List of Presidents of the United States of America

This article provides an overview of the President’s Responsibilities and a list of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States.

Roles & Responsibilities of the American President

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The office of the Presidency is the highest political office in the United States in terms of influence and recognition.

A person who serves as President leads the federal government’s executive branch and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers (the other being the vice president).

Official Powers

Among other powers and responsibilities, Article II of the United States Constitution charges the president with the following responsibilities:

• To “faithfully execute” federal law
• Be the president and the commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces.
• Nominate executive and judicial officers with the advice and consent of the Senate.
• To grant pardons and reprieves

Due to the United States’ status as the only true remaining superpower, the president is generally regarded as the most powerful person in the world.

How is the U.S. President Elected?

The country’s people indirectly elect the president of the USA through the Electoral College to serve a four-year term.

Length of Service / Term Limits

Since 1951, all presidents have been limited to two terms by the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution. Learn more about Constitutional Amendments.

The list in the next section shows that there have been 47 U.S. presidents. American presidents are elected to four-year terms and may serve a maximum of two terms (a total of eight years).

However, some U.S. American presidents on the list served longer before the term limitation was implemented. Also, some of the Presidents on the list only served a year or two of their term due to death in office.

List of Presidents

Following is a list of Presidents of the United States of America. The following is a list of all United States Presidents’ names in order of service. The list shows the president’s name, the years they served in office and the presidential party to which they belonged.

Note: William Henry Harrison, the 8th President, died after only 31 days in office. Harrison had the shortest presidency in U.S. history.

Please comment below if you have any questions regarding this List of Presidents of the United States.

List of Assassinated U.S. American Presidents

Throughout history, the President of the United States has been one of the world’s most sought-after targets for assassination. With the heightened state of terrorism and tense foreign relations, many politicians are under constant threat of being assassinated. Most attempts fail, primarily due to the protective work of the United States Secret Service, responsible for protecting the first family 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

• 1865: Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
• 1881: James A. Garfield. Charles J. Guiteau shot and killed James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881
• 1901: William McKinley. Leon Czolgosz assassinated William McKinley on September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York.
• 1963: John F. Kennedy. Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated JFK in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Notable Failed Assassination Attempts

There have been at least 30 known assassination attempts on U.S. presidents, including both successful and failed attempts. Here’s a breakdown of notable failed attempts:

1. Andrew Jackson (1835) – The first known attempt on a sitting president. Richard Lawrence’s two pistols misfired, and Jackson beat him with a cane.
2. Abraham Lincoln (1864, 1865) – Before his assassination, Lincoln was shot at by a Confederate operative but escaped unharmed.
3. Theodore Roosevelt (1912) – Shot in the chest while campaigning for a third term, but survived and continued his speech.
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933) – A gunman fired at him but missed; Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was killed instead.
5. Harry S. Truman (1950) – Two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to storm Blair House but were stopped by the Secret Service.
6. John F. Kennedy (1960) – An earlier attempt was foiled before his successful assassination in 1963.
7. Richard Nixon (1974) – A man planned to crash a plane into the White House but was stopped.
8. Gerald Ford (1975, twice) – Two different women, including one linked to Charles Manson, attempted to shoot him within 17 days.
9. Jimmy Carter (1979) – A plot involving a man with a gun near a speech venue was uncovered.
10. Ronald Reagan (1981) – John Hinckley Jr. shot him, but Reagan survived.
11. George H.W. Bush (1993) – An assassination plot by Iraqi agents was foiled.
12. Bill Clinton (1994, 1996) – Two attempts, one involving a plane attack and another with gunfire at the White House.
13. George W. Bush (2005) – A grenade was thrown at him in Georgia but failed to explode.
14. Barack Obama (2008, 2011) – Multiple plots, including a man firing at the White House.
15. Donald Trump (2016, 2020) – A man tried to grab a gun at a rally, and another mailed ricin to him.

