Saturday, August 17, 2024

Presidents Of The United States

Presidents Of The United States

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
-Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Here are the American presidents in chronological order with some important and/or interesting facts about them. Of course, there is much more to know about each person. Use any of the links below the list to find out more.

Technically, there were presidents before George Washington- 14 to be exact. They were ‘Presidents of Congress’ until the United States (and its executive branch) was officially formed. The first “president” was Maryland native John Hanson, who, among other things, established Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November. John Hancock held the position in 1776, which enabled him to famously sign the Declaration Of Independence first.

But first, some general information about the presidency and Electoral College, which is still confusing but perhaps this description can help a bit.

Hail To The Chief!

Facts about the presidency
*To run for president, a person must have been born in the United States, to establish a tie to the country. Secondly, the person has to have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years, though it’s not specified whether those years are consecutive or cumulative. Lastly, the candidate must be at least 35 years old, a qualification which was installed to ensure a level of experience and maturity but has come under recent scrutiny because life expectancy was shorter when the Constitution was written.
*Speaking of the Constitution, the only presidents to sign it were Washington and Madison.
*A person who ascended to presidency after the president died in office (assassinated or otherwise) has never had a vice president during the remainder of that term.
*14 presidents were former vice presidents.
*Eight presidents did not attend college.
*The colonies switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian in 1752, making some of the presidents’ birthdates technically inaccurate.
*As of August, 2024, there have been 46 presidential terms though only 45 have served, since Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms.
*The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872, decades before women would be Constitutionally allowed to vote. She co-founded and ran for the Equal Rights Party, spent Election Night in jail, and was not on any national ballots. Read more of her story here.
*No president has been an only child. (FDR and Obama had half-siblings.)
*19 presidents have been Republican, 16 Democrat, four Whig, four Federalist, and one was unaffiliated with a political party.

What is the Electoral College and how does it work?
*Ballots from each state go to Electors, who cast official votes for president. They are not politicians but are chosen by political parties through a random yet complicated process that will not even be attempted to be explained here.
*The number of Electors in a state is equal to the state’s members of the House Of Representatives and the Senate combined.
*There are currently a total of 538 Electors, with 270 votes needed to obtain the presidency.
*If no candidate reaches 270 Electoral votes, the House decides the president while the Senate chooses the vice president.
*Electors meet the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast separate votes for president and vice president, which have rarely gone outside party lines.
*An Elector who abstains or votes against the state’s popular choice is known as ‘faithless’. This happened in 2004 but is otherwise uncommon in recent history, with most of the 157 ‘faithless’ votes cast in the 1800s.
*The Electoral system was originally installed by Alexander Hamilton to safeguard against an unqualified person becoming president.
*Because of the Electoral College, the person with the most national popular votes does not necessarily win an election. These runners-up won the popular vote but lost their elections: Andrew Jackson lost to John Quincy Adams in 1824; Samuel Tilden lost to Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876; Grover Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888; Al Gore lost to George W. Bush in 2000; and Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016.

And now, the presidents…

1. George Washington (1789-1797)
“Be courteous to all but intimate with a few, and let those few be well-tried before you give them your confidence.”
February 22, 1732 (Popes Creek, VA) – December 14, 1799 (Mount Vernon, VA)
Vice President: John Adams
First Lady: Martha Dandridge
nickname: ‘The Father Of His Country’ because he was considered the best person to lead the newly-established United States
*only had a grade-school education
*ran unopposed without representing a political party
*only president to go into battle while serving
*birthday will never fall on Washington’s Birthday (a.k.a. Presidents’ Day) because the third Monday in February cannot be the 22nd
*stories about him having wooden teeth and chopping down a cherry tree were invented by biographers
*still holds the highest military rank ever available- General of the Armies of the United States
*owned a whiskey distillery
*one of four presidents on South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore
*featured on the quarter and $1 bill

2. John Adams (Federalist; 1797-1801)
“No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.”
October 30, 1735 (Quincy, MA) – July 4, 1826 (Quincy, MA)
Vice President: Thomas Jefferson
First Lady: Abigail Smith
nickname: ‘Old Sink Or Swim’ for a speech in which he promised to sink or swim with his country
*main author of the Massachusetts Constitution, which framed the U.S. Constitution and is still in use today
*first president to live in the White House, then-called the President’s House
*defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre out of respect for the law
*held no slaves but was against abolition for the sake of the country’s economy
*died exactly 50 years after the Constitution was adopted, the same day as his political enemy Thomas Jefferson, who was his vice president because, at the time, the election’s runner-up got that job

3. Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican; 1801-1809)
“Nothing on Earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
April 13, 1743 (Shadwell, VA) – July 4, 1826 (Monticello, VA)
Vice Presidents: Aaron Burr, George Clinton
First Lady: Martha Jefferson (daughter)
nickname: ‘The Sage Of Monticello’ because he was a wise person and Monticello (Italian for ‘little mountain’) was the name he gave to his estate, though the motive for that is unknown
*main author of the Declaration Of Independence
*wife Martha died before his presidency
*responsible for the Louisiana Purchase
*hated public speaking and only gave the two inaugural addresses during his terms
*Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel
*sold around 6,700 books to the Library Of Congress after the British burned it down during the War Of 1812
*died exactly 50 years after the Constitution was adopted, the same day as his political enemy John Adams
*one of four presidents on South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore
*featured on the nickel and $2 bill

4. James Madison (Democratic-Republican; 1809-1817)
“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”
March 16, 1751 (Port Conway, VA) – June 28, 1836 (Montpelier, VA)
Vice Presidents: George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry (“Gerrymandering”)
First Lady: Dolley Payne
nickname: ‘Father Of The Constitution’ for drafting the bulk of that document
*wrote the first draft for the Bill Of Rights and most of the Constitution
*served during the War Of 1812
*both vice presidents died in office (from natural causes)
*smallest president at 5’4” and a maximum of 100 pounds
*he and Dolley loved ice cream and she was the namesake for the Dolly Madison ice cream company
*featured on the $5,000 bill

5. James Monroe (Democratic-Republican; 1817-1825)
“It is better to spread trust all around than to hand out money.”
April 28, 1758 (Monroe Hall, VA) – July 4, 1831 (New York, NY)
Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins
First Lady: Elizabeth Kortright
nickname: ‘The Last Cocked Hat’ because he was the last president to wear a traditional tricorn hat, considered ‘old fashioned’ in the 1800s
*oversaw the Era Of Good Feelings, a period of national pride following the War Of 1812
*the Missouri Compromise of 1820 allowed Missouri into the U.S. as a slave state and Maine as a free one
*ran for 2nd term unopposed
*the capital of the African country Liberia was named Monrovia in his honor because he was a big supporter of its American colonization
*he is holding the flag behind George Washington in the famous painting Washington Crossing The Delaware by Emanuel Leutze
*died exactly five years after Adams and Jefferson

6. John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican; 1825-1829)
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.”
July 11, 1767 (Quincy, MA) – February 23, 1848 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice President: John C. Calhoun
First Lady: Louisa Johnson
nickname: ‘The Abolitionist’ for using his political and law platforms to actively campaign against slavery
*son of John Adams
*primarily responsible for the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European countries against attacking the United States
*can be thanked (or blamed) for acquiring Florida
*first president to be photographed
*fond of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River
*kept a pet alligator in the White House for several months
*only former president elected to the House Of Representatives

7. Andrew Jackson (Democrat; 1829-1837)
“Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.”
March 15, 1767 (Waxhaws region of the Carolinas) – June 8, 1845 (Nashville, TN)
Vice Presidents: John C. Calhoun, Martin van Buren
First Ladies: Emily Donelson (niece); Sarah Yorke (daughter-in-law)
nickname: ‘Old Hickory’ because soldiers under his command described him being as tough as old hickory, a type of durable wood
*born on land shared by North and South Carolina so his official birth state is unknown
*only president to have killed at least one man during a duel, which he was reportedly in over 100 of
*wife Emily died before election from a heart attack allegedly brought on by stress from the campaign
*critics called him a jackass, which he embraced and made the symbol of the Democratic Party
*first president to face an assassination attempt
*led campaigns against Native Americans but adopted a child from the Creek tribe
*featured on the $20 bill (until 2028, when Susan B. Anthony will be the face of it)

8. Martin van Buren (Democrat; 1837-1841)
“Railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of fifteen miles per hour … The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such break-neck speed.”
December 5, 1782 (Kinderhook, NY) – July 24, 1862 (Kinderhook, NY)
Vice President: Richard M. Johnson
First Lady: Sarah Singleton (daughter-in-law)
nickname: ‘Old Kinderhook’ for his hometown, which gave us the expression ‘OK’
*first president officially born in the United States, as opposed to the colonies
*first language was Dutch
*wife Hannah (his first cousin, once removed) died from tuberculosis before his presidency
*autobiography did not mention presidency nor Hannah

9. William Henry Harrison (Whig; 1841)
“The liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention to its preservation.”
February 9, 1773 (Berkeley Plantation, VA) – April 4, 1841 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice President: John Tyler
First Ladies: Anna Symmes, Jane Irwin (daughter-in-law)
nickname: ‘Old Tippecanoe’ for leading Americans to victory over the Shawnee tribe at the Battle of Tippecanoe
*longest inauguration speech (90 minutes), which was given outside during a snowstorm
*Anna could not act as First Lady due to illness so Jane took over
*led battles against Native Americans and the British
*first president to die in office- 33 days into term, likely from pneumonia caused by his inauguration speech, which resulted in the shortest-ever presidency

