The document provides brief biographies of several famous US Presidents, including George Washington, the first president; Thomas Jefferson, the third president and author of the Declaration of Independence; Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president who led the country during the Civil War and abolished slavery; Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president who led the country during the Great Depression and World War II; John F. Kennedy, the 35th president who was assassinated; Ronald Reagan, the 40th president and former actor; and Bill Clinton, the 42nd president.

1. Famous American Presidents

2. Do you want to be president of the USA? Maybe you can apply for the job. Answer these three questions . Are you a U.S. citizen? Are you 35 years old or older? Have you been a resident of the U.S. for 14 years or longer? Did you say "yes" to all three questions? Then you can take the first steps to the White House. You become president for a term. A term is 4 years. You can only serve two terms. This means that you can only be president twice. This became law in 1951. As president of the U.S., you earn $200,000 a year. You also get an extra $450,000 for expenses, tax-free. You have your own limousine, jet, and housekeepers, all free. You also live rent free, in the White House in Washington, D.C. And you are head of the richest country in the world. Do you want to be President of the USA?

3. All in all there are 43 presidents in the USA. Presidents of the United States are very different people. Twenty-two were lawyers, four soldiers, four farmers, four teachers, two writers, two businessmen, one tailor, and one actor. Eight of them did not have a college education! The most common first name for a president is James or some variation of it. Only a few presidents became famous and especially remembered.

4. George Washington (1732-1799) The first US President known to all Americans as “The Father of the Nation” was George Washington . He was born on February 22, 1732 in Virginia, where he spent the first three or four years of his childhood. After his father's death, 11-year-old George became the ward of his half brother, Lawrence. His favourite subject in school was arithmetic. When he was 14, he wanted to become a sailor, but his mother would not allow it. He enjoyed farming. His interests included riding, fox hunting, fishing, dancing and theatre. He also played billiards and cards and ran his own horses in races. He was rather rich and owned slaves, as was the custom of the times, but he was a model master. T he mansion at Mount Vernon,Virginia

5. U.S. President George Washington (centre) and first lady Martha Washingtonhosting a reception. George Washington was a respected military leader, and he did much to help his young nation achieve its independence. Because of the leading role he had played in the Revolution George Washington was elected first President of the United States and served 2 terms. He saw himself serving his country, not leading it. George Washington (1732-1799)

6. On December 12, 1799 he rode his horse for several hours in cold, snowy weather and returned home quite ill. He died 2 days later. The news of his death was received with sadness, both in the USA, and in Europe. Washington was one of the U.S.' greatest heroes. George Washington lies on his deathbed

7. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Thomas Jefferson is best known as the father of America's Constitution, one of the Founding Fathers and the third president of the United States (1801-1809). He was a lawyer, a linguist, a diplomat, an astronomer, a naturalist, a political philosopher, a farmer and a horseman. He also was a self-taught architect, an inventor and a fine musician; Jefferson fluently spoke Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and German.

8. In 1800, when he was elected the third President of the United States. He doubled the area о f the country by the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. Because of his fame as a writer, he was appointed to write the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

9. After his two terms as President, Jefferson retired to his Virginia estate, Monticello. Jefferson died on July 4,1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Monticello estate Jefferson’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.

10. Abraham Lincoln is the most famous example of the "American dream". Many Americans think that in their country a man may rise from the lowest to the highest position in their land. That was exactly what Lincoln did. He was born in 1809 in a small farm in Kentucky. When Abraham was quite young, the family moved to the wild forest land of Indiana. He hardly had any education; he only learned to read and write and do simple arithmetic. In 1830 Abraham left his father's farm and went to Springfield, Illinois. There he became a clerk in a store and worked hard to improve his education. In 1836 he became a lawyer . Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home

11. He entered politics, too, and in 1834 became a candidate to the Parliament of Illinois. He soon became a force in the political life. In 1861 Lincoln was elected 16 th President of the USA. In the same year the American Civil War between the North and the South began. Slavery was then becoming a burning question in American politics. Lincoln was strongly against slavery and he wanted the northern and southern states to stay together. He made all the slaves free and won the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

12. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) On April 14 the President and his wife visited Ford’s Theatre in Washington. During the performance Lincoln was shot. Abraham Lincoln died next morning. Abraham Lincoln is a symbol of American democracy. Lincoln with his son Tad, 1846 Lincoln’s assassination Lincoln Memorial

13. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, byname FDR , the 32nd president of the United States (1933–45) was paralyzed in both legs. The only president elected to the office four times, Roosevelt led the United States through two of the greatest crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II . Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) A nna Eleanor Roosevelt , the wife of FDR , a politician, a diplomat and a journalist, was one of the world's most widely admired and powerful women. She had six children.

14. JFK, the 35th president of the United States (1961–63) was the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic ever elected to the presidency of the United States. He faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin. He paid much attention to space development. He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. His death shocked the nation. His administration lasted 1,037 days. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) John F. Kennedy, Jr., with his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston Eternal Flame on Kennedy ’ s grave

15. Ronald Wilson Reagan , the 40th president of the United States (1981–89), was conservative and pragmatic. He was noted for his charm. He was the oldest man (69, 73) to take that office. The only movie actor ever to become president, he had a remarkable skill as an orator . People called him “the Great Communicator.” In 1981 a young man wounded him and his assistants. Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004)

16. Bill Clinton is the 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001) . He developed education and fought with unemployment . In 1998 he became only the second U.S. president to be impeached ; he was acquitted by the Senate in 1999. In 2000 his wife Hillary Clinton was elected a senator from the state New York. William Jefferson Clinton (1946 - )