President of the United States

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This article is about the office of the President of the United States. For the movie, see The American President (film). For other items, see this disambiguation page: The Presidents of the United States of America

The President of the United States of America (sometimes abbreviated to "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on the earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today.

The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government.

The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term was 2001–2005; his second term began in 2005 and will end in 2009.

Contents 1 President of the United States in Congress Assembled 2 Requirements to hold office 3 Election 3.1 Current system 3.2 Campaign 3.3 Latest election 4 Term(s) of office 5 Succession 6 Powers 7 Presidential salary and benefits 7.1 Salary 7.2 Travelling 7.3 Secret Service 8 Office-holders 9 Timeline of Presidential births 10 Life after the Presidency 11 Presidential facts 11.1 Transition events 11.2 Other facts 12 See also 13 Further reading 14 Notes 15 External links 15.1 Official 15.2 Presidential histories 15.3 Speeches 15.4 Miscellaneous

President of the United States in Congress Assembled

After the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 the President of the Continental Congress was renamed to President of the United States in Congress Assembled. After the Constitutional Convention, which replaced the Articles of Confederation with the modern United States Constitution in 1787, the President's title was shortened to the "President of the United States". Functionally, the President of the United States in Congress Assembled is quite different from the modern office of the President of the United States and is the most analogous to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.

The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy recently. Some commentators argue that the clause should be repealed because it excludes qualified people based on so-called "technicalities", and fails to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Supporters counter that the requirement protects the United States from foreign interference — another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials are barred from the presidency because they are not natural-born citizens (for example, Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright), as well as other well-known persons born in other countries who have done great service for the United States (Bob Hope). Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none has been successful.

Election

Main article: U.S. presidential election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Latest election

Main article: U.S. presidential election, 2004

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Summary of the 2 November 2004 United States presidential election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%	Electoral vote
	George W. Bush	Republican Party	62,040,610	50.7%	286
	John Kerry	Democratic Party	59,028,439	48.3%	251
	John Edwards1				1
	Ralph Nader	Independent, Reform Party	463,655	0.4%	-
	Michael Badnarik	Libertarian Party	397,265	0.3%	-
	Michael Peroutka	Constitution Party	144,498	0.1%	-
	David Cobb	Green Party	119,859	0.1%	-
	Other		99,221	0.1%	-
Total			122,293,547	100.0%	538

Term(s) of office

Under the Constitution, the President serves a term of four years. Amendment XXII (which took effect in 1951 and was first applied to Dwight D. Eisenhower starting in 1953) limits the president to either two four-year terms or a maximum of ten years in office should he have succeeded to the Presidency previously and served two years at most to complete his predecessor's term. Prior to the ratification of this amendment, following the precedent set by George Washington, an unofficial limit of two terms was generally observed, with Franklin D. Roosevelt as the only exception (Roosevelt served three full terms and died in his fourth, having served just over 12 years). Since the amendment went into effect, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Incumbent President George W. Bush would become the fourth if he completes his current term in 2009. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it.

Succession

The United States presidential line of succession is a detailed list of government officials to serve or act as President upon a vacancy in the office due to death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and conviction). The line of 17 begins with the Vice President and ends with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Legislation to add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the line of succession is pending in Congress.

The Constitution provided that, if a President were to die, resign, or be removed from office, the "powers and duties" of the office would devolve upon the Vice President, Article II, Section 1 (which seems to imply the position of acting president), and that he [Vice President] shall "exercise the office of President of the United States," Article I, Section 2 (which seems to imply actual assumption of the presidency itself). People did not agree as to the exact meaning and intention of the text, and whether the Vice President would succeed to the office of President or merely act as President. After the death of William Henry Harrison, however, Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had become the President, not merely Acting President, and this precedent was followed in all subsequent cases.

The 25th amendment eliminated this ambiguity by confirming the Vice President as first in the order as well as spelling out a process for him to serve as Acting President should the President become disabled. A provision of the United States Code (3 U.S.C. § 19) establishes the rest of the succession line.

To date, no officer other than the Vice President has been called upon to act as President.

Powers

Main article: Powers of the President of the United States

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and may make treaties, but the Senate must confirm these. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

Presidential Pay History

Date established	Salary
September 24, 1789	$25,000
March 3, 1873	$50,000
March 4, 1909	$75,000
January 19, 1949	$100,000
January 20, 1969	$200,000
January 20, 2001	$400,000

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year (about $270,000 in 2005 terms) — a significant sum in 1789. Washington, already a successful man, refused to accept his salary. Similarly, John F. Kennedy donated his salary to charities.

Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised as well. The President's monetary compensation is miniscule in comparison to the CEOs of most Fortune 500 companies; in some parts of the United States some medical specialist (such as cardiovascular surgeons) will earn comparable salaries.

In recent times ex-presidents, while they remain healthy, earn far more money after the end of their presidential term; Forbes magazine estimated Bill Clinton, despite health problems that prevented him working for some part of the year, earned $6 million in 2005 [1].

Travelling

• Air Force One

While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard two custom-built Boeing 747 aircraft, known as Air Force One. Although this is not the actual name of the plane, any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President will use the callsign "Air Force One."

• Cadillac One

Presidential ground travel is in an armored Cadillac limousine, often referred to informally as "Cadillac One", equipped with bulletproof windows, run-flat tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. Cadillac One has been upgraded various times, most recently in 2005 for the inauguration of President George W. Bush. The current model, Cadillac DTS, is part of a line of 2006 Cadillac DTS limousines. The predecessor to the current limousine was the 2001 Cadillac DeVille limousine. Unveiled in the last days of Bill Clinton's presidency, it was first used officially on January 20, 2001. It was the first Cadillac to be adorned with the division's current wreath and crest emblem. The vehicle is still in service today.

The vehicle is easily noticed because of its livery as well as size. It is decorated with the Presidential flag and the Flag of the United States to the front. On the rear passenger doors, the Presidential Seal is affixed. The shape of the vehicle stands out because of the heavy armored plating.

Cadillac One travels with the President across the United States and around the world, often ready on the ground at the airport upon arrival.

• Marine One and other transports

When travelling longer distances around the Washington area or on Presidential trips, the President travels aboard the Presidential helicopter, Marine One. When travelling with the other armed services, the respective call sign would be Army One, Navy One or Coast Guard One. On civilian aircraft, the callsign is Executive One.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former Presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the President's death. The last President to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Office-holders

Main article: List of Presidents of the United States

Timeline of Presidential births

• William Henry Harrison, born February 9, 1773 in British colonial territory, was the last person to become president who was not a natural-born U.S. citizen.
• Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first natural-born U.S. citizen (rather than a British subject) to become president. Interestingly, he is also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
• John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All presidents born before him were eligible to be president because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, before the Constitution was adopted).
• Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first president born in the 19th century. (Millard Fillmore was born January 7, 1800, the last year of the 18th century.)
• Warren Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first president born after the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865.
• John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first person born in the 20th century to become president (1961).
  • Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908. Three other Presidents who followed Johnson in office were also born before Kennedy (in order of birth, Reagan, Nixon, and Ford).
• Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become president. He was also the first President to be born in a hospital.
• Bill Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first President born after World War II, thus making him the first Baby Boomer President.

Life after the Presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

After a president of the U.S. leaves office, the title "President" continues to be applied to that person for the rest of his life. Former presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers. Notable examples have included William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States, Jimmy Carter's current career as a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer, and most recently George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton's combined effort to appeal for donations from Americans after the Asian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Andrew Johnson was elected to the same Senate that tried his impeachment after his term was over. Furthermore, John Quincy Adams enjoyed a prosperous career in the House of Representatives after his term in the White House.

As of 2006, there are four living ex-presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased President is Ronald Reagan, who died June 5, 2004.

There have never been more than five former presidents alive at any given time in American history. There have been three periods during which five former presidents were alive:

• From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living (during the Lincoln Administration, until the death of Tyler).
• From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living (during the Clinton Administration, until the death of Nixon).
• From January 20, 2001 to June 5, 2004, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were living (during the G.W. Bush Administration, until the death of Reagan).

There have been six periods in American history during which no former presidents were alive:

• April 30, 1789 – March 3, 1797: until the first President left office, there could be no former presidents, alive or otherwise.
• December 14, 1799 – March 3, 1801: from the death of former President George Washington until incumbent President John Adams left office (no former president would die until Adams and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, both did so on July 4, 1826).
• July 31, 1875 – March 3, 1877: from the death of former President Andrew Johnson until incumbent President Ulysses Grant left office (no former president would die until Grant did so in 1885 although incumbent President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881).
• June 24, 1908 – March 3, 1909: from the death of former President Grover Cleveland until incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt left office (no former president would die until Roosevelt did so in 1919).
• January 5, 1933 – March 3, 1933: from the death of former President Calvin Coolidge until incumbent President Herbert Hoover left office (no former president would die until Hoover did so in 1964 although incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945 and incumbent President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963).
• January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of former President Lyndon B. Johnson until incumbent President Richard Nixon resigned (no former president would die until Nixon did so in 1994).

