- For lists of U.S. Presidents based on other criteria such as age or home state, see Template:Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents.
The White House, the president's official residence and center of the administration.
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.
George Washington, the first president, was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. A constitutional amendment, affecting presidents after Harry Truman, was passed to limit the number of times an individual can be elected president. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president, was the first to be elected by men of all classes in 1828 after most laws barring non-land-owners from voting were repealed.
The listing below is for the current government of the USA. For this country, however, there were prior governments (including that under the Articles of Confederation). Prior to George Washington as first president under the current constitution, there were twelve people in leadership over the government of the United States of America who held the title of "President". Also during the Civil War, there was the position of "President of the Confederate States of America" in an entity separate from the USA, and this position was held by one person.
List of presidents
- Parties
No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
| № | 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) | |||||||||
| 2 | John Adams (1735–1826) |
March 4, 1797 | March 4, 1801 |
Federalist | 3 (1796) |
Vice President | Thomas Jefferson | ||
| 3 | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) |
March 4, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | Democratic- Republican |
4 (1800) |
Vice President | Aaron Burr March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805 | ||
| 5 (1804) |
George Clinton March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812 | ||||||||
| 6 | John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) |
March 4, 1825 | March 4, 1829 | Democratic- Republican |
10 (1824) |
Secretary of State (1817–1825) |
John C. Calhoun March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 | ||
| 7 | Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) |
March 4, 1829 | March 4, 1837 | Democratic | 11 (1828) |
U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1823–1825) |
|||
| Vacant December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833 | |||||||||
| 12 (1832) |
Martin Van Buren March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||
| 18 | Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) |
March 4, 1869 | March 4, 1877 | Republican | 21 (1868) |
Commanding General of the U.S. Army (1864–1869) |
Schuyler Colfax March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 | ||
| 22 (1872) |
Henry Wilson March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 | ||||||||
| Vacant November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 | |||||||||
| 26 | Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) |
September 14, 1901 | March 4, 1909 | Republican | 29 | Vice President | vacant | ||
| 30 (1904) | Charles W. Fairbanks | ||||||||
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) |
March 4, 1913 | March 4, 1921 | Democratic | 32 (1912) |
Governor of New Jersey (1911–1913) |
Thomas R. Marshall | ||
| 33 (1916) | |||||||||
| 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) |
March 4, 1933 | April 12, 1945 | Democratic | 37 (1932) |
Governor of New York (1929–1932) |
John Nance Garner March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941 | ||
| 38 (1936) | |||||||||
| 39 (1940) |
Henry A. Wallace January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945 | ||||||||
| 40 (1944) |
Harry S. Truman January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 | ||||||||
| 33 | Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) |
April 12, 1945 | January 20, 1953 | Democratic | Vice President | Vacant April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1949 | |||
| 41 (1948) |
Alben W. Barkley January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 | ||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||
| 37 | Richard Nixon (1913–1994) |
January 20, 1969 | August 9, 1974 | Republican | 46 (1968) |
Vice President (1953–1961) |
Spiro Agnew January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 | ||
| 47 (1972) |
|||||||||
| Vacant October 10, 1973 – December 6, 1973 | |||||||||
| Gerald Ford December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 | |||||||||
| 38 | Gerald Ford (1913–2006) |
August 9, 1974 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | Vice President | Vacant August 9, 1974 – December 19, 1974 | |||
| Nelson Rockefeller December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |||||||||
| 39 | Jimmy Carter (born 1924) |
January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | 48 (1976) | Governor of Georgia (1971–1975) | Walter Mondale | ||
| 40 | Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) |
January 20, 1981 | January 20, 1989 | Republican | 49 (1980) | Governor of California (1967–1975) | George H. W. Bush | ||
| 50 (1984) | |||||||||
| 41 | George H. W. Bush (born 1924) |
January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | Republican | 51 (1988) |
Vice President | Dan Quayle | ||
| 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) | |||||||||
| 45 | Garrett Walker (born 1962) |
January 20, 2013 | October 28, 2014 | Democratic | 57 (2012) | Governor of Colorado | Jim Matthews | ||
| Frank Underwood | |||||||||
| 46 | Frank Underwood (born 1959) |
October 28, 2014 | Incumbent | Democratic | Vice President | Donald Blythe | |||
Living former presidents
As of April 2024, there are five living former presidents:
| President | Term of office | Date of birth |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Carter | 1977–1981 | October 1, 1924 |
| George H. W. Bush | 1989–1993 | June 12, 1924 |
| Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | August 19, 1946 |
| George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | July 6, 1946 |
| Garrett Walker | 2013–2014 | July 18, 1962 |
Trivia
- In the continuity of the show, we know that Garrett Walker was elected President in 2012, and would have run for re-election in 2016. He was the 45th President, and he mentions, just before he announces his resignation, that Frank will be the 46th. How this works out in terms of who was President before him has not been explained. However, through portraits, photographs and mentions of former Presidents, this list has been started.
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