The Presidents
Photos, Time served in office, Political
Party, Vice president, Accomplishments
Jennifer Westwood
George Washington (1789-1797)
• Vice President: John Adams
• Joined states together and
helped establish federal
government
• Kept the United States
Neutral in the French
Revolution in 1793
• Voluntarily resigned
• Not part of a political party,
there were no parties in
1789 and they first emerged
during his presidency
John Adams (1797-1801)
• Vice President: Thomas
Jefferson
• First Vice President
• Established many of the basic
ideas and principles that made
up constitution.
• Handled the naval conflict,
Quasi-War
• He also secured peace with
the French and protection for
American Merchants while
also earning credit for the
young nations ability to stand
up to European power
• Member of the federalist party
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
• Vice President: Aaron Burr
• Member of the DemocraticRepublican Party
• Wrote the first draft of the
declaration of
Independence
• Responsible for Louisiana
Purchase expanding the US
dramatically
• Created Embargo Act
• Co-founder of the
democratic Republican
party
James Madison (1809-1817)
• Vice President: George
Clinton (1809-1812), no
one (1812-18130,
Eldbridge Gerry (18131814), No one (18141817)
• Member of DemocraticRepublican party
• Helped in writing the
Federalist papers
• Helped frame the Bill of
Rights and enact first
revenue legislation
James Monroe (1817-1825)
• Vice President: Daniel
D. Tompkins
• Political Party:
Democratic- Republican
Party
• Contended with First
Seminole War
• Missouri Compromise
(1820) and Monroe
Doctrine (1823)
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
• Vice President: John C.
Calhoun
• Member of the Democratic
Party
• Negotiated the Adams- Onis
Treaty
• Supported internal
improvements including the
extension of the
Cumberland Road
• One of his goals was to
protect domestic
manufacturing
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
• Vice President: John C.
Calhoun (1829-1832),
No one (1832-1833),
Martin Van Buren
(1833-1837)
• Member of the
Democratic Party
• Defined presidency
through the nullification
crisis and the “Bank
War”
Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
• Vice President: Richard
M. Johnson
• Member of the
Democratic Party
• Advocated lower tariffs
and free trade
• Set up a system of bonds
for the national debt
• Reversed Andrew
Jackson’s policies and
sought peace at home
William Henry Harrison (1841)
• Vice President: John Tyler
• Member of the Whig
Political Party.
• First president to have
been photographed
• First to not have been
appointed any federal
judge
• Died a month after taking
office of pneumonia
John Tyler (1841-1845)
• Vice President: none
• Member of the Whig
Political Party
• Tyler’s cabinet resigned
after he vetoed banking
bills supported by the
whigs
• Far East opened to US
traders after a treaty with
China signed
• Texas annexed followed
by war with Mexico
James K. Polk (1845-1849)
• Vice President: George M.
Dallas
• Member of the Democratic
Party
• Responsible for the
reestablishment of the
Independent Treasury System
• Also, responsible for the
reduction of tariffs
• Acquisition of some or all of
the Oregon Country
• Acquisition of California and
New Mexico from Mexico
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
• Vice President: Millard
Fillmore
• Member of the Whig
Political Party
• He opposed slavery and
tried to settle slave states,
but he died
• Used federal troops to
prevent the slave state of
Texas from expanding into
New Mexican territory
• Deciding against colonizing
Central America
Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
• Vice President: None
• Member of the Whig
Political Party
• Signed the Compromise
of 1850
• Fugitive slave act
• Nicknamed The
American Louise
Philippe, Last of the
Whigs
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
• Vice President: William
King (1853), none (18531857)
• Member of the
Democratic Party
• Signed the KansasNebraska Act of 1854
• Purchased the area now
comprising Southern
Arizona and part of
Southern New Mexico
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
• Vice President: John C.
