Unknown Facts About America's 45 Presidents

The office of the President has now seen 45 different occupants over the years since George Washington first took office in 1789. Nearly every one of the great men who became president left a real mark on the American nation and secured their place in history. Let's take a look at each of them in turn, and the most important facts you need to know about every one!

George Washington

Edge Cast

• Years In Office: April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1797
• Party Affiliation: Unaffiliated
• Age He Took Office: 62
• Important Achievements: The first ever elected President of the United States of America, he is considered to have crafted the United States' Constitution which is still in force today, he led colonial forces to victory over the British occupiers.

George Washington is revered for his honesty, integrity and the strength of purpose that he showed in defining the office of president for all future presidents.

John Adams

Biography

• Years In Office: March 4, 1791 - March 4, 1801
• Party Affiliation: Federalist
• Age He Took Office: 61
• Important Achievements: His office was free of scandal in any aspect, he signed the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen in 1978, marking the first official treatment center for American armed forces, and even his opponents considered him to be a man of formidable decision making prowess.

John Adams never finished his autobiography, which he'd hoped would be the defining tome of his life.

Thomas Jefferson

Weatherstem

• Years In Office: March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809
• Party Affiliation: Democratic Republican
• Age He Took Office: 69
• Important Achievements: Was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and won the freedom of the United States from the British, he conducted the Lousiana Purchase (doubling the size of the nation) and prohibited the importation of slaves in 1807.

Jefferson was famous for being a master of many intellectual disciplines and for speaking a multitude of languages. He also authored Notes on the State of Virginia, the most important American work of pre-1800.

James Madison

Betty E Kearse

• Years In Office: March 4, 1809 - March 4, 1817
• Party Affiliation: Democratic Republican
• Age He Took Office: 58
• Important Achievements: Is considered to be the "Founder of the Constitution" thanks to his efforts to promote it, he was a key party to the creation of The Bill of Rights, led the United States into the war of 1812, and he created the first Bank of the United Sates.

Madison was regularly accused of being a freemason, but denied his involvement with the group.

James Monroe

World Atlas

• Years In Office: March 4, 1817 - March 4, 1825
• Party Affiliation: Democratic Republican
• Age He Took Office: 61
• Important Achievements: Created the "Era of Good Feelings," established lasting "favored nation" trading treaties with much of South America, and began a process of resisting any further European colonization across the Americas, a policy which proved very successful.

In retirement, James Monroe was much less successful than he was as president, and was near bankruptcy when he and his wife passed away.

John Quincy Adams

Liberty Law Site

• Years In Office: March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1829
• Party Affiliation: Democratic Republican
• Age He Took Office: 57
• Important Achievements: He paid off the vast majority of America's national debts as president, developed the "American System" which was designed to encourage inward investment, and had little in the way of foreign policy intervention to carry out during his term because he'd already solved most issues as an ambassador prior to taking up office.

Shared his father's ignominious record of holding only one term as president.

Andrew Jackson

Biography

• Years in Office: March 4, 1829 - March 4, 1837
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age They Took Office: 62
• Important Achievements: Oversaw the beginning of transition of power from an elite to a wider democratic audience, chose a cabinet of ordinary business people in preference to party favorites, and held presidential investigations into corruption in all branches of the government.

Andrew Jackson was also unlucky enough to be the first president who had an attempt made on his life whilst in office.

Martin Van Buren

Mental Floss

• Years In Office: March 4, 1837 - March 4, 1841
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 54
• Important Achievements: Sought peaceful relationships with Mexico, campaigned against slavery and had some effect on the reducing the slave trade, and some success battling America's first economic depression.

Martin Van Buren was the first president to have no First Lady because he was unmarried. The duty was rechristened as "White House Hostess" and carried out by a daughter-in-law.

William Henry Harrison

I Love USA

• Years In Office: March 4, 1841 - April 4, 1841
• Party Affiliation: Whig
• Age He Took Office: 68
• Important Achievements: The first president to die in office, delivered the longest inaugural address of any president (over 2 hours) and called Congress into special session.

Harrison's unfortunate death from pneumonia means he still holds the record of the least time served as a president at just 31 days in office. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to achieve very much in a month.

John Tyler

About

• Years In Office: April 4, 1841 - March 4, 1845
• Party Affiliation: Whig (then unaffiliated)
• Age He Took Office: 50
• Important Achievements: The first vice-president to become president due to the death of the president, vetoed the national banking act twice, was the first president to be on the receiving end of impeachment proceedings.

Tyler's time as president was quite ineffectual. He was often known as "his accidency" by cruel politicians and once saw his entire cabinet resign. He was the first president to have his veto revoked, too.

