US ELECTION 2024
Who was the first president of the United States and how many have there been in US history?
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vying to become the next president of a country whose first commander-in-chief was elected over 230 years ago.
Today, Tuesday November 5, the eyes of the world are on the United States, where it is Election Day.
Across the US, voters will be choosing between Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris and Republican ex-president Donald Trump, in an election that both candidates have labelled the most important of their lifetimes.
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Who was the US’s first president?
The winner of this year’s vote will succeed Democrat Joe Biden as president of a country whose first ever commander-in-chief was chosen in 1789, 13 years after the US declared independence from Great Britain.
Immediately after the Declaration of Independence was signed, a period followed that was marked by the ongoing American Revolutionary War against Britain, and an independent US‘s initial existence under the Articles of Confederation.
Then, in September 1787, another key milestone in the country’s history arrived: the US ratified its constitution. Four months later, George Washington was elected as the the nation’s first president.
Washington is one of the most important figures in the history of the US; indeed, he has been dubbed ‘Father of his Country’. In addition to being the States’ maiden president, he commanded the American Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War.
As president, Washington held office between 1789 and 1797. Having served two terms, he opted against running for a third.
Every president in the history of the United States:
- George Washington | April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 | Independent
- John Adams | March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 | Federalist
- Thomas Jefferson | March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 | Democrat-Republican
- James Madison | March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817 | Democrat-Republican
- James Monroe | March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 | Democrat-Republican
- John Quincy Adams | March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829 | Democrat-Republican
- Andrew Jackson | March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837 | Democrat
- Martin Van Buren | March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 | Democrat
- William Henry Harrison | March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 | Whig
- John Tyler | April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845 | Whig
- James K. Polk | March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 | Democrat
- Zachary Taylor | March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1950 | Whig
- Millard Fillmore | July 9, 1950 – March 4, 1853 | Whig
- Franklin Pierce | March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857 | Democrat
- James Buchanan | March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 | Democrat
- Abraham Lincoln | March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 | Republican
- Andrew Johnson | April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869 | Democrat
- Ulysses S. Grant | March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877 | Republican
- Rutherford B. Hayes | March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 | Republican
- James A. Garfield | March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 | Republican
- Chester A. Arthur | September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885 | Republican
- Grover Cleveland | March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889 | Democrat
- Benjamin Harrison | March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 | Republican
- Grover Cleveland | March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 | Democrat
- William McKinley | March 4, 1897 - September 14, 1901 | Republican
- Theodore Roosevelt | September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909 | Republican
- William Howard Taft | March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913 | Republican
- Woodrow Wilson | March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 | Democrat
- Warren G. Harding | March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 | Republican
- Calvin Coolidge | August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929 | Republican
- Herbert Hoover | March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 | Republican
- Franklin D. Roosevelt | March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 | Democrat
- Harry S. Truman | April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953 | Democrat
- Dwight D. Eisenhower | January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 | Republican
- John F. Kennedy | January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 | Democrat
- Lyndon B. Johnson | November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969 | Democrat
- Richard Nixon | January 20, 1969 – Ausgut 9, 1974 | Republican
- Gerald Ford | August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | Republican
- Jimmy Carter | January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | Democrat
- Ronald Reagan | January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 | Republican
- George H. W. Bush | January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | Republican
- Bill Clinton | January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 | Democrat
- George W. Bush | January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 | Republican
- Barack Obama | January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | Democrat
- Donald Trump | January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 | Republican
- Joe Biden | January 20, 2021 – present | Democrat
Americans set to elect president No. 47
In the history of the US, there have been 45 presidents across 46 presidencies. So far, Grover Cleveland is the only person to have served non-consecutive terms - he was the 22nd president between 1885 and 1889, and the 24th president between 1893 and 1897.
Having already spent one term as president between 2017 and 2021, Trump will emulate Cleveland if he beats Harris.
If Harris triumphs in the 2024 election, she will become the first woman elected to the US presidency, and the second person of color to occupy the Oval Office.