before you vote

The US president is widely considered to be among the most influential world leaders, if not the most powerful, primarily due to the economic and military strength of the United States. The US was a British colony for approximately 170 years before attaining its independence on July 4, 1776. Since independence, the US has had 45 presidents, four of whom have been assassinated while still in office. In order to be president, one must be at least 35 years of age, have been born in The United States, and he an inhabitant of the state that they wish to represent. 

How Many Presidents Have There Been?

1. George Washington, 1789-1797. VA. First President of the United States of America. 

2. John Adams, 1797-1801. MA. First Vice-President of the United States of America. 

3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1805, 1805-1809. VA. Author of the Declaration of Independence. 

4. James Madison , 1809-1812, 1813-1814, 1814-1817. VA. Co-founded the Democrat-Republican Party (with Jefferson). 

5. James Monroe, 1817-1825. VA. Creator of the "Monroe Doctrine", which prevented further European colonization in America. 

6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829. MA. Involved in the Adams-Onís Treaty, which acquired Florida. 

7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1832, 1833-1837. NC or SC. considered the first "commoner" to become president. 

8. Martin van Buren, 1837-1841. NY. First president born after the independence of the USA. 

9. William Henry Harrison, 1841. VA. Shortest-serving president of all time. 

10. John Tyler, 1841-1845. VA. First president to serve without being elected. 

11. James K. Polk, 1845-1849. NC. Expanded the US through the Mexican-American War. 

12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850. VA. Had more than four decades of military experience. 

13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853. NY. Last member of the Whig Party to serve as president. 

14. Franklin Pierce, 1853, 1853-1857. NH. Pro-slavery politics known as one of the catalysts for the Civil War. 

15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861. PA. The only president to never marry.

16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865, 1865. KY. Led the country during the Civil War and pushed for the abolition of slavery. 

17. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869. NC. Had no formal education. 

18. Ulysses S. Grant, 1873-1875, 1875-1877. OH. Led the Union to victory during the Civil War. 

19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881. OH. Led the country through the end of Reconstruction. 

20. James A. Garfield, 1881. OH. Second president (after Lincoln) to be assassinated. 

21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885. VT. Known for renovating and redecorating the then-dilapidated White House.  

22. Grover Cleveland, 1885, 1885-1889. NJ. Known for his use of the presidential veto. 

23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893. OH. Known for the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopolies. 

24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897. NJ. Only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Both the 22nd and 24th president. 

25. William McKinley, 1897-1899, 1899-1901. NY. President during the Spanish-American War. 

26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1905, 1905-1909. NY. First president to win a Nobel Peace Prize. 

27. William H. Taft, 1909-1912, 1912-1913. OH. Only president to serve on the Supreme Court after his presidency. 

28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921. VA. President during World War I. 

29. Warren G. Harding, 1921-1923. OH. Often regarded as one of the worst-rated presidents due to corruption and scandals. 

30. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1925, 1925-1929. VT. Known as "Silent Cal" for his quiet demeanor. 

31. Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933. IA. President during the Great Depression. 

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1941, 1941-1945, 1945. NY. Served more terms than any other president. 

33. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1949, 1949-1953. MO. Established the Marshall Plan to help re-establish Western Europe. 

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961. TX. Known for the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. 

35. John F. Kennedy, 1961-1963. MA. First Roman Catholic president. 

36. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1965, 1965-1969. TX. Known for "the Great Society, which included health care and civil rights.

37. Richard M. Nixon, 1969-1973, 1973-1974. CA. The first president to resign from office. 

38. Gerald R. Ford, 1974-1977. NE. Shortest time in office for a president who did not die in office. 

39. Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981. GA. Created the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. 

40. Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989. IL. Notable for conservative economic policies "Reaganomics".

41. George H.W. Bush, 1989-1993. MA. Known for his foreign policy and impact on global politics. 

42. Bill Clinton, 1993-2001. AK. Ratification of NAFTA occurred while in office. 

43. George W. Bush, 2001-2009. CT. President during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

44. Barack Obama, 2009-2017. HI. First African-American president. 

45. Donald Trump, 2017-2020. NY. Richest president of all time. 

Conflicts of interest

Before being inaugurated as president, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his eldest sons and a business associate.^[169][170] According to ethics experts, as long as Trump continues to profit from his businesses, the measures taken by Trump do not help to avoid conflicts of interest.^[171] because Trump would have knowledge of how his administration's policies would affect his businesses, ethics experts recommend that Trump sell off his businesses.^[170] while Trump said his organization would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization has since pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic.^[171]

Multiple lawsuits have been filed alleging that Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution, which forbids presidents from taking money from foreign governments, due to his business interests; they argue that these interests allow foreign governments to influence him.^[171][172] Previous presidents in the modern era have either divested their holdings or put them in blind trusts,^[169] and he is the first president to be sued over the emoluments clause.^[172] According to The Guardian, "NBC News recently calculated that representatives of at least 22 foreign governments – including some facing charges of corruption or human rights abuses such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey and the Philippines – seem to have spent funds at Trump properties while he has been president."^[173] On October 21, 2019, Trump mocked the Emoluments Clause as "phony".^[174]

In 2015, Trump said he "makes a lot of money with" the Saudis and that "they pay me millions and hundreds of millions."^[175] And at a political rally, Trump said about Saudi Arabia: "They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much."^[176]

In December 2015, Trump said in a radio interview that he had a "conflict of interest" in dealing with Turkey and Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan because of his Trump Towers Istanbul, saying "I have a little conflict of interest because I have a major, major building in Istanbul and it's a tremendously successful job ... It's called Trump Towers – two towers instead of one ... I've gotten to know Turkey very well".^[177][178]