presidency of the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction
Duties of the office
Historical development
- Postrevolutionary period
- The presidency in the 19th century
- Changes in the 20th century
Selecting a president
- The evolution of the nomination process
  - “King Caucus”
  - The convention system
  - Post-1968 reforms
- The modern nomination process
  - Deciding to run
  - The money game
  - The primary and caucus season
  - Presidential nominating conventions
- The general election campaign
Presidents of the United States
United States presidential election results

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Presidents of the United States

inpresidency of the United States of America

Also known as: president of the United States of America

Written by Michael Levy, Forrest McDonald•All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 7, 2024 • Article History

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Related Topics:: United States; Electoral College; Eight Elections That Changed History; list of U.S. presidents who experienced chronic health problems while in office; United States presidential inauguration

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The table provides a list of U.S. presidents.

Presidents of the United States
	no.	president	birthplace	political party	term
*Died in office.
**Resigned from office.
	1	George Washington	Virginia	Federalist	1789–97
	2	John Adams	Massachusetts	Federalist	1797–1801
	3	Thomas Jefferson	Virginia	Democratic-Republican	1801–09
	4	James Madison	Virginia	Democratic-Republican	1809–17
	5	James Monroe	Virginia	Democratic-Republican	1817–25
	6	John Quincy Adams	Massachusetts	National Republican	1825–29
	7	Andrew Jackson	South Carolina	Democratic	1829–37
	8	Martin Van Buren	New York	Democratic	1837–41
	9	William Henry Harrison	Virginia	Whig	1841*
	10	John Tyler	Virginia	Whig	1841–45
	11	James K. Polk	North Carolina	Democratic	1845–49
	12	Zachary Taylor	Virginia	Whig	1849–50*
	13	Millard Fillmore	New York	Whig	1850–53
	14	Franklin Pierce	New Hampshire	Democratic	1853–57
	15	James Buchanan	Pennsylvania	Democratic	1857–61
	16	Abraham Lincoln	Kentucky	Republican	1861–65*
	17	Andrew Johnson	North Carolina	Democratic (Union)	1865–69
	18	Ulysses S. Grant	Ohio	Republican	1869–77
	19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Ohio	Republican	1877–81
	20	James A. Garfield	Ohio	Republican	1881*
	21	Chester A. Arthur	Vermont	Republican	1881–85
	22	Grover Cleveland	New Jersey	Democratic	1885–89
	23	Benjamin Harrison	Ohio	Republican	1889–93
	24	Grover Cleveland	New Jersey	Democratic	1893–97
	25	William McKinley	Ohio	Republican	1897–1901*
	26	Theodore Roosevelt	New York	Republican	1901–09
	27	William Howard Taft	Ohio	Republican	1909–13
	28	Woodrow Wilson	Virginia	Democratic	1913–21
	29	Warren G. Harding	Ohio	Republican	1921–23*
	30	Calvin Coolidge	Vermont	Republican	1923–29
	31	Herbert Hoover	Iowa	Republican	1929–33
	32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	New York	Democratic	1933–45*
	33	Harry S. Truman	Missouri	Democratic	1945–53
	34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Texas	Republican	1953–61
	35	John F. Kennedy	Massachusetts	Democratic	1961–63*
	36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Texas	Democratic	1963–69
	37	Richard M. Nixon	California	Republican	1969–74**
	38	Gerald R. Ford	Nebraska	Republican	1974–77
	39	Jimmy Carter	Georgia	Democratic	1977–81
	40	Ronald Reagan	Illinois	Republican	1981–89
	41	George Bush	Massachusetts	Republican	1989–93
	42	Bill Clinton	Arkansas	Democratic	1993–2001
	43	George W. Bush	Connecticut	Republican	2001–09
	44	Barack Obama	Hawaii	Democratic	2009–17
	45	Donald Trump	New York	Republican	2017–21
	46	Joe Biden	Pennsylvania	Democratic	2021–

United States presidential election results

The table provides a list of U.S. electoral college results.

