From http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1058/rulu.html :
4 Jul 1776 independence declared (United States of America)
(Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia)
2 Mar 1781 Articles of Confederation effective
3 Sep 1783 independence recognized by Britain
4 Mar 1789 Constitution effective; 11 of the 13 original states have
ratified it by that time
21 Nov 1789 North Carolina ratifies Constitution
29 May 1790 Rhode Island ratifies Constitution
Presidents of the ("Continental") Congress
5 Sep 1774 - 22 Oct 1774 Peyton Randolph (1st time) (b. 1721 - d. 1775)
22 Oct 1774 - 26 Oct 1774 Henry Middleton (b. 1717 - d. 1784)
10 May 1775 - 24 May 1775 Peyton Randolph (2nd time) (s.a.)
24 May 1775 - 29 Oct 1777 John Hancock (b. 1737 - d. 1793)
29 Oct 1777 - 1 Nov 1777 Charles Thomson (acting) (b. 1729 - d. 1824)
1 Nov 1777 - 9 Dec 1778 Henry Laurens (b. 1724 - d. 1792)
10 Dec 1778 - 28 Sep 1779 John Jay (b. 1745 - d. 1829)
28 Sep 1779 - 2 Mar 1781 Samuel Huntington (b. 1731 - d. 1796)
Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
2 Mar 1781 - 10 Jul 1781 Samuel Huntington (s.a.)
10 Jul 1781 - 4 Nov 1781 Thomas McKean (b. 1734 - d. 1817)
5 Nov 1781 - 3 Nov 1782 John Hanson (b. 1721 - d. 1783)
4 Nov 1782 - 2 Nov 1783 Elias Boudinot (b. 1740 - d. 1821)
3 Nov 1783 - 31 Oct 1784 Thomas Mifflin (b. 1744 - d. 1800)
3 Nov 1783 - 13 Dec 1783 Daniel Carroll (b. 1730 - d. 1796)
(acting for Mifflin)
30 Nov 1784 - 6 Nov 1785 Richard Henry Lee (b. 1732 - d. 1794)
23 Nov 1785 - 5 Jun 1786 John Hancock (s.a.)
23 Nov 1785 - 12 May 1786 David Ramsay (b. 1749 - d. 1815)
(acting for Hancock)
15 May 1786 - 5 Nov 1786 Nathaniel Gorham (b. 1738 - d. 1796)
(acting for Hancock to 5 Jun 1786)
