Unit 1 · 1789–1825

The Founders

Meet the first five presidents. They had to figure out the job — because no one had been president of the United States before.

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  No. 1George Washington1789–1797 · IndependentThe first president — he showed the country how to lead, then how to leave.
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  No. 2John Adams1797–1801 · FederalistA stubborn lawyer who helped argue America into being — and then kept it out of a war.
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  No. 3Thomas Jefferson1801–1809 · Democratic-RepublicanHe wrote that all people are created equal — and doubled the size of the country.
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  No. 4James Madison1809–1817 · Democratic-RepublicanHe helped write the Constitution, then had to defend it in a war.
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  No. 5James Monroe1817–1825 · Democratic-RepublicanHe told Europe: the Western Hemisphere is not yours to colonize.