The 46th President of the United States was born on November 20, 1942 in the town of Scranton. Biden grew up in Pennsylvania in a large Catholic family. He worked as a prosecutor before diving into politics. In 1972, he would become Senator from Pennsylvania – a post he would hold for nearly four decades. By now, he was married to Neilia Hunter – with whom he would have three children. But tragedy struck soon. Biden’s wife and infant daughter were killed in an accident, while he and his sons survived. Biden briefly considered ending his political career but later changed his mind.Biden had a stellar career in the Senate – serving on multiple high-profile councils including as chair of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee. But he always had one eye set on the ultimate prize – the US presidency.
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Events
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The Presidents of the United States of America
Donald Trump
As 45th President of the United States, critics gave him the moniker of divider-in-chief. America has never had a president like Trump.Ever since he came down that golden escalator in June 2015 to announce his candidacy for president, US politics has been defined by Trump. No candidate has ever taken over a major political party so quickly – or quite so ruthlessly. It would be no stretch to say today that Trump is the Republican Party – and the Republican Party is Trump.Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 to builder Fred Trump and Mary Anne Macleod Trump. Trump was, by all accounts, a difficult child. “He was a pretty rough fellow when he was small,” Fred Trump recalled. Those who have been excommunicated from the Trump family have painted them as a dysfunctional bunch.
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Barack Obama
Hope and change was Barack Obama’s slogan when he ran for president. While the first Black US president indeed offered hope to millions including many minorities, during his two terms in office, the change part proved to be a little, okay a lot, more difficult.The 44th President of the United States had little experience on the national scene. Indeed, he was a virtual newcomer to the ways of Washington – a stranger in an even stranger land. While Obama ran on healing the divisions of the past, in retrospect, the first Black president in US history was always going to arouse the ire of the worst of the far-right.
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Hawaii. His parents were Ann Dunham, a white woman from Kansas, and Barack Obama Sr., a Black man from Kenya.
George Walker Bush
Before Donald Trump took office, George W Bush was the most divisive US president of the modern era. Bush was the centre of controversy before he was even sworn into office. The 2000 US election and the outcome – where the Supreme Court essentially handed Bush the presidency by stopping an ordered recount – set the stage for what was to come.
The Bush years witnessed arguably the most consequential event of this century – the 9/11 attacks. The day the twin towers crumbled and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan afterward had a major impact on both America and the world. Let’s take a closer look at the 43rd President of the United States
Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven Connecticut. His parents were George HW Bush and Barbara Bush. Dubya, as he would later be known, grew up in Texas. Bush went to the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
William Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. Raised in a working-class family, Clinton was marked by ambition early in life, famously shaking hands with US President John F Kennedy as a teen during a trip to Washington, DC.
His education path took him through Georgetown University, where he graduated in 1968, to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and finally to Yale Law School, where he met Hillary Rodham, his future wife and political partner.
Clinton began his political career as Arkansas Attorney General in 1976, and just two years later, at age 32, he became one of the youngest governors in the nation’s history. After losing his re-election bid in 1980, he staged a comeback in 1982 and served as governor of Arkansas for another decade.
In 1992, Clinton ran for the presidency, portraying himself as a “New Democrat” who could combine liberal social policies with moderate economic approaches. Despite facing allegations of marital infidelity and questions about avoiding the Vietnam draft, his campaign gained momentum.
FAQs
How many Presidents has the US had?
The United States has had a total of 46 presidents. Joe Biden, a member of the Democratic Party, currently serves as the 46th.
The first US president was George Washington, who not only led the nation but also commanded the Continental Army during the American Revolution and chaired the convention that drafted the US Constitution. The capital, Washington, DC, is named after him, and his image appears on the dollar bill and the quarter. Washington remains the only president unanimously elected by the Electoral College.
Notably, nine US vice presidents have assumed the presidency due to a president’s death or resignation during their term. To date, no woman has ever held the office of US president.
Who was the youngest President to take office?
Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest US president to assume office, doing so at the age of 42 on September 14, 1901. His ascension came after the assassination of the 25th president, William McKinley, under whom Roosevelt had served as vice president.
John F Kennedy, however, was the youngest US president ever elected. He assumed the office at the age of 43. He won the 1960 presidential election, defeating Richard Nixon, and took office on January 20, 1961.
Unlike Roosevelt, who became president due to McKinley’s death, Kennedy secured the presidency through a popular vote.
Which US President served the longest term?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only US president to have served more than two terms. He completed three full terms and part of a fourth before his death on April 12, 1945.
The two-term limit for US presidents was introduced in 1951 through the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
Roosevelt’s extended presidency was possible since there was no formal limit on presidential terms for the first 162 years of the nation's history, from 1789 to 1951. Despite this, he remains the only president to have served more than two terms, and the rule was established following his time in office.
Who was the only US president to resign?
Richard Nixon is the only US president to have resigned from office. He announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, in a televised address, a historic first in American politics.
Nixon’s resignation came after two years of escalating controversy that began with a burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in June 1972. It is known as the Watergate Scandal.
After bidding farewell to his staff at the White House, Nixon departed by helicopter for his return to Southern California. Within an hour, Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as president by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
How many US presidents have served two non-consecutive terms?
Grover Cleveland is the only US president to have served two non-consecutive terms. He was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War, becoming the 22nd president in 1885.
He served as both the 22nd and 24th president. His first term was from 1885 to 1889, after narrowly defeating Republican James Blaine in 1884.
Although Cleveland won the popular vote in the 1888 election, he lost the presidency to Republican Benjamin Harrison. However, in a rematch in 1892, Cleveland reclaimed the presidency, defeating Harrison with 46 per cent of the popular vote to Harrison's 43 per cent.
US Presidents
The election between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris has been described by some as the most consequential of our lifetime. But how many presidents has the United States had? And what do we know about them?
Now, as US election day fast approaches on November 5, 2024, let’s take a closer look at all the US presidents. The series begins with US President Joe Biden, the 47th President of the United States and ends with the “Father of the Country” George Washington, the first chief executive of America.
Biden, a man who had several aborted runs for president and who served as vice president under Barack Obama, finally achieved his dream in 2021 when he beat the then-incumbent Donald Trump. Achieving the presidency was his life’s goal. After choosing to sit out the 2016 election and endorse Hillary Clinton, Biden chose to get in the ring and risk it all. His campaign was nearly down and out when Black voters picked him up on their backs and took him to the nomination – and ultimately the presidency.
Washington, the only man unanimously chosen to be president, was a hero of the Revolutionary War with Britain. Unlike Biden, he did not want the job, did not campaign for it and did not put his name forward. And yet he was the choice of all involved and accepted only out of a sense of duty to his nation.
Washington was the only American that could have led the newly-formed nation. More impressively, Washington chose to walk away after serving two terms, when for all intents and purposes, he could have been King of America by another name.
Many of the presidents are titans of history – like “the Sage of Monticello” Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence, “the Great Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, “Unconditional Surrender” Ulysses S Grant, the Civil War general who inflicted defeat upon defeat on the Confederacy.
Others like Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Chester A Arthur and William McKinley are far less heralded and known by the public today but are no less fascinating.
We examine who they were – how and where they grew up, the events that shaped their lives and outlooks on life, those they loved and those who loved them, their eventual dive into the rough and tumble of politics, the compromises they made to secure power and their ascendancy to the highest position in the land.
We take a look at the men behind the myth and legends and how their time in office changed America – and how they were often left changed by the experience. It also examines their legacy and what historians think of them today.