List of presidents of the United States by time in office

This is a list of presidents of the United States by time in office. The listed number of days is calculated as the difference between dates, which counts the number of calendar days except the last day. The length of a full four-year presidential term of office usually amounts to 1,461 days (three common years of 365 days plus one leap year of 366 days). If the last day is included, all numbers would be one day more, except Grover Cleveland would have two more days, as he served two non-consecutive terms.[lower-alpha 1]


Longest presidency:
Franklin D. Roosevelt
4,422 days
(1933–1945)

Shortest presidency:
William Henry Harrison
31 days
(1841)

Of the individuals elected president of the United States, four died of natural causes while in office (William Henry Harrison,[1] Zachary Taylor,[2] Warren G. Harding[3] and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln,[4] James A. Garfield,[4][5] William McKinley[6] and John F. Kennedy) and one resigned from office (Richard Nixon).[7]

William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office, while Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest. Roosevelt is the only American president to have served more than two terms. Following ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment in 1951, presidents—beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower—have been ineligible for election to a third term or, after serving more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president, to a second term. The amendment contained a grandfather clause that explicitly exempted the incumbent president, then Harry S. Truman, from the new term limitations.

Grover Cleveland is the only president to leave office and return for a second non-consecutive term. Consequently, while there have been 46 presidencies in the nation's history, only 45 people have been sworn into office as Cleveland is numbered as both the 22nd and 24th president.

Presidents by time in office
RankPresidentLength
in days		Order of presidencyNumber of terms
1Franklin D. Roosevelt 4,422[lower-alpha 2] 32nd • March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945[lower-alpha 3]Three full terms; died 2 months and 23 days into fourth term
2
tie		Thomas Jefferson 2,922 3rd • March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809Two full terms
James Madison 2,922 4th • March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817Two full terms
James Monroe 2,922 5th • March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825Two full terms
Andrew Jackson 2,922 7th • March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837Two full terms
Ulysses S. Grant 2,922 18th • March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877Two full terms[lower-alpha 4]
Grover Cleveland 2,922[lower-alpha 5] 22nd • March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889
24th • March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897		Two full terms (non-consecutive)[lower-alpha 6]
Woodrow Wilson 2,922 28th • March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921Two full terms
Dwight D. Eisenhower 2,922 34th • January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961Two full terms
Ronald Reagan 2,922 40th • January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989Two full terms
Bill Clinton 2,922 42nd • January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001Two full terms
George W. Bush 2,922 43rd • January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009Two full terms
Barack Obama 2,922 44th • January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017Two full terms
14George Washington 2,865[lower-alpha 7] 1st • April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797Two full terms
15Harry S. Truman 2,840 33rd • April 12, 1945[lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1953One partial term (3 years, 9 months, and 8 days), followed by one full term
16Theodore Roosevelt 2,728 26th • September 14, 1901[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1909One partial term (3 years, 5 months, and 18 days), followed by one full term[lower-alpha 9]
17Calvin Coolidge 2,041 30th • August 2, 1923[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1929One partial term (1 year, 7 months, and 2 days), followed by one full term
18Richard Nixon 2,027 37th • January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974[lower-alpha 10]One full term; resigned 1 year, 6 months, and 20 days into second term
19Lyndon B. Johnson 1,886 36th • November 22, 1963[lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1969One partial term (1 year, 1 month, and 29 days), followed by one full term
20William McKinley 1,654[lower-alpha 1] 25th • March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901[lower-alpha 3]One full term; assassinated: died 6 months and 10 days into second term, 8 days after being shot
21Abraham Lincoln 1,503 16th • March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865[lower-alpha 3]One full term; assassinated: died 1 month and 11 days into second term, 1 day after being shot
22
tie		John Quincy Adams 1,461 6th • March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829One full term[lower-alpha 6]
Martin Van Buren 1,461 8th • March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841One full term[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 11]
James K. Polk 1,461 11th • March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849One full term
Franklin Pierce 1,461 14th • March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857One full term[lower-alpha 6]
James Buchanan 1,461 15th • March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861One full term
Rutherford B. Hayes 1,461 19th • March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881One full term
Benjamin Harrison 1,461 23rd • March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893One full term[lower-alpha 6]
William Howard Taft 1,461 27th • March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913One full term[lower-alpha 6]
Herbert Hoover 1,461 31st • March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933One full term[lower-alpha 6]
Jimmy Carter 1,461 39th • January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981One full term[lower-alpha 6]
George H. W. Bush 1,461 41st • January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993One full term[lower-alpha 6]
Donald Trump 1,461 45th • January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021One full term[lower-alpha 6]
34John Adams 1,460[lower-alpha 1] 2nd • March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801One full term[lower-alpha 6]
35John Tyler 1,430 10th • April 4, 1841[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1845One partial term (3 years and 11 months)
36Andrew Johnson 1,419 17th • April 15, 1865[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1869One partial term (3 years, 10 months, and 17 days)
37Chester A. Arthur 1,262 21st • September 19, 1881[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1885One partial term (3 years, 5 months, and 13 days)
38John F. Kennedy 1,036 35th • January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963[lower-alpha 3]Assassinated: died 2 years, 10 months, and 2 days into term
39Joe Biden 1,009[lower-alpha 12] 46th • January 20, 2021 – IncumbentCurrently serving
40Millard Fillmore 969 13th • July 9, 1850[lower-alpha 8] – March 4, 1853One partial term (2 years, 7 months, and 23 days)
41Gerald Ford 895 38th • August 9, 1974[lower-alpha 8] – January 20, 1977One partial term (2 years, 5 months, and 11 days)[lower-alpha 13]
42Warren G. Harding 881 29th • March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923[lower-alpha 3]Died 2 years, 4 months, and 29 days into term
43Zachary Taylor 492 12th • March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850[lower-alpha 3]Died 1 year, 4 months, and 5 days into term
44James A. Garfield 199 20th • March 4 – September 19, 1881[lower-alpha 3]Assassinated: died 6 months and 15 days into term, 79 days after being shot
45William Henry Harrison 31 9th • March 4 – April 4, 1841[lower-alpha 3]Died 31 days into term

