[2] Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
[7][8] The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history.
[9] Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945.
[11] Four presidents died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy), and one resigned (Richard Nixon, facing impeachment and removal from office).
Soon after the 1st Congress convened, political factions began rallying around dominant Washington administration officials, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.