About The Principia:
Museum
Former US Presidents
1. President: George Washington

Years in office: 1789-1797
Political Party: Federalist
Vice President: John Adams

  • President Adams signed a peace treaty with France on September 30, 1800.
  • First U.S. minister to Britain.
  • First to be elected vice president and then president.
  • First took office in Philadelphia.
  • First to live in the Executive Mansion in Washington, D.C.

2. President:John Adams


Years in office: 1797-1801
Political Party: Federalist
Vice President: Thomas Jefferson

  • President Adams signed a peace treaty with France on September 30, 1800.
  • First U.S. minister to Britain.
  • First to be elected vice president and then president.
  • First took office in Philadelphia.
  • First to live in the Executive Mansion in Washington, D.C.

3. President: Thomas Jefferson


Years in office: 1801-1809
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: Aaron Burr(1801-05)
                         George Clinton (1805-09)

  • Authorized the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.
  • First president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.
  • First to be elected vice president and then president.
  • Approximately 6,000 books from Jefferson's private library were purchased     for $23,950 to help start the Library of Congress.
  • Died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

4. President: James Madison


Years in office: 1809-1817
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: George Clinton (1809-1812)
                         Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814)
                                

  • Wrote portions of The Federalist papers with Alexander Hamilton.
  • First president to issue a proclamation of war against a foreign     nation (1812 war against Great Britain).
  • Known as The Father of the Constitution.
  • The first president to have served in Congress.
  • The first president to wear long trousers — his predecessors wore knee
    breeches.
5. President: James Monroe


Years in office: 1817-1825
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins
                                

  • The first president to have been a U.S. Senator.
  • Authorized the Monroe doctrine—U.S. policy on the rights of European powers in the western hemisphere.
  • Purchased Florida Territory from Spain.
  • The U.S. Marine Band first played at Monroe's 1821 inauguration, and hasdone so at every inauguration since.
6. President: John Quincy Adams


Years in office: 1825-1829
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: John C. Calhoun(1829-1832)
                                

  • President Adams supported new commercial treaties with many European countries.
  • Sought (but failed) to protect Native Americans’ land in Georgia.
  • First president to be interviewed by a female journalist. After many refusals,   Anne Royall went to the Potomac where she had heard President Adams regularly swam in the nude. She sat on his clothes until she got her interview.
7. President: Andrew Jackson


Years in office: 1829-1837
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: John C. Calhoun
                                

  • Signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
  • Signed the compromise tariff bill of 1833, ending an economic crisis in South     Carolina.
  • Recognized the government of the Republic of Texas.
  • During his presidency, the U.S. briefly became debt free for the only time.
  • The only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
8. President: Martin Van Buren


Years in office: 1837-1841
Political Party: Democratic Republican
Vice President: Richard Mentor Johnson
                               

  • Van Buren was the first president born in the United States.
  • He had many nicknames such as Little Van, the Flying Dutchman, and, American Talleyrand.
  • An economic depression lasted throughout Van Buren’s term.
  • He sent U.S. troops to Maine in 1839 to avoid war over the Maine-Canada border.
  • The term O.K. was popularized during Van Buren’s campaign. His hometown of “Old” Kinderhook, New York, was often called OK. O.K. Clubs were formed in support his candidacy. Not long after that, O.K. was taken to mean all right
  • He signed the Independent Treasury Act of 1840, the first step toward the modern Treasury Department.
9. President: William Henry Harrison


Years in office: One montDemocratic Republicanh, March 4 – April 4, 1841
Political Party: Whig
Vice President: John Tyler

                                    
  • Campaign slogan: Tippecanoe and Tyler too!
  • The first whig president.
  • Deliverd the longest inaugral address ever.
  • Died in the white house after a month in office -Harrison's father signed the Declaration of Iindependence.
  • Helped to establish the first "American West" in the Northwest Territory.
  • The only president whose grandson became president -Benjamin Harrison.
10. President: John Tyler


Year's in office: John Tyler
Political Party: Whig
Vice President: None

  • The first Vice President to assume office upon the death of a president.
  • Resolved the dispute over the Maine – Canada border.
  • His First Lady, Julia Tyler, began the tradition of having Hail to the Chief
    played whenever the president appears at state functions.
  • Signed the Treaty of Wanghai, opening American trade to Asia.
  • Admitted Texas and Florida to the Union.
11. President: James K. Polk


