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George Washington
Unaffiliated Political Party.
The only president in American history to be elected by unanimous approval.
Departments of State, War, and Treasury were established, along with the office of Attorney General, each headed by a trusted presidential adviser during his Presidency. -
John Adams
Federalist Party.
Known for his extreme political independence, brilliant mind and passionate patriotism.
Adams's style was largely to leave domestic matters to Congress and to control foreign policy himself. -
Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican Party.
He was a draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. -
James Madison
Democratic-Republican Party.
Wrote the first drafts of the U.S. Constitution, co-wrote the Federalist Papers and sponsored the Bill of Rights.
Support for the Bank of the United States revealed his pro-Federalist sympathies. -
James Monroe
Democratic-Republican Party.
Best known for establishing the foreign policy principle that came to bear his name, the Monroe Doctrine.
Monroe faced an economic crisis known as the Panic of 1819. It was the first major depression to hit the country since the 1780s. -
John Quincy Adams
Democratic-Republican Party.
He negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty, acquiring Florida for the United States.
He supported the "American System" first proposed by Henry Clay while Clay was Speaker of the House. -
Andrew Jackson
Democratic Party.
Founded the Democratic Party.
Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States. -
Martin Van Buren
Democratic Party.
Known for being a shrewd politician.
A financial panic hit the country and the stock market crashed during his Presidency. -
William Henry Harrison
Whig Party.
He was then the oldest man to take the office, and became the first U.S. president to die in office.
He criticized antislavery elements as endangering states' rights. -
John Tyler
Whig Party but then became Unaffiliated.
Tyler supported the annexation of Texas into the Union.
After leaving the presidency, Tyler led efforts for Southern secession. He became a member of the Confederate House of Representatives. -
James K. Polk
Democratic Party.
Known for his territorial expansion of the nation chiefly through the Mexican-American War.
Main domestic issues during James K. Polk's presidency was the extension of slavery into new American territories. -
Zachary Taylor
Whig Party.
Known as a national war hero for his battles in the Mexican War.
He led the nation during its debates on slavery and Southern secession. -
Millard Fillmore
Whig Party.
Best known for assuming the presidency after the death of Zachary Taylor.
He was instrumental in getting the Compromise of 1850 passed, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over slavery. -
Franklin Pierce
Democratic Party.
He alienated anti-slavery groups by championing and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act.
Saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation. -
James Buchanan
Democratic Party.
Buchanan's inability to halt the southern states' drive toward secession has led most historians to consider his presidency a failure.
During his tenure, seven Southern states seceded from the Union and the nation teetered on the brink of civil war. -
Abraham Lincoln
Republican Party.
He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.
He made considerable, long-lasting changes to the U.S. economy and banking system, thanks in large part to the guidance and supervision of U.S. Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. -
Andrew Johnson
National Union and Democratic Party.
He was the first president to be impeached.
He was the president whose actions led to the creation of "Radical Reconstruction." -
Ulysses S. Grant
Republican Party.
Known as the Union general who led the United States to victory over the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
Grant was determined to follow Lincoln's policy of reconciliation with the South rather than one of retribution or appeasement. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Republican Party.
He is famous for his domestic program Square Deal which had three basic ideas known as the “three C's”: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.
Theodore Roosevelt reflected the racial attitudes of his time, and his domestic record on race and civil rights was a mixed bag. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican Party.
He became the first Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1951.
Protecting freedom and the rule of law necessitated difficult decisions as civil rights became an urgent national issue. -
Ronald Reagan
Republican Party.
Helped redefine the purpose of government and pressured the Soviet Union to end the Cold War.
He solidified the conservative agenda for decades after his presidency. -
George W. Bush
Republican Party.
He led his country's response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003.
Bush pushed for immigration reform, which received criticism from many conservatives, and eased environmental regulations, which received criticism from many liberals.
