Andrew Johnson Was the First President to Be Impeached

Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, during one of the most turbulent moments in American history. The Civil War had just ended, and the nation was still reeling from that violent conflict and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Vice President Johnson took office following Lincoln’s death, his principal task was the reconstruction of the former Confederate states. President Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, was criticized by Republicans in Congress for being too lenient with former members of the Confederacy, and for vetoing legislation designed to protect the rights of newly freed Black Americans. 

The escalating tensions between Johnson and the congressional Republicans reached a crisis point in 1868, when the president fired Edwin Stanton, his Republican secretary of war, without the required congressional approval. In response, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson, marking the first time in U.S. history such an action had been taken against the president. Johnson narrowly escaped conviction by just one vote, but by the end of his first term, he found himself with few political allies in Washington, and was not elected to a second term.

Chester A. Arthur Earned the Approval of Mark Twain

Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency following the death of President James Garfield in 1881. During Arthur’s one term in office, he advocated lower tariffs for businesses and tax cuts for American citizens. President Arthur also passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which made some federal government jobs attainable only through merit-based examinations instead of through the “spoils system.” The “spoils system” allowed politicians to hire and fire civil servants based on their loyalty and political affiliations, and had frequently been denounced as a tool of political corruption. Through policies like these, Arthur managed to earn the praise of one of the sharpest and most unsparing satirists of his day, Mark Twain. Though Twain was noted for his pointed criticisms of many politicians, he claimed that it would be “hard to better President Arthur’s administration” — glowing praise indeed from a writer who once called President Teddy Roosevelt “the most formidable disaster that has befallen the country since the Civil War.”

Theodore Roosevelt Was the First President to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

Theodore Roosevelt was vice president to William McKinley until President McKinley’s death in 1901. During his time in the White House, President Roosevelt became many things: a conservationist, a trust buster, and, in 1906, a Nobel Prize-winning peace negotiator. From 1904 to 1905, Japan and Russia were locked in the Russo-Japanese War over conflicting imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The war threatened to destabilize Asia and disrupt the balance of power in the Pacific, so Roosevelt decided to intervene to de-escalate the conflict. In August 1905, Roosevelt invited delegates from Japan and Russia to convene in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for peace negotiations. The president presided over the peace talks for 30 days before the two warring countries ended the conflict by signing the Treaty of Portsmouth. For his role in brokering the peace, Roosevelt was awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, making him the first U.S. president to receive the honor.

Calvin Coolidge Was Administered the Oath of Office by His Own Father

After serving as vice president from 1921 to 1923, Calvin Coolidge became president of the United States after Warren G. Harding passed away following a sudden illness. Coolidge was at his family home in Vermont when he learned that Harding had died and he needed to take the oath of office. While the oath is typically administered by the chief justice of the United States, Coolidge wound up going for someone less formal: his own father. As a notary public, Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., had the legal power to administer the oath. The modest inauguration ceremony was attended by just a handful of people, and since it was the middle of the night and the house had no electricity, the new president took his late-night oath by the flame of a kerosene lamp.

Harry Truman Had the First Televised Presidential Inauguration

Harry S. Truman had been vice president for just 82 days when Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in 1945. After completing his first presidential term, during which he oversaw the end of World War II, Truman ran for a second term (the first to which he would need to be elected) in 1948. In a famous upset, the incumbent president beat his Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey. When it came time for Truman to take the oath of office, the event was a far cry from Calvin Coolidge’s candlelit affair. The inauguration ceremony was the first in history to be broadcast on television, and was watched by some 10 million viewers. 

Lyndon B. Johnson Was Elected by the Widest-Ever Margin at the Time

Lyndon B. Johnson’s first presidential term began in 1963 under tragic circumstances following the death of President John F. Kennedy. During his time in office, Johnson laid out his “Great Society” platform, which included new social policies such as Medicare and numerous laws designed to alleviate poverty. In 1964, when it was time for Johnson to seek election to a second term, it quickly became clear that his first term had made a good impression. Johnson won the presidential race against Republican challenger Barry Goldwater by 15 million votes, the widest margin of any U.S. presidential election at the time. (Richard Nixon later won the 1972 election by nearly 18 million votes, and Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 by around 16.8 million votes.) 

