Executive Orders

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt issued more executive orders than any other president - 3,728. He is also the only president to average more than 300 per year.
  • William Henry Harrison is the only president to have never issued an executive order.
  • John Adams, Madison, and Monroe issued the fewest executive orders while serving at least one full term - one.
  • Ulysses S. Grant was the first president to issue more than 100 executive orders.
  • Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to issue more than 1,000 executive orders.
  • + incumbent numbers updated 20 Jan 2025

Rank#PresidentExecutive Orders
132Franklin D. Roosevelt3,728
228Woodrow Wilson1,803
330Calvin Coolidge1,203
426Theodore Roosevelt1,081
531Herbert Hoover968
633Harry S. Truman907
727William H. Taft724
829Warren G. Harding522
934Dwight D. Eisenhower484
1040Ronald Reagan381
1142Bill Clinton364
1237Richard M. Nixon346
1336Lyndon B. Johnson325
1439Jimmy Carter320
1543George W. Bush291
1644Barack Obama276
1722 & 24Grover Cleveland253
1845 & 47Donald J. Trump220 +
1918Ulysses S. Grant217
2035John F. Kennedy214
2125William McKinley185
2238Gerald R. Ford169
2341George H. W. Bush166
2446Joe Biden162
2523Benjamin Harrison143
2621Chester A. Arthur96
2719Rutherford B. Hayes92
2817Andrew Johnson79
2916Abraham Lincoln48
3014Franklin Pierce35
3111James K. Polk18
3210John Tyler17
3315James Buchanan16
347Andrew Jackson12
3413Millard Fillmore12
368Martin Van Buren10
371George Washington8
3820James A. Garfield6
3912Zachary Taylor5
403Thomas Jefferson4
416John Quincy Adams3
425James Monroe1
424James Madison1
422John Adams1
459William Henry Harrison0

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