Year's in office: James K. Polk
Political Party: Democratic
Vice President: George M. Dallas

  • The first “dark horse” (an unknown candidate unexpectedly nominated) to be elected president.
  • 54-40 or fight! was one of his main campaign slogans.
  • Signed the Oregon Treaty, establishing the Canadian/American border along    the 49th parallel.
  • Acquired Mexico and California for the USA as result of war with Mexico in
    1845.
  • For the first time, the telegraph was used to disseminate news of a
    presidential nomination (Polk’s).
12. President: Zachary Taylor


Year's in office: 1849-1850
Political Party: Whig
Vice President: Millarg Fillmore

  • Popularly known as Old Rough and Ready.
  • California admitted to the Union as a free state in his presidency.
  • Created the Compromise of 1850 which prevented Southern secession from the Union.
  • The first president who had never before held a public office.
  • November 7, 1848 was the first time a presidential election was held on the same day in every state.
13. President: Millard Fillmore


Year's in office: 1850-1853
Political Party: Whig
Vice President: None

  • Ran for president in 1856 for the Know-Nothing Party, whose members
    wanted only American born Protestant on the ballot.
  • Ordered rigorous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
  • Reduced postage rates from 5¢ to 3¢ in 1852.
  • Authorized Commodore Perry’s mission to Japan, 1852-1854.
  • Refused an honorary degree from Oxford University because he felt he had   “neither literary nor scientific attainment.”
14. President: Franklin Pierce


Year's in office: 1853-1857
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: William Rufus King

  • Authorized the Gadsden Purchase, acquiring southern Arizona and New
    Mexico from Mexico.
  • Signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, dividing the Kansas Territory in two,
    anticipating that one would be admitted to the Union as a slavery state and   the other as free (in accordance with the Missouri Compromise of 1820).
  • Supported the Treaty of Kanagawa, opening Japanese trade with the United   States.
  • One of the Democratic Party’s slogans was: “We Polked you in 1844; we
    shall Pierce you in 1852.”
15: President: James Buchanan


Year's in office: 1857-1861
Political Party: Democratic
Vice President: John C. Breckenridge

  • “Old Buck” (as he was called) was the first and only bachelor president; his niece Harriet Lane served as First Lady.
  • Endorsed the Dred Scott decision in 1857.
  • In 1860, South Carolina was the first southern state to secede and six
    others soon followed.
  • When the Union fell apart, so did Buchanan’s administration.
  • In 1861, he admitted Kansas to the Union as a free state.
16. President: Abraham Lincoln


Year's in office: 1861-1865
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin(1861-65)
                        Andrew Johnson(1865)

  • Declared a state of war against the Confederacy in 1861.
  • Delivered his Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) Address, on November 19, 1863.
  • Issued Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
  • The only president to hold a U.S. patent (for a device that lifts ships over
    sandbars using air chambers).
  • Murdered by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on
    April 14, 1865.
17. President: Andrew Johnson


Year's in office: 1865-1869
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: None

  • Began Reconstruction of the former Confederate States in 1865.
  • Granted amnesty to former Confederate soldiers in the same year.
  • Vetoed both the Freedmen’s Bureau and a Civil Rights Act, but Congress
    overrode his vetoes.
  • Approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.
  • The first president to be impeached — he was later acquitted.
18. President: Ulysses S. Grant


Year's in office: 1869-1877
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Schuyler Colfax (1869-73)
                         Henry Wilson (1873-75)

  • St. Louis was home in the 1850’s.
  • A Civil War hero, General Grant was the logical candidate for President in1868.
  • His two terms were marked by scandal and corruption.
  • Supported laws guaranteeing the rights of African-Americans.
  • Signed the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871.
  • Signed the Civil Rights Act in 1875.
  • Created the first U.S. National Park in Yellowstone, Wyoming.
19. President: Rutherford B. Hayes


Year's in office: 1877-1881
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: William A. Wheeler

  • His election to the presidency was the result of corruption and cheating in
    Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina.
  • Ended Reconstruction.
  • First president to visit the Pacific Coast during his presidency.
  • First White House telephone was installed by Alexander Graham Bell during   the Hayes administration.
20. President: James A. Garfield