Gerald Ford Replaced a Resigning Vice President and a Resigning President

Though Gerald Ford served as Richard Nixon’s vice president from 1973 to 1974, he was never Nixon’s running mate. Ford was a leading Republican congressman when, in 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid a corruption scandal. To fill the vacancy left by Agnew’s resignation, President Nixon appointed Ford as his new VP. Ford’s tenure as Agnew’s replacement didn’t last long, however, because just one year later he became Nixon’s replacement. Following the events of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, leaving Ford to take his place in the Oval Office. To this day, Ford remains the only person to serve as U.S. president without winning a general election as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate.

Some Slogans Have Been Used By More Than One Candidate

Campaign slogans have changed over time to reflect the shifting political, social, and economic landscape of the United States — but some slogans have done so well that they’ve been adopted and reused. Two Presidents successfully used “Don’t Swap Horses in Midstream,” encouraging voters to support the incumbent President during times of conflict. Abraham Lincoln used the metaphor as one of his slogans during the Civil War in 1864, and 80 years later in 1944, FDR recycled it in the lead-up to his unprecedented fourth-term win during World War II.

In more recent political history, Barack Obama borrowed one of his most effective and powerful campaign slogans from 1970s labor organizers César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, who led the United Farm Workers of America. Obama loosely translated their catchphrase “Sí, Se Puede!” into the English “Yes, We Can!” Donald Trump’s 2016 slogan “Make America Great Again” was also previously used, first in promotional materials for Barry Goldwater’s failed 1964 presidential bid, and again as “Let’s Make America Great Again” by Ronald Reagan in 1980.  

The Power of Unofficial Slogans

Some historians and political consultants believe that social media may mark the end of official campaign slogans. Instead, unofficial slogans in the form of memes and hashtags shared by supporters may prove to be even more effective campaign tools. Even before social media, an unofficial slogan set the tone for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. Clinton’s platform utilized a handful of lofty and aspirational slogans, including “For People, for a Change,” “It’s Time to Change America,” and “Putting People First.” But while all of the official slogans referenced a serious regard for voters’ concerns, none of them specified what those concerns might be. Then an in-house phrase coined by lead strategist James Carville to describe Clinton’s platform became the defining catchphrase of the 1992 campaign. “It’s the Economy, Stupid” may not have been an official campaign slogan, but it caught the attention of voters who were tired of the lingering effects of the 1990 recession, and it helped Clinton define his campaign message.

Ohio: 7 

Ohio produced seven presidents, all born between 1822 and 1865. Unlike Virginia, the Buckeye State wasn’t a colonial powerhouse — it wasn’t even one of the original 13 colonies. Ohio rose to prominence, along with its political leaders, during a boom in population and industry following the Civil War. The presidents it produced — including Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley — all served during the war, and this military experience likely made them more attractive candidates. (Ohio sometimes claims eight presidents by counting William Henry Harrison, who was born in Virginia but lived in Ohio when elected.)

- Ulysses S. Grant (born 1822)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (1822)
- James A. Garfield (1831)
- Benjamin Harrison (1833)
- William McKinley (1843)
- William Howard Taft (1857)
- Warren G. Harding (1865)

New York: 5 

New York’s influence came from being the nation’s economic and cultural center for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. The population of New York City, in particular, skyrocketed between 1781 and 1800, and it quickly became America’s largest city. The state’s wealth, population, and political power thus made it a natural breeding ground for presidential candidates. Both Roosevelts to ascend to the Oval Office — two of the most influential leaders in U.S. history — came from prominent New York families and used the state as their political base.

- Martin Van Buren (born 1782)
- Millard Fillmore (1800)
- Theodore Roosevelt (1858)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882)
- Donald Trump (1946)

Massachusetts: 4 

Massachusetts was at the forefront of the American Revolution, positioning early figures such as John Adams — a key architect of American independence — for national leadership. Later, John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, became the first president whose father had also held the office. (George W. Bush, who, unlike his Massachusetts-native father, was born in Connecticut, later became the second.) The Bay State’s concentration of educational institutions, wealth, and historical significance in America’s founding has long given it a prominent role in U.S. politics. 

- John Adams (born 1735)
- John Quincy Adams (1767)
- John F. Kennedy (1917)
- George H.W. Bush (1924)

North Carolina: 2 

North Carolina was still developing as a frontier state when its two future presidents were born. Interestingly, both of them — James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson — moved to Tennessee early in life. 