10. John Tyler (Whig, unaffiliated; 1841-1845)
“Here lies the body of my good horse, The General. For years, he bore me around the circuit of my practice and all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same.”
March 29, 1790 (Charles City, VA) – January 18, 1862 (Richmond, VA)
Vice President: [none]
First Ladies: Letitia Christian, Elizabeth Cooper (daughter-in-law), Julia Gardiner (remarried)
nickname: ‘His Accidency’ because he obtained the presidency only because Harrison died
*born in same county as William Henry Harrison
*helped establish the order of presidential succession (President, VP, Speaker Of The House, etc.)
*was accused of overusing his veto power and was therefore the first president to face impeachment
*Letitia was the first First Lady to die during a presidency (stroke)
*disowned by the Whig Party because of conflicting political ideas
*had 15 kids, the most by any president
*often named the least-popular president

11. James Knox Polk (Democrat; 1845-1849)
“Thank God, under our Constitution there was no connection between church and state.”
November 2, 1795 (Pineville, NC) – June 15, 1849 (Nashville, TN)
Vice President: George M. Dallas
First Lady: Sarah Childress
nickname: ‘Young Hickory’ for being a protégé of Andrew Jackson, a.k.a. Old Hickory
*nominated as a ‘dark horse’ since his party could not decide between two other candidates
*president during the Mexican-American War
*expanded the United States to the Pacific Ocean
*his administration introduced the postage stamp
*Sarah banned liquor and dancing from the White House
*on the TV show Married… with Children, Al Bundy went to Polk High School and scored four touchdowns in one game

12. Zachary Taylor (Whig; 1849-1850)
“A strong reputation is like a good bonfire. When you have one kindled, it’s easy to keep the flame burning, even if someone comes along and tries to piss on it. But if you fall asleep and neglect it, you’ll wake up with ashes.”
November 24, 1784 (Barboursville, VA) – July 9, 1850 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice President: Millard Fillmore
First Lady: Margaret Smith
nickname: ‘Old Rough And Ready’ for fighting alongside the men he commanded in the military
*did not go to college and had no political experience
*officially nominated without his knowledge
*slave owner who was politically neither for nor against slavery
*hesitant father-in-law of Jefferson Davis, eventual president of the Confederacy
*James Madison’s second cousin
*had a beloved war horse called Old Whitey and a circus pony called Apollo
*died 16 months into term from flu or cholera

13. Millard Fillmore (Whig; 1850-1853)
“It is not strange to mistake change for progress and the invasion of the rights of others for national prowess and glory.”
January 7, 1800 (Moravia, NY) – March 8, 1874 (Buffalo, NY)
Vice President: [none]
First Lady: Abigail Powers
nickname: ‘Wool Carder’, after spending time in his youth preparing wool for production
*first president born in the 1800s
*oversaw the beginning of official trade with Japan
*last president to represent the Whig party
*considered an “uninspiring” president by many, including the White House’s website

14. Franklin Pierce (Democrat; 1853-1857)
"While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent cannot be expected to hold the same opinions, they can unite in a common objective and sustain common principles."
November 23, 1804 (Hillsborough, NH) – October 8, 1869 (Concord, NH)
Vice Presidents: William R. King, [none]
First Lady: Jane Appleton
nickname: ‘Handsome Frank’ for being, well, handsome
*supported slavery and legislation that promoted it
*completed the Gadsden Purchase, obtaining land that is now Arizona and New Mexico
*King died from tuberculosis 45 days into term
*struggled with alcoholism and died from liver failure
*many historians consider him forgettable and even a traitor because of his stance on slavery

15. James Buchanan (Democrat; 1857-1861)
“All the friends that I loved and wanted to reward are dead, and all the enemies that I hated and marked out for punishment are turned to my friends.”
April 23, 1791 (Cove Gap, PA) – June 1, 1868 (Lancaster, PA)
Vice President: John C. Breckinridge
First Lady: Harriet Lane (niece)
nickname: ‘Old Buck’ was a shortened form of his surname
*only president who never married
*supported the Supreme Court’s ruling that slavery was Constitutional and the South’s right to secede from the Union
*supported Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War
*bought slaves just to free them in the North, for political reasons instead of morality
*(many contradictions with this fellow)

16. Abraham Lincoln (Republican; 1861-1865)
“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
February 12, 1809 (Hodgenville, KY) – April 15, 1865 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson
First Lady: Mary Todd
nickname: ‘Honest Abe’ for working hard to attain a truthful reputation
*first Republican president
*president during the Civil War
*author and speaker of the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves free (also, a ‘score’ is equal to 20 years; 4 score + 7 = 87)
*created the Secret Service to tackle currency counterfeiting
*tallest president at 6’4”
*used the now-called Lincoln Bedroom as an office and never slept in it
*was an accomplished wrestler and is in the Wrestling Hall Of Fame in Stillwater, OK
*reportedly hated being called Abe
*assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC on Good Friday in the second month of his second term by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth
*assassination was planned after a failed kidnapping attempt and included a plot to kill Lincoln’s successors as well
*Booth’s brother Edwin once saved Lincoln’s son Robert from an oncoming train
*first president to be murdered while in office
*one of four presidents on South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore
*featured on the penny and $5 bill

