The men who led America: Presidents throughout history

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

32nd President of the United States (1933 – 1945)

⁃ “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”

⁃ Longest serving U.S. President and only President to serve more than two terms.

⁃ Implemented the New Deal.

⁃ Initiated the development of the first Atomic Bomb.

⁃ Oversaw World War II

Harry S Truman

33rd President of the United States (1945 – 1953)

⁃ “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

⁃ Authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in a war.

⁃ Desegregated the United States Armed Forces.

⁃ Saw the onset of the Cold War.

⁃ Established NATO.

Dwight David Eisenhower

34th President of the United States (1953 – 1961)

⁃ “Pessimism never won any battle.”

⁃ Undertook the development and construction of the Interstate Highway System, the largest construction of roadways in American history.

⁃ Led the American response to Soviet launch of Sputnik and created NASA.

⁃ Focused on containing the spread of communism.

⁃ Was concerned about massive military spending, especially deficit spending.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

35th President of the United States (1961 – 1963)

⁃ “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

⁃ Oversaw the Cuban Missile Crisis.

⁃ Signed the first nuclear weapons treaty.

⁃ Presided over the continuation of the Apollo Space Program.

⁃ Famously assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

36th President of the United States (1963 – 1969)

⁃ “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

⁃ Had the policy agenda known as the Great Society, expanding many government programs.

⁃ Made the Apollo Moon landing program a national priority.

⁃ Had a Civil Rights legacy defined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

⁃ Escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969 – 1972)

⁃ “Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself.”

⁃ Ended American combat in the Vietnam War.

⁃ Oversaw the Apollo 11 moon landing.

⁃ Creating the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

⁃ The only U.S. President to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

Gerald Ford

38th President of the United States (1974 – 1977)

⁃ “Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you’ll still ‘beat the pack.’”

⁃ The first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th amendment.

⁃ Controversially granted a presidential pardon to Richard Nixon.

⁃ Signed the Helsinki Accords, making a move toward detente in the Cold War.

⁃ The only person to serve as president without winning a presidential election for president or vice president.

Jimmy Carter

39th President of the United States (1977 – 1981)

⁃ “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”

⁃ Pardoned all Vietnam draft evaders.

⁃ Created the Departments of Energy and Education.

⁃ Established diplomatic relations with China.

⁃ The longest living president in history, lived to be 100 years old.

Ronald Reagan

40th President of the United States (1981 – 1989)

⁃ “Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.”

⁃ Implemented “Reaganomics,” cutting taxes and deregulating economics.

⁃ Escalated the arms race.

⁃ Survived an assassination attempt.

⁃ Won one of the largest landslide victories in American history for his second term, winning 49 states.

William “Bill” Clinton

42nd President of the United States (1993 – 2001)

⁃ “If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.”

⁃ Signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.

⁃ First president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson.

⁃ Had a highly publicized affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

⁃ Signed the Iraq Liberation Act, which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein.

George Walker Bush

43rd President of the United States (2001 – 2009)

⁃ “I have a different vision of leadership. A leader is someone who brings people together.”

⁃ The eldest son of President George H. W. Bush the only other father-son presidential duo after John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

⁃ Started the war on terror.

⁃ Created the Department of Homeland Security.

⁃ Ordered the invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow the Taliban.

Barack Hussein Obama II

44th President of the United States (2009 – 2017)

⁃ “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

⁃ The first African-American president.

⁃ Oversaw the end of the Iraq War and ordered Operation Neptune Spear, which killed Osama Bin Laden.

⁃ Implemented the Affordable Care Act.

⁃ Negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Donald John Trump

45th President of the United States (2017 – 2021)

⁃ “Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”

⁃ Expanded the Mexico-United States border wall.

⁃ Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

⁃ Oversaw the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

⁃ Impeached twice and acquitted of both.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

46th President of the United States (2021 – 2025)

⁃ “If the problem is fear, the answer is knowledge.”

⁃ Signed the American Rescue Plan Act.

⁃ Reentered the Paris Agreement.

⁃ Chaotically withdrew troops from Afghanistan.

⁃ Supported Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO.

Donald John Trump

47th President of the United States (2025 – Current)

⁃ “Watch, listen and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.”

⁃ Signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

⁃ Ordered a military raid into Venezuela capturing President Nicolas Maduro.

⁃ Imposed tariffs at the highest level since the Great Depression.

⁃ Began the 2026 Iran War.