James K Polk

James K Polk

• Years In Office: March 4, 1845 - March 4, 1849
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 49
• Important Achievements: Youngest man to assume the presidency (a record it would take some time to lose), oversaw the breakup of the Oregon Territory into multiple states, annexed Texas, and re-established the independent treasury system.

Polk was the first president unable to seek re-election for a second term as he had promised not to do so in his original campaign.

Zachary Taylor

Wikimedia

• Years In Office: March 4, 1849 - July 9, 1950
• Party Affiliation: Whig
• Age He Took Office: 64
• Important Achievements: First president to appoint cabinet seats on a geographical basis to ensure equal representation across the country, and enabled the Compromise of 1850 by which some states were given the freedom to abolish slavery by law.

Taylor died of cholera, almost certainly from consuming contaminated food and water, and he died in office, the second president to do so.

Millard Filmore

POTUS Geeeks

• Years In Office: July 9, 1850 - March 4, 1853
• Party Affiliation: Whig
• Age He Took Office: 50
• Important Achievements: The last member of the Whig Party to become president, ordered the Perry Expedition which saw Japan open up to American trade, and staved off actions by Napoleon III to annex Hawaii for France.

Filmore's enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act made him essentially unelectable for a second term in office and his party denied him the nomination for the presidential ticket.

Franklin Pierce

Pinterest

• Years In Office: March 4, 1853 - March 4, 1857
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 48
• Important Achievements: Oversaw the reform of corruption in the US Treasury, managed a survey of the topography of North and South America with a view to inter-continental train travel, and brought the British to heel when they broke a peace treaty.

Pierce's presidency had a dark beginning as his son was killed in a train accident only weeks after his election and he fell into depression for a long period of time.

James Buchanan

About

• Years In Office: March 4, 1857 - March 4, 1861
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 66
• Important Achievements: Froze public works expansion to protect the economy, finished the "Utah War" and returned the state to proper authority, and managed to fight off an impeachment hearing before it began.

Buchanan claimed even on his death bed that history would remember him favorably. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong. He is considered to have been one of the weakest and poorest presidents by modern historians.

Abraham Lincoln

Biography

• Years In Office: March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865
• Party Affiliation: Republican (National Union)
• Age He Took Office: 52
• Important Achievements: Oversaw the winning of the Civil War by the anti-slavery North, announced the Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery in the United States, and gave the famous Gettysburg Address to let the world know of the end of slavery.

Abraham Lincoln was, sadly, also the first president to be assassinated in office. He was gunned down during a night at the theater.

Andrew Johnson

Super Slice

• Years In Office: April 15, 1865 - March 4, 1869
• Party Affiliation: National Union and then Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 56
• Important Achievements: Avoided assassination at the same time Lincoln was assassinated, oversaw the French withdrawal from Mexico, and bought Alaska from the Russian government for $123 million in today's dollars.

Johnsson sought re-election as a senator after leaving the office of president, but came third in the vote for the seat and retired from politics.

Ulysses S Grant

Mental Floss

• Years In Office: March 4, 1869 - March 4, 1877
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 47
• Important Achievements: Spoke out and lobbied congress to prevent states from denying black citizens votes, created the Justice Department to enforce federal laws, and made peace with the Native Americans for the first time since the enactment of "Indian Removal."

Ulysses S Grant may have been the most reluctant president in history and often spoke of how little he wanted the political side of his job.

Rutherford B Hayes

Mental Floss

• Years In Office: March 4, 1877 - March 4, 1881
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 54
• Important Achievements: Vetoed - repeatedly - attempts to repeal voting rights for black citizens despite political popularity leaning the other way, oversaw the strengthening of the US dollar as a currency by backing it with gold, and opened up America to Chinese immigration.

Hayes and his wife Lucy were famous for their refusal to allow alcohol in the White House and only their first reception there served wine.

James A Garfield

Know Your Presidents

• Years In Office: March 4, 1881 - September 19, 1881
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 49
• Important Achievements: Reformed the civil service, rooted out corruption in the Post Office, proposed "universal education" for the first time, and reformed the navy.

President Garfield might have been a great president if he hadn't been assassinated by Charles J Guiteau at a railroad station in Washington D.C. He was shot on July 2 and died 11 weeks later in intensive care.

Chester A Arthur

Ken Levine

• Years In Office: September 19, 1881 - March 4, 1885
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 52
• Important Achievements: Won congressional approval for civil service reforms, established a meritocracy for customs service positions, and created a tax on immigrants - the "50 cent tax."

