Facts About U.S. Presidents

This article shares some fascinating insights and facts about U.S. Presidents, specifically some of our founding presidents who are easily distinguished in our history books. So read to learn more about the country’s forefathers, Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. James Madison and more. We also included a few more recent presidents.

21 Facts, 21 U.S. Presidents.

1. George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He led the American forces in the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain. The capital Washington D.C. is named after him.

2. The longest-serving President in American history is Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the nation’s 32nd president, holding office from March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945, making him the only American President to have served more than two terms. He was born in Hyde Park, New York. He was President during two dark times; the Great Depression (last 100 days) and World War II.

3. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and one of the Founding Fathers of America. He was also a lawyer, philosopher, statesman and diplomat. He loved academics so much that he founded the University of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson had wealthy parents who owned land. However, Mr Jefferson was undisciplined with money in his youth which followed him into adulthood… dying broke and in debt.

4. John Adams was the 2nd president of the United States. He was instrumental in helping assist with the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He also authored the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780. His son John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the U.S.

5. James Madison was the 4th President of the United States and one of the Founding Fathers. He was a crucial figure in the American Revolution and a co-author of the U.S. Constitution “We The People“. He was in office from March 4, 1809, until March 4, 1817.

6. The shortest-serving U.S. president is William Harrison, who died on his 31st day in office. Mr Harrison is the first president to die in office. He served as the 9th president for only one month… from March 4, 1841, until April 4, 1841.

7. Ben Franklin served as a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and an ordinary member of the Continental Congress before being elected as America’s first Postmaster General by unanimous vote. He was also one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Unfortunately, Ben Franklin did not serve/run for the U.S. presidency due to mostly old age. But he did serve as the 6th President of Pennsylvania. You see his face everywhere on the $100 U.S. dollar bill.

8. Abraham Lincoln is the nation’s 16th president. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest presidents in American history, having made landmark changes to the United States constitution. He led the charge to end slavery while also keeping the fragile U.S. Union together, and because of that, his face is forever enshrined on Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, later dying in a coma the next day at Petersen House. Measuring 1.93 m, he is the tallest of all U.S. presidents (slightly taller than Donald Trump, 1.9 m). Mr Lincoln served from March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865. However, even Lincoln could have been better… he had failed business ventures and was one of the first U.S. Presidents to file for bankruptcy.

9. James Garfield was the 20th president and is best known for his assassination at a time when he was working on a peace plan with congress, through which he sought to end the American Civil War. He served as President for only a few months… from March 4, 1881, until September 19, 1881.

10. John Quincy Adams served as the 6th president of the United States from March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829, following in his father’s footsteps, the 2nd President of the U.S. John Adams. He helped end the War of 1812 against Britain and its North American colony at the time Canada.

11. Theodore Roosevelt is considered one of the most influential figures in history. He was the 26th President of the United States, serving from 1901 until 1909. He was also a writer, historian, naturalist, hunter and explorer. Mr Roosevelt was instrumental in helping the U.S. Navy win against Spain during the Spanish–American War. His face is on Mount Rushmore, and schools and buildings are named after him across America. He owned a cattle ranch in both South and North Dakota.

12. James Monroe was the 5th President of the United States, serving in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War before becoming President and also served in George Washington’s Administration as an ambassador to France. He also served as the 7th U.S. Secretary of State.

13. John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He is the youngest man ever to hold the office. John F. Kennedy was a Democrat and famous for giving his “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”) speech in Berlin while visiting West Berlin in 1963. Before that, he was a U.S. Navy officer and served in World War II during the attack on Pearl Harbor and for which he earned a Navy and Marine Corps Medal (he became one of the youngest men ever to receive it).

14. Famously known for taking the United States off the “Gold Standard“, Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. He served as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower and also the 36th Vice President of the United States. He was also a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from California before his presidency, and he was the only President to resign from his office (he did so due to the Watergate scandal).

15. Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States and is one of the most popular and longest-serving Presidents in American history. He served from 1869 to 1877. He was a military war hero and politician who was unanimously nominated by the Republican Party to lead them before eventually winning the U.S. presidency.

16. Bill Clinton is the 42nd president of the United States. He served from 1993 to 2001. Bill Clinton was the 3rd youngest President in U.S. history, after John F Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt, born on August 19, 1946. He also served as attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979.

17. Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States and served from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to be elected President of the U.S. and its first two-term African American President. Mr Obama had a long and bumpy road to his nomination and a coalition of supporters, including many young people, liberals and African Americans. However, early during his presidency, he was still paying off his student loans.

18. George W. Bush Jr. was the 43rd President of the United States and served from 2001 to 2009. He was a Republican and succeeded his father, who had previously served as President. The longest American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and domestic issues such as Social Security and education plagued Mr Bush as President.