Talk:List of presidents of the United States

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Frequently asked questions

This section is here to provide answers to some questions that have been previously discussed on this talk page.
Note: This FAQ is only here to let people know that these points have previously been addressed, not to prevent any further discussion of these issues.

To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

General Concerns and Questions

Q1: John Hanson was actually the first president.

A1: John Hanson was the first President of the Continental Congress to serve a term under the Articles of Confederation. This office is different from President of the United States, which was only created after the US Constitution took effect in 1789.

Related Talk discussions: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Q2: __________ was acting president for a short time, why isn't he on the list?

A2: A period during which a vice-president or other person temporarily becomes Acting President under the Twenty-fifth Amendment is not a presidency, because the president remains in office during such a period.

Related Talk discussions: [6], [7], [8]

Q3: Grover Cleveland is listed twice, William McKinley was actually the 24th president.

A3: Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, so while McKinley was in fact the 24th person to serve as president, Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president. Or another way: the next president after Benjamin Harrison was the 24th president. It should also be noted that almost all reference materials enumerate Cleveland in this way.

Related Talk discussions: [9], [10], [11], [12]

Q4: Harry Truman's middle name was "S". Since it's not an initial, it should not have the period after it.

A4: Harry Truman's middle name was in fact S; however, most reference materials still use the period. Truman himself signed his own name as "Harry S. Truman". Both with or without the period may be regarded as correct.

Related Talk discussions: [13], [14], [15], [16]

Q5: Democratic is an adjective. Presidents of this party should be listed as the noun, "Democrat".

A5: The correct name of the political party is the Democratic Party. In this case, the adjective is used to describe the party, which is what the list is showing. Note that Democrat Party can be seen as an epithet - see Democrat Party (epithet).

Related Talk discussions: [17]

Q6: Please add another column to the list for ___________.

A6: Every effort was made to show the most sought-after information in a concise table. Those interested in president lists based on other criteria should see Template:Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents.

Related Talk discussions: [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24]

Q7: I have an issue with one of the pictures used.

A7: It is recommended that the same picture from the president's individual article infobox be used on this list by default. However, any clear view of the face will work since the pictures are so small. Keep in mind that some images on external sites may be subject to copyright, and therefore difficult to bring into Wikipedia. If you have a specific concern about an image, feel free to discuss it here.

Related Talk discussions: [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37]

List of presidents of the United States is a featured list, which means it has been identified as one of the best lists produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 15, 2005	Featured list candidate	Promoted
October 30, 2008	Featured list removal candidate	Demoted
June 26, 2009	Featured list candidate	Not promoted
March 3, 2021	Peer review	Reviewed
September 9, 2022	Featured list candidate	Promoted
Current status: Featured list

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Move logs: List of presidents of the United States
List of Presidents of the United States

Discussions:

RM, List of Presidents of the United States → List of presidents of the United States, No move, 23 July 2012, discussion
RM, List of Presidents of the United States → List of presidents of the United States, No consensus, 20 May 2018, discussion
- MRV, Overturn and relist, 10 June 2018, discussion
RM, List of Presidents of the United States → List of presidents of the United States, Moved, 27 July 2019, discussion

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Add section to table

Since I can't edit the page, can someone that can edit the page add a section to the table that says "time served in office" and make it sortable? It's just to make it easier to know all the presidents from longest to shortest terms, unless there is already a page for this. NicoConservative (talk) 14:47, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That would duplicate the List of presidents of the United States by time in office.Dimadick (talk) 15:02, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh ok, I didn't know that page existed. Thanks. NicoConservative (talk) 15:25, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Image broken for Rutherford Hayes

The most recent edit seems to have broken the image for Rutherford B. Hayes. ComplexSyrup (talk) 23:34, 1 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The image for Rutherford B. Hayes has not been changed recently, what problem are you having with viewing the image? I do not see any issues. Drdpw (talk) 23:48, 1 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies, it appears fine now. I checked a few different versions, but I probably should have checked another device. ComplexSyrup (talk) 00:58, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No problem; happy editing and reading. Drdpw (talk) 01:11, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Changing images

Is there any particular reason, why the images are being constantly changed? GoodDay (talk) 01:35, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, about a year since the last time this was brought up, maybe someone actually has an answer this time. --Golbez (talk) 02:26, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Guess not. It's not like this page has no one watching it, a lot of people are below, but no one seems to care about this except us. Oh well. --Golbez (talk) 20:19, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I propose that the images used on this page be the same as the info box image in the individual main biographical articles. Drdpw (talk) 20:26, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Batong1930: (for example) tends to change or tinker with the images, both here & at List of vice presidents of the United States. So much so, that I've removed both pages from my watchlist. GoodDay (talk) 23:24, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, and honestly, it was you saying that what brought me back here to revitalize the conversation. I don't agree with you on a lot but I know you're a vigilant editor, and for one of our most high profile pages to lose at least one, and probably other, vigilant editors just because most of the edits on this article are unreasoned stuff that appears meaningless to us, it was cause for alarm. This is when we need more experienced eyes here, not fewer. --Golbez (talk) 03:35, 8 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

2024 elections results

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Put Donald Trump in the 47th president slot as he won the 2024 elections. Johnjohn01 (talk) 10:55, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not done He will not be 47th President of the United States until January 20, 2025. Drdpw (talk) 11:48, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

He should be added though. If I remember correctly, both Trump and Biden were immediately added in 2016 and 2020 respectively, but with the "President-elect" title. If I'm mistaken, my bad. But if I'm not, Trump should be added now. Lostfan333 (talk) 15:28, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is a list of Presidents, not President-elects... the relevant information is listed in the lede, and Trump will be added to the central table after he takes the oath of office. TNstingray (talk) 15:31, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's not how it was done in previous elections. The president-elect has been added shortly after the election for at least the past two elections if not more. Check the page history. 2601:156:8300:8BD0:F5F1:BF12:9E3:E121 (talk) 15:50, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Lostfan333 (talk) 16:35, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

why is everyone so polite (put Trump there) MR. MOAI 122456789 (talk) 10:29, 7 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Add trump

Someone needs to add trump because he’s been elected 2603:6080:5500:1A2:FDE4:1C3B:2C4A:710F (talk) 13:02, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No, for the reason stated above. Drdpw (talk) 13:06, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

So why then were president-elects listed in 2016 and 2020?24.49.102.165 (talk) 16:42, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's not how it was done in previous elections. The president-elect has been added shortly after the election for at least the past two elections if not more. Check the page history. 64.98.230.243 (talk) 20:04, 8 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 6 November 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Biden is still President until January 20, 2025. Trump/47 will be President on January 20, 2025. Source: US Constitution. 2603:7080:100:34E9:DFCF:E328:D6CA:C30C (talk) 14:11, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Already done The relevant edit had been reverted. Liu1126 (talk) 14:19, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The years for the presidents are messed up.

The years for the presidents have been switched to 1800s and need to be fixed. 2601:680:CC01:FD00:CC8E:2448:FD21:3BAB (talk) 22:51, 9 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Which ones specifically? Drdpw (talk) 23:03, 9 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Dates in office for Nixon and Ford overlap.

Please check the dates as President for Nixon and Ford ... they overlap. 2601:703:281:160:65B0:9E9F:796C:A05D (talk) 01:46, 24 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Care to elaborate? It says Nixon ended on August 9, and says Ford started August 9. --Golbez (talk) 02:38, 24 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I do not see any overlap. The transfer of power took place on August 9, 1974, which the table shows correctly. The Nixon presidency ended shortly before 12 noon Eastern time that day, and the Ford presidency began at that time. Drdpw (talk) 02:41, 24 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]