Under the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and head of the federal government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College (or by the House of Representatives should the Electoral College fail to award an absolute majority of votes to any person). Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected President more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent President, the Vice President assumes the office. The President must be at least 35 years of age and a "natural born" citizen of the United States.
This list includes only those persons who were sworn into office as president following the ratification of the United States Constitution, which took effect on March 4, 1789. For American leaders before this ratification, see President of the Continental Congress. The list does not include any Acting Presidents under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
List of presidents[]
- Parties
No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
No. | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Term | Previous office | Vice President | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington (1732–1799) |
April 30, 1789 | March 4, 1797 | Independent | 1 (1789) | Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) | John Adams | ||
2 (1792) | |||||||||
16 | Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) |
March 4, 1861 | April 15, 1865 | Republican | 19 (1860) | U.S. Representative (1847–1849) | Hannibal Hamlin | ||
Republican National Union |
20 (1864) | Andrew Johnson | |||||||
35 | John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) |
January 20, 1961 | November 22, 1963 | Democratic | 44 (1960) |
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1953–1960) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) |
November 22, 1963 | January 20, 1969 | Democratic | Vice President | Vacant November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1965 | |||
45 (1964) |
Hubert Humphrey January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 | ||||||||
42 | Bill Clinton (born 1946) |
January 20, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | 52 (1992) | Governor of Arkansas (1979–1981 & 1983–1992) | Al Gore | ||
53 (1996) | |||||||||
43 | George W. Bush (born 1946) |
January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | 54 (2000) |
Governor of Texas (1995–2000) |
Dick Cheney | ||
55 (2004) | |||||||||
44 | Barack Obama (born 1961) |
January 20, 2009 | Incumbent | Democratic | 56 (2008) |
U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–2008) |
Joe Biden | ||
57 (2012) |
Living former presidents[]
As of March 2024, these are some of the living former presidents:
President | Term of office | Date of birth |
---|---|---|
Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | August 19, 1946 |
George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | July 6, 1946 |
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