While doing the research for this project, I was extremely surprised by the number of Presidents, beginning with Jefferson, that had no wife, and thus had to call upon other female relatives (sister, daughter, niece) to serve as First Lady. In at least one case, an unrelated female (a daughter-in-law) served as First Lady. Also, judging by the profusion of names recorded, a few of the First Ladies apparently had previous marriages.
I also found it notable that, while the position of Vice-President was often left vacant, the position of First Lady was never left vacant, even if the only resort was a distant relative (on one occasion, even a non-relative). Additionally, it appears that if the First Lady died while the President was still in office he would, almost immediatley, re-marry!
Presidents of the United States
1. George Washington
First Lady: Martha Dandridge Washington
Vice-President: John Adams
America's revered first president (1789-1797), was born February 22nd, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The Washington family's poverty and the untimely death of his father forced George out of school, hence he had only an elementary school-level education. However, he used his knowledge of mathematics, surveying, drafting and map making to become a colonial surveyor at the age of only 17. As a minor point of interest, neither of our two most beloved Presidents (Washington and Lincoln) had a college education.
Washington spent six years in the colonial military during the bloody and disorganized French and Indian War. After some military successes and several disastrous campaigns, Washington came to see that the states needed a strong national government.
As the hero of the Revolutionary War and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, Washington was everyone's choice to lead the nation as its first president. An able administrator with a keen appreciation of the historic import of each of his decisions, Washington established important precedents of American government that were not explicitly addressed in the Constitution. He also experienced highly favored elections and implemented controversial economic policies. Known for his methodical attention to detail and love of ceremony, he would eventually become known as the Father of the Nation.
Washington was a strong supporter of Hamilton's Federalist financial plans, including a national bank and a tax on whiskey. The latter led to a minor revolt in Pennsylvania, the Whiskey Rebellion, and Washington mobilized troops from neighboring states to quell the uprising. A war over taxes imposed on goods just a few short years after we had fought a bloody war due to the imposition of similar taxes by King George.
What you may not know is that Washington, although an ardent supporter of a federal union, was hesitant to be nominated to the presidency, not trusting his own abilities to govern. However, his reputation as a military officer, and the admiration people accorded him on both sides of the political aisle, made him the unanimous choice.
Many of you may also not know that, had he acquiesced to the demands of some, he would have been crowned King of America, and we would (probably) be living under a hereditary monarchy (much like Britain) today. But he refused and would ultimately serve two terms as president, thus establishing the rule of presidents only serving two terms. This was observed by all presidents until Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1942. Although it seemed reasonable at the time (we were in the middle of a war), this was later the impetus for the passage of the 22nd amendment to the Constitution, which formally (and legally) limits Presidents to two terms.
Washington's views on slavery seem to have changed during or soon after the Revolutionary War, as he stopped buying and selling enslaved people after the war. However, at the time of his death, he still owned 123 human beings.
2. John Adams
First Lady: Abigail Smith Adams
Vice-President: Thomas Jefferson
John Adams was born October 30th, 1735, in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts. He was America's first ever vice president, serving under George Washington, and the country's second president (1797-1801). He was a lawyer and political theorist, as well as a diplomat.
During colonial days, Adams pushed to create the American Navy to support the campaign for independence from Britain. Impressively, in just five months, he built up a powerful sea force that included eight sailing ships; 10 carriage guns and a number of swivel guns; 13 warships under construction; two Marine battalions; a commander; and eighteen naval officers.
Adams is notable for being the first president-elect to have his election results contested. So election disputes are nothing new. The dispute about whether Adams had "stolen" the election from his opponent eventually led to the creation of the U.S. two-party political system, which is still in operation today.
A man of compassion and intellect, John Adams tried to keep the office of president apolitical. However, his responsibility for the Alien and Sedition Acts, which threatened constitutional rights and directly affected non-citizens, opened him to wide criticism. He lost popularity after signing that law in 1798, a law that allowed for the arrest or deportation of foreigners with ties to wartime enemies. The act also targeted newspaper and pamphlet publishers who attacked his administration. This ended up costing him the next election. His old frenemy Thomas Jefferson called Adams out on his abuse of power and threats to free speech and took over the presidency in 1800.
John Adams will be remembered as the first to do many things. Not only was he the first vice president, but he was the first person to live in the White House (then, simply known as the presidential mansion) and the first outgoing president that failed to attend the inauguration of his successor. Another point of interest is that both he and his successor (Thomas Jefferson) died on the same day, Independence Day, July 4th, 1826, the birthday of the nation.
3. Thomas Jefferson
First Lady: Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph (daughter)
Vice-President: Aaron Burr
Thomas Jefferson was born April 13th, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. Officially, Thomas Jefferson was a planter, lawyer and politician — but he also had an in-depth knowledge of mechanics, several languages and architecture and was a talented surveyor and mathematician. He was an extremely busy man with a huge range of interests that he kept under control with a very strict schedule. He rose with the sun, ate breakfast strictly at 8, had a big lunch at 3 and kept track of everything in a trusty notebook. Among Jefferson's achievements is creating of the Declaration of Independence when he was in his early 30s.
As the third president (1801-1809) he doubled the country's territory, negotiated peace with France and developed American trade. He remained an overachiever, even after retiring from office, when he founded the University of Virginia.
President Jefferson was notorious for wanting a "decentralized" government and notably he held few cabinet sessions. He preferred the ministers of his cabinet to submit their motions in writing. Other than his two inaugural addresses, there is no record of Jefferson ever making any public speeches whatsoever. Part of the reasoning behind that was because, by most accounts, he was a terrible public speaker, but it also reflected his strategy for a smaller government, and his belief that the office of the presidency should be almost invisible.
Jefferson wrote his own epitaph: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and the Father of the University of Virginia." In keeping with his views on the presidency, he did not mention that he served as president. However, while president, he authorized the Louisiana Purchase and kept America free of the international entanglements of the Napoleonic Wars.
As one of the Founding Fathers, he penned “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence and publicly denounced slavery as a “moral depravity” yet, over his lifetime, he owned over 600 slaves. Historians also say he had at least six children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings.
4. James Madison
First Lady: Dolley Payne Todd Madison
Vice-President:
1st term - George Clinton
2nd term - Elbridge Gerry
James Madison was born March 16th, 1751, in Port Conway, Virginia. The fourth president (1809-1817), he was also the youngest member of the Continental Congress. At the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), he studied the classics and eventually political philosophy, which influenced his drive to bring civil and political liberty to America.
Due to his major role in drafting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Madison is remembered as the Father of the Constitution. He was also America's smallest president at just 5’4", with a shy, reserved personality. He was often sickly, but renowned for his intelligence, and helped draft the Federalist papers and the Bill of Rights. He also, without the prior knowledge of congress, took armed possession of what was then the Spanish province of West Florida, claiming it was part of the Louisiana Purchase. A slight man of less than 100 pounds, Madison's marriage to the buxom and vivacious Dolley Payne Todd surprised many and provided the nation with one of its greatest First Ladies.
He served two terms as president, and, after the disorganized and expensive War of 1812, supported the development of a stronger military and a national bank. While president, Madison helped establish the Democratic-Republican Party which was formed around the Jeffersonian ideals. He also asked Congress to declare war on Britain in 1812. The war began so badly that by fighting to a draw, Americans of 1815 felt they had earned a victory, and indeed they had! One only need consider that a tiny fledgling, agrarian nation had now gone up against the worlds supreme super power (and not just once, but twice) and walked away intact and with heads held high. Realizing that, it should come as no surprise that the nation was swept up in a wave of self-congratulatory nationalistic celebrations!
Because so many of his actions were shrouded in secrecy, Adam's opponents characterized him as weak-willed and cowardly. Although the majority of Americans believed the War of 1812 had been won by the United States, the public simply could not erase the image of Madison and his wife fleeing from Washington D.C. as British soldiers burned the capital. Madison was often blamed for the difficulties that arose during the War of 1812, but even though trade between the U.S. and Europe stopped during that period, he was voted back into power at the same time.
5. James Monroe
First Lady: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Vice-President: Daniel D. Tompkins.
James Monroe was born April 28th, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Before he became president, James Monroe lost his job as America's ambassador to France when he failed at a very important diplomatic meeting and ruined relations with the French. But when he returned home he rebuilt his career and reputation.
Monroe was a charming man admired for his honesty, and shortly after his inauguration, chose to make a presidential tour of the states, the first such tour since Washington's. This effort to connect with citizens led to Monroe's time in office being called the "Era of Good Feeling." . Good feelings were strained, however, when Adam's presided over two decisions that set the course of 19th century American history -- the Missouri Compromise and the Monroe Doctrine. The first codified the growing discord over slavery within the nation and the second asserted the supremacy of American influence in the Western hemisphere.
