US Presidents: Details

Superlatives and Uniques

1	1789–97	The only one who never lived at the White House		George Washington
7	1829–37	The Democratic Party's first president		Andrew Jackson
		Paid off the US national debt in 1835 – the only president to do so – but was blamed for the so–called 'Panic of 1837' which followed
8	1837–41	First to be born after independence, and the only one (to date) to have spoken English as a second language		Martin Van Buren
9	1841	Shortest–serving (died of natural causes, exactly one month after taking office)		William H. Harrison
15	1857–61	The only unmarried president		James Buchanan
16	1861–5	The Republican Party's first president		Abraham Lincoln
		The tallest ever president (6' 4½")
17	1865–9	First to be impeached (1867 and 1868); he survived the second by one vote (35 to 19 – a 2/3 majority is required to remove the President from office)		Andrew Johnson
22	1885–9	The only president to serve two non–consecutive terms (Benjamin Harrison, 1889–93, was No. 23)		Grover Cleveland
24	1893–7
26	1901–9	Youngest ever (aged 42 years 323 days)		Theodore Roosevelt
		First US citizen to win a Nobel prize
		First US president to ride in a motor car or fly in an aeroplane
28	1913–21	In office throughout World War I		Woodrow Wilson
30	1923–9	First to address the nation by radio (1923)		Calvin Coolidge
32	1933–45	Longest–serving; re–elected for a 4th term in 1944, but died in 1945		Franklin D. Roosevelt
34	1953–61	Last to have been born in the 19th century (1890)		Dwight D. Eisenhower
35	1961–3	First to have been born in the 20th century (1917)		John F. Kennedy
		Youngest to be elected (aged 43 – T. Roosevelt succeeded McKinley and was only elected in 1904, three years later, aged 45)
		First Catholic (and the only one before Joe Biden)
36	1963–9	Elected (in 1964) with a record 61.05% of the popular vote		Lyndon B. Johnson
37	1969–74	First to visit China while in office		Richard M. Nixon
		First to visit all 50 states
		First to resign
38	1974–7	The only one not elected as either President or Vice–President		Gerald Ford
40	1981–9	The first one that was divorced (and the only one before Trump)		Ronald Reagan
		Given the nickname 'Dutch' by his father, in childhood
45	2017–21	Oldest to be elected (70 years, 153 days) and oldest to take office (70 years 220 days) – up to the time, in both cases		Donald Trump
46	2021 to date	Oldest ever (77 years 349 days when elected, and 78 years 61 days on taking office)		Joe Biden

Deaths in office

Natural causes

9	1841	Pneumonia, or typhoid		William H. Harrison
12	1849–50	Food poisoning		Zachary Taylor
29	1921–3	Cerebral haemorrhage		Warren Harding
32	1933–45	Cerebral haemorrhage (stroke)		Franklin D. Roosevelt

Assassinations

16	1861–5	John Wilkes Booth	Ford's Theatre, Washington		Abraham Lincoln
20	1881	Charles J. Guiteau	Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station, Washington		James Garfield
25	1887–1901	Leon Czolgosz	Temple of Music, Buffalo, NY		William McKinley
35	1961–3	Lee Harvey Oswald	Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas		John F. Kennedy

Successors to Deceased Presidents

In the following table, the numbers in the first column are the ordinal numbers of the succeeding presidents.

Each of these successors had been Vice President to the respective deceased President.

10	1841	William H. Harrison	Natural causes		John Tyler
13	1849	Zachary Taylor	Natural causes		Millard Fillmore
17	1865	Abraham Lincoln	Assassinated		Andrew Johnson
21	1881	James Garfield	Assassinated		Chester B. Arthur
26	1901	William McKinley	Assassinated		Theodore Roosevelt
30	1923	Warren Harding	Natural causes		Calvin Coolidge
33	1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Natural causes		Harry S. Truman
36	1963	John F. Kennedy	Assassinated		Lyndon B. Johnson

Mount Rushmore

1	1789–97		George Washington
3	1801–9		Thomas Jefferson
16	1861–5		Abraham Lincoln
26	1901–9		Theodore Roosevelt

