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, has to have lived in the United States for 14 years, and has to be 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.
There have been 43 people sworn into office, and 44 presidencies, as Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the 22nd and 24th president. Of the individuals elected as president, four 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).
George Washington, the first president, was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office with 32 days in 1841. Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest with over twelve years, but died shortly into his fourth term in 1945; he is the only president to have served more than two terms. 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 white men of all classes in 1828 after most laws barring non-land-owners from voting were repealed. Warren Harding was the first elected after women gained voting rights in 1920. Four presidents â€" John Q. Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush â€" lost the popular vote but assumed office; Bush was subsequently re-elected with a popular majority. John F. Kennedy has been the only president of Roman Catholic faith, and the current president, Barack Obama, is the first president of African descent.
List of presidents
- Parties
      None (1)       Federalist (1)       Democratic-Republican (4)       Democratic (16)       Whig (4)       Republican (18)
Living former presidents
As of June 2015, there are four living former presidents. From oldest to youngest:
The most recent death of a former president was that of Gerald Ford (1974â€"77) on December 26, 2006, aged 93.
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Whitehouse.gov: The Presidents
- The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies â€"Grand Valley State University
- POTUS: Presidents of the United States â€" Internet Public Library