During his presidency, Monroe also oversaw a number of diplomatic successes that extended America's borders. He also supported founding colonies in Africa for freed slaves, and the capital of Liberia, Monrovia, is named after him.
James Monroe oversaw the so-called “Era of Good Feelings” in the aftermath of the War of 1812 — but not everyone feels as amicable toward his leadership. Monroe, both a military officer and a diplomat, counted Thomas Jefferson among his mentors. He lived in France for a few years and he and his wife remained admirers of French culture the rest of their lives; they would often speak French to each other in private, and First Lady Monroe insisted on French etiquette being used during the dinner parties she hosted.
Monroe is primarily known for the Monroe Doctrine, which opposed European intervention in U.S. affairs and American interference with the affairs of the European powers. Because of this, he ranks high for International Relations. As President, Monroe supported abolition, but he also owned up to 250 enslaved people in his lifetime.
6. John Quincy Adams
First Lady: Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams
Vice-President: John C. Calhoun.
John Quincy Adams was born July 11th, 1767, in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, the first son of a president (John Adams to be elected, was raised by his parents to attain the highest office in the land. America's future sixth president (1825-1829) became romantically involved with a local woman while studying law at Harvard University, but his parents advised him to establish his career before marrying her. Brokenhearted or not, Adams listened to the advice and went on to become one of the most respected and productive presidents ever.
He is remembered for his diplomatic skills. As James Monroe's Secretary of State. he was the primary author of the Monroe Doctrine, negotiated the end of the War of 1812, and set policies regarding newly independent colonies in the Americas. He negotiated the location of the U.S./Canadian border; and purchased Florida from Spain.
Ironically, he accomplished little in the way of foreign policy during his presidency, in part because his previous activities settled so many issues and in part because of opposition from Andrew Jackson's congressional supporters who denied Adams the resources necessary to hire more diplomats. His political successes certainly make a good case for choosing duty over love.
Even though Adams was considered a political heir (the son of John Adams — the second president) he did not achieve power as easily as one might have expected. We know a lot about this period in history thanks to the journals that John Quincy kept for over 60 years, a meticulous record of his daily comings-and-goings.
Adams lacked support, even amongst his own party, and the Jacksonians accused him of corruption and public plunder. He was called an "unpopular member of an unpopular party." Some of his ideas that never came to fruition were a national university and a national astronomical observatory; he also wanted the western territories to be guarded by the federal government and developed only gradually.
Sometimes known as Old Man Eloquent, he lost his re-election bid in 1828 to rival Andrew Jackson. It is no surprise that most of his proposals, such as creating a national university, faced fierce opposition and thus did not come to fruition. This resulted in him not being credited with fostering much in the way of change while in power.
7. Andrew Jackson
First Lady: Rachel Donelson Jackson
Vice-President:
1st term - John C. Calhoun
2nd term - Martin Van Buren
Andrew Jackson was born March 15th, 1767, in Waxhaw, South Carolina. The seventh president (1829-1837) is largely remembered for his support for slavery and his strong opposition to the abolitionist movement. Still, historians rank Jackson favorably compared to other U.S. presidents because of his promotion of democratic principles and his major achievement, never repeated by any other president: completely paying off the national debt.
The story of Andrew Jackson is a classic rags-to-riches tale. Born in the Carolina backwoods with irregular education as a child, he taught himself law as a teen, became an impressive lawyer and worked up the ladder from there. Jackson lived in the early 1800s, a rough and tumble time in American history. His story serves as a teachable moment about how bad decisions can haunt us long after we're gone. He was a wealthy slave-owning plantation farmer who commanded troops in a number of conflicts and later entered politics based on his military success.
While some of his presidential choices put him in history's good books, many did the opposite. After serving as a major general in the War of 1812 and defeating the British at New Orleans, he started to gain a following, which later led to his presidency. His election signaled a western move of the center of power, as he was the first president to be born west of the Appalachian Mountains. He was also considered the first president elected by voters, rather than an organized political structure.
Even though he attained a lot of personal wealth, Jackson was never able to forget the poverty of his childhood. He fancied himself a man of the people, and his populist appeal lay in his message of inclusion against what he characterized as entrenched establishment interests. He frustrated the professional politicians of Congress with his insistence that any man should be able to hold elected (or appointed) office and by his forceful and effective use of the presidential veto and bully pulpit.
He was your typical tough guy and loved a good old-fashioned duel. In one scuffle, he killed a man for talking trash about his wife, Rachel. And in a bar fight with a Senator, he took a bullet to the arm, according to multiple reports.
8. Martin Van Buren
First Lady: Angelica Singleton Van Buren (daughter-in-law)
Vice-President: Richard M. Johnson.
Martin Van Buren was born December 5th, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York. The eighth president (1837-1841), Van Buren became vice president in 1832 and was unanimously nominated as a candidate for the presidency in 1835, thanks to the support of Andrew Jackson. He was the first president whose family background wasn't British. He grew up in a Dutch community in New York, and he is the only president to learn English as a second language. He was able to overcome his ethnic background to play many roles in the Democratic party and win election to the highest office in the land. As president, he dealt with a major economic depression and denied admitting Texas into the Union.
Martin Van Buren was known as a gifted politician and orator in his time. He supported the doctrine of states' rights, and disapproved of federally sponsored improvements to the country. But three months after his election, the prosperous U.S. economy swirled down the drain into the worst depression it had ever seen. Banks and businesses closed shop. Americans lost their homes. And Van Buren’s attempts to solve the problem only made it worse. The depression plagued the country for his entire term.
One of Van Burens great successes was avoiding a third war with Britain. To the north, proto-Canadian rebels agitated for independence from Great Britain, leading loyalist Canadian troops to seize the American ship that had been supplying arms to the rebels and setting it adrift over Niagara Falls. As a result, many Americans called for a war against Britain, but Van Buren exercised restraint, avoiding another costly and bloody war with the mother country, one we may not have won.
Van Buren would eventually fall prey to bad press. He lost his bid for a second term to William Henry Harrison, who blamed the weak economy on Van Buren and nicknamed him “Martin Van Ruin.”
9. William Henry Harrison
First Lady: Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
Vice-President: John Tyler.
William Henry Harrison was born February 9th, 1773, in Berkeley, Virginia. He was a frontier army general whose fame (and nickname) was assured at the battle of Tippecanoe. Elected the ninth president (1841), he spent only 32 days in office before dying. He caught pneumonia after delivering a 90- minute inaugural address in freezing rain and died April 4th, 1841. He served for only 30 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes — the shortest presidential term in history.
He worked very hard during his short time in office, even walking around Washington to pick up supplies for the White House, but the cold he had caught after the inauguration developed into the pneumonia that killed him.
How he contracted pneumonia is somewhat apocryphal. Harrison refused to wear either a coat or gloves as he rode up Pennsylvania Avenue on a white horse to take his oath — despite the freezing weather on his inauguration day. He then proceeded to give that extended inaugural address, in the rain, still with no coat or gloves. During the address, he restated his belief in the limited role of the president, claiming he would only serve one term and limit his use of the veto.
Harrison didn't have enough time to make much of an impression as president, but before his election, he served as governor of Indiana Territory. While there, his primary objective was to secure title to Indigenous land and take care of any Indigenous people who retaliated.
He was the seventh and final child in his family, which meant that he got a measly inheritance. So, he decided to rely on his talents and intellect instead, and pursued a military career to establish himself in the world. After success on the battlefields, he entered politics and was the first governor of Indiana.
It is said that Harrison had 10 children, but six of them died before he entered office. One of the survivors, Scott Harrison, became the father of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States.
10. John Tyler
First Lady: Letitia Christian Tyler, Julia Gardiner Tyler
Vice-President: Office Vacant.
The tenth president (1841-1845) disagreed with many of his own political party's bills, and most of his Cabinet resigned fairly quickly after he took office. He was dubbed His Accidency and booted from the Whig party. As a young lawyer, John Tyler earned such a good reputation with his clients that they helped him enter the world of politics. When President William Henry Harrison died, Tyler was the first VP to become president without election.
William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office. When he did, nobody knew what to do. Tyler stepped up to the plate, helping form the 25th Amendment to formalize the line of presidential succession. Tyler believed in manifest destiny, and worked to expand American borders and values. But, since slave labor was being used to push America's boundaries at the time, both manifest destiny and Tyler would eventually fade from the nation's memory.
