American Presidents

This is a list of Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the United States, the highest-ranking executive officers of the Federal Government. It's one of those things I've long wished I knew better, so I made this list. Some time when I've got another million years to put into the research, it would be interesting to add major Cabinet members to the list. The list on the left is scaled chronologically. (Adjust the scale with this slider: ) Icons indicating salient details about each term and officer in the right-hand column can be expanded into text with a click. For context, major events and periods are also indicated on the left; hover over them for more details.

I have included the Presidents of the Continental Congress, even though that office was essentially ceremonial (and is completely unrelated to the modern presidency), to provide a historical backdrop for Washington's inauguration. These presidents were largely figureheads who presided over sessions of the Continental Congress while the ultimate form of government was being established.

Going back even further, the historical background is thus. In the mid-18th century, French colonists were accumulating in the Ohio Territory. To consider a unified response, British subjects met at the "Albany Congress" in 1754, where Benjamin Franklin proposed a "grand council" which would unify British colonial rule while keeping it subject to the Crown. His proposal was ignored, and the ensuing French & Indian War (to become part of the European Seven Years War) cost the British government a lot of money. Although Britain gained practically all of France's North American holdings in the 1763 treaty, they wished to recoup their expenses from the colonies. However, their colonists, no longer hemmed in by the French colonists, now felt less dependent on Britain.

Britain's Stamp Act of 1765 was the Crown's means of taxing the colonies by adding surcharges to a number of legal documents. It led to effective boycotts and was repealed in 1766. Instead, the Crown taxed other things, including a small tax on tea. On 16 December 1773, some colonists threw a shipment of tea overboard into Boston harbor (the "Boston Tea Party"). King George III put Boston under military occupation. Twelve colonies joined for a "Continental Congress," and they elected Peyton Randolph to lead the proceedings...