Arthur left office to return to practicing law, but was too ill to perform his duties and was quickly left near-housebound. He was an unpopular president while he lived, but history judges him to have been competent and decent.

Grover Cleveland

POTUS Geeks

• Years In Office: March 4, 1885 - March 4, 1889
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 58
• Important Achievements: Refused to make government appointments based on party affiliations and appointed based on competency instead, made more use of the presidential veto than all previous presidents combined, and acted to protect Native American rights.

Grover Cleveland is best remembered as the only president to leave the office of president and be re-elected following another's presidency four years afterward.

Benjamin Harrison

Swimming World

• Years In Office: March 4, 1889 - March 4, 1893
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 55
• Important Achievements: Provided government pensions for Civil War veterans, passed the Sherman Anti-Trust act into law (the first anti-trust law in American history) and campaigned strongly for universal suffrage and voting rights for black American citizens.

Harrison was the last president ever to sport a beard and only the fourth president to do so up until that point in time.

Grover Cleveland

Pandora Society

• Years In Office: March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1897
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 56
• Important Achievements: Ended the use of silver as the standard for American currency, dictated American interest in all events in the same hemisphere and modernized the navy.

Cleveland lost the election of 1889 and was forced to campaign again 4 years later as his party's nominee and won.

His last words were, "I have tried so hard to do right."

William McKinley

The Famous People

• Years In Office: March 4, 1897 - September 14, 1901
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 54
• Important Achievements: Drove the Spanish out of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, annexed Hawaii, returned the US dollar to the Gold Standard in 1900 and won election to office for a second time.

McKinley's second stint in office would prove to be brief when he became the third president to be assassinated in office. He was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz and died of gangrene complications of the wound.

Theodore Roosevelt

Biography

• Years In Office: September 14, 1901 - March 4, 1909
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 42
• Important Achievements: Championed the "Square Deal" for economic equality for Americans, established many national parks and monuments, began construction on the Panama canal and brought an end to the Russo-Japanese war.

Teddy Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace prize for his peacemaking during his time as president. He was the last of four presidents to have his face carved on Mount Rushmore.

William Howard Taft

Philip Caruso

• Years In Office: March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 51
• Important Achievements: Took regular action against business for anti-trust behavior, and supported free immigration legislation.

Taft's legacy was to be considered "boring - honest, likable, but boring." He is best remembered for being the president who got stuck in the bath, though this was a rumor that ended up being untrue. He was also the last president to have any form of facial hair.

Woodrow Wilson

Biography

• Years In Office: March 4, 1913 - March 4, 1921
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 56
• Important Achievements: Re-introduced a spoken State of the Union, enacted the Federal Reserve Act, Clayton Antitrust Act, Federal Farm Loan Act and ratified the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, led America into World War I and to victory in that conflict.

Wilson helped found the League of Nations (a precursor to the United Nations) and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for doing so.

Warren G Harding

US News

• Years In Office: March 4, 1921 - August 2, 1923
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 55
• Important Achievements: Brokered a disarmament deal between the United States, Great Britain and Japan and the first limits on the use of chemical weapons, reduced taxes to pre-war levels, and regulated the emerging industries of the automobile and the radio.

Harding was a well-liked president and the nation was shocked when he died nearly half way through his term of office from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Calvin Coolidge

Daily Caller

• Years In Office: August 2, 1922 - March 4, 1929
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 50
• Important Achievements: Delivered a strong commitment to racial equality in civil rights, drove the KKK out of positions of government whenever possible, and restored the reputation of the Supreme Court through sensible appointments.

Coolidge was well-known to the American people thanks to his articulate and measured use of the radio and he regularly gave live press conferences on air, the first president to do so.

Herbert Hoover

Hoover Archives

• Years In Office: March 4, 1929 - March 4, 1933
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 55
• Important Achievements: Led the expansion of the Civil Service, instituted major prison reform, introduced the "Good Neighbor" policy for dealing with South America and funded the Hoover Dam.

Hoover was the president to lead the nation into The Great Depression. Though this was a problem that had been coming and did not arise from his leadership, it did prevent him from winning a second term as president.

Franklin D Roosevelt

• Years In Office: March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 51
• Important Achievements: Introduced the "New Deal" which brought America out of the Great Depression, introduced the federal minimum wage and led America into World War II.

Franklin Roosevelt was the most popular and longest-serving American president. He won 4 presidential elections and served 3 full terms of office until he died just before the end of World War II.

Harry S, Truman

YouTube

• Years In Office: April 12, 1945 - January 20, 1953
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 61
• Important Achievements: Ended the period of isolationism and embraced a wide-reaching foreign policy, founded the United Nations, approved the use of atomic weapons on Japan, and helped racially integrate America's armed forces.