17. Andrew Johnson (Democrat; 1865-1869)
“If blacks were given the right to vote, that would place every splay-footed, bandy-shanked, hump-backed, thick-lipped, flat-nosed, woolly-headed, ebon-colored in the country upon an equality with the poor white man.”
December 29, 1808 (Raleigh, NC) – July 31, 1875 (Elizabethton, TN)
Vice President: [none]
First Lady: Eliza McCardle
nickname: ‘The Tennessee Tailor’ for working as a tailor before entering politics
*ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, a political party supported by Republicans and War Democrats, who had backed the Civil War
*impeached (but not removed from office) for firing his congressionally-approved Secretary Of War
*bought Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million in gold
*made his own suits
*despite the quote above, African American males were given the (limited) vote during his administration
*though not Johnson’s responsibility, his term saw the birth of the Ku Klux Klan

18. Hiram Ulysses Grant (Republican; 1869-1877)
“The most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticized.”
April 27, 1822 (Point Pleasant, OH) – July 23, 1885 (Wilton, NY)
Vice Presidents: Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson
First Lady: Julia Dent
nickname: ‘Unconditional Surrender Grant’ because he demanded that in the South’s concession of the Civil War
*better known as Ulysses S. Grant, the S. was mistakenly added at West Point Military Academy and could not be legally removed
*declined Lincoln’s invitation to see the show at Ford’s Theatre the night of the assassination
*ran for a third term since a limit wasn’t ratified until 1951 by the 22nd Amendment
*made laws against the Ku Klux Klan and effectively drove them underground for decades
*wrote Robert E. Lee’s terms of Civil War surrender and made them generous in hopes of reuniting the country
*declared Christmas a national holiday to unify the North and South
*smoked cigars and died of throat cancer
*buried in North America’s largest tomb
*featured on the $50 bill

19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes (Republican; 1877-1881)
“Every expert was once a beginner.”
October 4, 1822 (Delaware, OH) – January 17, 1893 (Fremont, OH)
Vice President: William A. Wheeler
First Lady: Lucy Webb
nickname: ‘Rutherfraud’ because his presidential victory was highly disputed
*wounded while fighting in the Civil War
*won the presidency by one Electoral vote
*signed a law allowing women to argue before the Supreme Court
*Lucy received America’s first Siamese cat as a gift
*first president to use the telephone and typewriter , and to visit the west coast
*began the tradition of having Easter celebrations on the White House lawn

20. James Abram Garfield (Republican; 1881)
“I love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error.”
November 19, 1831 (Moreland Hills, OH) – September 19, 1881 (Elberon, NJ)
Vice President: Chester A. Arthur
First Lady: Lucretia Rudolph
nickname: ‘Preacher President’ because he was an ordained minister
*fought in the Civil War until Lincoln asked him to focus on politics
*nominated because the Republican party could not decide between other candidates
*was ambidextrous (used both hands) and a linguist, fluent in English, German, Latin, and Greek
*shot four months into his term by Charles Guiteau, a former supporter who felt Garfield owed him a government position
*survived another 2.5 months but succumbed to blood poisoning due to sub-par medical treatment

21. Chester Alan Arthur (Republican; 1881-1885)
“There doesn’t seem anything else for an ex-president to do but to go into the country and raise big pumpkins.”
October 5, 1829 (Fairfield, VT) – November 18, 1886 (New York, NY)
Vice President: [none]
First Lady: Mary McElroy (sister)
nickname: ‘Gentleman Boss’ for his stylish attire and demeanor
*part of a law firm that helped integrate streetcars in New York City
*faced untrue allegations he was born outside of the U.S.
*wife Nell died from pneumonia before his presidency

22. Stephen Grover Cleveland (Democrat; 1885-1889)
“The ship of Democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those aboard.”
March 18, 1837 (Caldwell, NJ) – June 24, 1908 (Princeton, NJ)
Vice Presidents: Thomas A. Hendricks, [none]
First Ladies: Rose Cleveland (sister), Frances Folsom
nickname: ‘His Obstinacy’ for stubbornly vetoing 414 bills while in office, the most ever until FDR’s administration
*hanged two men as Sheriff of Erie County, New York
*only president married in the White House
*Hendricks died unexpectedly in his sleep ten months into the term
*distant relative of Moses Cleaveland (spelled that way), the namesake of Cleveland, Ohio
*the creator of the Baby Ruth candy bar wanted to avoid paying royalties to Babe Ruth so he claimed it was named for Cleveland’s daughter
*featured on the $1,000 bill