Other

1	1789–97	Said to have destroyed his father's cherry tree		George Washington
2	1797–1801	First to live in the White House		John Adams
3	1801–9	Architect of the Virginia State Capitol		Thomas Jefferson
		Principal author of the Declaration of Independence
		In office at the time of the Louisiana Purchase (1803)
		Died on the same day as his predecessor, under whom he'd served as vice–president
5	1809–17	Gave his name to a public square in New York, and thus to a famous sporting arena and one of the city's most famous streets		James Madison
		Declared war on the United Kingdom in 1812 – under pressure from Congress in opposition to British policy regarding the impressment of British–born American citizens
5	1817–25	The capital of Liberia is named in honour of		James Monroe
6	1825–9	Son of the second president		John Quincy Adams
7	1829–37	Nicknamed Old Hickory		Andrew Jackson
		Born in Tennessee, he was the first president who didn't come from one of the original 13 colonies
		Killed a man in a duel, because he insulted his wife
9	1841	Oldest to take office, before Reagan (68 years and 23 days, when sworn in; died exactly one month (31 days) later)		William H. Harrison
11	1845–9	Established the border with Canada		James Knox Polk
12	1849–50	Elected having distinguished himself as a military leader in the Mexican–American war of 1846–8, which led to Mexico giving up its claims to the territory of Texas		Zachary Taylor
		Refused to be sworn in on a Sunday, leading to an urban myth that David Atchision, pro tempore President of the Senate, was President for a day
16	1861–5	Ghost said to haunt the White House		Abraham Lincoln
		Recognised by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992 as an 'Outstanding American' in the sport
17	1865–9	In office at the time that Alaska was bought from Russia (1867)		Andrew Johnson
22	1885–9	Dedicated the Statue of Liberty in 1886		Grover Cleveland
25	1897–1901	Gave his name to the USA's highest peak		William McKinley
26	1901–9	Gave his name to the teddy bear		Theodore Roosevelt
		Ran against Taft in 1912, after losing the Republican nomination, as leader of the Progressive Party – colloquially known as the Bull Moose Party
		Coined (or at least popularised) the terms 'lunatic fringe' and 'weasel words'
27	1909–13	(The only one except JFK) buried in Arlington Cemetery		William Howard Taft
28	1913–21	President throughout World War I; won re–election in 1916 with the slogan "He kept us out of the war" (the USA entered the war in April 1917)		Woodrow Wilson
		Signed the Treaty of Versailles
		Introduced prohibition
29	1921–3	Incumbency dogged by personal scandals; consistently ranked as the worst president ever		Warren Harding
31	1929–33	Elected in the year the Great Depression started; in office at the time of the Wall Street Crash (October 1929)		Herbert Hoover
32	1933–45	Took the USA into WWII after Pearl Harbor		Franklin D. Roosevelt
		First to appear on television
		Last Democrat before Clinton (1996) to be re–elected
		Last words "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head"
		There is a memorial in Grosvenor Square, London, to
		First to use Naval Support Facility Thurmont, Maryland (now known as Camp David) as a "retreat"
33	1945–53	Established the CIA (1947)		Harry S. Truman
		Sign on desk: "The buck stops here"
		Authorised the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
		First to give a televised address from (the Oval Office in) the White House
34	1953–61	Last before Trump not to have held any previous political office		Dwight D. Eisenhower
		A career soldier, as a five–star general he planned and supervised the Allied invasion of North Africa and the D–Day landings, both in World War II; later served as the first Supreme Commander of NATO
		Named Camp David after his grandson
		Memorial in Grosvenor Square, London
35	1961–3	Second youngest (43 years 236 days)		John F. Kennedy
		Senator for Massachusetts, 1953–60
		Memorial at Runnymede, Surrey
		Term of office known as 'the 1,000 days'
36	1963–9	Sworn in on an aeroplane (Boeing 707)		Lyndon B. Johnson
37	1969–74	Senator for California, 1950–3		Richard Nixon
		President at the time of the first manned moon landing – made the first telephone call to the Moon, on 20 July 1969
		Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being accused of tax evasion and fraud and was replaced by Gerald Ford
38	1974–7	Born Leslie Lynch King		Gerald Ford
		Survived two assassination attempts in 17 days (September 1975: by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromm and Sarah Jane Moore)
		Appeared as himself in an episode of Dynasty, along with his wife Betty and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (1983 – 6 years after leaving office)
40	1981–9	Oldest to take office, before Trump (69 years and 248 days when sworn in)		Ronald Reagan
		Former Governor of California (1967–75)
		Nicknamed 'the Great Communicator'
41	1989–93	Former WWII pilot		George Bush
		Director of the CIA, 1976/7
		The last Vice–President (to date) to go on to become President
42	1993–2001	Former Governor of Arkansas (his home state)		Bill Clinton
		Third youngest (after T. Roosevelt and Kennedy)
		Born William Jefferson Blythe III
		Collaborated with James Patterson on the 2018 novel The President is Missing
43	2001–9	Son of the 41st president		George W. Bush
		Former Governor of Texas
		Fainted after choking on a pretzel (13 Jan 2002 – one week before the 1st anniversary of his inauguration)
		Owned a share of Texas Rangers baseball team, 1989–99
44	2009–17	Former (junior) senator for Illinois (2005–8)		Barack Obama
		Elected on the slogan "Yes, we can"

© Haydn Thompson 2016–25