Truman refused to take advantage of the financial opportunities commonly made available to former presidents, which he felt sullied the office. This left him living on a modest army pension in retirement.

Dwight D Eisenhower

Hollowverse

• Years In Office: January 20, 1953 - January 20, 1961
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 63
• Important Achievements: Concluded the Korean War by threatening to unleash America's nuclear arsenal, created NASA in response to Russia's space program and brought McCarthyism to an end via presidential privilege.

Eisenhower was a formidable military talent before becoming president and it may have been the military which led him to become the first president to introduce and award medals for presidential appreciation.

John F Kennedy

Pink News

• Years In Office: January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 44
• Important Achievements: Negotiated the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis and avoided nuclear war, introduced the "New Frontier" economic reform program, signed multiple pieces of civil rights legislation into law and agreed to American investment for the moon landings.

John F Kennedy was the only American President to win a Pulitzer Prize (for his biography). His assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald was captured on film; Another, sadder, presidential first.

Lyndon B Johnson

The Famous People

• Years In Office: November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 54
• Important Achievements: Designed and implemented the "Great Society" legislative package which introduced Medicare and Medicaid, declared a "War on Poverty" and helped millions of the nation's poor, and passed the Voting Rights Act to end voting discrimination against African Americans.

Johnson was the most liberal person ever to hold the office of the President. After leaving office, he entered a self-destructive period which culminated in his death from a heart attack.

Richard Nixon

YouTube

• Years In Office: January 20, 1969 - August 8, 1974
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 56
• Important Achievements: Ended American involvement in the Vietnam War, signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, and presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Richard Nixon is the only president ever to have resigned the office of president. His participation in the Watergate scandal led to his resignation. He would be pardoned for his actions by his successor Gerald Ford.

Gerald Ford

Biography

• Years In Office: August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 61
• Important Achievements: He passed the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 and oversaw the first major flu vaccination program.

Gerald Ford holds the unique distinction of being the only person to hold both the presidency and vice-presidency without being elected to either office. He was also the longest-lived president of all time. He survived two assassination attempts whilst in office, a presidential record.

Jimmy Carter

CNN

• Years In Office: January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 53
• Important Achievements: Agreed to the federal bailout of the Chrysler Corporation, signed the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, and returned the Panama Canal to Panama.

Jimmy Carter is generally regarded as a weak president, but has achieved much in his post-presidential work as an ambassador and elder statesman. He has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote peace, democracy and human rights.

Ronald Reagan

Salon

• Years In Office: January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 70
• Important Achievements: Staunchly advocated supply-side economics ("Reagonmics"), reduced inflation from 12.5% to 4.4%, and encouraged Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (which he did).

Reagan was the first, and to date only, actor to have been raised to the office of president. After leaving office, he disclosed that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

George H W Bush

ABC News

• Years In Office: January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1993
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 65
• Important Achievements: Funded the International Space Station through NASA, authorized the Clean Air Act to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and endorsed the Immigration Act of 1990 which increased immigration by 40%.

Bush was considered to be highly effective in foreign policy throughout his presidency, but failed to effectively communicate why voters should care about his domestic policy and this may explain why he failed to win a second term as president.

Bill Clinton

Nor Static

• Years In Office: January 20, 1993 - January 20, 2001
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 47
• Important Achievements: Introduced the "third way" to American politics, cut taxes for 15 million low-income families, and implemented "don't ask, don't tell" to protect gay service people illegally serving in America's armed forces.

Bill Clinton's presidency was a success marred by his impeachment for misleading the nation over his extra-martial affair with Monica Lewinsky. His wife Hillary was the first woman to represent the Democratic Party in a presidential race.

George W Bush

George W Bush Library

• Years In Office: January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2009
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Age He Took Office: 55
• Important Achievements: Launched the "War on Terror" in response to the events of 9/11, signed the No Child Left Behind Act and the Patriot Act into law, and increased funding for health and scientific research.

George W Bush managed the unique achievement of having both the highest and lowest ever recorded ratings for a sitting president. He was often mocked for his media image, but is said to be far smarter than he let on in public.

Barack Obama

Biography

• Years In Office: January 20, 2009 - January 20, 2017
• Party Affiliation: Democratic
• Age He Took Office: 47
• Important Achievements: Signed huge numbers of reform legislation including the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, led the efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden successfully, and made great strides in promoting LGBT rights.

Barack Obama was the first African-American to hold the office of president and the first person who was born outside the contiguous United States to serve as president, as well.

Donald Trump