U.S. President Summaries

  1. George Washington (1789-1797)
    • 1st President
    • Supported the 1st Bank of the United States
    • Served 2 Terms

  2. John Adams (1797-1801)
    • Federalist
    • Sedition Acts
    • Alien Laws
    • XYZ Affair
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
    • Democratic-Republican (Jeffersonian)
    • Embargo Act -- Non-Intercourse Act
    • Wanted Small Military
    • John Marshall
    • Louisiana Purchase
      • James Monroe, Robert Livingston
    • Meriwether Lewis, William Clark
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. James Madison (1809-1817)
    • Democratic-Republican
    • Macon's Bill No. 2
    • War of 1812 -- Treaty of Ghent (1814)
    • Tariff of 1816
    • Rejected Nationally-Funded Roads
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. James Monroe (1817-1825)
    • Democratic-Republican
    • "Era of Good Feelings"
    • Panic of 1819
    • Missouri Compromise
    • Monroe Doctrine
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
    • Democrat *
    • Strong Nationalist
    • Opposed Slavery
    • Supported the building of nationally-funded roads and canals
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
    • Democrat
    • "Bank War"
      • "Panic of 1837"
    • Trail of Tears
    • Common Man
      • Spoils System
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
    • Democratic
    • Divorce Bill
      • Independent Treasury Bill
    • His delayed actions to end the Panic of 1837 caused the economic downturn to continue for many years.
    • Served 1 Term
  1. William Henry Harrison (1841)
    • Whig
    • Died in Office on April 4, 1841
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. John Tyler (1841-1845)
    • Whig
    • Democrat at Heart
    • Vetoes Bank of United States
    • Lowered Tariff
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James K. Polk (1845-1849)
    • Democrat
    • Oregon Country w/Britain
    • Mexican-American War
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
    • Whig
    • Underground Railroad
    • Gold Rush
    • Congressional Debate of 1850
    • Died in Office on July 9, 1850
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
    • Whig
    • Compromise of 1850
    • Fugitive-Slave Law of 1850
    • "2nd Era of Good Feelings"
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
    • Democrat
    • Cuba/Nicaragua
    • Transcontinental Railroad
    • Kansas-Nebraska Act
    • Lecompton Constitution with Kansas
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James Buchanan (1857-1861)
    • Democrat
    • Dred Scott Case
    • Panic of 1857
    • John Brown
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
    • Republican
    • Civil War
      • Emancipation Proclamation
    • Assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theater
    • Served 2 Terms**
  1. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
    • Democrat
    • Reconstruction
    • Clashes with Congress
      • Impeached -- 1 Vote Shy of Being Removed from Office
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
    • Republican
    • Political Corruption
      • Credit Mobilier Scandal
    • Panic of 1873
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
    • Republican
    • Hayes-Tilden Standoff
      • Electoral Count Act (Compromise of 1877)
    • Civil Rights Act of 1875
      • Jim Crow Laws
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James A. Garfield (1881)
    • Republican
    • Assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau on September 19, 1881
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1884)
    • Republican
    • Pendleton Act of 1883
      • Attempted to stop political corruption
      • Civil Service Commission
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
    • Democrat
    • Proposed a lower tariff to Congress to bring lower prices to consumers-cost he and his party the next election
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
    • Republican
    • Billion-Dollar Congress
    • McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
      • Discredited Republican Party
    • McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 -- brought more economic troubles to farmers
    • Sherman Silver Act Purchase of 1890 -- precursor to the Panic of 1893
      • Depreciated the value of silver due to the drastic rise of silver in circulation.
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
    • Democrat
    • Panic of 1893
      • Sherman Silver Act Purchase of 1890
    • Anti-imperialist
    • Served 1 Term
  1. William McKinley (1897-1901)
    • Republican
    • Gold Standard Act of 1900
    • Imperialist
      • Annexation of Hawaii
    • Assassinated by a deranged anarchist on September 14, 1901
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
    • Republican
    • Panama Canal
    • Roosevelt Corollary
    • Progressivism
    • Panic of 1907