- James K. Polk (born 1795)
- Andrew Johnson (1808)

Texas: 2 

Due to its frontier character and its relatively late admission to the nation (1845), Texas was a late bloomer in terms of presidential production compared to eastern states. It did eventually produce two presidents, though. Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, though he grew up in Kansas and is more closely associated with that state, which is home to his presidential library and museum. Lyndon B. Johnson was thoroughly Texan, building his political career in the state and serving as Senate majority leader before becoming vice president and then president after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. 

- Dwight D. Eisenhower (born 1890)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (1908)

Vermont: 2 

Because of its small population, Vermont hasn’t often played a prominent role in presidential politics. So it’s quite impressive that America’s second-least-populated state has managed to produce two presidents. Vermont was the birthplace of Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, both of whom came from rural backgrounds. Arthur was born in Fairfield and later built his political career in New York, while Coolidge, born in Plymouth Notch, maintained closer ties to Vermont despite making his political career in Massachusetts. 

- Chester A. Arthur (born 1829)
- Calvin Coolidge (1872)

Pennsylvania: 2 

In December 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state (after Delaware) to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It has since produced two presidents. James Buchanan, the 15th president, was born in Franklin County. He is often considered one of the worst U.S. presidents ever, largely due to his failure to avert the Civil War. Joe Biden was born in Scranton but built his political career in Delaware, where he served as a senator for 36 years before becoming vice president and then president. 

- James Buchanan (born 1791)
- Joe Biden (1942)

States With 1 President 

Thirteen states have been the birthplace of exactly one U.S. president:

- Arkansas: Bill Clinton (born 1946)
- California: Richard Nixon (1913)
- Connecticut: George W. Bush (1946)
- Georgia: Jimmy Carter (1924)
- Hawaii: Barack Obama (1961)
- Illinois: Ronald Reagan (1911)
- Iowa: Herbert Hoover (1874)
- Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln (1809)
- Missouri: Harry S. Truman (1884)
- Nebraska: Gerald Ford (1913)
- New Hampshire: Franklin Pierce (1804)
- New Jersey: Grover Cleveland (1837)
- South Carolina (birth location disputed with North Carolina): Andrew Jackson (1767)

Myth: William Howard Taft Got Stuck in a White House Bathtub

The average person might not know much about William Howard Taft, but they may have heard the bathtub story. According to the popular tale, the 300-plus-pound president became wedged in a White House bathtub and required six men to extract him. It’s quite an image, but there’s no credible historical evidence that it ever happened. However, Taft was very much aware of his size and had oversized bathtubs — one of which weighed a ton — installed in the White House. These supersized tubs may have inspired the myth of Taft getting stuck in a regular-sized bathtub, a fabrication that may have been propagated by his political rivals. 

Myth: Abraham Lincoln Wrote the Gettysburg Address on the Train

The Gettysburg Address is widely considered one of the greatest speeches in American history. It’s also attached to a persistent myth: that Abraham Lincoln hastily scribbled the immortal address on the back of an envelope while on a train to Pennsylvania. This is entirely fictional. Lincoln actually started working on his speech not long after the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in July 1863 — a few months before he gave the address on November 19. He prepared multiple drafts, five copies of which still exist — and none displays the shaky handwriting that would have been inevitable if the speech were written on the jolting, bumpy trains of the day. 

Myth: Theodore Roosevelt Rode a Bull Moose

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt launched a presidential campaign as the candidate of the Progressive Party. During the campaign, Roosevelt famously declared he felt “strong as a bull moose,” after which the party was popularly referred to as the Bull Moose Party. From there, a very specific embellishment arose: that Roosevelt actually rode a bull moose during the campaign. But this never happened. 

The blame for the myth lies squarely with a fake newspaper image created in 1912. Two months before the election, the New York Tribune published a set of humorous pictures under the headline “The Race for the White House.” Created by the photographic firm Underwood and Underwood, the three images showed each presidential candidate astride the animal associated with his party: William Howard Taft riding an elephant, Woodrow Wilson sitting on a donkey, and Roosevelt sitting proudly on a bull moose. A closer look at any one of the photos provides plenty of evidence of fakery — but the images were nonetheless out in the public domain, and Roosevelt’s mythical ride on a bull moose made its way into the popular consciousness. 

Myth: George Washington Cut Down His Father’s Cherry Tree

Apart from his mythical wooden teeth, George Washington is well known for cutting down his father’s prized cherry tree when he was a child. “I cannot tell a lie … I did cut it with my hatchet,” young George is said to have confessed, demonstrating his innate honesty. The story has been told to generations of American schoolchildren as an example of integrity and truthfulness — but it never happened. 

