List of United States Presidents by previous occupation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of the occupations of Presidents before they entered politics. Often previous career experience is minimal, however many presidents did spend their younger years in college and the military.
| Order | President | Previous occupation(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Washington | Surveyor, Farmer/plantation owner, Soldier (General of United Army of the Colonies) |
| 2 | John Adams | Lawyer |
| 3 | Thomas Jefferson | Writer, Inventor, Lawyer, Architect, Farmer/Plantation owner |
| 4 | James Madison | Lawyer |
| 5 | James Monroe | Lawyer |
| 6 | John Quincy Adams | Lawyer |
| 7 | Andrew Jackson | Soldier, Lawyer |
| 8 | Martin Van Buren | Lawyer |
| 9 | William Harrison | Soldier |
| 10 | John Tyler | Lawyer |
| 11 | James Polk | Lawyer, Plantation owner |
| 12 | Zachary Taylor | Soldier |
| 13 | Millard Fillmore | Lawyer |
| 14 | Franklin Pierce | Lawyer |
| 15 | James Buchanan | Lawyer, Prizefighter |
| 16 | Abraham Lincoln | Lawyer, Saloon owner, Seamboat pilot |
| 17 | Andrew Johnson | Tailor |
| 18 | Ulysses Grant | Soldier, General of the Army, Tanner |
| 19 | Rutherford Hayes | Lawyer |
| 20 | James Garfield | School teacher, minister |
| 21 | Chester Arthur | School teacher, lawyer, collector of tariffs |
| 22,24 | Grover Cleveland | Sheriff, lawyer, assistant teacher |
| 23 | Benjamin Harrison | Lawyer, journalist |
| 25 | William McKinley | Lawyer |
| 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | Public Official, Rancher |
| 27 | William Taft | Lawyer, judge, law reporter, dean of law school at the University of Cincinnati |
| 28 | Woodrow Wilson | Lawyer, professor, president of Princeton University |
| 29 | Warren Harding | Newspaper publisher/editor |
| 30 | Calvin Coolidge | Lawyer, Vice President of Northampton Savings Bank |
| 31 | Herbert Hoover | Engineer, Investor |
| 32 | Franklin Roosevelt | Lawyer |
| 33 | Harry Truman | Farmer, Men's clothing retailer |
| 34 | Dwight Eisenhower | Soldier (Supreme Allied Commander, Army Chief of Staff), President of Columbia University, Ice lifter |
| 35 | John F. Kennedy | Writer |
| 36 | Lyndon Johnson | Teacher, Public Official |
| 37 | Richard Nixon | Lawyer |
| 38 | Gerald Ford | Lawyer |
| 39 | Jimmy Carter | Peanut farmer, writer |
| 40 | Ronald Reagan | Actor & broadcaster, President of the Screen Actors Guild |
| 41 | George H. W. Bush | Businessman (Oil) |
| 42 | Bill Clinton | Lawyer, Law lecturer |
| 43 | George W. Bush | Businessman (Oil, baseball) |