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
    • Republican
    • Trust Breaker
    • Progressivism
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
    • Democrat
    • Federal Reserve Act
    • World War I
      • Fourteen Points Address
      • League of Nations
      • Treaty of Versailles
    • 18th Amendment -- Prohibition
    • 19th Amendment -- Women Suffrage
    • "Red Scare"
      • Nicola Sacco, Bartolomeo Vanzetti
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
    • Republican
    • "Roaring Twenties"
      • Automobile Industry
      • Aviation Industry
      • Flappers
    • Corruption
      • Teapot Dome Scandal
    • Soft President
    • Five Power Treaty/Four Power Treaty
    • Died in Office on August 2, 1923
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
    • Republican
    • Capper-Volstead Act
    • Dawes Plan of 1924
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
    • Republican
    • McNary-Haugen Bill
    • Hawley-Smoot Tariff
    • The Great Depression
      • "Black Tuesday"(October 29, 1929)
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
    • Democrat
    • New Deal
      • Relief, Recovery, Reform
      • Did Not Work
    • World War II
      • Yalta Conference
    • Died in Office on April 12, 1945
    • Served 4 Terms***
  1. Harry S Truman (1945-1953)
    • Democrat
    • End of World War II
      • Division of Germany
      • United Nations
      • Postwar Economy
      • Servicemen's Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
    • Republican
    • Armistice signed -- "ending" the Korean War
    • McCarthyism
    • "Operation Wetback"
      • Rounded up a million illegal Mexican immigrants
    • Strategic Air Command (SAC)
    • Space Race
      • Sputnik I and Sputnik II
      • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
    • Served 2 terms
  1. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
    • Democrat
    • Catholic
    • New Frontier
      • Peace Corps
    • Strategy of Flexible Response
    • Bay of Pigs
      • Cuban Missile Crisis
      • Arms Race
    • Tax Cuts
    • Assassinated on November 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald
    • Served 1 term**
  1. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
    • Democrat
    • Civil Rights
      • Civil Rights Act of 1964
      • Voting Rights Act of 1965
      • Affirmative Action
    • Gulf of Tonkin
      • Vietnam War
    • War on Poverty
      • "Great Society"
      • Medicare
      • Medicaid
    • Counterculture
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
    • Republican
    • Vietnamization
    • Détente Policy with China and the Soviet Union
    • End of Vietnam War
      • Last Americans were evacuated from Vietnam on April 29, 1975
      • Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
    • Resigned from office in 1974 following the Watergate Scandal
    • Served 2 terms**
  1. Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
    • Republican
    • Helsinki Accords
    • Served 1 term**
  1. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
    • Democrat
    • Rising Inflation
    • Oil Crisis
    • Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
    • Iranian Hostage Crisis
    • Served 1 term
  1. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
    • Republican
    • Neo-conservatism
      • Reduced the size of the government
      • Cut taxes
      • Shrunk the federal budget
      • Supply-side Economics
      • Increase in Military Spending
      • Large increase in national debt
    • Increasingly Friendly Relations with the Soviet Union
    • Served 2 terms
  1. George Bush (1989-1993)
    • Republican
    • Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)
      • Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
    • Americans with Disabilities Act
    • Served 1 term
  1. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
    • Democrat
    • Favored minorities and women
    • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
    • Impeached on charges of perjury
      • 2nd president to be impeached
      • Not removed from office
    • Served 2 terms
  1. George W. Bush (2001-2009)
    • Republican
    • World Trade Center Attacks (September 11, 2001)
    • Started War in Afghanistan
    • Started War in Iraq
      • Capture of Saddam Hussein
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Barack Obama (2009-2017)
    • Democrat
    • First African American to be President
    • Affordable Health Care Act
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Donald Trump (2017-present)
    • Republican
    • Impeached two times
      • Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden family
      • Incitement of insurrection related to his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election
    • Acquitted both times by Republican Senate majority
    • Served 1 term
  1. Joe Biden (2021-present)
    • Democrat