The tale was completely invented by Mason Locke Weems, one of Washington’s first biographers, and published in The Life of Washington in 1800, shortly after the president’s death. Weems was just as interested in creating an inspiring moral fable as he was in documenting historical fact. Ironically, his cherry tree story, invented to celebrate Washington’s honesty, became one of presidential history’s most enduring lies.

Myth: William Henry Harrison Died From Pneumonia After His Long Inaugural Speech

On March 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address in history — an 8,460-word speech that took nearly two hours to deliver. Unfortunately for Harrison, he had to deliver the epic address in cold, wet weather without a coat, and he died of pneumonia exactly one month later. That, at least, is the story we’re often told regarding the fate of America’s ninth president. The only problem? The speech is almost certainly not what killed him. 

Modern medical historians who have examined the evidence believe Harrison likely died from enteric fever, not from pneumonia as a result of cold conditions at his inauguration. The true culprit was probably Washington, D.C.’s inadequate sewer system at the time, and the White House’s close proximity to a marsh full of human waste — a breeding ground for disease. 

Myth: John F. Kennedy Accidentally Called Himself a Jelly Doughnut

American presidents say a lot of weird stuff, but it’s not every day that they solemnly declare, in front of thousands of Germans and an eagerly watching world, “I am a jelly-filled doughnut.” It’s a common myth, however, that John F. Kennedy did exactly that. In his famous 1963 speech in Berlin, JFK declared “Ich bin ein Berliner” (German for “I am a Berliner”) in solidarity with West Berlin. 

But here’s where things get weird. Rumors later began to circulate in the U.S. that Kennedy had made a grammatical error resulting in him referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin but rather as a German confection similar to a jelly doughnut, known in certain parts of the country as a Berliner. Delightful as that gaffe may be, the truth is that every German watching Kennedy’s address would have understood perfectly well what the president was referring to. The crowd knew Kennedy was expressing solidarity, not declaring himself a pastry. Of course, the myth stuck anyway — proving just how stubborn these tales can be. 

Franklin Pierce

Popular and outgoing, Franklin Pierce far preferred playing outdoors and socializing to hitting the books as a child. Such lax personal discipline proved problematic after "Handsome Frank," as the future president was known, enrolled at Bowdoin College. Left to his own accord, Pierce frequently snuck out to a local tavern, skipped study sessions, and spent his free time fishing, until learning after two years that he ranked dead last academically in his class. To his credit, Pierce took the news as a wake-up call, and he improved his work habits and performance enough to finish fifth among the 14 graduating students in 1824.

James Buchanan

The oldest son of a prosperous Pennsylvania merchant, James Buchanan excelled in the classic curriculum of his local academy and became the rare early-19th-century American to have both the intellect and financial means to attend college. However, Buchanan nearly blew his shot when he was expelled from Dickinson College for getting involved with a rowdy group of fellow students who caused mayhem both on and off campus. Reinstated with the help of family connections, the future president remained on good behavior from that point forward and graduated with honors. 

Ulysses S. Grant

Outside of an aptitude for math and an innate wizardry for connecting with horses, young Ulysses S. Grant offered little reason to expect that his would become among the most famous names in American history. The future president showed minimal interest in writing and rarely spoke in class, flummoxing locals who learned that the unremarkable boy had secured a spot in the United States Military Academy through his father's efforts. 

At West Point, Grant dazzled classmates with his horsemanship skills and uncovered a talent for drawing, but otherwise struggled in French and ethics classes. He finished a middle-of-the-pack 21st out of 39 in his graduating class of 1843, paving the way for the mediocrity that would follow until his ascent to stardom in the Civil War.

Herbert Hoover

To be fair, the Ohio-born Herbert Hoover received a limited formal education after being orphaned at age 9; sent to live with family in Oregon, he was pulled from school at age 14 to help with his uncle's business. Setting his sights on a career as a mining engineer, Hoover took the entrance exams for the brand-new Stanford University in the spring of 1891 and failed all of them except for math. 