Brekenridge
• Member of the Democratic
Political Party
• Fought for Kansas to be
admitted as a slave state,
but lost that battle
• Failed in passing the
Lecompten Constitution
• Buchanan sent army to
replace Young as Governor
with the non-Mormon in
Utah Territory
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
• Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin
(1861-1865), Andrew Johnson
(1865)
• Member of the Illinois Republican
Party
• Commander in chief during Civil
War
• Foreign policies were successful
in preventing other countries
from intervening in the Civil War
• Issued the Emancipation
Proclamation
• Signed the Homestead Act, the
Morrill Act, the National Banking
Act, and a bill that chartered the
first transcontinental railroad
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
• Vice President: none
• Involved in the
Democratic; Unionist
parties
• Signed the Civil Rights Bill
• Created new federal civil
rights
• Responsible for the
purchase of Alaska from
the Russian Empire in
1867
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
• Vice President, Schuyler Colfax,
Henry Wilson, none (75-77)
• Member of the Republican Party
• Signed bills that promoted Black
Voting Rights
• Signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875
• Passed the Inflation Bill on April
14, 1874
• Signed the Treaty of Washington
for settling the Alabama claims
dispute between Britian and the
United States by International
Arbitration
• Include the enforcement of Civil
Rights for African Americans in
the Reconstruction states
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
• Vice President: William
Wheeler
• Member of the
Republican political party
• Signed Domestic Act
• Signed Bill Requirement
for Black Rights
• Passed Bill allowed
female attorneys to argue
cases before the Supreme
Court
James A. Garfield (1881)
• Vice President: Chester
Arthur
• Member of the
Republican Political party
• He attempted to
reestablish the
Independence of the
presidency
• Started the work of the
Pendleton Civil Service
Reform Act
Chester Arthur (1881-1885)
• Vice President: none
• Member of the Republican
Party
• Signed the Pendleton Civil
Service Act which provided
for a “classified system”
which allowed certain
government positions to be
obtained only through
written examinations
• Passed the Tariff Act,
lowering tariff prices
• Passed the first federal
immigration law
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
• Vice President: Thomas Hendricks
(1885), none
• Member of the Democratic
Political Party
• Signed an Act creating the
Interstate Commerce Commission
• Passed a Bill in 1886 that would
require the government to coin
unlimited amounts of silver,
inflating the then-deflating
currency.
• Angered railroad investors by
ordering an investigation of
western lands they held by
government grant
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
• Vice President: Levi P. Morton
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• Passed the Sherman Antitrust
Act
• Passed the Dependent and
Disability Pensions Act
• Passed Sherman Silver
Purchase Act
• Removed tariff from imported
raw sugar, and sugar growers
in the United States
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
• Vice President: Adlai E.
Stevenson
• Member of the
Democratic Political
party
• (same as before)
William McKinley (1897-1901)
• Vice President: Garret
Hobart (1897-1899),
none(1899-1901), Theodore
Roosevelt (1901-1909)
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• Signed annexing the
Republic of Hawaii to the
USA
• Gold Standard Act where by
the US was officially placed
on the gold standard
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
• Vice President: None (19011905), Charles Fairbanks
(1905-1909)
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• First president to leave the
country during his term in
order to see the building of
the Panama Canal
• Won the Nobel Peace Prizenegotiated peace treaty
that ended the RussoJapanese War- 1905
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
• Vice President: James
Sherman (1909-1912), none
(1912-1913)
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• Passage of the sixteenth
amendment
• Improved the performance
of the postal sercive
• Strengthened the Interstate
Commerce Commission
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
• Vice President: Thomas R.
Marshall (1912-1921)
• Member of the Democratic
Political Party
• Implemented Federal Reserve
Act
• Limited RR workers to an 8
hour day
• Successfully led US to victory
in WWI
• Announced the 14 points as
guiding principle after war and
allies adopted the “Treaty of
Versasilles”
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
• Vice President: Calvin
Coolidge
• Member of the
Republican Political Party
• Signed a series of bills and
amendments passed by
congress into law that
regulated the farm
industry
• Supported anti-lynching
movement
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
• Vice President: None, Charles
Dawes (1925-1929)
• Member of the Republican
Political party
• Responsible for the rapid
economic growth known as the
“Roaring Twenties”
• Signed the Radio Act of 1927,
which assigned regulation of
Radio to the newly created
Federal Radio Commission
• Signed Indian Citizenship Act
granting full US citizenship to all
American Indians, while
permitting them to retain tribal
land and cultural rights
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
• Vice President: Charles Curtis
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• Helped push Tariff and Farm
subsidy bills through congress
• He expanded Civil Service
Coverage of Federal Positions,
canceled Private Oil Leases on
Government Lands, and By
instructing the Justice
Department and the Internal
Revenue Service to pursue
Gangsters for Tax Evasion
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
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Vice president: John Nance Garner,
Henry A. Wallace, Harry S. Truman
Member of the Democratic political
party
The Securities and Exchange
Commission was created to regulate
Wall Street.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA),
which built dams and power stations,
controlled floods, and modernized
agriculture and home conditions in
the poverty-stricken Tennessee
Valley.
