American Presidents

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

How White House Chiefs of Staff Help Govern

According to Chris Whipple’s new book, an empowered chief of staff can make a successful presidency

Obamas Unveil Plans for Presidential Library and Museum

Located in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side, the former first couple hopes the campus will help revitalize the area

Sold: Diary of 28-Year-Old JFK

Kennedy recorded his impressions of a formative trip through post-War Europe

John Adams's official presidential portrait, painted circa 1792 by John Turnbull.

John Adams Was the United States’ First Ambassador as Well as Its Second President

Adams's house in the Hague was the first-ever U.S. Embassy

Theodore Roosevelt regularly employed executive orders to achieve his political goals.

The Debate Over Executive Orders Began With Teddy Roosevelt's Mad Passion for Conservation

Teddy used nearly 10 times as many executive orders as his predecessor. The repercussions are still felt today

Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt speaks to crowds in Mineola, New York, in support of US entry into the First World War, 1917

Why Teddy Roosevelt Tried to Bully His Way Onto the WWI Battlefield

Tensions ran high when President Wilson quashed the return of the former president’s Rough Riders

Corbin Fleming plays with President Obama's desk phone in 2012.

Before 1929, Nobody Thought the President Needed a Telephone in his Office

Herbert Hoover got a phone in the Oval Office over fifty years after the White House first got a switchboard

Welles helped FDR with his famous voice—and served as a behind-the-scenes speechwriter, too.

FDR Had a Famous Ghostwriter: Orson Welles

The legendary actor stumped and even wrote speeches for the 32nd president

Despite their many differences, Jackson and Warren both have a deep populist streak.

Is Elizabeth Warren the Real Jacksonian on Capitol Hill?

Warren has progressive values, but her populism is just like Andrew Jackson’s

President Herbert Hoover (center right) plays a rousing game of Hooverball on the South Lawn of the White House.

Newly Discovered Color Movies Show Herbert Hoover’s Softer Side

From Hooverball to White House frolics, you've never seen the staid president quite like this

President Richard Nixon smiles alongside Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, even though the two waged political war against each other for decades

The Inside Story of Richard Nixon’s Ugly, 30-Year Feud with Earl Warren

Their dislike for each other set the tone for Supreme Court politics for decades to come

Aaron Burr exhorting his followers at Blennerhassett Island Ohio River 1805

Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the American Way of Treason

The U.S. had good reason to be cautious about drawing a line between disloyalty and conduct deserving of prosecution

An unemployed painter named Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Andrew Jackson in January 1835.

The Attempted Assassination of Andrew Jackson

A madman, a conspiracy and a lot of angry politicians

John F. Kennedy's permanent gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Man Who Dug JFK’s Grave, Twice

Clifton Pollard dug graves in the Arlington National Cemetery for more than thirty years

Abigail and John Adams's letters to each other show a rare marriage of equals, historians say.

The Letters of Abigail and John Adams Show Their Mutual Respect

We still have 1,160 of their letters, written across the years of their marriage

President James Buchanan thought that a binding Supreme Court decision legitimizing slavery would bring the country together.

President James Buchanan Directly Influenced the Outcome of the Dred Scott Decision

He's remembered as a president who tried to unify a fractured nation with little success, doing damage along the way

George W. Bush Displays Portraits of Military Veterans

The former president honors 66 members of the armed services in the show "Portraits of Courage," which just opened at the George W. Bush Center

The cartoon by Thomas Nast shows the battles between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction.

The Political Cartoon That Explains the Battle Over Reconstruction

Take a deep dive into this drawing by famed illustrator Thomas Nast

Obama's Powerful Tribute to a Defining Civil Rights Moment

On the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, the first African American president paid tribute to an event in civil rights history

How Obama's Historic 2008 DNC Speech Came Together

Presidential candidate Barack Obama's scheduled speech to the Democratic National Convention fell on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech

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