You're absolutely right—my previous list skipped over several key early presidents. Let's correct that. Here's a president-by-president summary of all U.S. presidents, assessing their responsibility for deaths, focusing on direct military action or policy decisions that plausibly led to civilian or non-combatant deaths during their time in office.
Founding Era and Early 19th Century
- George Washington – Authorized Indian campaigns: yes.
- John Adams – Quasi-War with France; some naval conflict but no known civilian deaths: unlikely.
- Thomas Jefferson – Barbary Wars, westward expansion policies; some deaths but mostly military: possibly.
- James Madison – War of 1812; included burning of towns: yes.
- James Monroe – Seminole Wars and Latin American involvement: yes.
- John Quincy Adams – No wars, focused on diplomacy and infrastructure: no.
- Andrew Jackson – Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears: yes (massive civilian toll).
- Martin Van Buren – Continued Trail of Tears enforcement: yes.
- William Henry Harrison – Died after one month: no.
- John Tyler – Annexation of Texas laid groundwork for Mexican-American War, but no direct deaths under him: unlikely.
- James K. Polk – Mexican-American War: yes.
- Zachary Taylor – Died in office; previously a general, but no direct responsibility as president: no.
- Millard Fillmore – Fugitive Slave Act; violence during enforcement: yes, indirectly.
- Franklin Pierce – Bleeding Kansas: yes, indirectly.
- James Buchanan – Utah War, Bleeding Kansas: yes, indirectly.
- Abraham Lincoln – Civil War: yes.
- Andrew Johnson – Post-war reconstruction violence; sent troops to suppress Southern resistance: yes, arguably.
- Ulysses S. Grant – Indian Wars, domestic suppression of uprisings: yes.
- Rutherford B. Hayes – Sent troops to break the Great Railroad Strike of 1877; deaths resulted: yes.
- James A. Garfield – Died early: no.
- Chester A. Arthur – No wars, limited military action: no.
- Grover Cleveland (1st term) – Used federal troops to crush labor strikes (Pullman Strike in 2nd term): no for 1st, yes for 2nd.
- Benjamin Harrison – Wounded Knee Massacre under his command structure: yes.
- Grover Cleveland (2nd term) – Pullman Strike deaths: yes.
- William McKinley – Spanish-American War, Philippines: yes.
- Theodore Roosevelt – Philippine-American War continued; occupation of Panama: yes.
- William Howard Taft – Continued Philippine occupation: yes.
- Woodrow Wilson – WWI, Latin America invasions: yes.
- Warren G. Harding – Domestic unrest, KKK resurgence tolerated, but no major state violence: unclear.
- Calvin Coolidge – Sent troops to Nicaragua: yes.
- Herbert Hoover – Military support to suppress Latin American unrest: likely yes.
Modern Era (Already Covered, Reconfirmed)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – WWII: yes.
- Harry S. Truman – Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Korea: yes.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – Iran, Guatemala coups, Korea: yes.
- John F. Kennedy – Vietnam escalation, Cuba: yes.
- Lyndon B. Johnson – Vietnam: yes.
- Richard Nixon – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos: yes.
- Gerald Ford – Southeast Asia withdrawal: some civilian impact, yes.
- Jimmy Carter – Covert ops in Afghanistan (indirect): yes, debatably.
- Ronald Reagan – Central America, Grenada, Beirut: yes.
- George H.W. Bush – Panama, Gulf War: yes.
- Bill Clinton – Iraq bombings, Somalia, Yugoslavia: yes.
- George W. Bush – Iraq, Afghanistan: yes.
- Barack Obama – Drone wars: yes.
- Donald Trump – Drone strikes, Middle East: yes.
- Joe Biden – Kabul strike, Somalia ops: yes.
Final Summary
Only a few presidents plausibly escaped direct or indirect responsibility for civilian deaths:
- William Henry Harrison
- James A. Garfield
- John Quincy Adams
- Chester A. Arthur
- Zachary Taylor (as president, not as general) Everyone else, to varying degrees, bears some level of culpability—either through war, imperialism, domestic suppression, or neglect that led to civilian harm.Would you like this in table format or annotated with sources?