23. Benjamin Harrison (Republican; 1889-1893)
“We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.”
August 23, 1833 (North Bend, OH) – March 13, 1901 (Indianapolis, IN)
Vice President: Levi P. Morton
First Ladies: Caroline Scott, Mary Harrison (daughter)
nickname: ‘The Human Iceberg’ for having a cold attitude when speaking privately
*grandson of William Henry Harrison
*commanded several brigades in battle during the Civil War
*first president to use electricity in the White House and to have his voice recorded
*signed the Land Revision Act, which paved the way for national parks to be established
*Caroline died from tuberculosis during presidency
*re-married to Caroline’s niece, Mary Dimmick
*last president to have a beard

24. Stephen Grover Cleveland (Democrat; 1893-1897)
Vice President (2nd term): Adlai Stevenson
First Lady: Frances Folsom
*only separate-term president (he lost the previous election)

25. William McKinley (Republican; 1897-1901)
“War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”
January 29, 1843 (Niles, OH) – September 14, 1901 (Buffalo, NY)
Vice Presidents: Garret Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt
First Lady: Ida Saxton
nickname: ‘The Idol Of Ohio’ for making Ohio proud with his political success
*president during the Spanish-American War
*temporary namesake of North America’s highest mountain, which was renamed Denali to reflect local native Alaskans
*annexed Hawaii for U.S. territory, despite opposition
*assassinated six months into second term by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, who thought McKinley was corrupt
*featured on the $500 bill

26. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican; 1901-1909)
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
October 27, 1858 (New York, NY) – January 6, 1919 (Oyster Bay, NY)
Vice President: Charles W. Fairbanks
First Lady: Edith Carow
nickname: ‘Bull Moose’ because Roosevelt described himself as such after losing a third Republican nomination and switching to the Progressive Party
*youngest president at 42 years of age
*first president to win a Nobel Peace Prize (for bridging peace between Japan and Russia)
*oversaw building (but not conclusion) of the Panama Canal and was the first sitting president to leave the U.S. when he visited the area
*organized and led the Rough Riders during battles of the Spanish-American War in Cuba
*avid outdoorsman who climbed the Matterhorn in Switzerland
*founded Yellowstone, the world’s first national park
*mother Martha and first wife Alice both died on Valentine’s Day in 1884
*Teddy bears were named for him because he once refused to shoot an injured bear that was tied to a tree for him; he gave permission despite hating the nickname Teddy
*one of four presidents on South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore

27. William Howard Taft (Republican; 1909-1913)
“Don’t write so that you can be understood. Write so that you can’t be misunderstood.”
September 15, 1857 (Cincinnati, OH) – March 8, 1930 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice Presidents: James S. Sherman, [none]
First Lady: Helen Herron
nickname: ‘Big Bill’ for his large size
*governor of American-occupied Philippines
*heaviest president; possibly topping 350 pounds but losing 70 after his term
*had a large bathtub installed at the White House but there is no evidence he ever got stuck in it
*rejected two Supreme Court nominations but eventually became Chief Justice and the only person to hold both that title and President
*Sherman died from Bright’s disease (a kidney condition)
*began the tradition of the president pitching a ball before Major League Baseball’s opening game
*last president with facial hair (moustache)
*like Roosevelt, had a stuffed animal named for him- the Billy Possum

28. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (Democrat; 1913-1921)
“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”
December 28, 1856 (Staunton, VA) – February 3, 1924 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice President: Thomas R. Marshall
First Ladies: Ellen Axson, Margaret Wilson (daughter), Edith Bolling (re-married)
nickname: ‘The Schoolmaster’ due to his glasses and tendency to lecture people
*president of Princeton University (his alma mater) in New Jersey (where he was governor)
*won the presidency partly because Roosevelt created his own branch of the Republican party
*won the Nobel Peace Prize for organizing the League Of Nations, predecessor of the United Nations
*spoke in support of segregation, stunted African American societal progress, and is partly responsible for the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
*held the first presidential press conference, in 1913
*Prohibition began under his presidency, in 1920
*president during World War 1 (remember that by focusing on all the Ws)
*Ellen died from Bright’s disease during presidency
*gave the first live national radio broadcast in 1923
*only president buried in Washington, D.C.

29. Warren Gamaliel Harding (Republican; 1921-1923)
“I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.”
November 2, 1865 (Blooming Grove, OH) – August 2, 1923 (San Francisco, CA)
Vice President: Calvin Coolidge
First Lady: Florence Kling
nickname: ‘Wobbly Warren’ for being undecided and/or changing his stance on many issues
*won presidency by the largest margin since the 1820s, 26.2%, possibly because it was women’s first election
*signed the Budget & Accounting Act, which allowed for closer watch over government spending
*like many politicians, supported Prohibition but was a known drinker
*first president to own a radio
*only child was from an affair
*put friends in powerful positions (nepotism), leading to many scandals, including an infamous one where his Secretary Of The Interior illegally sold oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming
*died from a heart attack less than two years into his term, though a theory claims his wife poisoned him

