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American Presidents

King George and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King ride in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's car as the president drives them away from church on June 11, 1939.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt Served Hot Dogs to a King

A king had never visited a president at home before, but by all accounts they got along fine

Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Tehran Conference.

Interactive Map Shows the History of Presidential Travel

President Trump’s first foreign trip follows a long line of international visits by heads of state

President Truman receives a birthday cake in the Oval Office in 1951. Six years earlier, his birthday coincided with V-E Day.

No U.S. President Has Ever Died in May and Other Weird Trivia About Presidential Lives

Presidential lives are scrutinized for meaning, even when none is readily apparent

Donna Mahan's "Safeguarding" was made with a castoff window from the residence.

Cool Finds

This Art Was Made from JFK’s Cape Cod Home

The Hyannis Port house was the stuff of family legend. Now it’s the source of new art

John F. Kennedy meeting with Soviet politician Nikita Khrushchev.

Top Hats, James Bond and a Shipwreck: Seven Fun Facts About John F. Kennedy

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth, a look at his extraordinary life

Marie Curie and President Warren Harding walk down the White House steps arm in arm in 1921.

When Women Crowdfunded Radium For Marie Curie

The element was hard to get and extremely expensive but essential for Curie’s cancer research

Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada

Trending Today

What Is Bears Ears National Monument?

The Department of Interior will make a recommendation about the land’s fate in early June

JFK as a Harvard student in 1939

Trending Today

Hear a 20-Year-Old John F. Kennedy Speak

Archivist have recently digitized a clip from a 1937 public speaking course, believed to be the oldest recording of the president

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

History of Now

How White House Chiefs of Staff Help Govern

According to Chris Whipple’s new book, an empowered chief of staff can make a successful presidency

Trending Today

Obamas Unveil Plans for Presidential Library and Museum

Located in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side, the former first couple hopes the campus will help revitalize the area

Sold: Diary of 28-Year-Old JFK

Kennedy recorded his impressions of a formative trip through post-War Europe

John Adams's official presidential portrait, painted circa 1792 by John Turnbull.

John Adams Was the United States’ First Ambassador as Well as Its Second President

Adams’s house in the Hague was the first-ever U.S. Embassy

Theodore Roosevelt regularly employed executive orders to achieve his political goals.

History of Now

The Debate Over Executive Orders Began With Teddy Roosevelt’s Mad Passion for Conservation

Teddy used nearly 10 times as many executive orders as his predecessor. The repercussions are still felt today

Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt speaks to crowds in Mineola, New York, in support of US entry into the First World War, 1917

World War I: 100 Years Later

Why Teddy Roosevelt Tried to Bully His Way Onto the WWI Battlefield

Tensions ran high when President Wilson quashed the return of the former president’s Rough Riders

Corbin Fleming plays with President Obama's desk phone in 2012.

Before 1929, Nobody Thought the President Needed a Telephone in his Office

Herbert Hoover got a phone in the Oval Office over fifty years after the White House first got a switchboard

Welles helped FDR with his famous voice—and served as a behind-the-scenes speechwriter, too.

FDR Had a Famous Ghostwriter: Orson Welles

The legendary actor stumped and even wrote speeches for the 32nd president

Despite their many differences, Jackson and Warren both have a deep populist streak.

History of Now

Is Elizabeth Warren the Real Jacksonian on Capitol Hill?

Warren has progressive values, but her populism is just like Andrew Jackson’s

President Herbert Hoover (center right) plays a rousing game of Hooverball on the South Lawn of the White House.

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Color Movies Show Herbert Hoover’s Softer Side

From Hooverball to White House frolics, you’ve never seen the staid president quite like this

President Richard Nixon smiles alongside Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, even though the two waged political war against each other for decades

The Inside Story of Richard Nixon’s Ugly, 30-Year Feud with Earl Warren

Their dislike for each other set the tone for Supreme Court politics for decades to come

Aaron Burr exhorting his followers at Blennerhassett Island Ohio River 1805

Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the American Way of Treason

The U.S. had good reason to be cautious about drawing a line between disloyalty and conduct deserving of prosecution

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