US Presidents (1789-1901)


Presidents of USA 🇺🇸 (United States of America) from 1789-1901 👴

George Washington was the first of all Presidents of USA and a founding father of the United States of America following the American revolutionary war against Great Britain. George Washington served as a Colonel in the colonial Virginia militia, Commander in chief in the Continental Army and Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army. George Washington was against the formation of parties and was not a member of the Republican or Democrat parties.

  • ADDucation’s list of all Presidents of USA list compiled by Robert Junker, last updated 18 Aug 2024.

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Presidents of USA # Born Died In Office Party Significant Actions and Decisions Vice-Presidents
George Washington 1st 1732 1799 1789-97 No party Led the United States to victory over Great Britain in the American war of independence (1775-83) before being elected as the first of 45 Presidents of the United States of America. John Adams
John Adams 2nd 1735 1826 1797-1801 Federalist Asserted his will in his party and thus prevented a war against France who had provoked one with attacks by French pirates. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson 3rd 1743 1826 1801-09 Democrat A flawless Democrat who in 1803 almost doubled the land size of the USA through the purchase of Louisiana (for $15 mio).
  • Aaron Burr
  • George Clinton
James Madison 4th 1751 1836 1809-17 Democrat Waged war in 1812-14 against England but had to flee Washington after British troops took the city and burned it down.
  • George Clinton
  • Elbridge Gerry
James Monroe 5th 1758 1831 1817-25 Democrat Purchased Florida from Spain for $ 5 mio in 1819. Introduced the so-called “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823 declaring the independence of all US states against “old Europe” and non-interference in European conflicts. Daniel D. Tompkins
John Quincy Adams 6th 1767 1848 1825-29 No party Attempted to introduce a civil service against the will of the people and the Senate which was understandably doomed to failure. John C. Calhoun
Andrew Jackson 7th 1767 1845 1829-37 Democrat A general before becoming president, he triumphed in the Battle of New Orleans against superior British troops in January 1815, unaware that the “Treaty of Ghent” had been agreed in 1814.
  • John C. Calhoun
  • Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren 8th 1782 1862 1837-41 Democrat Prevented the spread of slavery and declined the accession of Texas to the Union fearing it would trigger a war with Mexico. Richard Johnson
William Harrison 9th 1773 1841 1841 Whig Died of pneumonia just 1 month after taking office. John Tyler
John Tyler 10th 1790 1862 1841-45 Whig Annexed Texas and successfully admitted it to the union in 1845. Texas had been independent of Mexico since 1836. Vacant
James Knox Polk 11th 1795 1849 1845-49 Democrat Specified the 49° latitude as the border between the US and Canada in 1846, waged war against Mexico (1846-48) then subsequently purchased land areas of Mexico for $15 m which later became California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. George M. Dallas
Zachary Taylor 12th 1784 1850 1849-50 Whig Taylor, a conservative, himself owned slaves but he switched to the Whigs and fought against slavery. Adopted the slave-free California into the Union and died a short time later of cholera. Milliard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore 13th 1800 1874 1850-53 Whig Searched for an ideal solution to the slave conflict between North and South but ended up causing greater alienation between the parties. Vacant
Franklin Pierce 14th 1804 1869 1853-57 Democrat Also tried to prevent the impending civil war, but found no way of appeasing the South. Paid in the “Gadsden Purchase” $10 m for parts of Arizona and New Mexico. William R. King
James Buchanan 15th 1791 1868 1857-61 Democrat James Buchanan was against slavery, yet supported the accession to the union of slave state Kansas. Was unable to prevent 7 southern states banding together to form the self-governing Confederacy of Confederate States. John C. Breckinridge
Abraham Lincoln 16th 1809 1865 1861-65 Republican The unavoidable happened when four more states joined the Confederacy and the American Civil War began with the attack by the South on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on 12 April 1861. By 1865, numerous and costly battles took place, among others in Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) where the Southern General Robert E. Lee lost. On 9 April 1865 Lee was definitively defeated, ending the war. 5 days later Lincoln was shot dead in a theater, the first of four US presidents assassinated while in office followed by James A Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901 and John F. Kennedy in 1963.
  • Hannibal Hamlin
  • Andrew Johnson
Jefferson Davis – 1808 1889 1861-65 – President of the southern Confederate States of America during the American Civil War 1861-1865 and is not one of the presidents of USA, the United States of America. Alexander H. Stephens
Andrew Johnson 17th 1808 1875 1865-69 Democrat Angered by his conciliatory course towards the defeated South, the Republicans launched impeachment proceedings against him. In vain – they failed by just one vote. Purchased Alaska for $ 7.2 m from Russia. Vacant
Ulysses S. Grant 18th 1822 1885 1869-77 Republican Grant was a victorious general in the Civil War and accompanied the reconstruction of the united country. In 1870 he gave black males the vote. His general George Custer was crushingly defeated at the Battle of Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876) by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
  • Schulyer Colfax
  • Henry Wilson
Rutherford B. Hayes 19th 1822 1893 1877-81 Republican Withdrew the last union troops from the south in 1877 thus completing the reunion. William A. Wheeler
James A. Garfield 20th 1831 1881 1881 Republican The second of four presidents of USA to have been killed by gunshot in office. Shot just four months after taking office by Charles Guiteau. He died shortly afterwards from the consequences. Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur 21st 1830 1886 1881-85 Republican Reformed the civil service in a fight against corruption in 1883. Vacant
Grover Cleveland 22nd 1837 1908 1885-89 Democrat Founded the Trade Commission to nationalize the railways of individual US states. Ended the war against the Apaches in 1886 with the arrest of their chief Geronimo. Thomas Hendricks
Benjamin Harrison 23rd 1833 1901 1889-93 Republican Successfully combated the formation of industry monopolies with the help of the so-called anti-trust law. Ended the Indian Wars in 1890 through the carnage at “Wounded Knee” in South Dakota. Levin P. Morton
Grover Cleveland 24th 1837 1908 1893-97 Democrat The only US president ever to hold office twice with a break between terms. Led the country through the fierce economic crisis of 1893. Adlai E. Stevenson
William McKinley 25th 1843 -1901 1897-1901 Republican Battle for Cuba and war against Spain (1898), which was suspected to have caused the explosion aboard the battleship “Maine”. After defeating Cuba it was occupied by the military. Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico and Guam and sell the Philippines to the US for $20 m. McKinley also took Hawaii into the Union in 1898. The third of four presidents of USA to have been assassinated in office in 1901.
  • Garret Hobart
  • Theodore Roosevelt

See also: US Presidents 1901 onwards…

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