30. John Calvin Coolidge (Republican; 1923-1929)
“Silence can never be misquoted.”
July 4, 1872 (Plymouth, VT) – January 5, 1933 (Northampton, MA)
Vice President: Charles G. Dawes
First Lady: Grace Goodhue
nickname: ‘Silent Cal’ for his calm and often quiet mannerisms
*sworn in by his father, a notary, while on vacation
*known for a reserved demeanor, his campaign slogan was ‘Keep Cool With Coolidge’
*opposed Prohibition at first then supported it for political reasons
*reduced taxes constantly so only 2% of the population paid income tax by the end of his presidency
*signed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924, granting citizenship to Native Americans
*installed a mechanical horse in the White House and used it for exercise after it was deemed riding actual horses was too dangerous for a president
*entertained himself by calling White House workers into his office then hiding
*led the U.S. during most of the Roaring Twenties but blamed himself for not doing enough to avoid the Great Depression, which started a few months after his presidency

31. Herbert Clark Hoover (Republican; 1929-1933)
“No one can catch a fish with anger.”
August 10, 1874 (West Branch, IA) – October 20, 1964 (New York, NY)
Vice President: Charles Curtis
First Lady: Lou Henry
nickname: ‘The Great Engineer’ because he worked as a civil engineer and helped save many people with his work, notably along the Mississippi River when it overflowed in 1927
*the presidency was his first election victory (appointed to previous government positions)
*saw the U.S. through the Great Depression, the stock market crash that had negative impacts on economies worldwide
*featured in the first American television broadcast, in 1927 (before presidency)
*nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize but never won
*spoke conversational Mandarin Chinese
*was not invited by FDR’s administration to the dedication of the Boulder Dam, which was renamed the Hoover Dam by Truman

32. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat; 1933-1945)
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
January 30, 1882 (Hyde Park, NY) – April 12, 1945 (Warm Springs, GA)
Vice Presidents: John Garner, Henry Wallace, Harry Truman
First Lady: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
nickname: ‘FDR’ for his initials
*president during World War 2
*only president elected to four terms
*won each election by a landslide of Electoral votes
*introduced the New Deal to recover from the Great Depression
*pushed for and ultimately saw the end of Prohibition
*sanctioned Japanese-American internment after the attack on Pearl Harbor
*first sitting president to appear on television and to fly in an airplane
*fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, whose niece he married
*kept his 1921 Polio diagnosis from the public during his presidency
*featured on the dime

33. Harry S Truman (Democrat; 1945-1953)
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
May 8, 1884 (Lamar, MO) – December 26, 1972 (Kansas City, MO)
Vice President: Alben W. Barkley
First Lady: Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace
nickname: ‘Give ‘Em Hell Harry’, which was his campaign slogan
*legal name was Harry, not Harold
*his parents couldn’t decide which grandfather to honor- Solomon or Shipp- so his middle name is simply S
*gave the order to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
*heavy underdog to win a second term against Thomas Dewey, which resulted in newspapers prematurely printing DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN, shown in a famous picture of Truman holding a paper after his victory
*made popular the phrase The Buck Stops Here, which was on a sign on his desk and meant he would not defer responsibility, or ‘pass the buck’, a saying with roots in poker games
*introduced presidential term limits via the 22nd Amendment
*co-created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a collective of 30 countries to protect each other from hostile forces, namely the Soviet Union (at the time)
*began the tradition of Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation at the White House, though the idea of ‘pardoning’ a turkey wouldn’t come for decades

34. Dwight David Eisenhower (Republican; 1953-1961)
“If you want total security, go to prison.”
October 14, 1890 (Denison, TX) – March 28, 1969 (Washington, D.C.)
Vice President: Richard Nixon
First Lady: Mamie Doud
nickname: ‘Ike’, a family nickname made popular by his campaign slogan ‘I Like Ike’
*birth name was David Dwight but his mother reversed the names to avoid confusion with his father, also David Dwight
*served in the military during both World Wars but never saw active combat
*Democrats and Republicans both wanted him as their candidate
*president during the Korean War
*first president to ride in a helicopter
*presidential retreat in Maryland was renamed from Shangri La to Camp David, after his grandson
*Alaska and Hawaii became states during his presidency
*signed a bill in 1958 to create NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

35. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat; 1961-1963)
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” (paraphrase of a Warren G. Harding quote)
May 29th, 1917 (Brookline, MA) – November 22nd, 1963 (Dallas, TX)
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
First Lady: Jacqueline Bouvier
nickname: ‘JFK’ for his initials
*at 43, youngest person to be elected president (Theodore Roosevelt was younger but succeeded to the presidency after McKinley was killed)
*president at the beginning of the “space race” and guaranteed Americans would land on the Moon before 1970 (without a plan in place)
*only president to win a Pulitzer Prize, though how much of Profiles In Courage he actually wrote is disputed
*only president to receive a Purple Heart, for being injured in battle during World War 2
*only president to appoint a sibling (his brother Robert) to a cabinet position (Attorney General)
*donated his presidential salary to charities
*famously sung to by Marilyn Monroe during his 45th birthday party / campaign fundraiser
*assassinated in November of 1963 in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine sharpshooter who defected to the Soviet Union because he opposed the U.S. and Capitalism, not Kennedy himself
*targeted for assassination at least three times before the successful attempt

