U.S. Presidents: Facts and Elections

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: What’s Known

Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States, enslaved more than 600 people in his lifetime. Best known among them: Sally Hemings, who lived at his Virginia estate Monticello along with their children. As with most people in bondage, there is little documentation about Hemings in the […]

Why Thomas Jefferson Clashed With His Fellow Founding Fathers

How did Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president, get along with his fellow Founding Fathers? Not all that well, actually. The nation’s Founders may have agreed heartily on the need for liberty, but they rarely agreed on how to run their new country. Seldom just spats or squabbles, their clashes involved big, and enduring, issues about […]

8 Surprising Facts About William McKinley

Historians still debate the legacy of William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, who served from 1897 until his assassination by an anarchist in 1901. The man with an Alaskan mountain once named for him believed in the power of tariffs, though they didn’t always work the way he hoped. He was criticized […]

What Was Richard Nixon’s ‘Enemies List’—And Who Was on It?

Among Richard Nixon’s many presidential priorities—ending the Vietnam War, thawing relations with China, expanding environmental protections—there was one initiative his team hoped to keep well under the radar: his secret “enemies list.” In an August 1971 memo, White House Counsel John Dean offered a piquant summary of the project’s goal: to “use the available federal […]

Why Presidents Declare National Emergencies

Since 1979, the United States has technically been in constant states of emergency since outdated declarations have been repeatedly renewed.

Thomas Jefferson’s Lavish Lifestyle—and Struggle With Debt

Thomas Jefferson was many things during his long and accomplished life: Founding Father, U.S. president, ambassador to France, architect, author, farmer, inventor, violinist and all‑around renaissance man. Through it all, he was also something else: an incorrigible shopaholic, saddled with debt. Jefferson inherited not one but two large estates, his father’s and his father‑in‑law’s, and […]

How Thomas Jefferson Made Monticello a Laboratory of Innovation

As a boy growing up on his family’s sprawling tobacco plantation, Thomas Jefferson was drawn to a particular hilltop where he played with his best friend and immersed himself in books and picturesque vistas. After inheriting several thousand acres of the property in Virginia’s Albemarle County, the future president transformed his childhood sanctuary into a […]

8 Presidential Inauguration Traditions

Every four years, Inauguration Day and the weeks preceding it unfold with rituals that reinforce the peaceful transfer of power in the United States. While much of the pageantry—from the president‑elect’s White House visit to the inaugural address—follows long‑standing tradition, little of it is required by law or the U.S. Constitution, beyond the 35‑word oath […]

Thomas Jefferson: 6 Facts About His Family and Upbringing

Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s most revered Founding Fathers, is best remembered for his role in writing the Declaration of Independence and serving as the third president of the United States. However, less is known about his formative years. From his privileged upbringing on a Virginia plantation to his intellectual awakening under the tutelage of […]

Why Thomas Jefferson Faced Opposition to the Louisiana Purchase

In brokering the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the United States and set the fledgling country on a course to become a continental power—all for just three cents an acre. “Let the land rejoice,” General Horatio Gates praised Jefferson, “for you have bought Louisiana for a song.” More than two […]

7 Facts About Jimmy Carter Before He Became President

In his life before presidency, Carter helped fix a nuclear reactor while it was melting down and once reported a UFO.

Former President Jimmy Carter Dies at Age 100

The 39th president served during difficult times and became known for his profound humanitarian and diplomatic work in his post‑presidency years.