Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

HARD NUMBERS: Term limits, Day fit for a King and a president,  Benefits of brevity, Presidential addresses clarified

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, on Inauguration Day, 1933.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, on Inauguration Day, 1933.

by Harris & Ewing via Reuters

22: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only American president to be inaugurated four times, serving from 1933 to 1945. In 1951, the United States Congress ratified the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, limiting future presidents to a maximum of two terms in office.


2: For only the second time in history, Inauguration Day coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. day, a federal holiday that honors the slain civil rights leader on the third Monday of January. Many liberal and progressive groups have pledged to focus on traditional days of service to mark the King holiday rather than inauguration day itself, while some protest marches against Trump are expected as well.

8,445: The longest inaugural address in US history was delivered by William Henry Harrison, whose speech ran to 8,445 words. After speaking for nearly two hours without a coat or hat on a wet and chilly Washington day in January 1841, Harrison fell ill, developed pneumonia, and died a month later. The shortest inaugural was George Washington’s second, which ran to just 135 words, half the length of this Hard Numbers section.

40: Trump is the 47th president, but how many have given inaugural addresses? Only 40, as it turns out. Four US presidents were actually vice presidents who ascended to office due to death or assassination and never won an election of their own, so they didn’t get the chance to give an inaugural address. Two US presidents have been counted twice because they served nonconsecutive terms – Grover Cleveland was the first, and Donald Trump is the second.

More For You

​A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026

A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026

Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning. CENTCOM said the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but noted it was neither due to friendly nor hostile fire. The plane was part of Operation Epic [...]
​Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
175: The number of people killed at an Iranian girls’ school in a strike on Feb. 28. Initial intelligence reports suggest that the US was to blame for the strike, per the New York Times, after the military used a now-defunct set of coordinates to deploy the hit. The White House hasn’t claimed responsibility and said the investigation is ongoing. [...]
​Iran player Fatemeh Pasandideh (right) reacts during the national anthem of Iran prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

Iran player Fatemeh Pasandideh (right) reacts during the national anthem of Iran prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

AAP
7: The number of members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were granted asylum in Australia on Wednesday – including six players and one of the team’s support staff – after they refused to sing the national anthem during the Asian Cup soccer tournament there. However, one of the seven women withdrew her request on Wednesday and is set to [...]
​A man removes a sheet from a wall with shrapnel holes at the site of a drone attack on a birthday party, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 4, 2025.

A man removes a sheet from a wall with shrapnel holes at the site of a drone attack on a birthday party where an alleged gang leader was distributing gifts to children, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Egeder Pq Fildor
1,243: The number of people killed by government-ordered drone strikes in Haiti between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. The number of armed drone attacks has been increasing in recent months as the Haitian security forces seek to regain control of areas dominated by gangs. Some of the strikes have gone astray, [...]