George Washington was the first and only American president to be unanimously elected. He was the first president of the U.S. and served from 1789 – 1797.
Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington D.C.
James Madison was the first president to wear trousers rather than knee breeches.
James Monroe was the first president to ride on a steamboat.
James Monroe’s daughter was the first to be a bride in the White House.
John Quincy Adams was the son of a former president and the first to be photographed.
John Quincy Adams was the first president ever interviewed by a female. Anne Royall gathered up the president’s clothes while he was swimming nude in the Potomac River and sat on them until he agreed to allow her to interview him.
Andrew Jackson was the first president born in a log cabin.
Andrew Jackson was the first president to ride a train.
Andrew Jackson was the first president to experience and survive an assassination attempt.
Van Buren was the first U.S. president born in the United States. The presidents preceding Van Buren were born in colonies that later became states. Van Buren was the first to be born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
Martin Van Buren was the first president of Dutch ancestry. He and his wife spoke Dutch at home.
William Henry Harrison was the first president to die while in office. He died about 32 days after he was elected due to pneumonia. This also makes him the president who served the shortest term.
John Tyler was the first vice president to become president upon the death of a president.
James Polk was the first president to have his inauguration reported by telegraph.
The first annual White House Thanksgiving dinner was hosted by Polk’s wife, Sarah.
Franklin Pierce was the first president to have a Christmas tree in the White House.
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to wear a beard and the tallest president at 6’ 4″.
Lincoln was the first president to die by assassination. On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as the nation’s first national park on March 1, 1872.
Rutherford B. Hayes held the first Easter egg roll on the White House lawn.
Grover Cleveland was the first and only president married in a ceremony at the White House, June 2, 1886.
Grover Cleveland was the first and only president to be elected two nonconsecutive terms.
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