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George Washington
Birthplace: Virginia
Called: Father of His Country
Political party: Federalist
Quote: “It is better to be alone than in bad company.”
Best known for: leading the Continental Army in victory over the British in the American Revolution. -
John Adams
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Called: Novanglus
Political party: Federalist
Quote: “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
Best known for: his extreme political independence, brilliant mind and passionate patriotism. -
Thomas Jefferson
Birthplace: Virginia
Political party: Democratic Republican
Quote: “Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
Best known for: Founding Father of the United States. -
James Madison
Birthplace: Virginia
Called: James Madison, Jr.
Political party: Democratic Republican
Quote: “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”
Best known for: his work on the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. -
James Monroe
Birthplace: Virginia
Political party: Democratic Republican
Quote: “If there be a people on earth whose more especial duty it is to be at all times prepared to defend the rights with which they are blessed, and to surpass all others in sustaining the necessary burthens, and in submitting to sacrifices to make such preparations, it is undoubtedly the people of these states.”
Best known for: for establishing the foreign policy principle that came to bear his name, the Monroe Doctrine. -
John Quincy Adams
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Called: Old Man Eloquent
Political party: National Republican
Quote: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Best known for: being one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history -
Andrew Jackson
Birthplace: South Carolina
Called: Old Hickory
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word.”
Best known for: founding the Democratic Party and for his support of individual liberty. -
Martin Van Buren
Birthplace: New York,
Called: Little Magician
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “it is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didnt”
Best known for: being a shrewd politician. -
William Henry Harrison
Birthplace: Virginia
Political party: Whig
Quote: “The virtue of its Citizens is the only Support of a Republican government”
Best known for: being the first president to die in office as well as for serving the shortest term of any president. -
John Tyler
Birthplace: Virginia
Called: Judge Tyler
Political party: Whig
Best known for: being the tenth president of the United States from 1841 to 1845 after briefly serving as the tenth vice president -
James K. Polk
Birthplace: North Carolina
Called: James Knox Polk
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government.”
Best known for: his territorial expansion of the nation chiefly through the Mexican-American War -
Zachary Taylor
Birthplace: Virginia
Called: “Old Rough and Ready”
Political party: Whig
Quote: “Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.”
Best known for: His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died sixteen months into his term -
Millard Fillmore
Birthplace: New York
Political party: Whig
Quote: “An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.”
Best known for: the Compromise of 1850 which tried to keep peace between the North and the South. -
Franklin Pierce
Birthplace: New Hampshire
Called: Young Hickory
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the discussion.”
Best known for: being a handsome young president whose policies may have helped to push the United States into Civil War. -
James Buchanan
Birthplace: Pennsylvania,
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “I have seldom met an intelligent person whose views were not narrowed and distorted by religion.”
Best known for: being the last president before the start of the Civil War. Although he tried to prevent war, many of his policies ended up dividing the Union even further. -
Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace: Kentucky
Called: Honest Abe, The Great Emancipator, The Rail-splitter
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
Best known for: leading the country during the American Civil War. His leadership in the North helped the country to remain strong and defeat the South keeping the country united. -
Andrew Johnson
Birthplace: Tennessee
Political party: Democratic (Union)
Quote: “God being willing and whether traitors be few or many I intend to fight them to the end.”
Best known for: being the president to take over after Abraham Lincoln was killed. -
Ulysses S. Grant
Birthplace: Ohio
Called: Hiram Ulysses Grant
Political party: Republican
Quote: “I only knew what was in my mind, and I wished to express it clearly”
Best known for: dismissing as weak and ineffective; historians have often ranked Grant's presidency near the bottom in American history. -
Rutherford B. Hayes
Birthplace: Ohio
Called: Rutherford Birchard Hayes
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands, and large masses of people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age.”
Best known for: winning one of the closest presidential elections in history. Many say he won by fraud -
James A. Garfield
Birthplace: Ohio
Called: James Abram Garfield
Political party: Republican
Best known for: Garfield's accomplishments as president included a resurgence of presidential authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments, purging corruption in the Post Office, and appointing a U.S. Supreme Court justice. -
Chester A. Arthur
Birthplace: Vermont
Called: Chester Alan Arthur
Political party: Republican
Quote: “We should do nothing for revenge, but everything for security: nothing for the past; everything for the present and the future.”
Best known for: Being mostly known for becoming president when James Garfield was shot -
Grover Cleveland
Birthplace: New Jersey
Called: Stephen Grover Cleveland
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “A cause worth fighting for is worth fighting for to the end.”