Year's in office: March 4, 1881- September 19, 1881
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Chester A. Arthur

  • Restored balance between the powers of the Presidency and Congress.
  • Established that the President is the “Executive of the US.”
  • Shot on July 2, 1881 by Charles Julius Guiteau, a man who was refused a
    government job.
  • Held office from March 4, - September 19, 1881.
21. President: Chester A. Arthur


Year's in office: 1881-1885
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: None

  • Signed Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883 (federal employees would be
    selected by ability, not by political influence).
  • Known for being the best-dressed president — 80 suits hung in his closet.
  • Worked on behalf of Native Americans to establish land ownership,
    citizenship, and education.
22. President: Grover Cleveland


Year's in office: 1885-1889
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks

  • Only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms (see 24).
  • Only president to marry his wife in the White House.
  • Supported the Dawes Act – which allotted lands to Indians and protected
    them by law -- on condition that they anglicize their names.
23. President: Benjamin Harrison


Year's in office: 1889-1893
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Levi P. Morton

  • Signed the Sherman Antitrust Act to regulate monopolies.
  • Grandson of President William Henry Harrison.
  • First president to use electricity in the White House.
  • Expanded the Navy.
  • Signed the Dependent Pension Act that provided for disabled veterans.
24. President: Grover Cleveland


Year's in office: 1893-1897
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Adlai E. Stevenson

  • The only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (see 22).
  • The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after his daughter, Ruth.
  • Withdrew a treaty to annex Hawaii.
  • Stopped Americans from helping Cubans during the Cuban Revolution.
  • Repealed the 1893 Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
25. President: William McKinley


Year's in office: 1897-1901
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Garret A. Hobart (1897-99)
                         Theodore Roosevelt (1901)

  • Strong supporter of tariffs.
  • Supported the Currency Act of 1900 to strengthen the gold standard.
  • The U.S. gained control over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines during his presidency, while Cuba gained its independence.
  • He began Open-Door policy with China, respecting its indepen-dence and
    equality of trade.
26. President: Theodore Roosevelt


Year's in office: 1901-1909
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Charles Warren Fairbanks (1905-09)

  • 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act embodied his progressive principles.
  • Served as mediator during the Russo-Japanese War and earned a Nobel
    Peace Prize.
  • Motto: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
  • Pioneer in conservation: enlarged national forests, doubled the number of
    national parks and established 51 wildlife refuges.
  • Improved the economy of the Philippines, preparing them for self-
    government.
  • First President to ride in an airplane, flying for four minutes on October 11, 1910, in a plane built by the Wright Brothers.
27. President: William Howard Taft


Year's in office: 1909-1913
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: James S. Sherman (1909-12

  • Responsible for the creation of the Postal Savings System.
  • Strengthened control of the Interstate Commerce Commission over the
    nation's railroads.
  • Continued Roosevelt's antitrust activities, breaking up large indus-trial
    monopolies.
  • Weighed over 300 pounds
  • 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1921-30)
28. President: Woodrow Wilson


Year's in office: 1913-1921
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall

  • Declared war on Germany in 1917, involving the U.S. in WWI.
  • Established Federal Trade Commission to prohibit unfair business practices.
  • Known for his success in dealing with Congress.
  • Responsible for the creation of the League of Nations.
29. President: Warren G. Harding


Year's in office: 1921-1923
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Calvin Coolidge

  • First president to speak over the radio.
  • Brought a “return of normalcy” to America after WWI.
  • The Roaring ’20s started.
  • Changed workday from 12 hours to 8 hours.
  • Died in office.
30. President: Calvin Coolidge


Year's in office: 1923-1929
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Charles G. Dawes (1925-29)

  • Silent Cal. Slogan was, Keep cool with Coolidge!
  • Promoted laissez-faire approach to government, saying, “The business of
    America is business.”
  • Signed the Kellogg-Brand Pact in 1928 – an international law against war.
  • Refused to give subsidies to farmers.
31. President: Herbert Hoover


Year's in office: 1929-1933
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Charles Curtis