Although he performed well enough to gain entry to Stanford on his second try, Hoover still failed the English composition section, and he never managed to get over the hump in that area despite proving a gifted geology student. It took the intervention of a paleontologist professor, who demonstrated Hoover's capabilities for writing strong research papers to the chair of the English department, for the 31st president to earn the passing grade needed to collect his geology degree in 1895.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

An athletic child who enjoyed football and baseball, Dwight D. Eisenhower found an outlet for his relentless energy amid the physically demanding programs of the United States Military Academy. However, a knee injury suffered on the football gridiron as a sophomore seemingly sent "Ike" into a tailspin; his grades plummeted and demerits accumulated, leaving the future president on shaky academic footing. Eisenhower pulled himself together after becoming a student football coach, managing to finish 61st out of 164 students in his class of 1915, although he ranked a lowly 125th in West Point's "conduct" category.

John F. Kennedy

A look at John F. Kennedy's academic record suggests a young man who benefited from being the son of a wealthy and powerful politician. Focused on sports and social activities at the exclusive Choate preparatory school in Connecticut, Kennedy flunked French and Latin as a freshman, and was briefly expelled for his part in a planned prank as a senior. 

Little changed in his first years at Harvard University, as JFK again sunk his energies into football and swimming and largely underwhelmed his professors. However, Kennedy soon grasped the opportunity afforded by his station in life, as his trips to Europe on the eve of World War II brought into focus a possible career in public service. JFK's grades significantly improved over his final years, and his senior thesis, originally titled "Appeasement at Munich: The Inevitable Result of the Slowness of Conversion of the British Democracy From a Disarmament to a Rearmament Policy," earned acclaim after being published in 1940 as the book Why England Slept.

Ronald Reagan

A shy, bookish child, Ronald Reagan came into his own as a teenager after realizing he simply needed a pair of glasses to properly see the world around him. He subsequently became one of the most popular students at Dixon High School in Illinois, earning a letter as a varsity football player while serving as president of the student body and dramatics club. 

At Eureka College, Reagan added swimming to his football and acting extracurriculars, while living in a fraternity room that doubled as the gathering place for his frat brothers' pinochle games. But for all his interests, "the Gipper" was never a strong student; he scored just one "A" at Eureka, in a class called "Fundamentals of Sports," while his senior year GPA of 1.96 was the highest of his college tenure. Returning to campus years later to accept an honorary degree, Reagan joked, "I thought my first Eureka degree was an honorary one."

Striking a Balance

Upon reconsidering the seven-year term, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention found themselves facing a fundamental problem. If the presidential term was too short, the leader would be perpetually campaigning and unable to make difficult long-term decisions. If it was too long, there was a risk of creating a de facto monarch who could consolidate power and easily become corrupt. So, the discussion began again. Various proposals were put forward, ranging from three-year terms to 15-year terms — and even lifelong appointments. 

Finally, in late August 1787, the convention decided on a term of four years with the possibility of reelection. However, the decision had its critics, who argued that even a four-year term would allow the president to establish dangerous influence. One of the most vocal and influential proponents was Alexander Hamilton, who defended the decision in the Federalist Papers (No. 71), arguing that four years offered a balance between accountability and stability. The initial term, he argued, would allow the executive to gain enough authority and public confidence to act with firmness, while the prospect of reelection would serve to incentivize the president to pursue policies with a lasting positive impact. 

The four-year term had another factor in its favor: It would fall between the two-year terms of the House of Representatives and the six-year terms of the Senate. Delegates believed this meant the president would be subject to both the pressures driving the House’s need to respond to immediate public demands as well as the Senate’s focus on long-term objectives. 

Not Too Short, Not Too Long

Having argued their way through that hot 1787 Philadelphia summer, the framers of the Constitution eventually agreed on four years as the ideal term length — not too short, not too long. And with that decision, one of the most stable and enduring features of American democracy began. 

The delegates approved four-year terms with no restriction on how many times a person could be elected president — in theory, a popular (or corrupt) president could serve for life. They placed their trust in voters and the electoral system to prevent any president from serving too long. But then, America’s first president, George Washington, set an enduring — if informal — precedent. He voluntarily stepped down after two terms, despite being hugely popular at the time and almost certain to win a third term had he run. 

This two-term maximum became a tradition that was respected for decades by later presidents — until Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to break the precedent in July 1940. With the United States nearing its entry into World War II, FDR strongly believed that maintaining stability and leadership was vital — and voters agreed. He was elected a third time and remains the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms. 

Once the war ended, however, concerns loomed in Congress regarding possible executive overreach — especially once Roosevelt entered his fourth term in 1945. Congress therefore passed the 22nd Amendment in 1947, stating, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” This officially gave the United States one of its most enduring democratic principles, limiting the nation’s president to two terms of four years.