When the States Joined

One accomplishment that is usually listed under the record of a president is the states that were added during his term.  The last state added, Hawaii, was during the Eisenhower Administration.  Which president oversaw the most states added to the Union?  Surely, Washington would be the obvious guess.  But that would be incorrect!  Let's have a look from the least to the most.

ZERO STATES

John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, FDR, and Harry Truman added no states during their tenure.  Of course, anyone after Eisenhower is clearly in the zero states camp as well.  That would be JFK, LBJ, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.  

ONE STATE

- Thomas Jefferson added Ohio, the 17th State, in 1803.

- John Tyler added Florida, the 27th State, on March 3, 1845.  He left the Presidency the following day.

- Millard Fillmore added California, the 31st State, in 1850.

- Andrew Johnson added Nebraska, the 37th State, in 1867.

- Ulysses Grant added Colorado, the 38th State, 1876.

- Grover Cleveland added Utah, the 45th State, in 1896.  This happened in his second term, which is noteworthy because it was not consecutive with his first.

- Theodore Roosevelt added Oklahoma, the 46th State in 1907.

TWO STATES

- James Madison added Louisiana (18th) in 1812 and Indiana (19th) in 1816.

- Andrew Jackson added Arkansas (25th) in 1836 and Michigan (26th) in 1837.

- Abraham Lincoln added West Virginia (35th) in 1863 and Nevada (36th) in 1864.  It is noteworthy that West Virginia had been part of Virginia and chose to breakaway as a new state to join the Union.  Of course, Lincoln also lost a number of states but that's a topic for another blog.

- William Howard Taft added New Mexico (47th) and Arizona (48th), both in 1912.

- Dwight Eisenhower added Alaska (49th) and Hawaii (50th) in 1959.

THREE STATES

- James K Polk added Texas (28th) in 1845, Iowa (29th) in 1846, and Wisconsin (30th) in 1848.

- James Buchanan added Minnesota (32nd) in 1858, Oregon (33rd) in 1859, and Kansas (34th) in 1861.  Interestingly, he added Kansas after South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana had already seceded.

FIVE STATES

- George Washington added North Carlonia (12th) in 1789, Rhode Island (13th) in 1790, Vermont (14th) in 1791, Kentucky (15th) in 1792, and Tennessee (16th) in 1796.  The first eleven states - Delaware (1), Pennsylvania (2), New Jersey (3), Georgia (4), Connecticut (5), Massachusetts (6), Maryland (7), South Carolina (8), New Hampshire (9), Virginia (10), and New York (11) - had already been recognized as part of the country by ratifying the Constitution.  This happened before Washington was president.

- James Monroe added Mississippi (20th) in 1817, Illinois (21st) in 1818, Alabama (22nd) in 1819, Maine (23rd) in 1820, and Missouri (24th) in 1821.

SIX STATES

- Benjamin Harrison added North Dakota (39th), South Dakota (40th), Montana (41st), and Washington (42nd), all in the first two weeks of November in 1889.  Idaho (43rd) and Wyoming (44th) were added in July of 1890.  In a little more than 8 months, Harrison added 6 states.  It is also noteworthy that the US Census of 1890, which took place during Harrison's only term, declared an end to the American Frontier; the West was settled.