Presidents

Painting showing Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Benjamin Franklin presenting the first draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, both 'pursuit' and 'happiness' had secondary definitions that change the meaning of the iconic quote.

Barack Obama supporters hold posters with his campaign slogan in 2008.

You probably remember Barack Obama’s “Yes, We Can.” But do you remember Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan? How about FDR’s?

Andrew Jackson has been on the $20 for less time than you think.

America's seventh president has been on the $20 bill for less time than you might assume.

William McKinley (first row, center) and his wife, Ida (to his left), meet with the Flower Delegation.

Unwilling to leave his ill wife's side during a presidential campaign, William McKinley decided to run for president from his front porch.

In his House Divided speech, Lincoln feared the outcome of the Missouri Compromise would be civil war.

In his famous 1858 speech, Abraham Lincoln warned that only civil war would resolve the issue of slavery in the U.S. He wasn’t wrong.

These future presidents worked some not-so-glamorous jobs as teenagers.

Presidents have had a lot of titles and nicknames, but the wife of every president has one common honorific. Why do we call her “first lady”?

In researching his latest book, ‘The Year of Living Constitutionally,’ author A.J. Jacobs came across some bizarre suggestions floated by members of the Constitutional Convention for the new United States government.

In the winter of 1861, former president Franklin Pierce found himself accused of treason.

An anonymous letter supposedly from a member of a secret society claimed that Franklin Pierce was involved in treasonous activities against the American government—an accusation that infuriated the former president.

In 2002, the two powerful world leaders were invited to settle their differences the old-fashioned way: Combat.

People are still torn over the belief that the ninth president died of pneumonia after not wearing a coat to his inauguration.

Official White House portrait of President John Tyler by George P. A. Healy.

John Tyler was born in 1790. He took office in 1841, after William Henry Harrison died. His last living grandchild, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, just passed away, on May 25, 2025.

How a largely forgotten U.S. president became a South American idol.

From doubt over Shakespeare’s existence to Lincoln’s assassination, conspiracy theories have been around for centuries.

The apostrophe in Presidents Day—or President's Day or Presidents's Day—is all over the place ... or nowhere to be found at all.

Martin Van Buren’s nickname wasn’t a compliment.

From the obscure (“American Fabius") to the sports-related (“Barry O'Bomber”), here are just a few of the most colorful presidential nicknames.

Barack Obama giving his inauguration speech, 2009.

Listen to inaugural addresses and other speeches from each president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama.

George Washington's preferred eggnog recipe calls for four kinds of booze—and none of them in small quantities.

in the 1980s, Springfield was home to a subterranean labyrinth made up of cheese wheels.

Elvis could have been a hunk of granite.

Who, if anybody, deserves a place alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt on the famous monument?

After a sweet plea from her husband not to change her looks, the first lady was careful about how she presented herself in pictures.

General George Washington has the look of a man with more stars than anybody else.

Thanks to a law passed in 1976, our nation's first president—who died more than 200 years ago—is still the military's highest-ranking official.

The New York Public Library’s copy of the original version of the Declaration of Independence, written in Jefferson's hand.

Thomas Jefferson was not happy about some of the edits made to his draft. Here's what didn't make the final cut.

John Wilkes Booth shooting Abraham Lincoln, with Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone seated to the right of the president and first lady.

The Lincolns weren't alone in the presidential box at Ford's Theater that night.

The Pursuit of Happiness: The True Meaning of the Misunderstood Phrase

The Origins of 10 Presidential Campaign Slogans

Andrew Jackson Hasn’t Always Been On the $20 Bill

The Presidential Candidate Who Campaigned From His Porch

“A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand”: Deciphering Lincoln’s Warning About Civil War

Quiz: Can You Guess the Summer Jobs of These Future U.S. Presidents?

Why Do We Call a President’s Wife “First Lady”?

5 Wild Ideas Rejected by the Constitutional Convention

The Bizarre Story Behind How Franklin Pierce Was Accused of Treason

When George Bush and Saddam Hussein Were Challenged to a Duel

Did William Henry Harrison Really Die of Pneumonia?

President John Tyler’s Last Living Grandson Has Passed Away

Rutherford B. Hayes, National Hero of Paraguay

12 Historical Conspiracy Theories

Presidents Day vs. President’s Day vs. Presidents’ Day: Which One Is It?

30 Unusual Presidential Nicknames—And How They Were Acquired

Listen to Some of the Most Famous Presidential Speeches From History

George Washington’s Extra-Boozy Eggnog Recipe Will Knock You Sideways

The Underground Cheese Caves of Missouri

A Fifth Head for Mount Rushmore? Here Are Seven Famous Contenders

Why Ulysses S. Grant’s Wife Julia Always Posed in Profile

Why George Washington Is History's Only Six-Star General

The Original Version of the Declaration of Independence

The Couple Who Sat with Lincoln on the Night of His Assassination