  • The stock market crashed and the Great Depression began only months
    after he was elected president.
  • Enacted farm relief legislation.
  • Approved The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem.
  • Coined the phrase Good Neighbor Policy that refrained from armed intervention in Latin America.
32. President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt


Year's in office: 1933-1945
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: John N. Garner (1933-41)
                        Henry A. Wallace (1941-45)  
                        Harry S. Truman (1945)

  • Only president elected to four terms.
  • America entered World War II during his presidency.
  • As a boy, Roosevelt visited President Grover Cleveland, who told him never to become president.
  • Established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured bank deposits.
  • Sponsored the New Deal to fight the Great Depression.
33. President: Harry S. Truman


Year's in office: 1945-1953
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Alben W. Barkley (194953)

  • Sent troops to South Korea after North Korea attacked it.
  • Known for "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."
  • Truman Doctrine developed to restrain Communist expansion.
  • Aided war-devastated countries with the Marshall Plan (named in honor of Secretary of State George C. Marshall.
  • Established the Fair Deal to create greater employment oppor-tunities and increase civil rights for minority groups.
34. President: Dwight David Eisenhower


Year's in office: 19531961
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Richard M. Nixon

  • The only president to serve in both World Wars.
  • Ended the Korean War.
  • Terminated the four-power occupation of Austria and restored Austrian
    sovereignty in 1955.
  • Momentarily balanced the budget.
35. President: John F. Kennedy


Year's in office: 1961-1963
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Lyndon Baines Johnson

  • In his inaugural speech he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you —ask what you can do for your country.”
  • Founded the Peace Corps.
  • Assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
  • Received a Pulitzer Prize for his book, Profiles in Courage.
  • Youngest man ever elected president.
  • First Roman Catholic president.
  • Signed treaty to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere with the Soviet Union and Britain – 1963.
36. President: Lyndon B. Johnson


Year's in office: 1963-1969
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey (1965-69)

  • Established the Great Society program for domestic reforms.
  • Did not run for re-election because of the war in Vietnam.
  • First President to name an African-American to his cabinet.
  • Created the Department of Transportation
37. President: Richard M. Nixon


Year's in office: 1969-1974
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (196973)
                         Gerald R. Ford (1973-74)

  • First U.S. president to visit China while in office.
  • Ended U.S. direct involvement in the Vietnam War.
  • Improved relations with China and the Soviet Union.
  • Helped to end a war between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
  • Resigned his office because of the Watergate scandal.
38. President: Gerald R. Ford


Year's in office: 1974-1977
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller

  • The only President, not elected either President or Vice-President.
  • Succeeded and pardoned Richard Nixon.
  • Vetoed many bills passed by Congress because he believed that the federal government and its bureaucracy had become too big and too complex.
39. President: James E. Carter


Year's in office:
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Walter F. Mondale

  • One of three presidents to have attended a military academy.
  • Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, for his lifetime dedication to peace, democracy, human rights, and social development.
  • Created the Department of Energy.
  • Boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
  • Signed new treaties giving Panamanians control of the Canal by 2000.
40. President: Ronald Reagan


Year's in office: 1981-1989
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: George H. W. Bush

  • Oldest person (at age 69) ever to become President.
  • Negotiated and signed the INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987.
  • Tax Reform Act of 1986.
  • Known as The Great Communicator.
41. President: George H. W. Bush


Year's in office:1989-1993
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Dan Quayle

  • The only President to have been the Director of the CIA.
  • One of the first officials to represent the United States in the People’s Republic of China.
  • The first Republican to represent Houston, Texas in Congress.
  • Served as Vice President during President Reagan’s two terms.
42 President: William (Bill) J. Clinton


Year's in office: 1993-2001
Political Party: Democrat
Vice President: Al Gore

  • Established NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agree-ment) with Canada
    and Mexico.
  • Worked with NATO to stop attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
  • Balanced the budget.
  • The only President ever to be elected twice without receiving 50% of the popular vote.
  • Impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
43 President: George W. Bush


Year's in office: 2001—
Political Party: Republican
Vice President: Richard B. Cheney

  • After 9/11/2001, established the Cabinet-level Department of Homeland
    Security.
  • Made significant tax cuts said to benefit the wealthy primarily.
  • The only President besides John Quincy Adams to follow in his father’s footsteps into the presidency.