Best known for: the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms -
Benjamin Harrison
Birthplace: Ohio
Political party: Republican
Quote: “What saddens me most is that some poor woman out there has to be Garth's wife. And his three children -- oh, his poor three children. What a despicable human being this guy is.”
Best known for: Being a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a founding father who signed the United States Declaration of Independence. -
Grover Cleveland
Second term -
William McKinley
Birthplace: Ohio
Political party: Republican
Quote: “The more profoundly we study this wonderful book [the Bible], and the more closely we observe its divine precept, the better citizens we will become and the higher will be our destiny as a nation.”
Best known for: the nation to victory in the Spanish–American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry and kept the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of free silver -
Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace: New York
Called: TR, Teddy Roosevelt
Political party: Republican
Quote “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Best known for: as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for the anti-trust policy while supporting Progressive Era policies in the United States in the early 20th century. -
William Howard Taft
Birthplace: Ohio
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.”
Best known for: being the only president to serve on the Supreme Court after leaving office. -
Woodrow Wilson
Birthplace: Virginia
Called: Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.”
Best known for: being remembered for his legislative accomplishments and his idealism. -
Warren G. Harding
Birthplace: Ohio
Called: Warren Gamaliel Harding
Political party: Republican
Quote “I am not fit for this office and never should have been here.”
Best known for: being likeable and nice guy, but his administration was full of crooks. Many scandals were coming to light just as Warren died during a trip to Alaska. -
Calvin Coolidge
Birthplace: Vermont
Called John Calvin Coolidge
Political party: Republican
Quote: “It takes a great man to be a good listener.”
Best known for: His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action. -
Herbert Hoover
Birthplace: Lowa
Called: Herbert Clark Hoover
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.”
Best known for: helding office during the onset of the Great Depression. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Birthplace: New York
Called: FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Best known for: one of the greatest presidents -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Birthplace: Texas
Called: David Dwight Eisenhhower, Dwight David Eisenhower
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Never waste a minute thinking about people you don't like.”
Best known for: Being responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944–45 from the Western Front. -
Harry S. Truman
Birthplace: Missouri
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
Best known for: In his first months in office, he dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, ending World War II. -
John F. Kennedy
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Called: JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”
Best known for: Being most famous for being assassinated early in his presidency -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Birthplace:Texas
Called: LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
Best known for: his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment", his aggressive coercion of powerful politicians to advance legislation. -
Richard M. Nixon
Birthplace: California
Called: : Richard Milhous Nixon
Political party: Republican
Quote: “The man of thought who will not act is ineffective; the man of action who will not think is dangerous.”
Best known for: known for corruption and the Watergate scandal which resulted in the public losing trust in him and his resignation -
Gerald R. Ford
Birthplace: Nebraska
Called: Gerald R. Ford
Political party: Republican
Quote “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
Best known for: the first U.S. president to visit Japan, but he is often remembered as clumsy, ironic given his athletic prowess, due to several trips, falls and gaffes that were immortalized in parody by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live. -
Jimmy Carter
Birthplace: Georgia
Called: James Earl Carter, Jr.
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon.”
Best known for: taking over as President, energy policy was one of the greatest challenges facing the nation. -
Ronald Reagan
Birthplace: Illinois
Called: Ronald Wilson Reagan
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
Best known for: becoming the highly influential voice of modern conservatism -
George Bush
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Called: George Herbert Walker Bush
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Be strong,be kind,be generous of spirit, be understanding and let people know how grateful you are.Dont get even.Comfort the ones i've hurt and let down.”
Best known for: dissolving of the Soviet Union -
Bill Clinton
Birthplace: Arkansas
Called: William J. Clinton, William Jefferson Blythe III, William Jefferson Clinton
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.”
Best known for: being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion in American history. -
George W. Bush
Birthplace: Connecticut
Called: George Walker Bush
Political party: Republican
Quote: “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
Best known for: being among the most popular, as well as unpopular, U.S. presidents in history. -
Barack Obama
Birthplace: Hawaii
Called: Barack Hussein Obama II
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.”
Best known for: the first African American to hold the office. In 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” -
Donald Trump
Birthplace: New York
Called: Donald John Trump
Political party: Democratic
Quote: “As long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big.”
Best known for: current president of the United States -
References
A&E Television Networks, LLC. (2019). Biography. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com › us-president › harry-s-truman Goodreads. (2019) Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4356.George_Washington
Nelson, Ken. (2019). Biography of Presidents. Ducksters. Retrieved from https://www.ducksters.com/biography/uspresidents.php -
References
- A&E Television Networks, LLC. (2019). Biography. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com › us-president › harry-s-truman
- Goodreads. (2019) Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4356.George_Washington
