U.S. Presidents Trivia

Forty-six people have held the office of President of the United States, and their terms range from 31 days to more than twelve years. This quiz sticks to the record: elections, firsts, and the events that defined their time in office.

Firsts, Records, and Unusual Terms

Some presidential facts are simply about numbers. William Henry Harrison served the shortest term of any president, dying just 31 days after his 1841 inauguration, while Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, winning four elections before a later constitutional amendment limited presidents to two terms. Grover Cleveland remains the only president elected to two non-consecutive terms, which is why he is counted twice in the official numbering.

• George Washington was the first president, and John Adams was the first to live in the White House.
• Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest president at 42 after William McKinley's assassination.
• Richard Nixon remains the only president to resign from office.

Presidents Who Shaped a Century

Other names on this list are remembered less for records than for consequences. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase each reshaped the country in ways still felt today, while Franklin D. Roosevelt guided the nation through the Great Depression and most of World War II before his death in office in 1945.