The presidency of the United States is the most powerful and closely watched elected office in the world. From the moment George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College in 1789 to the present day, the men who have occupied the White House have shaped the destiny not only of the American nation but of the wider world. They have led the country through revolution and civil war, through economic collapse and extraordinary prosperity, through world wars and cold wars, through assassinations and scandals, and through the gradual transformation of a small republic of thirteen Atlantic seaboard states into a global superpower of fifty states spanning a continent.

Understanding the history of every US president — their backgrounds, their elections, their accomplishments, and their failures — is to understand the full sweep of American history itself. The complete list of United States presidents and their terms in office represents a continuous thread of democratic governance that has endured for more than two hundred and thirty years, making the American presidency one of the most durable democratic institutions in human history. This comprehensive guide to all US presidents covers every commander-in-chief from Washington to the current era, including the biographical details, election data, First Ladies, major accomplishments, national events, and personal stories that bring each presidency to life.

The forty-six individuals who have served as president — forty-seven if you count Donald Trump's two non-consecutive terms separately, as is the official numbering — have come from remarkably diverse backgrounds: farmers and generals, lawyers and businessmen, governors and senators, military heroes and political operators. They have been tall and short, eloquent and inarticulate, beloved and despised. What unites them is that each, in his own way, left a mark on the country and the world that endures long after the end of their terms in office.