The problem was, Tyler was a miserable fill-in president. Not only did his own party expel him, but nearly every one of his cabinet members resigned thanks to his unpopular policies. He was the first president to be impeached after allegedly misusing his veto power. But the impeachment failed, and America was stuck with him for the remainder of his term. Tyler entered the elections to become president for a second term, by making himself the candidate of his own party, which he formed with the support of a core group of his appointees. His attempt failed miserably, however, and eventually Tyler resigned from his campaign and threw his support behind James Polk.
In his obituary, The New York Times called him “the most unpopular public man that had ever held any office in the United States.” Enough said.
11. James K. Polk
First Lady: Sarah Childress Polk
Vice-President: George M. Dallas.
The 11th president (1845-1849), James K. Polk, was widely praised for his intense work ethic, but he sacrificed his health and social life for success. Polk’s hard work made him one of the most effective presidents of his time. He managed to achieve every major policy promise he made, and extended the country's borders to the Pacific, readying America to become a world power. He had enough success to fill several lifetimes — and then he died, just three months after leaving the White House. Polk serves as a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance.
At the time, James K. Polk was the youngest man to attain the office of the presidency. He entered his term full of zeal and energy to accomplish his campaign promises, and he left four years later, as Britannica puts it, "exhausted and enfeebled by his efforts.” A few of his better known accomplishments are the creation of the United States' Naval Academy, the Smithsonian Museum, and, after expanding into the west, the founding of the Department of the Interior.
Known as Young Hickory, Polk ranks above average in most categories, but he is often criticized for waging war with Mexico — one of his critics was a young Abe Lincoln — and for his attitudes toward slavery and the fact that he owned slaves. He purchased 19 enslaved people during his time in office and ignored the rising issue of expanding slavery into western territories.
12. Zachary Taylor
First Lady: Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor
Vice-President: Millard Fillmore.
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) was observant and a quick study. While leading a militia unit against Native Americans, Taylor studied elements of their style of warfare and learned how to defeat them. Taylor was also a hero of the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He commanded troops in five winning battles in the Mexican-American War, defying orders and pushing his undefeated force far south into Mexico.
As a lifelong army man, he had little interest in becoming president and didn't even know he had been nominated at first, according to The Advocate, a newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. What would one expect from a president who didn't even care about the election?
Taylor was elected based on his military successes, but he was in office only 16 months before he died of a sudden illness. In his short time, the president tried to keep slavery out of the developing states of California, Utah and New Mexico.
During his brief time in office, his administration was beset with problems. Despite his efforts to reduce tension over slavery and save the Union, his actions may have accelerated the country toward the Civil War. Beyond that, he was humiliated in 1850 when it was found out that three members of his cabinet had engaged in financial improprieties. Taylor, who prided himself on his integrity, promised to shuffle his cabinet, but died before he was able to deal with the corruption.
Taylor’s presidency was allegedly cut short by some bad food. His exact cause of death is still debated to this day, but according to History.com, he was munching on cherries and iced milk while celebrating the Fourth of July. A few days later, he died from cholera morbus, a bacterial infection in the small intestines.
13. Millard Fillmore
First Lady: Abigail Powers Fillmore
Vice-President: Office Vacant.
Our 13th president (1850-1853), Millard Fillmore was a true rags-to-riches story. As the son of sharecroppers, he wasn't able to attend school but managed to get out of poverty by studying on his own. He started out as a judge's apprentice and later became a lawyer with almost no formal training. In Buffalo, New York, he was a respected lawyer and politician, and eventually ran as vice president on the ticket with Zachary Taylor.
They were elected, and Fillmore ended up in the hot seat upon Taylor's death, and stepped up to the challenge. He presided over tough times, including cultural upheaval over slavery laws, and his policy choices were none too popular. Like Taylor, Fillmore was tasked with fixing the tension between slave owners and abolitionists. Although Fillmore was personally opposed to slavery, he supported a "compromise" between the factions of north and south as a way of preserving the union. So, instead of fixing the problems, he just slapped on a bandaid — an immoral and unjust bandaid. That was the Fugitive Slave Act.
These laws allowed slave owners to capture runaways anywhere in the U.S. and drag them back to work. They also increased punishments for anyone involved in helping slaves escape. Although the Fugitive Slave Act worked to mollify the south, it immediately lost Fillmore all his supporters in the north, and was basically the nail in his political coffin.
After leaving office, he became one of the founders of what is now the State University of New York at Buffalo. But he left behind a soured reputation as a politician. After his term, he openly opposed President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
14. Franklin Pierce
First Lady: Jane Means Appleton Pierce
Vice-President: William R. King.
Franklin Pierce's father was a military leader in the Revolutionary War, which gave the family celebrity status in rural New Hampshire. The family name also gave Pierce a leg up in local politics, and he used it to become America's 14th president (1853-1857).
The Compromise of 1850 allowed Franklin Pierce to begin his term in a period of relative peace. But it didn't last long. While Pierce worked to increase accountability in government and lay the groundwork for building railroads, he also attempted to promote congressional unity by appointing extremists on both sides of the political spectrum to his cabinet. He also tried to organize Western territories in order to build a railroad from Chicago to California.
During this process, he passed several less popular initiatives, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a bill allowing residents of new territories to decide the legality of slavery for themselves. This led to violence in Kansas, as northerners and southerners fought for control of the territory. The “Bleeding Kansas” incident contributed to the coming of the Civil War.
He had been a heavy drinker most of his life, and according to reports, when his own party refused to renominate him for another term, Pierce responded exactly as you'd expect, stating: “There is nothing left to do but get drunk.” He apparently completed his descent into alcoholism and died in obscurity.
Many historians refer to him as one of the worst presidents in history.
15. James Buchanan
First Lady: Harriet Lane (niece)
Vice-President: John C. Breckinridge.
America's 15th president (1857-1861) was a savvy businessman who knew exactly when to make an exit, but not when to buckle down and face a glaring threat. Buchanan began his political career as a member of the Federalist party. But when he saw that the Federalists were nearing their end, he bolted and became a Democrat.
He's often called one of the worst presidents because he overlooked the issue of slavery and the Southern states' secession and establishment of the Confederacy. Historians view this failure — which brought the country to civil war — as one of the most terrible presidential mistakes in U.S. history.
While James Buchanan was a career politician, he lacked the judgment and diplomatic personality required of someone occupying the highest office. Beyond that, he was clueless. He thought that tensions over slavery, which had reached an all-time high, would take care of themselves. Instead of finding new solutions to new problems, he defaulted to old constitutional doctrines interpreted by the Supreme Court.
He considered territorial conflicts between the North and South — the precursors to the Civil War — to be “happily, a matter of but little practical importance,” according to Whitehouse.gov. His already-tepid administration was further weakened by rumors of corruption and financial improprieties in his cabinet.
Buchanan’s oversights left the Democratic party in shambles; it even split in two at one point. Fortunately, the upheaval helped Lincoln win the election, paving the way for arguably the best president in U.S. history.
16. Abraham Lincoln
First Lady: Mary Todd
Vice-President:
1st term - Hannibal Hamlin
2nd term - Andrew Johnson
America's legendary 16th president (1861-1865) came from humble beginnings and used his brain and determination to make history. The son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abraham had to struggle for a living and for learning. Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois.
After his first business failed, Lincoln decided to take a stab at politics. He was a great speaker and a respected captain during the Black Hawk War, but he lost out on getting elected to the Illinois General Assembly. Instead, he served as a postmaster and a county surveyor. He decided to teach himself law by studying on his own, and he became a successful practicing attorney. His law partner said of him, “His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest.” He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity.
As a young man, his personable demeanor and service in the 1832 Black Hawk War increased his profile enough to get him elected to a seat in the state legislature in 1834. While there he became an influential voice in the state senate as a member of the Whig Party and a moderate critic of the practice of slavery. In 1837 he moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he began to practice law. After he left the legislature in 1841, he met and courted Mary Todd, the future Mrs. Lincoln. These events mark the beginning of Lincoln's ascension into the national spotlight that would eventually lead him to the oval office.
He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years.Shortly before receiving his party's nomination for president, he sketched his life thus: “I was born February 12th, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families—second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks...My father...removed from Kentucky to...Indiana, in my eighth year...It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up...Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher...but that was all.”
Abraham Lincoln warned the South in his first Inaugural Address, “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you....You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ it.”
Lincoln considered secession to be illegal, and was willing to use force to defend federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Ultimately, eleven southern states joined the Confederacy and four remained within the Union as Border States. The Civil War had begun.
In 1858, Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for president in 1860.
As president, Lincoln built the Republican Party into a strong national organization and rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1st, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all enslaved people in states that were still in rebellion would henceforth be free. While the order did not address slavery's status in the Border States or in southern states already under Union control, the proclamation transformed the meaning of the war and turned the Union forces into an army of liberation. It also permitted African Americans to enlist, and by the end of the war more than 200,000 black soldiers and sailors contributed to this national fight for freedom.