Herbert Hoover had the longest post-presidency, 31 years. He left office in 1933 and died in 1964. Still alive today is Gerald Ford, who has been an ex-president for 29 years, as of 2006. James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency. He died on June 15, 1849, a mere three months after the expiration of his term.

Between the birth of George Washington in 1732 and the birth of Bill Clinton in 1946, future presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. Between the death of George Washington in 1799 and the present, presidents or ex-presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s.

Presidential facts

Transition events

• Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office:
  • Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
  • James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died due to subsequent incorrect medical care)
  • William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
  • John F. Kennedy in 1963, generally thought to be by Lee Harvey Oswald [2] although many theories suggest other or additional gunmen [3]
• Four others died in office of natural causes:
  • William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
  • Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850. Taylor's body was exhumed in 1991 to test if he had died of arsenic poisoning. It was determined he did not.
  • Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
• Every U.S. President from William Henry Harrison to John F. Kennedy who was elected or re-elected in a year divisible by 20 died in office, many by assassination. Ronald Reagan (elected in 1980) survived an attempt on his life and George W. Bush (elected in 2000) has so far sustained no similar event.
  • 1840: William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
  • 1860: Abraham Lincoln, assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865
  • 1880: James Garfield, assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau in 1881
  • 1900: William McKinley, assassinated by Leon Czolgosz in 1901
    • Theodore Roosevelt, who was McKinley's Vice President and succeeded him in 1901, was shot by John Shrank in an assassination attempt in 1912
  • 1920: Warren G. Harding, died of a heart attack in 1923
  • 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
  • 1960: John F. Kennedy, assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963
  • 1980: Ronald Reagan, shot by John Hinckley in an assassination attempt in 1981