Donald Trump has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, both during and after his presidency. Notable incidents include:

1. July 13, 2024 – Butler, Pennsylvania: During a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump was shot and wounded in the upper right ear by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired eight rounds from an AR–15–style rifle from a nearby rooftop. One audience member was killed, and two others were critically injured. Crooks was shot and killed by the U.S. Secret Service’s Counter Sniper Team shortly after opening fire. en.wikipedia.org
2. September 15, 2024 – West Palm Beach, Florida: At the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Secret Service agents observed 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh hiding in shrubbery with an SKS-style rifle. Routh had his weapon pointed through the fence line of the golf course, approximately 300–500 yards away from Trump. A Secret Service agent noticed this and fired four rounds toward Routh, who then dropped his weapon and fled the scene. After a short police chase, he was stopped and detained without resistance; no one was hurt. justice.gov
3. September 2024 – Alleged Iranian Plot: According to a criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice, an Iranian official had ordered agents in the U.S. to formulate a plan to kill Trump before the election. The agents, identified as 51-year-old Farjad Shakeri, 49-year-old Carlisle Rivera, and 36-year-old Jonathon Loadholt, were charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy. Shakeri was additionally charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran. en.wikipedia.org

These incidents highlight the ongoing security challenges former presidents face and law enforcement agencies’ continuous efforts to prevent such attacks.

List of U.S. Vice Presidents (in Chronological Order)

• John Adams (1789-1797)
• Thomas Jefferson (1797-1801)
• Aaron Burr (1801-1805)
• George Clinton (1805-1809)
• George Clinton (1809-1812)
• None (1812-1813)
• Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814)
• None (1814-1817)
• Daniel D. Tompkins (1817-1825)
• John C. Calhoun (1825-1829)
• John C. Calhoun (1829-1832)
• None (1832-1833)
• Martin Van Buren (1833-1837)
• Richard M. Johnson (1837-1841)
• John Tyler (1841)
• None (1841-1845)
• George M. Dallas (1845-1849)
• Millard Fillmore (1849-1850)
• No Vice President served during the period from 1850 to 1853.
• William King (1853)
• None (1853-1857)
• John C. Breckinridge (1857-1861)
• Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865)
• Andrew Johnson (1865)
• None (1865-1869)
• Schuyler Colfax (1869-1873)
• Henry Wilson (1873-1875)
• No Vice President served during the period 1875 to 1877
• William Wheeler (1877-1881)
• Chester Arthur (1881)
• None (1881-1885)
• Thomas Hendricks (1885)
• None (1885-1889)
• Levi P. Morton (1889-1893)
• Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-1897)
• Garret Hobart (1897-1899)
• None (1899-1901)
• Theodore Roosevelt (1901)
• None (1901-1905)
• Charles Fairbanks (1905-1909)
• James S. Sherman (1909-1912)
• None (1912-1913)
• Thomas R. Marshall (1913-1921)
• Calvin Coolidge (1921-1923)
• None (1923-1925)
• Charles Dawes (1925-1929)
• Charles Curtis (1929-1933)
• John Nance Garner (1933-1941)
• Henry A. Wallace (1941-1945)
• Harry S. Truman (1945)
• None (1945-1949)
• Alben Barkley (1949-1953)
• Richard Nixon (1953-1961)
• Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1963)
• None (1963-1965)
• Hubert Humphrey (1965-1969)
• Spiro Agnew (1969-1973)
• None (1973)
• Gerald Ford (1973-1974)
• None (1974)
• Nelson Rockefeller (1974-1977)
• Walter Mondale (1977-1981)
• George Bush (1981-1989)
• Dan Quayle (1989-1993)
• Al Gore (1993-2001)
• Dick Cheney (2001-2009)
• Joe Biden (2009-2017)
• Mike Pence (2017-2021)
• Kamala Harris (2021-present)

Other Presidential Facts and Information

There have been 46 U.S. American Presidents to date.

Theodore Roosevelt, who took office at age 42, was the youngest president. Joe Biden, who took office at age 78, was the oldest.

The average age of a president at the inauguration is 55.

Three presidents were impeached while in office. The Senate acquitted Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump (twice). Representatives performed the impeachment.

Many people believe that Richard Nixon approached them incorrectly. In reality, the impeachment process against Nixon was initiated, but he resigned from office before it was completed. He was the only president in U.S. history to do so.

Questions and Comments

If you have questions about the list of presidents, please post a message below. Also, learn how to send an email to the President. Please note that the comment section on this page cannot be used to send emails.

Want more lists? View our library of Lists of Lists.