Lincoln won reelection in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the president was flexible and generous, encouraging southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.
He said in a debate that he was against Black people holding office and being able to vote and intermarry with white folks. However, toward the end of his life, he publicly supported Black voting rights.
The spirit that guided him was clear in his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive onto finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds....”
Lincoln would not let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
On Good Friday, April 14th, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping his beloved South. Lincoln died the following morning at Petersen House, and with his death went the possibility of peace with magnanimity. His remains were brought to the White House, and a funeral service was held in the East Room for the slain president.
17. Andrew Johnson
First Lady: Eliza McCardle Johnson
Vice-President: Office Vacant.
The 17th president (1865-1869) came from a poor family and never received a formal education. Luckily for Johnson, his wife Eliza was the daughter of a successful shoemaker and she taught him mathematics and helped improve his writing skills. Too bad this didn’t help him make good, lasting decisions while in office.
After years of climbing the political ladder, Johnson became president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and his policies contrasted hugely against his predecessor's. He allowed Southern states to form their own civil governments, which led to freed slaves losing many civil liberties, and he was opposed to guaranteeing rights for African-Americans.
Radical Republicans disapproved of how Johnson handled the abolition after Lincoln's assassination and made it their mission to fight him in everything he tried to do. Because of this, he had the worst relationship with Congress of all presidents.
Johnson made a key mistake when he vetoed two pieces of legislation that had been submitted to protect the rights of newly freed Black Americans; the extension of the Freedman's Bureau bill and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His vetoes enraged both the moderate and conservative parts of the Republican party and made an already contentious situation into a powder keg.
To push back, Congress tried to overrun both his vetoes, and succeeded in overturning his veto on the Civil Rights act. Congress also passed the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which conferred citizenship on all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteeing them equal protection under the law.
Yet Johnson’s rags-to-riches journey to the presidency is inspiring. His father died when he was 3 years old, sending the family into poverty. At 14, his mother sent him away as an indentured servant to a tailor (according to NPR). After three years of service, he ran away. The skills he learned came in handy, though — he would later make his own suits as president.
18. Ulysses S. Grant
First Lady: Julia Dent Grant
Vice-President:
1st term - Schuyler Colfax
2nd term - Henry Wilson
As a boy, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president (1869-1877) was mocked as "Useless" by his classmates. He seemed uninterested in school and didn't fit in. But after graduating from West Point, he served with distinction in the Army and was a triumphant general in the Civil War. He rose to fame serving as commanding general for the Union Armies and defeating the Confederacy. From there, he went on to become the 18th president and even temporarily put a stop to the Ku Klux Klan.
Though having played a part in such a chaotic time in history, this didn't absolve him from moments of helplessness during his presidency. Grant's weakness was Administrative Skills. Americans hoped Grant would bring an end to the fighting and establish control. But once elected, he acted like a deer in the headlights, and relied on Congress to guide his decisions.
At home, Grant was known for his adoration of his wife, Julia; hosting the first "grand" wedding — his daughter, Nellie's — in the White House's East Room, and for living with his father and father-in-law, whose notorious bickering were a national amusement. The Grants were known for their glamorous dinner parties, but as the couple had helped usher in the nation's Gilded Age, the public was not critical.
According to Reader's Digest, he also had a need for speed and a slight disregard for the rules. While president, he was pulled over not once, but twice within a 24 hour period, for speeding on his horse. The second time got him arrested. Can you imagine? “Please step out of the buggy, Mr. President. You're under arrest.”
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
First Lady: Lucy Ware Webb Hayes
Vice-President: William A. Wheeler.
Before entering the law program at Harvard, the future 19th president (1877-1881) worked for almost a year in a law office. Rutherford B. Hayes “won” the closest election in U.S. history against Samuel Tilden. Despite losing the popular vote by more than 250,000 votes, he squeaked through with a debatable 185-to-184 electoral vote win. This questionable victory earned him the nickname “His Fraudulency,” according to History.com.
Hayes was a firm believer in equality and, as a lawyer, he defended runaway slaves in court. Some might call him an idealist. As president, he promoted civil service reform and worked to negotiate lingering tensions from the Civil War and Reconstruction. Hayes did his best to end social and political tensions over race, but he failed to achieve a peaceful resolution.
To settle the issue, allies of Republican Hayes made a deal with southern Democrats known as the Compromise of 1877. The compromise gave Hayes the win but he was forced to withdraw the military from the South. Relinquishing control of the region to the southern Democrats effectively ended the Reconstruction era, which was a step in the wrong direction for civil rights.
when the currency debate reared its head again, with the southern and western parts of the country supporting the return of silver, Hayes' decision to support the gold standard did not win him any friends. He vetoed the Bland-Allison Act, which would have seen the government buy stores of silver bullion; but Congress overruled him and passed it.
While Hayes made it possible for women lawyers to argue cases in front of the Supreme Court in 1879, he also promised to protect the rights of Black Americans. But he also gave southern leaders a long leash to govern themselves, which failed miserably.
20. James A. Garfield
First Lady: Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
Vice-President: Chester A. Arthur.
James A. Garfield, President No. 20 (1881) served one of the shortest terms on record. Coming from humble beginnings, Garfield raised himself up from boat worker to carpenter, through college and finally to the Ohio state Senate. As the last of the log cabin presidents, Garfield attacked political corruption and won back for the presidency a measure of prestige it had lost during the Reconstruction period.
He was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on November 19th, 1831. Fatherless at two, he later drove canal boat teams, somehow earning enough money for an education. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1856, and returned to the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later Hiram College) in Ohio as a classics professor. Within a year he was made its president. Through his academic pursuits, he met fellow student Lucretia Rudolph, who would become his wife in 1858. The Garfields went on to have seven children together.
Garfield was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1859 as a Republican. During the secession crisis, he advocated coercing the seceding states back into the Union. In 1862, when Union military victories had been few, he successfully led a brigade at Middle Creek, Kentucky, against Confederate troops. At 31, Garfield became a brigadier general, two years later a major general of volunteers.
Meanwhile, in 1862, Ohioans elected him to Congress. President Lincoln persuaded him to resign his commission—it was easier to find major generals than to obtain effective Republicans for Congress. Garfield repeatedly won reelection for 18 years, and became the leading Republican in the House.
At the 1880 Republican convention, Garfield gave a very well-received presidential nomination speech for his friend John Sherman. Garfield failed to win the presidential nomination for his friend. Finally, on the 36th ballot, Garfield himself became the “dark horse” nominee. Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee, General Winfield Scott Hancock.
Once he became President, he worked to cut corruption out of the post office and expand the U.S. Navy's influence, and he advocated on behalf of civil rights for African-Americans. As president, Garfield strengthened federal authority over the New York Customs House, stronghold of Senator Roscoe Conkling, who was leader of the Stalwart Republicans and dispenser of patronage in New York. When Garfield submitted to the Senate a list of appointments including many of Conkling’s friends, he named Conkling's arch-rival William H. Robertson to run the Customs House. Conkling contested the nomination, tried to persuade the Senate to block it, and appealed to the Republican caucus to compel its withdrawal.
But Garfield would not submit: “This ... will settle the question whether the president is registering clerk of the Senate or the Executive of the United States ... shall the principal port of entry ... be under the control of the administration or under the local control of a factional senator.” Conkling maneuvered to have the Senate confirm Garfield’s uncontested nominations and adjourn without acting on Robertson. Garfield countered by withdrawing all nominations except Robertson’s; the senators would have to confirm him or sacrifice all the appointments of Conkling’s friends. In a final desperate move, Conkling and his fellow-senator from New York resigned, confident that their legislature would vindicate their stand and re-elect them. Instead, the legislature elected two other men; the Senate confirmed Robertson. Garfield’s victory was complete.
On July 2nd, 1881, Garfield was shot by a man named Charles Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Guiteau, who believed he had helped Garfield win the presidency, was angry that the president did not give him a consulship abroad.
Mortally wounded, Garfield lay in the White House for weeks. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet with an induction-balance electrical device that he had designed. On September 6th, Garfield was taken to the New Jersey seaside. For a few days he seemed to be recuperating, but on September 19th, 1881, he died from an infection and internal hemorrhage.
James Garfield was president for only 200 days.
21. Chester A. Arthur
First Lady: Mary Arthur McElroy (sister)
Vice-President: Office Vacant.
Chester Arthur had been a successful lawyer and was President Garfield's VP. After Garfield's untimely death, Arthur stepped up to the top office and became the 21st president (1881-1885).
