How to remember the US presidents in order

By the Without Notes teamLast checked 2 November 2026

There have been 47 US presidencies and 45 presidents, from George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump, the 47th. Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump each served two terms that weren’t back to back, so each has two numbers. Learn them ten at a time: the first ten on your body from your feet up, then each ten after that on a place you know well.

1 to 10, on your body
  1. WASHINGTONGeorge WashingtonFeet
  2. ADAMSJohn AdamsKnees
  3. JEFFERSONThomas JeffersonThighs
  4. MADISONJames MadisonHips
  5. MONROEJames MonroeStomach
  6. ADAMSJohn Quincy AdamsChest
  7. JACKSONAndrew JacksonShoulders
  8. VAN BURENMartin Van BurenNeck
  9. HARRISONWilliam Henry HarrisonFace
  10. TYLERJohn TylerTop of head
11 to 20, on a second place you know
  1. POLKJames K. PolkStop 1
  2. TAYLORZachary TaylorStop 2
  3. FILLMOREMillard FillmoreStop 3
  4. PIERCEFranklin PierceStop 4
  5. BUCHANANJames BuchananStop 5
  6. LINCOLNAbraham LincolnStop 6
  7. JOHNSONAndrew JohnsonStop 7
  8. GRANTUlysses S. GrantStop 8
  9. HAYESRutherford B. HayesStop 9
  10. GARFIELDJames A. GarfieldStop 10
21 to 30, on a third place you know
  1. ARTHURChester A. ArthurStop 1
  2. CLEVELANDGrover Cleveland, first termStop 2
  3. HARRISONBenjamin HarrisonStop 3
  4. CLEVELANDGrover Cleveland, second termStop 4
  5. MCKINLEYWilliam McKinleyStop 5
  6. ROOSEVELTTheodore RooseveltStop 6
  7. TAFTWilliam Howard TaftStop 7
  8. WILSONWoodrow WilsonStop 8
  9. HARDINGWarren G. HardingStop 9
  10. COOLIDGECalvin CoolidgeStop 10
31 to 40, on a fourth place you know
  1. HOOVERHerbert HooverStop 1
  2. ROOSEVELTFranklin D. RooseveltStop 2
  3. TRUMANHarry S. TrumanStop 3
  4. EISENHOWERDwight D. EisenhowerStop 4
  5. KENNEDYJohn F. KennedyStop 5
  6. JOHNSONLyndon B. JohnsonStop 6
  7. NIXONRichard NixonStop 7
  8. FORDGerald FordStop 8
  9. CARTERJimmy CarterStop 9
  10. REAGANRonald ReaganStop 10
41 to 47, on a fifth place you know
  1. BUSHGeorge H. W. BushStop 1
  2. CLINTONBill ClintonStop 2
  3. BUSHGeorge W. BushStop 3
  4. OBAMABarack ObamaStop 4
  5. TRUMPDonald Trump, first termStop 5
  6. BIDENJoe BidenStop 6
  7. TRUMPDonald Trump, second termStop 7

Try it: the first ten on your body

Ten words, one at a time, each on a part of your body: feet, knees, thighs, hips, stomach, chest, shoulders, neck, face, the top of your head. For each, type what the word does to that part, in a few words; the first two come with a scene to start you off. Up to 15 seconds a word. Then look away for 15 seconds, and walk up your body from your feet to get them back.

Where does the order slip?

Surnames come back: two Adamses (2 and 6), two Harrisons (9 and 23), two Johnsons (17 and 36), two Roosevelts (26 and 32) and two Bushes (41 and 43). Grover Cleveland is 22 and 24, with Benjamin Harrison between, and Donald Trump is 45 and 47, with Joe Biden between. The run from Polk to Buchanan (11 to 15) has few names people know, so give each one a scene where something happens to its stop.

How do you learn more than ten?

Your body holds ten. For 11 onwards, take a place you know well, such as your home, and choose ten stops in the order you walk through it, starting at the front door. Each place holds ten, and it joins on after the top of your head, so the walk runs on from 10 to 11 without a break.

Learn ten at a time, and walk the earlier tens again from memory before you add the next.

How do you keep it?

Walk up your body again tomorrow and a few days later, and say each item before you look. Recalling something before you look at it again is one of the best-supported ways to learn. If an item doesn’t come back, give it a new scene in the same spot.

In a 2022 study, ten parts of the body, typed from feet to head, worked as well as a classical memory palace for recalling a list in order. There’s more in how to memorize a list in order and the body method.

Keep this list with Without Notes

After the free first lesson, paste this list into Without Notes. It puts the items on your places in order, you write each scene, and it checks you at 1, 7 and 30 days, unaided.

Sources

  1. Miller Center, University of Virginia: US presidents
  2. Wikipedia: List of presidents of the United States
  3. Kluger et al. 2022, Memory: ten body parts against a classical memory palace
  4. Yang et al. 2021, Psychological Bulletin: recall practice in 222 classroom studies

Without Notes is a study tool. It does not diagnose or treat memory problems. If you’ve noticed changes in your memory that worry you, please talk to a doctor first.