• One President resigned from office:
  • Richard Nixon in 1974
• Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:
  • Andrew Johnson in 1868
  • Bill Clinton in 1999
• Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:
  • John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
    • However, in six of the then twenty-four states in 1824, the electors were chosen by the state legislature, with no popular vote.
  • Rutherford B. Hayes - trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
  • Benjamin Harrison - trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
  • George W. Bush - trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election (http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm)
  • A possible addition to this list is John F. Kennedy, who may have trailed Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. The precise gap in votes is difficult to determine because voters in Alabama were not given Kennedy as an option on their ballot - they could only vote "Democratic", without choosing a candidate. So, when the Democrats won Alabama, half of the state's electoral votes were pledged to Kennedy, and the other half were not pledged at all, and those votes all went to Harry F. Byrd. So it is impossible to know how many of those voters meant to vote for Kennedy, or for Byrd. The margin between Kennedy and Nixon was smaller than the number of Democratic votes in Alabama. The official figure from the U.S. government states includes the Alabama votes in Kennedy's total, giving Kennedy the popular plurality.
• Eleven Presidents have been elected fourteen times without a majority of popular votes (but with a plurality of popular votes):
  • James K. Polk - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1844 election
  • Zachary Taylor - 47.3% of the popular vote in the 1848 election
  • James Buchanan - 45.3% of the popular vote in the 1856 election
  • Abraham Lincoln - 39.9% of the popular vote in the 1860 election
  • James A. Garfield - 48.3% of the popular vote in the 1880 election
  • Grover Cleveland - 48.8% of the popular vote in the 1884 election
  • Grover Cleveland - 46.0% of the popular vote in the 1892 election
  • Woodrow Wilson - 41.8% of the popular vote in the 1912 election
  • Woodrow Wilson - 49.3% of the popular vote in the 1916 election
  • Harry S. Truman - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1948 election
  • John F. Kennedy - 49.7% of the popular vote in the 1960 election
  • Richard Nixon - 43.2% of the popular vote in the 1968 election
  • Bill Clinton - 42.9% of the popular vote in the 1992 election
  • Bill Clinton - 49.2% of the popular vote in the 1996 election
• Two Presidents have been elected without a majority of electoral votes, and were chosen by the House of Representatives:
  • Thomas Jefferson - finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
  • John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election
• Eight Presidents took office without being elected to the Presidency, having been elected as Vice Presidents and then promoted from that position:
  • Four of them did not run to succeed themselves, and were never elected president.
    • John Tyler - Assumed the Presidency on the death of William Henry Harrison, did not run in the 1844 election
    • Millard Fillmore - Succeeded Zachary Taylor, did not run in the 1852 election
      • Fillmore did run for President in the 1856 election as a Know Nothing Party candidate and received 873,053 votes (21.6%), finishing third
    • Andrew Johnson - Succeeded Abraham Lincoln, did not run in the 1868 election
    • Chester A. Arthur - Succeeded James Garfield, did not run in the 1884 election
  • The other four later ran for president, and were elected to succeed themselves as president:
    • Theodore Roosevelt - Succeeded William McKinley, elected to succeed himself as president in the 1904 election
    • Calvin Coolidge - Succeeded Warren G. Harding, elected to succeed himself as president in the 1924 election
    • Harry S. Truman - Succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected to succeed himself as president in the 1948 election, but did not run again in the 1952 election, despite being eligible for a third term.
    • Lyndon B. Johnson - Succeeded John F. Kennedy, elected to succeed himself as president in the 1964 election, but did not run again in the 1968 election
• One President, Gerald Ford, was never elected but was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, succeeded to the Presidency after Nixon's resignation, and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter. He remains the only President neither elected as President nor as Vice President.
• There were four cases in which only one person served in a presidential term, but that person did not serve for a full 1461 days.
  • Although the first presidential term was deemed to have started on March 4, 1789 — the day that the United States Constitution became operational — the First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then, giving him 1427 days and some number of hours.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to noon on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1418.5 days.
  • Due to the properties of the Gregorian calendar, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, so John Adams' term and William McKinley's first term were shortened to 1460 days.
• Five Presidents had never held any prior elected office:
  • Zachary Taylor
  • Ulysses S. Grant
  • Herbert Hoover
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • William Howard Taft
• An urban legend claims that David Rice Atchison was the 11½th president of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849 in between the terms of James K. Polk (whose term expired at noon on March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5). However, the logic of this is contradictory. If one does not consider Taylor to have officially become President until the administration of his Oath of Office, then the same logic precludes any person from having automatically succeeded before likewise having taken the same Oath. In fact, Taylor, as President-elect, automatically acceded to the Office of President upon the expiration of Polk's term, even if he did not yet enter into the execution of that Office until the Oath was administered. This fact was confirmed by Congress when it certified his election, as it defined the beginning of the administration as the instant Polk left office. Even if supposing, for the sake of argument, the rather odd interpretation that only Presidents-elect are required to take the Oath before officially occupying the Office, whilst officials in the Presidential Line of Succession occupy the Presidency ipso facto, then there would be a long list of dozens of additional "Presidents" who only held the office for a matter of hours or minutes.
• Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as President, and is counted both as the 22nd and the 24th President. Consequently, all subsequent Presidents who are referred to as "the n^th President of the United States" are actually the (n − 1)^th person to hold the office. E.g., George W. Bush, 43rd President, is actually the 42nd person to be President.
• The Chief Justice of the United States did not administer the initial oath of office to seven presidents^[4]. Robert Livingston, as Chancellor of the State of New York, administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration; William Cushing, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administered the second. Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath to his son after the death of Warren Harding^[5]. United States District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath to Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt's initial oaths reflected the unexpected nature of their taking office.

Other facts

• All presidents have been white males and nominally Christian (mostly Protestant). Most presidents have been of substantially British descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
  • Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren
    • Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
  • Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
  • Predominantly Irish: William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
    • Kennedy was also America's only Roman Catholic president.
• Only one president, James Buchanan, remained a bachelor. Bachelor Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom while in office, while both John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson became widowers and remarried while in office.
• Franklin D Roosevelt is the only President to have had a serious physical disability.
• Historical rankings of U.S. Presidents by academic historians usually regard three Presidents — in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — to be the three most successful presidents by a wide margin.
• The Secret Service and some agencies in the government use acronyms as jargon. Since the Truman Administration the President of the United States has been called POTUS, pronounced /poʊtʊs/. The wife of the President, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced /floʊtʊs/. The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced /vipoʊtʊs/.
• Military service: 26 out of the 43 U.S. presidents have served in the military
• Three out of the first five presidents died on July 4th (Independence Day)