During his presidency, Arthur worked on civil service reform, to ensure that federal government positions would go to people based on merit, not political affiliation.
But his intellect wasn't enough to win him a second term, largely because of a negative reputation that dogged him from an earlier job.
Arthur was charged with bribery and mishandling government money from his days as the politically powerful Collector of the Port of New York, but he was not convicted.
Prior to becoming president, in his career as a lawyer, Arthur was an active abolitionist.
Chester A. Arthur didn’t earn a spot on the list of worst presidents for doing anything exceptionally horrible. In fact, his administration was rather unremarkable.
He ranks low because he was never actually elected president. Instead, he was thrust into the limelight after President James Garfield’s assassination.
He was said to be deeply wounded by the public's opinion of him — he was generally considered to be unfit for such an important job — so he proceeded to rise above their (admittedly low) expectations. He consistently defused patronage appointments, and in his last year he acquired the naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Arthur is most remembered for his fight against New York’s corrupt civil system.
Oh, and also his “presidential garage sale,” where he sold historical artifacts — including a pair of Abraham Lincoln’s pants — to fund his interior design project in the White House, according to Reader’s Digest.
22. Grover Cleveland
First Lady: Frances Folsom Cleveland
Vice-President: Thomas A. Hendricks.
America's 22nd (1885-1889) and 24th (1893-1897) president is a great example of what you can achieve through determination and a commitment to high values.
Cleveland couldn't afford to go to college, but he passed the bar exam through self-study. After working for a law firm for three years, he opened his own practice.
He would become mayor of Buffalo, New York, and then New York's governor. During his first term as president, Cleveland was fairly popular, but he failed to get re-elected due to campaign mismanagement.
After four years out of office, he was elected to a fresh term and returned to the White House. He is remembered for his honesty, integrity and his determination to fight political corruption throughout his life.
Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Despite winning two elections, he was stunningly average.
His view that a president's main role was to block legislative excesses made him quite popular during his first term, but the very same stance cost him his popularity during his second.
Consequently, many of his mediocre rankings stem from those unpopular policies during the Panic of 1893, an economic depression during his second term, when government subsidies could have helped Americans survive.
Cleveland also had a taste for younger women. According to History.com, he married 21-year-old Frances Folsom in the White House, making her the youngest First Lady in history. And the kicker?
Cleveland had been Frances’ legal guardian ever since her father passed when she was 11 years old.
23. Benjamin Harrison
First Lady: Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison
Vice-President: Levi P. Morton.
Another lawyer by trade, Benjamin Harrison ran a successful practice and was a prominent church leader and politician in Indiana before being elected as the 23rd president (1889-1893).
As POTUS, Harrison created the national forest reserves, added six western states to the Union, and built up the Navy.
Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in winning education funding and the enforcement of voting rights for African-Americans. He ended his presidency with low approval due to a significant increase in federal spending during his term.
Nobody ever said being president was easy.
Benjamin Harrison entered office with a huge budgetary surplus. By the end of his term it had disappeared, giving the nation a one-way ticket to the Panic of 1893.
Harrison was a big spender, the first president to push the federal budget over $1 billion.
Many Americans, specifically farmers, looked at his spending with suspicion, thinking that aligned him too closely with the east coast elite.
While he was criticized for his spending, his reputation truly started to tank after passing the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which raised protective tariffs on many American products by almost 50 percent, according to House.gov.
When congressional elections came up in 1890 the Democrats won back the House of Representatives with a handy majority, and for his last two years in office, Harrison didn't accomplish very much.
Harrison wasn’t afraid to spend, but he was afraid of electricity. According to Energy.gov, he was the first president to have electricity in the White House. He sometimes slept with the lights on, however, because he was afraid to touch light switches.
24. Grover Cleveland
First Lady: Frances Folsom Cleveland
Vice-President: Adlai E. Stevenson.
Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. See entry for number 22, above.
25. William McKinley
First Lady: Ida Saxton McKinley
Vice-President: Garret A. Hobart.
During the Civil War, the future 25th president (1897-1901) worked as a subordinate of Rutherford B. Hayes, both of whom would later become POTUS. These two make a great case for networking and mentorship.
With the support of Hayes, McKinley had a successful run as president.
He oversaw a thriving economy, started and won the Spanish-American War, gained Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines from Spain and signed a resolution annexing Hawaii to the United States.
His presidency ended when he was gunned down by an anarchist assassin, he’s usually remembered for being an OK president, his tragic death overshadowing his time in office.
In his first presidential election, McKinley won public support by his defense of the gold standard. Rather than traveling the country making campaign stops, he welcomed Republicans to the front of his house in Ohio and would speak to supporters from his front porch.
He is given credit for leading the United States out of its policy of isolationism to become a greater player on the world stage.
He led the country into war with Spain to secure independence for Cuba, and gained control over the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam (although the U.S. then entered into conflict with Filipino nationalists who rejected American rule).
He ranked lower than average (26th) for the Pursued Equal Justice For All category.
McKinley was elected for a second term, but died six months before the inauguration from an assassination attempt by Leon F. Czolgosz. Czolgosz said he killed the president because he believed him to be “enemy of the people, the good working people," according to the Miller Center.
26. Theodore Roosevelt
First Lady: Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt
Vice-President:
1st term - Office Vacant
2nd term - Charles W. Fairbanks
America's 26th president (1901-1909) was the youngest man to ever hold the job. When President William McKinley was assassinated, his 42-year-old vice president — Roosevelt — assumed the higher office.
Roosevelt showed that he was smart and more than up to the role of America's chief executive.
As president, he worked to bring Americans clean food and medicine, established many national parks, expanded the Navy, began the construction of the Panama Canal, and successfully negotiated the end of the Russo-Japanese war.
Roosevelt received many honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. But he wasn’t immune to less honored moments.
America’s first cowboy president has persisted as one of America’s most popular figures for decades, thanks to his charismatic personality.
A sickly child who had overcome his challenges by strenuous physical exertion, he grew into an enthusiastic and energetic adult.
After his stint as a war hero in the Spanish American war, the Republicans tapped him to become the governor of New York. When he won, he refused to "toe the line" and became an unstoppable instrument of reform, angering the fellow members of the party so much that they nominated him to be William McKinley's vice president, thinking he would then be safely out of the way in what was much a ceremonial role.
It was a ceremonial role, and one that Roosevelt disliked, until McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt rose to the presidency.
He is known for being the first person to coin the nickname "the White House" for the official residence.
Teddy Roosevelt promoted environmental conservation and brokered peace and ranks quite highly for categories like Public Persuasion (3rd), International Relations (4th) and Vision / Setting an Agenda (4th).
His lowest ranking was in the Pursued Equal Justice For All (11th). He denounced slavery, but historians say he still maintained racist views toward Native Americans and Black people.
27. William Howard Taft
First Lady: Helen Herron Taft
Vice-President: James S. Sherman.
William Howard Taft's achievements set an example of the undeniable value of an excellent work ethic.
His early teachers didn’t consider him a brilliant student, but his parents pushed him to grind his way to success.
He was at the top of his class in law school, finishing second out of 121 students, and found progressively more interesting work as a lawyer, a local judge, the solicitor general of the U.S., a federal judge, and the U.S. secretary of war.
Taft served just one term as the nation's 27th president (1909-1913), but he was later given a role he said was an even greater honor: as America's chief justice.
As the successor to Theodore Roosevelt (who was ranked 4th best), William Howard Taft had some big shoes to fill.
Stout and easy-going, it was understood that Taft was elected due to Teddy Roosevelt's support, and when he entered office, his Republican supporters expected him to continue Roosevelt's Reform agenda.
But instead, Taft refused to nominate any progressives to his cabinet. He lacked the charisma of his predecessor, and proved to make more conservative policy choices than his backers wanted.
Taft ranks below average in almost all categories, but was especially poor at Public Persuasion (28th) and Crisis Leadership (26th). One of his biggest shortcomings was the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which was meant to reduce taxes but was a flop.
Potentially the nail in the coffin for his chances at re-election was his firing of Gifford Pinchot, who was head of the Bureau of Forestry. He was a close friend and ally of Theodore Roosevelt, and with his dismissal, the Republican party imploded.
Taft’s true calling was law, but his wife wanted to be the First Lady and pushed him toward the presidency. After serving, he became the Chief Justice of the United States and considers it his greatest achievement.
According to Whitehouse.gov, he even wrote, “I don’t even remember that I ever was President.”
28. Woodrow Wilson
First Lady: Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
Vice-President: Thomas R. Marshall.
Wilson was an underachieving law school dropout, but he managed to pass the Georgia bar exam.
After working to open a law firm, he abandoned it simply due to boredom.
