IMAGES: Honoring our U.S. Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama
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Presidents' Day celebrates the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. But to mark the occasion, let's see how many Presidents you can name. This man was our first President and is considered the father of our country...
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George Washington served from 1789 to 1797. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers.)
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The White House website says our second President was learned and thoughtful and was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician.
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John Adams served from 1797 to 1801. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House says our 3rd President was a powerful advocate of liberty. Freckled and sandy-haired, rather tall and awkward, he was eloquent as a correspondent, but he was no public speaker.
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Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, served from 1801 to 1809. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House says our fourth President was a student of history and government. Well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly.
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James Madison, fifth President of the United States, served from 1817 to 1825. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House says his ambition and energy, together with the backing of President Madison, made this man the Republican choice for President in 1816. He easily won re-election in 1820. Can you name our 5th President?
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James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, served from 1817 to 1825. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Our 6th President was the first President who was the son of a President. He was an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist. He served as a Senator and Secretary of State before being elected President.
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John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, served from 1825 to 1829. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says our 7th President sought to act as the direct representative of the common man. Unlike previous Presidents, he did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used veto power to take command. (His name is on the photo.)
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Andrew Jackson served from 1829-1837. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The White House says our 8th President, was only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but dressed fastidiously. Despite a humble background, he became a Senator, Secretary of State, Vice President, then President.
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Martin Van Buren, 8th United States President, served from 1837-1841. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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Our 9th President fought against the Indians, then became Governor of the Indian Territory. When he ran for President in 1840, he won by a majority of less than 150,000, but swept the Electoral College, 234 to 60.
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Our 9th President, William Henry Harrison served in 1841. Before he had been in office a month, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, he died. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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Dubbed "His Accidency" by his detractors, can you name President number 10? He was the first Vice President to be elevated to the office of President by the death of his predecessor.
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John Tyler, 10th United States President, served from 1841-1845. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says the 11th President was often referred to as the first "dark horse" President. He was the last of the Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War.
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James Knox Polk, eleventh President of the United States, served from 1845 to 1849. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Our 12th President served 40 years in the Army, making him a strong nationalist. He was prepared to hold the Union together by armed force rather than by compromise. After a hot July 4 ceremony, he fell ill and died. He served just 1 1/2 years.
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Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States, served from 1849 to 1850. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The 13th President was born in a log cabin, but became a lawyer, a congressman and Comptroller of New York state before being elected Vice President. As President, after helped California become a state and got Texas to give up New Mexico.
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Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States, served from 1850 to 1853. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Our 14th President served as a congressman, a Senator and only became the Democratic party's nominee for President after 48 ballots. He pushed for the settlement of Kansas according to the White House website.
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Franklin Pierce, 14th United States President, served from 1853-1857. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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President number 15 was the only one who never married. The White House website says this President presided over a rapidly dividing Nation, but failed to understand that the North would not accept constitutional arguments which favored the South.
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James Buchanan, fifteenth President of the United States, served from 1857 to 1861. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says this man thought secession illegal and was willing to use force to defend Federal law. The Civil War began and ended during his time in office. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves.
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Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President. served from 1861-1865. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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With the Assassination of Lincoln, this man became President. The White House website says although an honest and honorable man, he was one of the most unfortunate of Presidents. He was no match for Republicans in Congress that were against him.
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Andrew Johnson, seventeenth President of the United States, served from 1865 to 1869. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Our 18th President was a General who many saw as the symbol of Union victory during the Civil War.
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Ulysses S. Grant, eighteenth President of the United States, served from 1869 to 1877. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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A Civil War veteran was elected 19th President of the United States, but barely. In the popular vote, he lost 4,036,000 to 4,300,000, but an electoral commission gave him 185 votes to 184.
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Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. President, served from 1877-1881. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The White House says our 20th President was the last of the log cabin Presidents. He attacked political corruption and won back for the Presidency a measure of prestige it had lost during the Reconstruction period.
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20th United States President James A. Garfield served in 1881. He was shot in July 1881. He survived for weeks. Alexander Graham Bell tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet. Garfield died in September. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The White House says as Vice President, this man fought against the President he served. However, when he succeeded to the Presidency, he was eager to prove himself above machine politics.
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21st United States President Chester A. Arthur served from 1881-1885. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The first Democrat elected after the Civil War, this man was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later.
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Grover Cleveland served as our 22nd and 24th President. He served from 1885-1889 and again from 1893-1897. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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Nominated for President on the eighth ballot at the 1888 Republican Convention, our 23rd President conducted one of the first "front-porch" campaigns, delivering short speeches to delegations that visited him in Indianapolis.