Notes
  1. Of years evenly divisible by 100, only those evenly divisible by 400 are leap years. The years 1800 and 1900 are divisible by 100, but not by 400. John Adams's term and William McKinley's first term did not include a 366-day leap year, so those terms were one day shorter than a normal full term. 2000, being divisible by 400, had 366 days, thus Bill Clinton's second term was not shorter than his first.
  2. The Twentieth Amendment (ratified in 1933) moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20. The 1937 presidential inauguration was the first to take place on the new date. As a result, Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office (1933–1937) was only 1,418 days long, 1 month and 12 days shorter than a normal term.
  3. Died in office
  4. Did not seek re-election in 1876. He sought a non-consecutive third term in 1880, but was defeated for renomination at the Republican National Convention.
  5. Each of Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms in office was 1,461 days long.
  6. Incumbent president who sought a second consecutive full term, but was defeated either for renomination or in a presidential election.
  7. Due to logistical delays, George Washington's first term began 1 month and 26 days after the scheduled start of operations of the new government under the Constitution. As a result, the term was only 1,404 days long.
  8. Succeeded to presidency.
  9. Did not seek re-election in 1908. In 1912, he ran for a non-consecutive second full term, this time on the Progressive Party ticket, but was defeated.
  10. Resigned from office
  11. Subsequently sought a non-consecutive second term, first in 1844, but was defeated for renomination at the Democratic National Convention, and then again in 1848 (this time on the Free Soil Party ticket), but was defeated.
  12. As of October 26, 2023
  13. Sought election to a full term in 1976, but was defeated.

See also

References
  1. Cleaves, Freeman (1939). Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 152.
  2. Ingersoll, Jared. "Death of the President". University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  3. Russell, Francis (1962). The Shadow of Blooming Grove – Warren G. Harding in His Times. Easton Press. p. 591. ISBN 0070543380.
  4. Martin, Paul "Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard", Smithsonian Magazine, April 8, 2010, Retrieved November 15, 2010
  5. Donald (1996), p. 597.
  6. "Big Ben Parker and President McKinley's Assassination". Math.buffalo.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  7. "Nixon Resigns". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
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