Finally, he went back to school and majored in political science, which eventually led to his election as the 28th president (1913-1921).
If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that nontraditional paths can lead to success — especially if you’ve got brains to burn. And Wilson seemed to be burning.
While he is remembered for his role in leading the U.S. through World War I, and for his creation in the League of Nations — which won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 —Wilson's actual legacy is a lot more complex.
He was responsible for mandating an eight-hour work week, for ending the practice of child labour in the U.S., and his was the first administration to extend government loans to farmers.
Wilson may have said he advocated for progressive reform, but here’s the thing: his policies didn’t extend to all Americans, ranking him low in the equal justice category (37th).
During his first administration, he re-segregated several branches of the federal workforce (after decades of integration) and said segregation was a “benefit” to Black professionals, according to Vox.
Even before his tenure at the White House, Wilson prevented Black students from enrolling at Princeton while he served as president of the university and was a vocal supporter of the Klu Klux Klan.
29. Warren G. Harding
First Lady: Florence Kling Harding
Vice-President: Calvin Coolidge.
Before Harding became the 29th president (1921-1923), he was co-owner and manager of a money-making newspaper.
As president, Harding continued to find success, as he made many popular moves. He reduced the top marginal tax rate by almost 50%, cut taxes at lower incomes and pushed for deregulation and more government spending.
Just one year after he took office, the economy turned around from its post-World War I depression to see amazing growth.
But after his untimely death from a heart attack, it turned out that several of Harding’s hand-chosen cabinet members were up to their necks in corruption — which is why historians rate his presidency as one of the worst.
Warren G. Harding’s administration was wrought with scandals. The Teapot Dome was one of many — involving bribes, oil companies and the first imprisonment of a presidential cabinet member.
The most significant achievement of his administration was during the 1921-22 Washington Naval Disarmament Conference, where his secretary of state brokered an agreement that saw the world's major powers agree to stop the arms race in development of large naval vessels.
But, he was a notoriously poor judge of character, expecting his political appointees to repay him with integrity, but that went as well as you might expect.
Most of the friends he placed in office stayed corrupt, using their power unscrupulously for personal gain.
And while Harding may not have been involved with all the corruption directly, he was far from a stand-up guy.
Not only was he notorious for his copious drinking in the White House during the Prohibition era, but he cheated on the First Lady multiple times, so much that Politico dubbed him "America’s Horniest President."
30. Calvin Coolidge
First Lady: Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge
Vice-President:
1st term - Office Vacant
2nd term - Charles G. Dawes
America's 30th president (1923-1929) was known as a man of few words, once writing that, "The words of a president have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately."
The American people didn’t know what to make of "Silent Cal," but his actions spoke loud and clear.
He made major tax changes that helped spur along the Roaring '20s, and his support of racial equality boosted his popularity.
Although historians don’t rank his presidency very highly, Coolidge proved that leaders come in different forms — and that results resonate louder than talk.
Calvin Coolidge took his oath in the Roaring Twenties and had a talent for actively doing nothing. With a booming economy, his main goal was to maintain the status quo.
Taking over the presidency after the untimely death of Warren G.Harding, Coolidge's first task was to clean up government corruption by weeding out Harding's cabinet, and restoring integrity to the office.
And while he kept his promise, he was known to be one of the most negative and distant presidents in U.S. history. Unlike other sociable presidents, Coolidge often sat through interviews silently, offering one-word answers.
However uncomfortable he was in the public eye, he was an effective leader, if a quiet one, except in one key area.
Twice Congress passed the McNary-Haugen bill, which called on the federal government to buy farmers' surplus crops. Coolidge vetoed the bill both in 1927 and 1928, contributing to the woes of the farming industry that lasted well into the Depression.
He finished his term just months before the Great Depression hit. Since he ranks 27th in Crisis Leadership, this was for the best.
While he didn’t love to talk, he did deeply love his two pet raccoons, Reuben and Rebecca. You could sometimes find them scampering around the White House.
31. Herbert Hoover
First Lady: Lou Henry Hoover
Vice-President: Charles Curtis.
Although he barely got into Stanford, Hoover studied geology at the school and showed a flair for business management. He developed a lucrative side gig doing laundry for other students, and managed the baseball and football teams.
After college, Hoover worked as a mining engineer in Australia, and was soon an investor, financier, speculator and manager of several important mining developments in Australia — and a frequent lecturer at universities.
Although he was a successful businessman, he was an unpopular 31st president (1929-1933) during the Great Depression.
After leaving office, he developed good relationships with Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and would go on to serve in an advisory capacity over three presidential terms.
With an impressive resume and promises of prosperity, Americans had high hopes for President Herbert Hoover.
Entering the office with an intact legacy of humanitarianism during World War I, Hoover was well-equipped to deal both with the presidency and the Depression that defined his term in office.
On Oct. 24, 1929, less than a year into Hoover’s presidency, stock markets crashed, pulling the country into the deepest depression in U.S. history.
Hoover ranks dead last for Economic Management (44th) and became the scapegoat of the Great Depression.
Although he met with business leaders at the White House and urged them not to lay off their employees, his efforts to fix the mess fell short, and he held local governments responsible to step up and take care of the needy in their communities.
As the situation disintegrated, the public began to hold him responsible, to the extent that people who had lost their homes started referring to their encampments as Hoovervilles.
Because of this apparent lack of concern, many have viewed him as cold, heartless and distant from the people’s suffering.
To make matters worse, he treated White House staff poorly. According to National Public Radio (NPR), he never wanted to see them. So whenever he walked by, they were forced to jump behind bushes and hide in closets.
32. Franklin Roosevelt
First Lady: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Vice-President:
1st term - John N. Garner
2nd term - Henry A. Wallace
3rd term - Harry S. Truman
Franklin Roosevelt was one of the most influential U.S. presidents in modern times and was the only one to serve three full terms.
The 32nd president (1933-1945) took office in the middle of the Great Depression, and launched a number of programs under the New Deal to provide economic relief to Americans, including the Social Security program we still have today.
He made even more legendary decisions in the pressure of World War II. He declared war on Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack, oversaw the development of the atomic bomb and helped lay the groundwork for postwar Europe.
Roosevelt also worked with Allied countries on a framework for the United Nations.
When FDR was first elected to office, he set out on delivering the first phase of the New Deal, which he called "The 100 Days," which gave him that amount of time to deliver on some new economic, fiscal and domestic policy reforms that he hoped would raise the average American's quality of life by a significant amount.
His New Deal programs provided economic relief to workers, introduced the Social Security Act and hiked taxes on big businesses and the wealthy.
In 1935, after receiving criticism that his New Deal had not produced enough reform, FDR launched what is typically known as his "Second Deal," which expanded on unemployment and disability insurance, re-established collective bargaining, and enforced larger tax cuts on the wealthy.
His weekly "fireside" radio chats, meant to sway public opinion in favor of his policies, also helped bring a sense of hope and security to Americans, and probably did much to seal his political legacy.
Although during his life he was deeply loved and deeply criticized for his strong stances and how he vastly expanded the power of the federal government, decades after his death he is still considered one of America's truly great political leaders.
While he lands in the top three slots for nearly every category, he takes 9th place for equal justice. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, FDR ordered the forced internment of Japanese Americans into prison camps.
33. Harry Truman
First Lady: Elizabeth Wallace Truman
Vice-President:
1st term - Office Vacant
2nd term - Alben W, Barkley
President No. 33 (1945–1953) was legally blind in one eye and never obtained a college degree — so he's another who took a nontraditional path to the presidency.
Truman cheated on a vision test to get into the military, and his successes in World War I honed his exceptional leadership abilities.
He ran as Franklin Roosevelt's VP in 1945 and served in that role for only 82 days until Roosevelt died. Truman took office with little political or foreign relations experience, but his presidency is rated “near great” by historians.
He guided the U.S. into a more internationalist foreign policy, was a founder of the United Nations, oversaw the development of NATO, and made civil rights a priority of his administration.
Truman is largely remembered for his decisions during the war — such as dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He won his first actual election in 1946, taking everyone by surprise — he had chipped away at his support through being too progressive for conservatives, and too centrist for progressives. But a key part of his election strategy, a whistle-stop tour where he vigorously campaigned against conservative domestic policy, won him a decisive victory.
He was a key proponent of the Korean war.
When he heard in June of 1950 that North Korea had invaded the south, he was initially criticized for not asking Congress to issue a declaration of war, instead sending General Douglas MacArthur to repel the invading forces. Even though Truman's strategy had been to "contain" and not advance the conflict, the war in Korea dragged on long after he left office, leaving many civilians and veterans depleted and bitter.