* From 1826 and on, Democratic-Republicans were just called Democrats, and from 1854 and on, Whigs were called Republicans.

** Started to serve 1 or 2 term(s).

*** Only president to serve more than 2 terms.

U.S. Presidents

  1. George Washington (1789-1797)
    • 1st President
    • Supported the 1st Bank of the United States
    • Served 2 Terms

  2. John Adams (1797-1801)
    • Federalist
    • Sedition Acts
    • Alien Laws
    • XYZ Affair
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
    • Democratic-Republican (Jeffersonian)
    • Embargo Act -- Non-Intercourse Act
    • Wanted Small Military
    • John Marshall
    • Louisiana Purchase
      • James Monroe, Robert Livingston
    • Meriwether Lewis, William Clark
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. James Madison (1809-1817)
    • Democratic-Republican
    • Macon's Bill No. 2
    • War of 1812 -- Treaty of Ghent (1814)
    • Tariff of 1816
    • Rejected Nationally-Funded Roads
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. James Monroe (1817-1825)
    • Democratic-Republican
    • "Era of Good Feelings"
    • Panic of 1819
    • Missouri Compromise
    • Monroe Doctrine
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
    • Democrat *
    • Strong Nationalist
    • Opposed Slavery
    • Supported the building of nationally-funded roads and canals
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
    • Democrat
    • "Bank War"
      • "Panic of 1837"
    • Trail of Tears
    • Common Man
      • Spoils System
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
    • Democratic
    • Divorce Bill
      • Independent Treasury Bill
    • His delayed actions to end the Panic of 1837 caused the economic downturn to continue for many years.
    • Served 1 Term
  1. William Henry Harrison (1841)
    • Whig
    • Died in Office on April 4, 1841
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. John Tyler (1841-1845)
    • Whig
    • Democrat at Heart
    • Vetoes Bank of United States
    • Lowered Tariff
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James K. Polk (1845-1849)
    • Democrat
    • Oregon Country w/Britain
    • Mexican-American War
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
    • Whig
    • Underground Railroad
    • Gold Rush
    • Congressional Debate of 1850
    • Died in Office on July 9, 1850
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
    • Whig
    • Compromise of 1850
    • Fugitive-Slave Law of 1850
    • "2nd Era of Good Feelings"
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
    • Democrat
    • Cuba/Nicaragua
    • Transcontinental Railroad
    • Kansas-Nebraska Act
    • Lecompton Constitution with Kansas
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James Buchanan (1857-1861)
    • Democrat
    • Dred Scott Case
    • Panic of 1857
    • John Brown
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
    • Republican
    • Civil War
      • Emancipation Proclamation
    • Assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theater
    • Served 2 Terms**
  1. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
    • Democrat
    • Reconstruction
    • Clashes with Congress
      • Impeached -- 1 Vote Shy of Being Removed from Office
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
    • Republican
    • Political Corruption
      • Credit Mobilier Scandal
    • Panic of 1873
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
    • Republican
    • Hayes-Tilden Standoff
      • Electoral Count Act (Compromise of 1877)
    • Civil Rights Act of 1875
      • Jim Crow Laws
    • Served 1 Term
  1. James A. Garfield (1881)
    • Republican
    • Assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau on September 19, 1881
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1884)
    • Republican
    • Pendleton Act of 1883
      • Attempted to stop political corruption
      • Civil Service Commission
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
    • Democrat
    • Proposed a lower tariff to Congress to bring lower prices to consumers-cost he and his party the next election
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
    • Republican
    • Billion-Dollar Congress
    • McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
      • Discredited Republican Party
    • McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 -- brought more economic troubles to farmers
    • Sherman Silver Act Purchase of 1890 -- precursor to the Panic of 1893
      • Depreciated the value of silver due to the drastic rise of silver in circulation.
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
    • Democrat
    • Panic of 1893
      • Sherman Silver Act Purchase of 1890
    • Anti-imperialist
    • Served 1 Term
  1. William McKinley (1897-1901)
    • Republican
    • Gold Standard Act of 1900
    • Imperialist
      • Annexation of Hawaii
    • Assassinated by a deranged anarchist on September 14, 1901
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
    • Republican
    • Panama Canal
    • Roosevelt Corollary
    • Progressivism
    • Panic of 1907
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
    • Republican