36. Lyndon Baines Johnson (Democrat; 1963-1969)
“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skin, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”
August 27, 1908 (Stonewall, TX) – January 22, 1973 (Stonewall, TX)
Vice President: Hubert Humphrey
First Lady: Claudia “Lady Bird” Taylor
nicknames: ‘LBJ’ for his initials
*first president born in the 1900s
*inadvertently avoided death in World War 2 because he boarded the wrong airplane
*took his oath of office aboard Air Force One
*oversaw the creation of Medicare and Medicaid
*authorized the U.S. to enter the Vietnam War, known there as the American War
*eco-friendly man who would shut off unnecessary lights and lamps around the White House
*’Lady Bird’ was a nickname from childhood
*owned dogs named Him and Her

37. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican; 1969-1974)
“I am not a crook.”
January 9, 1913 (Yorba Linda, CA) – April 22, 1994 (New York, NY)
Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford
First Lady: Thelma “Pat” Ryan
nickname: ‘Tricky Dick’ for using underhanded tactics, even before Watergate
*Milhous was his mother’s maiden name
*renounced his Quaker faith to join the Navy in World War 2 (Quakers are pacifists)
*signed the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
*established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
*initiated the War On Drugs to combat America’s drug problems
*mandated year-round daylight saving time to conserve fuel during an energy crisis but the idea was abandoned because people didn’t like children waiting for morning school buses in the dark
*installed a bowling alley in the White House and reportedly averaged a score of 232
*several people within his administration were caught breaking into rooms at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., hoping to get information about Nixon’s political opponents
*never officially implicated in the Watergate scandal but was suspected of trying to cover it up and co-conspirators confessed Nixon secretly taped meetings in the Oval Office, which was illegal
*only president to resign from office, which he did before he would likely have been impeached and removed for obstruction of justice and other serious charges

38. Gerald Rudolph Ford (Republican; 1974-1977)
“Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.”
July 14, 1913 (Omaha, NE) – December 26, 2006 (Rancho Mirage, CA)
Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller
First Lady: Elizabeth “Betty” Bloomer
nickname: ‘Mister Nice Guy’ for his clean-cut image and personable character
*born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. but renamed for his stepfather
*football player who turned down two NFL offers
*won 13 straight congressional campaigns
*never elected to high office- ascended to vice presidency when Agnew resigned then president when Nixon resigned; he ran in 1976 but lost
*target of two assassination attempts, both in 1975 by women, including a disciple of Charles Manson
*Betty was named Time’s Woman Of The Year in 1975 and is the namesake of a famous drug rehabilitation clinic
*controversially pardoned Nixon from any charges resulting from Watergate in an attempt to let the country move on from the scandal, though alternate, nefarious reasons have been suggested

39. James Earl Carter, Jr. (Democrat; 1977-1981)
“The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.”
October 1, 1924 (Plains, GA)
Vice President: Walter Mondale
First Lady: Eleanor Rosalynn Smith
nickname: ‘The Peanut Farmer’ because of his previous occupation
*resigned from the military to save his family’s peanut farm
*went by ‘Jimmy’, making him the first president to use his nickname in an official way
*sold the presidential yacht to show he was “equal” to the general public
*only president to be interviewed by Playboy Magazine
*created the Department of Energy
*had solar panels installed on the White House roof
*an early promoter of Habitat For Humanity
*won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for advancing democracy and human rights

40. Ronald Wilson Reagan (Republican; 1981-1989)
“It’s hard, when you’re up to your armpits in alligators, to remember you came here to drain the swamp.”
February 6, 1911 (Tampico, IL) – June 5, 2004 (Los Angeles, CA)
Vice President: George H.W. Bush
First Lady: Nancy Davis
nickname: ‘The Gipper’ for playing George ‘The Gipper’ Gipp in the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American
*sports broadcaster and actor in over 50 films and television episodes before getting into politics
*first president to be divorced before election
*heavily promoted Nixon’s War On Drugs
*appointed the first female to the Supreme Court- Sandra Day O’Connor
*loved jelly beans and was sent free shipments of them throughout his presidency
*shot by John Hinckley, a mentally-disturbed man who was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he thought he had a relationship with
*Hinckley’s bullet missed Reagan but ricocheted off the presidential limousine’s bulletproof glass to hit him in the chest, which is a nice example of irony