His popularity waned in his second term due to accusations of corruption and that his administration was “soft” on communism, says the Miller Center. He decided against seeking re-election for a third term.
34. Dwight Eisenhower
First Lady: Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower
Vice-President: Richard M, Nixon.
While attending West Point, the future general and 34th president (1953-1961) had a questionable disciplinary record and was more interested in athletics than studying.
After his graduation in 1915, Eisenhower joined the Army and impressed the generals he served under.
Following the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was called to Washington. He was responsible for drafting major war plans to take down Japan and Germany. Later, he served as the first Supreme Commander of NATO.
Though Eisenhower was a conservative president, he oversaw an expansion of Social Security. Historians rate this once underachieving student as a successful and high-achieving president.
After Eisenhower commanded Allied forces during World War II, he led the country as president in its aftermath.
He was mentioned as a possibility for the presidency as early as 1943 by both sides of the aisle, and when the 1952 election came close, Ike let it be known that he was a Republican and secured their nomination.
Known for his easy-going demeanor, indefatigable energy and war heroism, he campaigned tirelessly and won his first election easily, naming Richard Nixon as his vice president.
He was extremely popular during his presidency and won a second term in a landslide victory. He helped bring the Korean War to an end and also attempted to improve relations with the Soviet Union.
In a world summit in 1955, he was the first to propose an "open skies" agreement, where all participants would have the right to air inspect the military installations of other countries.
He and his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, were instrumental in the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Eisenhower takes 12th place in the Pursued Equal Justice For All category, likely for signing civil rights legislation for Black voters in 1957 and 1960.
He became an intensive traveler over the last two years of his presidency, traveling over 300,000 miles and 27 countries in order to shore up the foreign policy initiatives he championed.
35. John F. Kennedy
First Lady: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
Vice-President: Lyndon B. Johnson.
JFK was not just smart — he was a trooper who fought chronic illnesses his whole life and refused to give in.
He pursued an interest in political philosophy at Harvard, then served with distinction in the Naval Reserve in World War II. During his abbreviated presidency (1961-1963), he faced some intense political situations.
Kennedy steered the U.S. through the Cold War, struggles with Cuba and the Middle East and the rising civil rights and women's equality movements.
As the country was becoming more woke, the 35th president managed to push it toward a more equitable future by signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and proposing what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Despite his presidency being a mere 1,037 days, JFK made a significant name for himself outside of his tragic assassination.
JFK was the youngest president ever elected to office at the age of 43.
He first declared his intentions for the presidency in 1960, but won against VP Nixon by only the narrowest of margins — and people generally agree that what gave Kennedy the edge was a series of four televised debates where his poise, style, and Harvard University accent persuaded the audience to show up to the polls.
His presidency was marked by his focus on foreign policy, including the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
He was also the youngest and first Roman Catholic to be elected president.
He scored decently well in all categories and his legacy became near legend, particularly after his widow, Jackie, compared his presidency to “Camelot.”
“Don’t let it be forgot, that for one brief, shining moment there was Camelot,” she quoted from her husband’s favorite Broadway musical.
The former president certainly wasn't without fault, however.
He had an affair with a 19-year-old intern and one of Jackie’s friends and was even rumored to have hooked up with Marilyn Monroe.
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
First Lady: Claudia (Lady Bird) Taylor Johnson
Vice-President:
1st term - Office Vacant
2nd term - Hubert H. Humphrey
Legend has it that Johnson proudly boasted when he was only 12 that he would be president one day.
After watching the devastating impact of inflation on a farmer's livelihood, Johnson was determined not to struggle as his parents did. He dreamed big and pushed tirelessly and aggressively to reach his goals.
If his dream was indeed to sit behind the big desk at the White House, he achieved it under tragic circumstances. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president (1963-1969) when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Although he was criticized for his handling of the Vietnam war, historians praise LBJ for passing major laws that improved civil rights, protected the environment, launched Medicare and Medicaid and removed some barriers to immigration.
In Johnson’s completion of the term that Kennedy started, he was hailed for his commitment to social programs and for building legislation that would enshrine equality in law.
In the 1964 elections, he handily beat his Republican opponent, Barry Goldwater, by 61%, which was the largest margin ever in a presidential election.
The Medicare and Medicaid programs were created under his administration and he signed both the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
While he had hoped that his social programs would be his legacy, he ranks particularly poorly for international relations (39th). Johnson escalated U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War, dropping his approval rating from 70% in mid-1965 to below 40% by 1967.
The enormous financial cost of the war also diverted funds away from his domestic policy initiatives.; estimated in 1967 as costing $25 billion dollars, it began to increase prices at home and abroad.
Casualties continued on both sides and anti-war protests took place across cities and college campuses, while Johnson steadily lost support.
37. Richard Nixon
Vice-President:
1st term - Spiro T. Agnew
2nd term - Gerald R. Ford
Throughout his schooling, the future 37th president (1969-1974) was an exceptional student, earning stellar grades and excelling in several extracurricular activities.
After graduating from law school, Nixon applied to work with the FBI, but he didn’t get a response. So, he joined a small law firm and worked his way up to partner. He also received two commendations for his military service in World War II.
Nixon ran for president twice, and won narrowly the second time.
His story would be one of persistence and intellectual achievements, including major foreign policy accomplishments — but all of that was overshadowed by scandal. Nixon is the only president to resign from office in disgrace.
As the only U.S. president to have ever resigned, it’s no surprise to see Richard M. Nixon on the list of worst presidents.
One of his election promises was to broker "peace with honor" for the Vietnam War, and Nixon was largely able to reduce the number of American troops serving overseas. He also was the first to establish direct relations with the People's Republic of China in over 21 years.
But regardless of his domestic and foreign policy decisions, his presidency would become overshadowed by one decisive scandal, one that puts him on this list.
Simply put, Nixon had no Moral Authority (41st). During his presidency, burglars broke into the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., to steal documents and tap phones. The goal was to help with Nixon’s re-election campaign. Nixon denied any involvement, but recorded tapes proved this to be a lie.
This would forever go down in history as the Watergate scandal.
While Nixon will always be defined by Watergate, he did achieve many of his objectives as president, especially in regards to International Relations (12th). This included improving relationships with the U.S.S.R and China, ending the fighting in Vietnam and even ending the mandatory military draft.
38. Gerald Ford
First Lady: Elizabeth Anne Bloomer Ford
Vice-President: Nelson A. Rockefeller.
After completing his bachelor's degree, Gerald Ford was set on going to law school — but his impressive college football career had NFL teams tossing lucrative contracts at him. He chose to study law while working as an assistant football coach.
Ford became vice president in the midst of scandals, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. He stepped up to the presidency when Richard Nixon also quit.
President No. 38 (1974-1977) inherited high inflation, rising unemployment and the continuing Vietnam War.
Despite his challenges, Ford is remembered as an honest and straight-speaking president who supported equal rights, and education for children with special needs.
Vice President Gerald R. Ford was thrust into the president’s chair after the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation.
With soaring inflation, a sluggish economy and fragile foreign affairs, Ford inherited a heavy burden. He promoted business and vetoed expensive military bills in an attempt to repair the economy, but he struggled.
While he had been well-liked during his time in Congress, it was Ford's presidential pardon of Richard Nixon in August 1974 that saw his popularity take a steep nosedive. It destroyed his credibility with many.
Also startling was Ford's nomination of progressive Nelson Rockefeller to the vice-presidency. After he lost a lot of Republican support, Ford's government was consistently marred by legislative gridlock.
While a president can only do so much, historians believe he didn’t do enough — ranking him 37th in Public Persuasion, 33rd in Economic Management and 35th in Setting an Agenda.
According to History.com, two women separately tried to assassinate him within a span of 17 days. Apparently, they weren’t impressed with his leadership either.
39. James Earl Carter
First Lady: Rosalynn Smith Carter
Vice-President: Walter F. Mondale.
Jimmy Carter came from a wealthy family in Georgia, but he inherited a failing peanut-growing business that quickly forced his own young family to move into public housing.
The resourceful Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, studied agriculture and accounting and eventually managed to rebuild the business. After being elected the governor of Georgia in 1971, Carter decided to go national.
The 39th president was in office during a difficult time (1977-1981) thanks to the Cold War, a slow economy at home and an ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Carter was voted out of office after one term, but his post-presidency has been filled with humanitarian work and writing. He has authored more than two dozen books since leaving the White House.
With inflation and unemployment spiraling out of control, Jimmy Carter had his work cut out for him as president.
Despite reducing the budget deficit and helping create almost 8 million jobs, his attempts to remedy inflation launched the U.S. into a short recession.
