President List by Party: What Most People Get Wrong

Politics in America feels like a permanent boxing match between two teams. Red vs. Blue. Republican vs. Democrat. Honestly, we’ve reached a point where it’s hard to imagine the White House holding anyone who doesn’t carry one of those two labels. But if you look at a president list by party, you’ll realize the "Two-Party System" hasn't always looked like this. Not even close.

George Washington? He hated the idea of parties. Basically thought they were "baneful" and would tear the country apart. He was right, of course, but it only took about five minutes after he left office for everyone to start picking sides. Since then, the names on the door have changed from Federalists to Whigs to Democratic-Republicans, and the ideologies have flipped so many times it'll make your head spin.

The No-Party Guy and the Early Squabbles

Let's start with the big one. George Washington is the only person on the president list by party who officially had "None." He was an independent. He didn't want the drama. But by the time John Adams took the oath in 1797, the lines were drawn.

The Federalist Era

John Adams was our only "true" Federalist president. These guys wanted a strong central government and a national bank. They were the "big government" folks of the 18th century, which is kinda funny when you think about how we label things today.

The Democratic-Republican Dynasty

Then came Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. They called themselves Democratic-Republicans. They hated the Federalists’ guts. They wanted power to stay with the states and the farmers. This party dominated for 24 years straight. It was a total landslide era.

When the Whigs Walked the Earth

By the 1830s, the Democratic-Republicans literally ate themselves. They split into two groups. One group became the modern Democratic Party under Andrew Jackson. The other group? They became the Whigs.

The Whig Party is one of those weird footnotes in history that actually produced four presidents. If you're looking at a president list by party from 1841 to 1853, it’s a mess of Whigs and Democrats.

• William Henry Harrison (Whig): Famous for dying 31 days into his term.
• John Tyler (Whig... sorta): He took over for Harrison, but his own party kicked him out while he was still in office. He ended up being a president without a party.
• Zachary Taylor (Whig): A war hero who also died in office.
• Millard Fillmore (Whig): The guy who took over for Taylor and basically watched the party dissolve over the issue of slavery.

The Whigs couldn't figure out where they stood on slavery, so they just... ceased to exist. They were replaced by a new group: the Republicans.

📖 Related: Who is the US Ambassador to Costa Rica and Why Does the Job Keep Changing?

The Big Switch: Republicans and Democrats

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president in 1861. Back then, the Republicans were the "radical" liberals fighting to end slavery and expand federal power. The Democrats were the conservative party of the South.

If you look at the president list by party over the next 160 years, you see this slow, agonizing "Great Switch."

The Republican Run

From Lincoln to Herbert Hoover, Republicans mostly owned the White House. They were the party of big business and the North. Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican, but he was also a progressive who fought monopolies. It wasn't until the Great Depression that the script flipped entirely.

The New Deal Shift

When FDR (a Democrat) took over in 1933, he used massive government spending to save the economy. Suddenly, Democrats were the party of "Big Government." Republicans started pushing back, saying the government should stay out of the way.

By the 1960s, with the Civil Rights Act, the South—which had been "Solidly Democrat" for a century—started voting Republican. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan sealed the deal.

Every US President by Party Affiliation

To make sense of the president list by party, you have to see the raw data. It’s a lot of names, but the patterns are clear.

Independent

✨ Don't miss: Mark Hertling: Why This Retired General Still Matters in 2026

• George Washington (1789–1797)

Federalist

• John Adams (1797–1801)

Democratic-Republican

• Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)
• James Madison (1809–1817)
• James Monroe (1817–1825)
• John Quincy Adams (1825–1829)

Whig

• William Henry Harrison (1841)
• John Tyler (1841–1845) - Expelled from party during term
• Zachary Taylor (1849–1850)
• Millard Fillmore (1850–1853)

National Union

• Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) - A Democrat who ran on a unity ticket with Lincoln (Republican)

Democratic Party

1. Andrew Jackson (1829–1837)
2. Martin Van Buren (1837–1841)
3. James K. Polk (1845–1849)
4. Franklin Pierce (1853–1857)
5. James Buchanan (1857–1861)
6. Grover Cleveland (1885–1889 & 1893–1897) - The only guy to serve non-consecutive terms!
7. Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)
8. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945)
9. Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
10. John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
11. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
12. Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
13. Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
14. Barack Obama (2009–2017)
15. Joe Biden (2021–2025)

Republican Party

1. Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
2. Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
3. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881)
4. James A. Garfield (1881)
5. Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)
6. Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893)
7. William McKinley (1897–1901)
8. Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
9. William Howard Taft (1909–1913)
10. Warren G. Harding (1921–1923)
11. Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929)
12. Herbert Hoover (1929–1933)
13. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
14. Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
15. Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
16. Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
17. George H.W. Bush (1989–1993)
18. George W. Bush (2001–2009)
19. Donald Trump (2017–2021)

The Outsiders Who Almost Made It

Third parties are usually the "spoilers." They don't win, but they change who does win. Teddy Roosevelt tried to come back in 1912 with his "Bull Moose" party. He actually beat the Republican candidate, Taft, but he split the vote so badly that the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, walked right into the White House.

Ross Perot in 1992 is another one. He got almost 19% of the popular vote. He didn't win a single state. That’s the brutal reality of the electoral college—if you don't win the state, you don't exist on the final scoreboard.

Why This List Matters Today

Understanding the president list by party isn't just for trivia night. It shows that parties are fluid. They aren't religions; they're coalitions. They change based on what the voters care about.

A hundred years ago, a "progressive" was usually a Republican. Fifty years ago, the "conservative" was often a Southern Democrat. Things shift. Today, we see more people registering as "Independent" than ever before, yet our list remains strictly binary.

Actionable Insights for the History Buff

If you want to dive deeper into how these parties actually functioned, here is what you should do next:

1. Check the "Party Platforms": Don't just look at the names. Go to the American Presidency Project and read the actual platforms from 1860 vs 1960. You'll see the exact moment the priorities shifted.
2. Look at the "Third Party Spoilers": Research the 1912 and 1992 elections specifically. They are the best examples of how a third party can completely destroy a major candidate's chances.
3. Track the Map: Use interactive sites like 270toWin to see how the "Blue States" of today used to be the "Red States" of the 1900s.

History is messy. The president list by party looks neat on paper, but the reality was a series of brawls, betrayals, and complete ideological 180s.

Dig into the data. Compare the lists. You'll realize that the "unchangeable" parties we have now are actually just one chapter in a very long, very weird book.

Next Steps:

• Research the "Corrupt Bargain" of 1824 to see how the Democratic-Republican party first started to crack.
• Analyze the 1964 election map to witness the beginning of the "Solid South" switching from Democrat to Republican.
• Study the Whig Party’s collapse to understand the warning signs of a major political party failing in real-time.