41. George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican; 1989-1993)
“I have opinions of my own … but I don’t always agree with them.”
June 12, 1924 (Milton, MA) – November 30, 2018 (Houston, TX)
Vice President: Dan Quayle
First Lady: Barbara Pierce
nickname: ‘Poppy’, what his family called him
*joined the Navy instead of attending Yale, but eventually went to the university
*former director of the CIA
*first sitting vice president to be elected president since 1836
*president during the first Gulf War, after Iraq invaded Kuwait for oil in 1990
*first president to officially “pardon” a turkey from being eaten on Thanksgiving
*the Japanese word ‘bushusuru’ was coined after he publicly vomited on Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, likely caused by food poisoning
*celebrated 75th­, 80th, 85th, and 90th birthdays by skydiving

42. William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat; 1993-2001)
“The road to tyranny, we must never forget, begins with the destruction of truth.”
August 19, 1946 (Hope, AR)
Vice President: Al Gore
First Lady: Hillary Rodham
nickname: ‘Bubba’, a common moniker for Southerners
*born with the last name Blythe for his father he’d never met; legally changed to Clinton after his mother remarried
*played saxophone, notably on Arsenio Hall’s talk show while campaigning for president
*signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which permits tax-free trading between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
*successfully balanced the budget
*third president to be impeached but not ousted, for lying to Congress under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and for obstructing justice
*nominated for four Grammys and won two- narrating on a children’s album called Peter And The Wolf & Wolf Tracks and his audio autobiography

43. George Walker Bush (Republican; 2001-2009)
“I don’t worry about long-term history. I won’t be around to read it.”
July 6, 1946 (New Haven, CT)
Vice President: Dick Cheney
First Lady: Laura Welch
nickname: ‘Dubya’ because of the quick, Southern way he pronounced his middle initial
*son of George H. W. Bush, making him the second son of a president to be president (Adams)
*former governor of Texas; his brother Jeb was governor of Florida
*co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team from 1989-1998
*president during the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center
*signed the Patriot Act to detect and deter terrorism
*established the Department Of Homeland Security
*oversaw the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, brought on by the costs of war and excessive tax cuts
*began the second Gulf War with Iraq, claiming they were hiding weapons of mass destruction
*only president to attain an MBA degree (master of business administration, from Harvard)
*only president to run a marathon (in 1993, with a time of 3:44:52)

44. Barack Hussein Obama (Democrat; 2009-2017)
“When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything. You just let them talk.”
August 4, 1961 (Honolulu, HI)
Vice President: Joe Biden
First Lady: Michelle Robinson
nickname: ‘No Drama Obama’ for his relaxed demeanor
*first name means ‘blessed one’ in Swahili
*only president born outside the continental United States (Hawai’i)
*moved to Indonesia at 6 years old but left at 10 for safety reasons
*first president with direct African ancestry (father was born in Kenya)
*first sitting president to visit the Arctic Circle and a federal prison (on separate occasions)
*awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his efforts toward international diplomacy
*winner of two Grammys, both for spoken word albums
*named Time magazine’s Person Of The Year in 2008 and 2012
*ordered the military operation that killed Osama Bin Laden

45. Donald John Trump (Republican; 2017-2021)
“Leaders- true leaders- take responsibility for the success of the team and understand that they must also take responsibility for the failure.”
June 14, 1946 (New York, NY)
Vice President: Mike Pence
First Lady: Melanija Knavs
nickname: ‘The Donald’, because his first wife referred to him by it, or a mafia boss (a.k.a. The Don)
*established the Trump Foundation in 1987 to donate profits from his book sales to charity
*former host of The Apprentice, a television show in which people competed to work for him
*first considered running for president going into the 2000 election
*‘Make America Great Again’, his first campaign slogan, was also used by Ronald Reagan during his run against Jimmy Carter
*first president to be impeached twice; first for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, second for incitement of insurrection
*was not removed from office because of impeachments
*has five children with three women
*owner of the Miss Universe, Miss America, and Miss Teen USA pageants from 1996-2015
*had cameos in the films Home Alone 2: Lost In New York and Zoolander

46. Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior (Democrat; 2021-202?)
“Leadership, at its core, in my view, is about being personal.”
November 20, 1942 (Scranton, PA)
Vice President: Kamala Harris
First Lady: Dr. Jill Jacobs
nickname: ‘Amtrak Joe’ from early in his career when he would frequently commute to and from Washington, D.C., by train, taking at least 75 minutes each way
*former senator from Delaware; first elected in 1972 at age 29
*first ran for president in 1988 but quit after parts of a speech were found to be plagiarized
*was responsible for the controversial Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act in 1994, which reduced crime but resulted in a disproportionate number of minorities going to jail
*overcame a childhood stutter
*does not drink alcohol but is quite fond of chocolate chip ice cream
*first wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi died in a car crash in 1972
*son Beau (with Neilia) died from brain cancer in 2015
*awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom in 2017
*oldest elected president at 78

SOURCES

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