U.S. presidential election results
year	candidate	political party	electoral votes¹	popular votes²	popular percentage³
¹In elections from 1789 to 1804, each elector voted for two individuals without indicating which was to be president and which was to be vice president.
²In early elections, electors were chosen by legislatures, not by popular vote, in many states.
³Candidates winning no electoral votes and less than 2 percent of the popular vote are excluded; percentages may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding.
⁴Washington was unopposed for president in 1789 and 1792.
⁵Because the two houses of the New York legislature could not agree on electors, the state did not cast its electoral votes. North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution.
⁶As both Jefferson and Burr received the same number of electoral votes, the decision was referred to the House of Representatives. The Twelfth Amendment (1804) provided that electors cast separate ballots for president and vice president.
⁷As no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes, the decision was made by the House of Representatives.
⁸Greeley died shortly after the election in November. Three electors pledged to Greeley cast their votes for him, but they were not counted; the others cast their votes for the other candidates listed.
⁹Includes a variety of joint tickets with People's Party electors committed to Bryan.
¹⁰One Gore elector from Washington, D.C., abstained from casting an electoral vote.
Sources: Electoral and popular vote totals based on data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives; the United States Office of the Federal Register; the Federal Election Commission; Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, 4th ed. (2001); and the official certified state vote totals.
1789	George Washington ⁴	no formally organized parties	69⁵
	John Adams		34
	John Jay		9
	R.H. Harrison		6
	John Rutledge		6
	John Hancock		4
	George Clinton		3
	Samuel Huntington		2
	John Milton		2
	James Armstrong		1
	Benjamin Lincoln		1
	Edward Telfair		1
	not voted		44
1792	George Washington ⁴	Federalist	132
	John Adams	Federalist	77
	George Clinton	Democratic-Republican	50
	Thomas Jefferson		4
	Aaron Burr		1
1796	John Adams	Federalist	71
	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	68
	Thomas Pinckney	Federalist	59
	Aaron Burr	Antifederalist	30
	Samuel Adams	Democratic-Republican	15
	Oliver Ellsworth	Federalist	11
	George Clinton	Democratic-Republican	7
	John Jay	Independent-Federalist	5
	James Iredell	Federalist	3
	George Washington	Federalist	2
	John Henry	Independent	2
	S. Johnston	Independent-Federalist	2
	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Independent-Federalist	1
1800	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	73⁶
	Aaron Burr	Democratic-Republican	73⁶
	John Adams	Federalist	65
	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	64
	John Jay	Federalist	1
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	162
1804	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	14
1808	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	122
	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	47
	George Clinton	Independent-Republican	6
	not voted		1
1812	James Madison	Democratic-Republican	128
	DeWitt Clinton	Fusion	89
	not voted		1
1816	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	183
	Rufus King	Federalist	34
	not voted		4
1820	James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	231
	John Quincy Adams	Independent-Republican	1
	not voted		3
1824	John Quincy Adams	no distinct party designations	84⁷	108,740	30.9
	Andrew Jackson		99	153,544	41.3
	Henry Clay		37	47,531	13.0
	William H. Crawford		41	40,856	11.2
1828	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	178	647,286	56.0
1828	John Quincy Adams	National Republican	83	508,064	43.6
1832	Andrew Jackson	Democratic	219	687,502	54.2
	Henry Clay	National Republican	49	530,189	37.4
	William Wirt	Anti-Masonic	7	100,715	7.8
	John Floyd	Nullifiers	11
	not voted		2
1836	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	170	762,678	50.8
	William Henry Harrison	Whig	73	550,816	36.6
	Hugh L. White	Whig	26	146,107	9.7
	Daniel Webster	Whig	14	41,201	2.7
	W.P. Mangum	Anti-Jackson	11
1840	William Henry Harrison	Whig	234	1,275,016	52.9
1840	Martin Van Buren	Democratic	60	1,129,102	46.8
1844	James K. Polk	Democratic	170	1,337,243	49.5
	Henry Clay	Whig	105	1,299,062	48.1
	James Gillespie Birney	Liberty		62,103	2.3
1848	Zachary Taylor	Whig	163	1,360,099	47.3
	Lewis Cass	Democratic	127	1,220,544	42.5
	Martin Van Buren	Free Soil		291,501	10.1
1852	Franklin Pierce	Democratic	254	1,601,274	50.8
	Winfield Scott	Whig	42	1,386,580	43.9
	John Parker Hale	Free Soil		155,210	4.9
1856	James Buchanan	Democratic	174	1,838,169	45.3
	John C. Frémont	Republican	114	1,341,264	33.1
	Millard Fillmore	American (Know-Nothing)	8	873,053	21.5
1860	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	180	1,866,452	39.9
	John C. Breckinridge	Southern Democratic	72	847,953	18.1
	Stephen A. Douglas	Democratic	12	1,380,202	29.5
	John Bell	Constitutional Union	39	590,901	12.6
1864	Abraham Lincoln	Republican	212	2,213,665	55.0
	George B. McClellan	Democratic	21	1,805,237	45.0
	not voted		81
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	214	3,012,833	52.7
	Horatio Seymour	Democratic	80	2,703,249	47.3
	not voted		23
