent, Annexation of Texas in 1845, secured the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty ( resolved dispute over Canadian boundary with Britain

James K. Polk

( dem ) 1845 - 1849 ; Mexican - American War

Zachary Taylor

( whig ) 1849 - 1850 ; died in office

Millard Fillmore

( whig ) 1850 - 1853 ; Compromise of 1850

Franklin Pierce

( dem ) 1853 - 1857 ; Kansas - Nebraska Act

James Buchanan

( dem ) 1857 - 1861 ; failed to address secession crisis

Abraham Lincoln

( rep ) 1861 - 1865 ; Emancipation Proclamation, Civil War

Andrew Johnson

( dem ) 1865 - 1869 ; impeached ( acquitted ), Reconstruction conflicts

Ulysses S. Grant

( rep ) 1869 - 1877 ; Reconstruction, corrupt scandals

Rutherford B. Hayes

( rep ) 1877 - 1881 ; Compromise of 1877

James A. Garfield

( rep ) 1881 ; assassinated, civil service reform push

Chester A. Arthur

( rep ) 1881 - 1885 ; Pendleton Civil Service Act

Grover Cleveland

( dem ) 1885 - 1889, 1893 - 1893 ; only president with nonconsecutive terms ( until Trump )

Benjamin Harrison

( rep ) 1889 -1893 ; Sherman Antitrust Act

William McKinley

( rep ) 1897 - 1901 ; assassinated, Spanish - American War

Theodore Roosevelt

( rep ) 1901 - 1909 ; trust busting, Square Deal

William Howard Taft

( rep ) 1909 - 1913 ; dollar diplomacy

Woodrow Wilson

( dem ) 1913 - 1921 ; World War I, League of Nations

Warren G. Harding

( rep ) 1921 - 1923 ; Teapot Dome scandal

Calvin Coolidge

( rep ) 1923 - 1929 ; pro-business polities

Herbert Hoover

( rep ) 1929 - 1933 ; Great Depression

Franklin D. Roosevelt

( dem ) 1933 - 1945 ; New Deal, World War II

Harry S. Truman

( dem ) 1945 - 1953 ; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Cold War begins

Dwight D. Eisenhower

( rep ) 1953 - 1961 ; interstate highway ststem

John F. Kennedy

( dem ) 1961 - 1963 ; assassinated, Cuban Missile Crisis,

Lyndon B. Johnson

( dem ) 1963 - 1969 ; Civil Rights Act, Vietnam War escalation

Richard M. Nixon

( rep ) 1969 - 1974 ; resigned ( not impeached but would have been ), Watergate scandal

Gerald R. Ford

( rep ) 1974 - 1977 ; pardoned Nixon

Jimmy Carter

( dem ) 1977 - 1981 ; Camp David Accords

Ronald Reagan

( rep ) 1981 - 1989 ; survived assassination attempts, reaganomics, Cold War tensions ease

George H. W. Bush

( rep ) 1989 - 1993 ; Gulf war

Bill Clinton

( dem ) 1993 - 2001 ; impeached ( acquitted ), economic boom

George W. Bush

( rep ) 2001 - 2009 ; 9/11 attacks, War on Terror

Barack Obama

( dem ) 2009 - 2017 ; Affordable Care Act, first black president,

Joe Biden

( dem ) 2021 - 2025 ; COVID-19 recovery

Donald J. Trump

( rep ) 2017 - 2021, 2025 - ; impeached twice ( acquitted both times )