The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. The incumbent president is Donald Trump, who assumed office on January 20, 2025. Since the office was established in 1789, 45 men have served in 47 presidencies. The discrepancy is due to the nonconsecutive terms of Grover Cleveland (counted as the 22nd and 24th president) and Trump (counted as the 45th and 47th president).

The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945. He is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. 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.

Four presidents died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy), and one resigned (Richard Nixon, facing impeachment and removal from office). John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency during a presidential term, setting the precedent that a vice president who does so becomes the fully functioning president with a new, distinct administration.

Throughout most of its history, American politics has been dominated by political parties. The Constitution is silent on the issue of political parties, and at the time it came into force in 1789, no organized parties existed. Soon after the 1st Congress convened, political factions began rallying around dominant members of Washington's cabinet, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Concerned about the capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his eight-year presidency. He remains the only U.S. president who never affiliated with a political party.

Presidents

+ PortraitName(birth–death)TermPartyElectionVice President1(1732–1799)–Unaffiliated1788–89John Adams17922(1735–1826)–Federalist1796Thomas Jefferson3(1743–1826)–Democratic-Republican1800Aaron Burr1804George Clinton4(1751–1836)–Democratic-Republican1808George ClintonVacant afterApril 20, 18121812Elbridge GerryVacant afterNovember 23, 18145(1758–1831)–Democratic-Republican1816Daniel D. Tompkins18206(1767–1848)–Democratic-Republican1824John C. CalhounNational Republican7(1767–1845)–Democratic1828John C. CalhounVacant afterDecember 28, 18321832Martin Van Buren8(1782–1862)–Democratic1836Richard Mentor Johnson9(1773–1841)–Whig1840John Tyler10(1790–1862)–Whig Vacant throughoutpresidencyUnaffiliated11(1795–1849)–Democratic1844George M. Dallas12(1784–1850)–Whig1848Millard Fillmore13(1800–1874)–WhigVacant throughoutpresidency14(1804–1869)–Democratic1852William R. KingVacant afterApril 18, 185315(1791–1868)–Democratic1856John C. Breckinridge16(1809–1865)–Republican1860Hannibal HamlinNational Union1864Andrew Johnson17(1808–1875)–National UnionVacant throughoutpresidencyDemocratic18(1822–1885)–Republican1868Schuyler Colfax1872Henry WilsonVacant afterNovember 22, 187519(1822–1893)–Republican1876William A. Wheeler20(1831–1881)–Republican1880Chester A. Arthur21(1829–1886)–RepublicanVacant throughoutpresidency22(1837–1908)1st term–Democratic1884Thomas A. HendricksVacant afterNovember 25, 188523(1833–1901)–Republican1888Levi P. Morton24(1837–1908)2nd term–Democratic1892Adlai Stevenson I25(1843–1901)–Republican1896Garret HobartVacant afterNovember 21, 18991900Theodore Roosevelt26(1858–1919)–RepublicanVacant throughMarch 4, 19051904Charles W. Fairbanks27(1857–1930)–Republican1908James S. ShermanVacant afterOctober 30, 191228(1856–1924)–Democratic1912Thomas R. Marshall191629(1865–1923)–Republican1920Calvin Coolidge30(1872–1933)–RepublicanVacant throughMarch 4, 19251924Charles G. Dawes31(1874–1964)–Republican1928Charles Curtis32(1882–1945)–Democratic1932John Nance Garner19361940Henry A. Wallace1944Harry S. Truman33(1884–1972)–DemocraticVacant throughJanuary 20, 19491948Alben W. Barkley34(1890–1969)–Republican1952Richard Nixon195635(1917–1963)–Democratic1960Lyndon B. Johnson36(1908–1973)–DemocraticVacant throughJanuary 20, 19651964Hubert Humphrey37(1913–1994)–Republican1968Spiro Agnew1972Vacant:October 10 – December 6, 1973Gerald Ford38(1913–2006)–RepublicanVacant throughDecember 19, 1974Nelson Rockefeller39(1924–2024)–Democratic1976Walter Mondale40(1911–2004)–Republican1980George H. W. Bush198441(1924–2018)–Republican1988Dan Quayle42()–Democratic1992Al Gore199643()–Republican2000Dick Cheney200444()–Democratic2008Joe Biden201245()1st term–Republican2016Mike Pence46()–Democratic2020Kamala Harris47()2nd term–IncumbentRepublican2024JD Vance

Timeline

See also Acting President of the United States Founding Fathers of the United States Historical rankings of presidents of the United States List of vice presidents of the United States President of the Continental Congress

Notes

References

Works cited

General

Expert studies

Presidential biographies

Online sources

External links