In some ways, all 46 U.S. presidents have been very much alike. So far they’ve all been men, for one, not lacking in ambition or charisma, and with a certain knack for self-promotion and networking.
At the same time, each commander in chief brims with uniqueness. Read facts about every president, in order of their service, from a 19th-century hotshot with a taste for dueling to a 20th-century veteran who nearly died after being hit by anti-aircraft fire in World War II.
1. George Washington (1789-1797): The first U.S. president and Revolutionary War hero was an enthusiastic dog breeder, particularly of hunting hounds, to which he gave names like “Sweet Lips” and “Drunkard.”
2. John Adams (1797-1801): Adams and his wife, Abigail, exchanged more than 1,100 letters over the course of their lengthy relationship.
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809): Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, died on July 4, in 1826, within hours of his “frenemy” John Adams.
4. James Madison (1809-1817): Madison was the shortest president at 5’4” and weighed barely over 100 pounds.
5. James Monroe (1817-1825): Other than Washington, Monroe was the only president to ever run essentially unopposed, coasting to re-election in the 1820 race.
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829): Years after leaving the White House, Quincy Adams argued a famous Supreme Court case that freed the captive Africans who had rebelled aboard the Amistad slave ship.
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837): Jackson once killed a man in a duel.
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841): Van Buren was the first president to be born an American. All previous presidents were originally British subjects, having been born prior to 1776.
9. William Henry Harrison (1841): Harrison lasted only 32 days in office, the shortest stint of any president.
10. John Tyler (1841-1845): Tyler fathered 15 children, the most of any president.
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849): During his term, Polk secretly purchased a number of enslaved children for his Mississippi cotton plantation.
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850): “Old Rough and Ready” never voted in an election prior to being on the ballot himself.
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): Fillmore was the last Whig president; the party imploded soon after he left office.
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): The only president from New Hampshire also attended college in New England—Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861): In 1853, while serving as minister to Great Britain, Buchanan helped draft the 1854 Ostend Manifesto, which advocated for an American invasion of Cuba.