In his early administration, Carter introduced a litany of social and economic reforms, but he was consistently met by opposition in Congress, despite his having a clear Democratic majority.
It was his difficulties negotiating with the House and Senate that undermined the success of his administration, and chipped away at his popularity. By 1978 it became clear that none of his optimistic ideas were going to make it into legislative reality, and voters began to turn from him.
To make matters worse, an Iranian military group took 52 U.S. embassy workers hostage during the last year of Carter’s term. The hostages were eventually released, but the negativity surrounding the event caused people to question his Crisis Leadership (35th).
Unlike most presidents, who prefer to avoid touchy subjects, Carter regularly aired his innermost thoughts. His tendency to share too much information — including an interview about sex and Christianity published by Playboy — may be one reason he struggled with Public Persuasion (35th).
40. Ronald Reagan
First Lady: Nancy Davis Reagan
Vice-President: George H. W. Bush.
Reagan said his parents taught him to be impartial, maintain a strong sense of faith and give priority to doing good for others.
The 40th president (1981-1989) took an unusual path to the White House: first making his name as an actor and becoming president of the Screen Actors Guild, then working as a motivational speaker for General Motors.
After serving two terms as governor of California, Reagan ran several times for the presidency before winning the office.
Although some of his policies were controversial, he stuck to his values and left office with a 68% approval rating, the highest for a departing president in modern times.
This former Hollywood star turned president took office during a period of economic uncertainty and is credited with cutting back on inflation and bringing an end to the Cold War.
His presidency was nothing if not immediately dramatic. A few months after his inauguration he was shot by a would-be assassin and spent months recuperating.
He became known for his refusal to bargain with striking workers, his budget increases for military defense and the tax cuts that were supposed to stimulate the economy but instead led to one of the worst recessions since the Depression of the 1930s.
Reagan was an excellent speaker — that’s why he ranks so highly for Public Persuasion (5th) — but he lacked administrative skills (30th) and brought about some pretty hefty budget deficits.
His immense popularity gained him a second term in office. However, he ranks 22nd for the equal justice category — likely because of his criticism of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
41. George H.W. Bush
First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush
Vice-President: Dan Quayle.
The first President Bush had a very long career in politics before becoming the 41st POTUS (1989-1993).
He was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, served in Congress and was chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Along the way, Bush Sr. was known for persistently cultivating business relationships and professionals of all ages can be inspired by his next-level networking skills.
As president, he’s remembered for overseeing military operations that ended in the fall of Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and for signing the NAFTA treaty uniting the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a trading bloc.
At age 18, George H.W. Bush joined the armed forces as what was believed (at the time) to be the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy. However, it was later discovered that Chuck Downey, of Poplar Grove, Illinois, has the President beat by 11 days, a fact the President has since acknowledged. This military experience came in handy as president during the Gulf War and the victory over Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Storm.
Not surprisingly, from the outset of his presidency, H.W. concentrated more on foreign policy, rather than domestic.
Despite his military success, his efforts to strengthen the economy fell short, and his lack of vision (ranked 28th) lost him the next election.
The “barfing incident” on the Japanese prime minister’s lap probably didn’t help, either.
There were three notable absences in the UC Davis study — Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden — as they had not yet been elected when the initial research was done. While we don’t have their IQ scores handy, we have compiled some of their accomplishments so you can evaluate for yourself.
42. William J. Clinton
First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Vice-President: Albert Gore.
President No. 42 (1993-2001) had a very hectic childhood amid a lot of family drama, but he didn’t let that hold him back.
Clinton established himself as a strong student in high school, which led to an opportunity to represent his school and meet JFK — a meeting that inspired him to enter public service.
The young man banked on scholarships to fund his education at Georgetown, then at Oxford, and finally at Yale Law School.
After teaching law at the University of Arkansas, Clinton was elected Arkansas' governor. From there, he worked his way up to the nation's top office.
All that's to say, even the smartest people make some questionable decisions.
William J. Clinton was elected at the end of the Cold War and his administration oversaw a period of economic prosperity — and no shortage of notoriety.
His presidency got off to a rocky start — one of his campaign promises had been to end discrimination against LGBTQIA people serving in the military, but his proposed solutions were immediately attacked by the Republican party. As a compromise, Clinton tabled what became known as the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a watered-down version of his first piece of legislation that irritated both sides of the aisle.
Bubba ranks highly for Public Persuasion (10th) and Economic Management (5th). He sits particularly low in the Moral Authority category (38th), but let’s be honest: There are no surprises there.
The Monica Lewinsky scandal, in which the former president hooked up with a 22-year-old White House intern, saw Clinton lie under oath and get impeached by the House of Representatives (he was later acquitted).
The Clintons also got caught up in the Whitewater real estate controversy, but were never charged or proved to have taken part in any wrongdoing.
43. George W. Bush
First Lady: Laura Welch Bush
Vice-President: Dick Cheney.
Continuing a family tradition, Bush was sent to a boarding school. His start at the school was a rather rocky one, and in later years Bush often boasted that his story shows that a straight-C student can succeed.
This modern POTUS drew strong criticism over the Iraq War, his administration's response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and other major controversies.
He had to contend with mean memes, bad press and endless jokes at his expense. He tried to bear it all with humor, but some things can’t be laughed away.
44. Barack H. Obama
Vice-President: Joseph R. Biden.
The 44th president, serving from 2009 until 2017, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 with J.D. magna cum laude distinction, meaning that he was one of the top students, according to the student newspaper, "The Harvard Crimson."
Before law school, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University and worked as a community organizer in Chicago’s Far South Side beginning in 1985.
Known for his eloquent use of words, Obama delivered many memorable speeches including his famous 2008 victory speech, which is remembered for emphasizing his campaign slogan, “Yes, we can.”
Barack Obama made history for being the first African-American president, and during his tenure he helped avoid economic catastrophe, pulled back military involvement in foreign countries and supported climate change action, immigration reform and LGBTQ rights.
In 2008, Obama won the election with 53% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes.
Not only did he retain the states that John Kerry had won in 2004, but he also captured a number of states, like Ohio, Florida, and Nevada, that had been Republican strongholds over the previous two elections.
He gets high scores for the equal justice and economic management categories — he took office in 2009 in the midst of the Great Recession, which was no easy feat — but he lags behind for Relations with Congress (32nd).
Congressional Republicans opposed much of the president’s proposed legislation and Obama had to invoke executive action to achieve some of his immigration reforms.
In fact, several of his policies, like Obamacare and Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, were either overturned or attacked by Republicans during the Trump administration afterward.
45. Donald Trump
First Lady: Melania Trump
Vice-President: Michael Pence.
Donald Trump served four years as the 45th president of the United States, from 2017 to 2021. There’s no denying that Trump is a jack of all trades.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with an economics degree in 1968. By the 1980s, he had established a reputation as a major real estate developer, and expanded into the casino business. With Journalist Tony Schwartz, Trump published the business advice book “The Art of the Deal” in 1987. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice.
According to Gallup data, 58% of Americans surveyed consider Donald Trump intelligent, and Trump has made numerous self references to his intelligence as being “like, really smart.”
Donald J. Trump’s presidency was marked with scandal after scandal. Some highlights include:
Pardoning war criminals.
Being impeached twice A scandal, yes, but not a Trump scandal, as he was acquitted of both by the Senate.
Refusing to accept his loss in the 2020 election, just as Hilary did in 2016.
An alleged role in inciting riots on the Capitol Building in January, which has been refuted by multiple sworn witnesses.
But one of his first directives as president, was an order for the Department of Homeland Security to begin construction of a border wall, as he promised during his campaign, between Texas and Mexico. Shortly after that, he made good on another campaign promise by temporarily suspending immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries in the interest of national security.
Don't forget about his supposed pre-presidency scandals, such as sexual assault allegations, the beauty pageant scandal and alleged racial housing discrimination (to name a few). All of which eventually turned out to be false accusations,
46. Joseph R. Biden
First Lady: Jill Biden
Vice-President: Kamala D. Harris.
Joe Biden has a fair share of education under his belt. He graduated from a private secondary school (Archmere Academy), before making his way to the University of Delaware where he earned a B.A in history and political science in 1965. Though that doesn't necessarily equate to braininess in everyone's opinion. According to a Gallup report, only 59% of Americans consider President 46 to be intelligent.
He wrote in “Promises to Keep” — his 2007 memoir — that he had always planned on attending law school and had a dream of becoming an “esteemed public figure.” He started on the path to his dream in 1968 when he graduated from Syracuse University Law School. Biden then worked briefly as a corporate lawyer before becoming a public defender and eventually embarking on his political career.
Note: Your humble Web Master served in the United States Navy under six presidents, Eisenhower through Carter.