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	Republican	286	3,597,132	55.6
	Horace Greeley ⁸	Democratic/Liberal Republican		2,834,125	43.8
	Thomas A. Hendricks	Independent-Democratic	42
	B. Gratz Brown	Democratic	18
	Charles J. Jenkins	Democratic	2
	David Davis	Democratic	1
	not voted		17
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes	Republican	185	4,036,298	48.0
1876	Samuel J. Tilden	Democratic	184	4,300,590	51.0
1880	James A. Garfield	Republican	214	4,454,416	48.3
	Winfield Scott Hancock	Democratic	155	4,444,952	48.2
	James B. Weaver	Greenback		305,997	3.3
1884	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	219	4,874,986	48.5
1884	James G. Blaine	Republican	182	4,851,981	48.3
1888	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	233	5,439,853	47.8
	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	168	5,540,309	48.6
	Clinton B. Fisk	Prohibition		249,819	2.2
1892	Grover Cleveland	Democratic	277	5,556,918	46.1
	Benjamin Harrison	Republican	145	5,176,108	43.0
	James B. Weaver	People's (Populist)	22	1,027,329	8.5
	John Bidwell	Prohibition		270,770	2.2
1896	William McKinley	Republican	271	7,104,779	51.0
1896	William Jennings Bryan	Democratic ⁹	176	6,502,925	46.7
1900	William McKinley	Republican	292	7,207,923	51.7
1900	William Jennings Bryan	Democratic ⁹	155	6,358,133	45.5
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	Republican	336	7,623,486	56.4
	Alton B. Parker	Democratic	140	5,077,911	37.6
	Eugene V. Debs	Socialist		402,489	3.0
1908	William Howard Taft	Republican	321	7,678,908	51.6
	William Jennings Bryan	Democratic	162	6,409,104	43.0
	Eugene V. Debs	Socialist		420,380	2.8
1912	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	435	6,293,454	41.8
	Theodore Roosevelt	Progressive (Bull Moose)	88	4,119,207	27.4
	William Howard Taft	Republican	8	3,483,922	23.2
	Eugene V. Debs	Socialist		900,369	6.0
1916	Woodrow Wilson	Democratic	277	9,129,606	49.2
	Charles Evans Hughes	Republican	254	8,538,221	46.1
	Allan L. Benson	Socialist		589,924	3.2
1920	Warren G. Harding	Republican	404	16,147,249	60.3
	James M. Cox	Democratic	127	9,140,864	34.1
	Eugene V. Debs	Socialist		897,704	3.4
1924	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	382	15,725,016	54.1
	John W. Davis	Democratic	136	8,386,503	28.8
	Robert M. La Follette	Progressive	13	4,822,856	16.6
1928	Herbert Hoover	Republican	444	21,392,190	58.0
1928	Alfred E. Smith	Democratic	87	15,016,443	40.7
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	472	22,821,857	57.3
	Herbert Hoover	Republican	59	15,761,841	39.6
	Norman Thomas	Socialist		884,781	2.2
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	523	27,476,673	60.2
1936	Alfred M. Landon	Republican	8	16,679,583	36.5
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	449	27,243,466	54.7
1940	Wendell L. Willkie	Republican	82	22,304,755	44.8
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	432	25,602,505	53.3
1944	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican	99	22,006,278	45.8
1948	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	303	24,105,695	49.4
	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican	189	21,969,170	45.0
	Strom Thurmond	States' Rights Democratic (Dixiecrat)	39	1,169,021	2.4
	Henry A. Wallace	Progressive		1,156,103	2.4
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	442	33,778,963	54.9
1952	Adlai E. Stevenson	Democratic	89	27,314,992	44.4
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	457	35,581,003	57.4
1956	Adlai E. Stevenson	Democratic	73	25,738,765	42.0
1960	John F. Kennedy	Democratic	303	34,227,096	49.7
	Richard M. Nixon	Republican	219	34,107,646	49.5
	Harry F. Byrd	not a candidate	15
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	486	42,825,463	61.1
1964	Barry M. Goldwater	Republican	52	27,146,969	38.5
1968	Richard M. Nixon	Republican	301	31,710,470	43.4
	Hubert H. Humphrey	Democratic	191	30,898,055	42.7
	George C. Wallace	American Independent	46	9,906,473	13.5
1972	Richard M. Nixon	Republican	520	46,740,323	60.7
1972	George S. McGovern	Democratic	17	28,901,598	37.5
1976	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	297	40,825,839	50.0
1976	Gerald R. Ford	Republican	240	39,147,770	48.0
1980	Ronald W. Reagan	Republican	489	43,642,639	50.4
	Jimmy Carter	Democratic	49	35,480,948	41.0
	John B. Anderson	Independent		5,719,437	6.6
1984	Ronald W. Reagan	Republican	525	54,455,075	58.8
1984	Walter F. Mondale	Democratic	13	37,577,185	40.6
1988	George H.W. Bush	Republican	426	48,886,097	53.4
1988	Michael S. Dukakis	Democratic	111	41,809,074	45.7
1992	Bill Clinton	Democratic	370	44,909,889	43.0
	George Bush	Republican	168	39,104,545	37.4
	Ross Perot	Independent		19,742,267	18.9
1996	Bill Clinton	Democratic	379	47,402,357	49.2
	Bob Dole	Republican	159	39,198,755	40.7
	Ross Perot	Reform		8,085,402	8.4
2000	George W. Bush	Republican	271	50,455,156	47.9
	Al Gore	Democratic	266¹⁰	50,992,335	48.4
	Ralph Nader	Green		2,882,897	2.7
2004	George W. Bush	Republican	286	62,040,610	50.7
2004	John Kerry	Democratic	251	59,028,444	48.3
2008	Barack Obama	Democratic	365	69,498,516	52.9
2008	John McCain	Republican	173	59,948,323	45.7
2012	Barack Obama	Democratic	332	65,915,795	51.1
2012	Mitt Romney	Republican	206	60,933,504	47.2
2016	Donald Trump	Republican	304	62,984,828	46.1
2016	Hillary Clinton	Democratic	227	65,853,514	48.2
2020	Joe Biden	Democratic	306	81,283,501	51.3
2020	Donald Trump	Republican	232	74,223,975	46.8