    • Trust Breaker
    • Progressivism
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
    • Democrat
    • Federal Reserve Act
    • World War I
      • Fourteen Points Address
      • League of Nations
      • Treaty of Versailles
    • 18th Amendment -- Prohibition
    • 19th Amendment -- Women Suffrage
    • "Red Scare"
      • Nicola Sacco, Bartolomeo Vanzetti
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
    • Republican
    • "Roaring Twenties"
      • Automobile Industry
      • Aviation Industry
      • Flappers
    • Corruption
      • Teapot Dome Scandal
    • Soft President
    • Five Power Treaty/Four Power Treaty
    • Died in Office on August 2, 1923
    • Served 1 Term**
  1. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
    • Republican
    • Capper-Volstead Act
    • Dawes Plan of 1924
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
    • Republican
    • McNary-Haugen Bill
    • Hawley-Smoot Tariff
    • The Great Depression
      • "Black Tuesday"(October 29, 1929)
    • Served 1 Term
  1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
    • Democrat
    • New Deal
      • Relief, Recovery, Reform
      • Did Not Work
    • World War II
      • Yalta Conference
    • Died in Office on April 12, 1945
    • Served 4 Terms***
  1. Harry S Truman (1945-1953)
    • Democrat
    • End of World War II
      • Division of Germany
      • United Nations
      • Postwar Economy
      • Servicemen's Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
    • Served 2 Terms
  1. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
    • Republican
    • Armistice signed -- "ending" the Korean War
    • McCarthyism
    • "Operation Wetback"
      • Rounded up a million illegal Mexican immigrants
    • Strategic Air Command (SAC)
    • Space Race
      • Sputnik I and Sputnik II
      • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
    • Served 2 terms
  1. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
    • Democrat
    • Catholic
    • New Frontier
      • Peace Corps
    • Strategy of Flexible Response
    • Bay of Pigs
      • Cuban Missile Crisis
      • Arms Race
    • Tax Cuts
    • Assassinated on November 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald
    • Served 1 term**
  1. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
    • Democrat
    • Civil Rights
      • Civil Rights Act of 1964
      • Voting Rights Act of 1965
      • Affirmative Action
    • Gulf of Tonkin
      • Vietnam War
    • War on Poverty
      • "Great Society"
      • Medicare
      • Medicaid
    • Counterculture
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
    • Republican
    • Vietnamization
    • Détente Policy with China and the Soviet Union
    • End of Vietnam War
      • Last Americans were evacuated from Vietnam on April 29, 1975
      • Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
    • Resigned from office in 1974 following the Watergate Scandal
    • Served 2 terms**
  1. Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
    • Republican
    • Helsinki Accords
    • Served 1 term**
  1. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
    • Democrat
    • Rising Inflation
    • Oil Crisis
    • Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
    • Iranian Hostage Crisis
    • Served 1 term
  1. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
    • Republican
    • Neo-conservatism
      • Reduced the size of the government
      • Cut taxes
      • Shrunk the federal budget
      • Supply-side Economics
      • Increase in Military Spending
      • Large increase in national debt
    • Increasingly Friendly Relations with the Soviet Union
    • Served 2 terms
  1. George Bush (1989-1993)
    • Republican
    • Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)
      • Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
    • Americans with Disabilities Act
    • Served 1 term
  1. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
    • Democrat
    • Favored minorities and women
    • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
    • Impeached on charges of perjury
      • 2nd president to be impeached
      • Not removed from office
    • Served 2 terms
  1. George W. Bush (2001-2009)
    • Republican
    • World Trade Center Attacks (September 11, 2001)
    • Started War in Afghanistan
    • Started War in Iraq
      • Capture of Saddam Hussein
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Barack Obama (2009-2017)
    • Democrat
    • First African American to be President
    • Affordable Health Care Act
    • Served 2 terms
  1. Donald Trump (2017-present)
    • Republican
    • Impeached two times
      • Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden family
      • Incitement of insurrection related to his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election
    • Acquitted both times by Republican Senate majority
    • Served 1 term
  1. Joe Biden (2021-present)
    • Democrat

* From 1826 and on, Democratic-Republicans were just called Democrats, and from 1854 and on, Whigs were called Republicans.

** Started to serve 1 or 2 term(s).

*** Only president to serve more than 2 terms.