2 Feb 1787 - 4 Nov 1787 Arthur St. Clair (b. 1736 - d. 1818)
22 Jan 1788 - 2 Nov 1788 Cyrus Griffin (b. 1748 - d. 1810)
Presidents¹
30 Apr 1789 - 4 Mar 1797 George Washington (b. 1732 - d. 1799)
4 Mar 1797 - 4 Mar 1801 John Adams Fed (b. 1735 - d. 1826)
4 Mar 1801 - 4 Mar 1809 Thomas Jefferson D-R (b. 1743 - d. 1826)
4 Mar 1809 - 4 Mar 1817 James Madison D-R (b. 1751 - d. 1836)
4 Mar 1817 - 4 Mar 1825 James Monroe D-R (b. 1758 - d. 1831)
4 Mar 1825 - 4 Mar 1829 John Quincy Adams D-R (b. 1767 - d. 1848)
4 Mar 1829 - 4 Mar 1837 Andrew Jackson Dem (b. 1767 - d. 1845)
4 Mar 1837 - 4 Mar 1841 Martin Van Buren Dem (b. 1782 - d. 1862)
4 Mar 1841 - 4 Apr 1841 William Henry Harrison Whg (b. 1773 - d. 1841)
4 Apr 1841 - 4 Mar 1845 John Tyler Whg (b. 1790 - d. 1862)
4 Mar 1845 - 4 Mar 1849 James K. Polk Dem (b. 1795 - d. 1849)
4 Mar 1849 - 9 Jul 1850 Zachary Taylor Whg (b. 1784 - d. 1850)
9 Jul 1850 - 4 Mar 1853 Millard Fillmore Whg (b. 1800 - d. 1874)
4 Mar 1853 - 4 Mar 1857 Franklin Pierce Dem (b. 1804 - d. 1869)
4 Mar 1857 - 4 Mar 1861 James Buchanan Dem (b. 1791 - d. 1868)
4 Mar 1861 - 15 Apr 1865 Abraham Lincoln Rep (b. 1809 - d. 1865)
15 Apr 1865 - 4 Mar 1869 Andrew Johnson Dem (b. 1808 - d. 1875)
4 Mar 1869 - 4 Mar 1877 Ulysses S. Grant Rep (b. 1822 - d. 1885)
4 Mar 1877 - 4 Mar 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes Rep (b. 1822 - d. 1893)
4 Mar 1881 - 19 Sep 1881 James A. Garfield Rep (b. 1831 - d. 1881)
19 Sep 1881 - 4 Mar 1885 Chester A. Arthur Rep (b. 1830 - d. 1886)
4 Mar 1885 - 4 Mar 1889 Grover Cleveland (1st time) Dem (b. 1837 - d. 1908)
4 Mar 1889 - 4 Mar 1893 Benjamin Harrison Rep (b. 1833 - d. 1901)
4 Mar 1893 - 4 Mar 1897 Grover Cleveland (2nd time) Dem (s.a.)
4 Mar 1897 - 14 Sep 1901 William McKinley Rep (b. 1843 - d. 1901)
14 Sep 1901 - 4 Mar 1909 Theodore Roosevelt Rep (b. 1858 - d. 1919)
4 Mar 1909 - 4 Mar 1913 William Howard Taft Rep (b. 1857 - d. 1930)
4 Mar 1913 - 4 Mar 1921 Woodrow Wilson Dem (b. 1856 - d. 1924)
4 Mar 1921 - 2 Aug 1923 Warren G. Harding Rep (b. 1865 - d. 1923)
2 Aug 1923 - 4 Mar 1929 Calvin Coolidge Rep (b. 1872 - d. 1933)
4 Mar 1929 - 4 Mar 1933 Herbert Hoover Rep (b. 1874 - d. 1964)
4 Mar 1933 - 12 Apr 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt Dem (b. 1882 - d. 1945)
12 Apr 1945 - 20 Jan 1953 Harry S. Truman Dem (b. 1884 - d. 1972)
20 Jan 1953 - 20 Jan 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower Rep (b. 1890 - d. 1969)
20 Jan 1961 - 22 Nov 1963 John F. Kennedy Dem (b. 1917 - d. 1963)
22 Nov 1963 - 20 Jan 1969 Lyndon B. Johnson Dem (b. 1908 - d. 1973)
20 Jan 1969 - 9 Aug 1974 Richard M. Nixon Rep (b. 1913 - d. 1994)
9 Aug 1974 - 20 Jan 1977 Gerald R. Ford Rep (b. 1913 - d. 2006)
20 Jan 1977 - 20 Jan 1981 Jimmy Carter Dem (b. 1924)
20 Jan 1981 - 20 Jan 1989 Ronald Reagan Rep (b. 1911 - d. 2004)
20 Jan 1989 - 20 Jan 1993 George Bush Rep (b. 1924)
20 Jan 1993 - 20 Jan 2001 Bill Clinton Dem (b. 1946)
20 Jan 2001 - 20 Jan 2009 George W. Bush Rep (b. 1946)
20 Jan 2009 - Barack Obama Dem (b. 1961)
Party abbreviations: Dem=Democratic, D-R=Democratic-Republican, Fed=Federalist, Rep=Republican, Whg=Whig
On six occasions, a
president took the
oath of office one or (in Tyler's case) two days after the beginning of his term of office, either because the demise of the presidency was due to the death of the
incumbent or because of
religious scruples about
swearing an oath on
Sunday. These occasions are:
Monroe 1821 (upon reelection),
Tyler 1841,
Taylor 1849,
Fillmore 1850,
Arthur 1881,
Coolidge 1923. Although the
oath is necessary for a president to "enter on the execution of the office," the presidential term itself begins on time. On two occasions the new president took the oath of office
in public the day after the beginning of the term but, in view of the concerns voiced about earlier Sunday
deferrals, had taken the oath
in private (
Hayes 1877 actually one day
early). The beginnings of the terms are listed here, not the oath-taking dates. It may be noted in this context that there is no substance to the legend that
David Rice Atchison was president 4-5 Mar
1849. (If not being sworn in as president is held against
Zachary Taylor's being president already from noon on 4 Mar
1849, it cannot be argued that another person, however qualified otherwise, could have been acting president without being sworn in in that capacity.)
Note: The states making up the Confederate States of America previously seceded from the United States; the secession of
Missouri and
Kentucky affected only geographic parts of these states.
8 Feb 1861 Confederate States of America founded by Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina
5 Mar 1861 accession of Texas
20 May 1861 accession of Arkansas and North Carolina
23 May 1861 accession of Virginia
22 Jul 1861 accession of Tennessee
28 Nov 1861 accession of Missouri
10 Dec 1861 accession of Kentucky
President of the Congress
8 Feb 1861 - 18 Feb 1861 Howell Cobb (b. 1815 - d. 1868)
President
18 Feb 1861 - 10 May 1865 Jefferson Davis Dem (b. 1808 - d. 1889)