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Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd President, served from 1889 to 1893. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Our 25th President served as a private in the Union Army. He served in the U.S. House and was elected as Governor of Ohio for two terms. He was shot and killed during his second term.
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William McKinley, twenty-fifth President of the United States, served from 1897 to 1901. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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With the assassination of President McKinley, this man, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement to the Presidency, as he vigorously led toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.
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Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth President of the United States, served from 1901 to 1909. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House says the 27th President was a distinguished jurist, effective administrator, but a poor politician. He got caught in the intense battles between Progressives and conservatives, and got scant credit for his achievements.
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William H. Taft, 27th President of the United States, served from 1909 to 1913. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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Like Roosevelt before him, this President regarded himself as the personal representative of the people. The White House website says he developed a program of progressive reform and asserted international leadership in building a new world order.
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28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson served from 1913 to 1921 as the United States got involved in World War I. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The 29th President of the United States promised, "Less government in business and more business in government." But this man only served two years before he died of a heart attack.
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29th U.S. President Warren G. Harding served from 1921-1923. (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)
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The 30th President of the United States found out he was President at at 2:30 on the morning of August 3, 1923. By the light of a kerosene lamp, his father, who was a notary public, administered the oath of office.
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Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth President of the United States, served from 1923 to 1929. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says our 31st President was the son of a Quaker blacksmith, who brought to the Presidency an unparalleled reputation for public service as an engineer, administrator, and humanitarian.
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(From Right) Our 31st President Herbert Hoover, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone at Edison's 82nd birthday party in Fort Meyers, Florida February 11, 1929. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says our 32nd President assumed the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression and helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
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Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms, from 1933-1945. He put in place Social Security, new controls over banks and public utilities, and an enormous work relief program for the unemployed. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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When President Roosevelt suddenly died from a brain hemorrhage, this man became President. He ordered the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan helping end World War II and led the U.S. through most of the Korean War.
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33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman, served from 1945-1953. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says our 34th President brought prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II. He also obtained a truce in Korea and worked during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower was our 34th President. In this photo you may spot former president Harry S. Truman, left, and future President Richard M. Nixon, right. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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This man served in the Navy and despite grave injuries when his boat was rammed and sunk, he survived to become the 35th President of our country. He served in the Senate and won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Profiles in Courage.
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John F. Kennedy served as our 35th President from 1961-1963. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, he was killed by an assassin in Dallas, Texas. (Photo courtesy of Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers)
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The White House website says "A Great Society" for the American people and their fellow men elsewhere was the vision of our 36th President. He fought for one of the most extensive legislative programs in the Nation's history including Medicare.
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First Lady Jackie Kennedy speaks with the country's 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson. He served from 1963-1969. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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The White House says during this man's Presidency, he succeeded in ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal ultimately led to his resignation.
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Our 37th President, Richard Nixon laughs with his daughters, Julie(left) and Tricia(right), June 13, 1969 at the White House. Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon resigned in 1974. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
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This man was the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the 25th Amendment (Nixon nominated him as VP when Nixon became President). And in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, he succeeded the first President ever to resign.
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Our 38th President Gerald Ford and his daughter Susan prepare for a White House diplomatic reception in 1974. He served from 1974-77. (Photo by Newsmakers/National Archives)
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The White House website says our 39th President's achievements were notable, but in an era of rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and continuing tensions, it was impossible for his administration to meet high expectations.
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39th President Jimmy Carter dances with his wife Rosalyn. During his Presidency, he dealt with the energy crisis, protected 103 million acres in Alaska, created the Dept. of Education, and saw 52 Americans kidnapped in Iran. (Pool Photo/Newsmakers)
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This former actor and California Governor was elected our 40th President. The White House website says he felt like he fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism."
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40th President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. The White House says he obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. (Photo By The White House/Getty Images)
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The White House website says this former navy Pilot who flew in World War II brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States "a kinder and gentler nation."
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Our 41st President George H.W. Bush with Billy Graham. Bush served from 1989-1993. (Photo By Getty Images)
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The White House website says during the adminstration of our 42nd President, the U.S. enjoyed more peace and economic well being than at any time in its history. He was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second term.
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42nd President Bill Clinton smiles during a non-conference game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Texas Southern Tigers.
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The White House website says the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the thwarted flight against the White House of Capitol on September 11, 2001, transformed this man nto a wartime president.
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Our 43rd President, George W. Bush, was only the second son of a President to become President. He served from 2001-2009. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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This man is the current President of the United States. He is serving his second term.
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Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. He was served since 2009. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)