See also

• List of Presidents of the United States
• President of the Continental Congress
• Presidential reputation
• Presidential Service Badge
• Executive branch
• Executive privilege
• Air Force One
• Tecumseh's curse
• Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
• List of actors who played President of the United States
• Alternative pop music band The Presidents of the United States of America (band)

Further reading

• Leonard Leo, James Taranto, and William J. Bennett. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster, June, 2004, hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0743254333
• Waldman, Michael, and George Stephanopoulos, My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. September 2003. ISBN 1402200277
• Couch, Ernie, Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. 1 March 1996. ISBN 1558534121
• Lang, J. Stephen, The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. September 2001. ISBN 1565548779

Notes

1. ^  Kamen, Al. "If You're Available Jan. 20 . . ." Washington Post, 17 November 2004.
2. ^  Library of Congress. "Presidential Inaugrations: Presidential Oaths of Office."
3. ^  Excerpt from Coolidge's autobiography.

External links

Official

• "Executive Office of the President." Accessed October 7, 2005.
• "White House." Accessed October 7, 2005.

Presidential histories

• The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - A collection of over 52,000 Presidential documents
• POTUS. Internet Public Library. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - Brief biographies, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents.
• Life Portraits of the American Presidents. C-SPAN. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits
• United States of America. Archontology.org. URL accessed on October 7, 2005.

Speeches

• Presidential Inaugural Addresses. Re-QUEST dot Net. URL accessed on October 25, 2005.
• State of the Union Addresses of the American Presidents. USA-Presidents.info. URL accessed on October 7, 2005.
• Presidential Speeches Archive. The American Presidency. URL accessed on October 7, 2005.

Miscellaneous

• The Masonic Presidents Tour. The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
• Teaching about the U.S. Presidency. ERICDigests.org. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
• "American Presidents Blog." Accessed October 7, 2005. - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
• Presidential Administrations: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Cabinet Members. A People and a Nation. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
• Presidential Rankings. Wall Street Journal. URL accessed on October 7, 2005. - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be.
• Presidential Birthdays
• "United States Presidency and First Lady". First three pages of the Encyclopaedia Britannica article from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Store.

Presidents of the United States of America

Washington | J Adams | Jefferson | Madison | Monroe | JQ Adams | Jackson | Van Buren | W Harrison | Tyler | Polk | Taylor | Fillmore | Pierce | Buchanan | Lincoln | A Johnson | Grant | Hayes | Garfield | Arthur | Cleveland | B Harrison | Cleveland | McKinley | T Roosevelt | Taft | Wilson | Harding | Coolidge | Hoover | F Roosevelt | Truman | Eisenhower | Kennedy | L Johnson | Nixon | Ford | Carter | Reagan | GHW Bush | Clinton | GW Bush

United States Presidential Elections

1789–1840: 1789 | 1792 | 1796 | 1800 | 1804 | 1808 | 1812 | 1816 | 1820 | 1824 | 1828 | 1832 | 1836 | 1840 1844–1896: 1844 | 1848 | 1852 | 1856 | 1860 | 1864 | 1868 | 1872 | 1876 | 1880 | 1884 | 1888 | 1892 | 1896 1900–1952: 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 1956–2008: 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 See also: House | Senate | Governors

Lists of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States edit
Presidential lists of order	Order of service | Birth | Death | Age at accession | Longevity | Military rank | Post-presidency length | Term length | Height | Historical rankings | States
Presidential personal life lists	First names | Middle names | Last names | Nicknames | Genealogical relationship | College education | Military service | Pets | Place of birth | Place of primary affiliation | Previous occupation | Religious affiliation | Residences
Presidential professional life lists	Political affiliation | Political occupation | Inaugurations | Doctrines | Pardons | Vetoes | Control of Congress | Served one term or less | Served more than one term | Assassination attempts | Currency appearances | Libraries
Vice President lists	Term length | Order by birth | Tie-breaking votes
Succession	Line of succession | Designated survivor
Elections	Order by Electoral College margin | 2000 Electors | 2004 electors
Candidates	Democratic tickets | Republican tickets | Heights | Who lost their home state | Former presidents who ran again
Unsuccessful candidates	Military service | Who received at least one electoral vote
Fictional	Fictional Presidents | Fictional Vice Presidents | Fictional Presidential candidates | Fictional presidential succession

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