The Social Security Act, established
Social Security and promised
Economic Security for the Elderly, the
Poor and the Sick.
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
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Vice President: none (1945-1949),
Alben Barkley
Member of the Democratic Political
Party
Truman strongly supported the
creation of the United
Nations
Truman was a key figure in the
establishment of the Jewish state in
the Palestine Mandate.
Throughout his presidency, Truman
had to deal with accusations that the
federal government was harboring
Soviet spies at the highest level.
Strong supporter of the creation of
NATO
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
• Vice President: Richard Nixon
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• Successful in having kept
America at peace even while
confronted with Cold War
crises.
• He ended the Korean War
• Balanced the budget three
separate times
• Sponsored and signed the
Federal Aid Highway Act of
1956
• Sponsored and signed the Civil
Rights Bill of 1957
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
• Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
• Member of the Democratic
Political Party
• Became first catholic POTUS
• Established the Peace Corps
• Responsible for helping divert a
nuclear war with the soviet union
and secured removal of missiles
from Cuba
• John F. Kennedy issued an
executive order prohibiting
discrimination in the sale or lease
of housing that was financed by
federally guaranteed loans or
owned by the federal
government.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
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Vice President: none, Hubert Humphrey
(1965-1969)
Member of the Democratic Political Party
In conjunction with the civil rights
movement, Johnson overcame southern
resistance and convinced Congress to pass
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Johnson signed the Immigration Act of
1965, which substantially changed U.S.
immigration policy toward non-Europeans
Johnson increasingly focused on the
American military effort in Vietnam.
During Johnson's administration, the first
human spaceflight to the Moon, Apollo 8,
was successfully flown by NASA in
December 1968
Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
• Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew,
none, Gerald Ford
• Member of the Republican
Political party
• President Nixon traveled to China
to try and encourage peace and
more contact between the two
nations
• Nixon approved the development
of NASA's Space Shuttle program
• He established the Consumer
Product Safety Commission in
1972
• Paris Peace Accords were signed
in 1973
Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
• Vice Presidents: none, Gerald
Ford (1973-1974)
• Member of the Republican
Political party
• Ford issued Proclamation
4311, which gave Nixon a full
and unconditional pardon for
any crimes he may have
committed against the United
States while President
• Introduced a conditional
amnesty program for Vietnam
War draft dodgers who had
fled to countries such as
Canada.
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
• Vice President: Walter
Mondale
• Member of the Democratic
Political Party
• He encouraged energy
conservation, installed solar
panels on the White House,
and wore sweaters while
turning down the heat.
• Bailed out Chrysler
• He led the plan to deregulate
the airline industry.
• He canceled military pay raises
during a time of high inflation
and government deficits.
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
• Vice President: George Bush
• Member of the Republican
Political Party
• His mix of tax cuts, deregulation
etc. helped fuel and economic
boom that lasted two decades
• Had a tax reform and passed tax
reform act of 1986 that simplified
the income- tax code by
eliminating many shelters and
reducing other deductions
• Known for voicing his values and
often recounted the wisdom of
the founding fathers. He also
championed the cause of the prolife and family- values
movements.
George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
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Vice President: Dan Quayle
Member of the Republican Political
Party
Bush's Administration, along with the
Progressive Conservative Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,
spearheaded the negotiations of the
North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA)
Bush reauthorized the Clean Air Act,
requiring cleaner burning Fuels.
Bush signed a Bill providing
additional benefits for Unemployed
Workers.
Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
• Vice President: Al Gore (19932001)
• Member of the Democratic
political party
• Longest economic expansion in
American history
• More than 22 million new jobs
• Lowest unemployment in 30
years
• Raised education standards,
increased school choice, and
double education and training
investment
• Lowest crime rate in 26 years
• Added 100,000 more police to
the streets
George W. Bush (2001-2009)
• Vice President: Dick
Cheney
• Banned partial birth
abortion
• reversed Clinton's policy
of not requiring parental
consent for abortions
under the Medical Privacy
Act
• Signed two income tax
cuts, one of which was
the largest dollar-value
tax cut in world history
Barack Obama (2009-2017)
• Vice President: Joe
Biden
• According to
obamaachievments.org
he had “done a lot for
veterans”
• Ended war in Iraq
• In office when Osama
Bin Laden was killed