Surprising Hobbies of U.S. Presidents

Nixon bowling at White House

Being the president of the United States is no easy task. The day-to-day responsibilities and weighty decisions of the presidency are enough to turn anyone gray, and the role typically draws more criticism than praise. With so much pressure involved, even the most dedicated commander in chief needs some respite from the job. It’s only natural, then, that throughout the history of the White House, the private lives of American presidents have been filled with a wide array of hobbies.

Some of these activities have been fairly common, such as reading, horseback riding, fishing, painting, and of course, golf. Others, however, are not necessarily what you’d expect from a person holding the highest office in the land. Here are some of the more surprising hobbies of U.S. presidents.

John Quincy Adams Was Into Skinny-Dipping

Beyond extensive reading and writing, John Quincy Adams enjoyed a wholesome morning routine in which he would wake between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and set off on a 2-mile walk. In the summer months, this walk included taking a daily dip in the Potomac River, wearing nothing apart from his large sideburns. (Adams was the first U.S. president to have facial hair.) According to legend, a female reporter named Anne Royall was keen to talk with the president, so she went to the river while he was bathing in the buff, sat on his clothes, and refused to move until he granted her an interview. This likely never occurred, however — the oft-repeated story unfortunately has no basis in fact.

Abraham Lincoln Loved Wrestling — and Cats

Before he became president, Abe Lincoln was a dedicated wrestler. The 6-foot-4 future president may have fought as many as 300 matches, and legend has it he lost only once. For his efforts, he was posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992, as an "Outstanding American" in the sport. Honest Abe gave up wrestling before he became president in 1861, after which he was more often found reading and telling jokes. After moving into the White House, Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, was asked about her husband’s hobbies, to which she simply replied: “cats.” Lincoln became the first president to keep cats as pets at the White House when he was given two kittens that he named Tabby and Dixie, and by most accounts he was entirely devoted to them.

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Calvin Coolidge Rode a Mechanical Horse

Calvin Coolidge was roundly mocked by opponents and the press when news broke of his peculiar hobby: riding a mechanical hobby horse. The electric horse — a barrel-shaped contraption made of wood, metal, and leather — was installed in the White House for the president’s exercise. Coolidge, who loved riding actual horses, became rather fond of the mechanical version. He rode it three times a day both for exercise and as a stress reliever (and, one might assume, for pleasure). The mechanical horse even had two variable gaits: “trot” and “gallop.”

John F. Kennedy Collected Model Ships and Scrimshaw

JFK loved the sea and sailing, a passion reflected in his collection of model ships. He had numerous ships in his personal collection, from Chinese war junks to 18th-century French frigates, some of which were on display in the Oval Office. He also collected scrimshaw — intricate scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory, often created by sailors on whaling ships in the 18th and 19th centuries. He kept pieces scattered around the Oval Office, including some on his desk. His favorite item of scrimshaw was a custom-made piece featuring the presidential seal, given to him as a Christmas gift from his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, in 1962. When JFK was buried, Jackie Kennedy placed the piece in her husband’s coffin.

Richard Nixon Was an Avid Bowler

During his presidency, Richard Nixon liked to blow off steam by going bowling. He could often be found at the bowling alley in the Old Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House. He later had a one-lane alley built in the White House basement, beneath the North Portico entrance. In 1971, The New York Times reported that Nixon had an average bowling score of 165 and a respectable high score of 229.

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Bill Clinton Is Obsessed With Crossword Puzzles

Most people know that Bill Clinton plays the saxophone, a talent he famously demonstrated on The Arsenio Hall Show. But the 42nd president also has a more sedate hobby: crossword puzzles. In 2002, he wrote a letter to Will Shortz, the editor of the renowned New York Times puzzle, saying, “Keep the crosswords coming. Even when I can’t finish them, they’re the only part of the Times that guarantees good feeling!” Later, in 2017, he helped create a crossword puzzle for the Times. “When I was president,” he once recalled, “I worked no telling how many hundreds and hundreds of crossword puzzles. I find it very relaxing. For a moment, you take your mind off whatever you’re doing.”

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The Bizarre Election of George Washington

George Washington, 1789

These days, we take for granted the organized chaos that accompanies the U.S. presidential election every four years, from the lengthy nominating cycles and raucous party conventions to the relentless media coverage that analyzes the candidates’ every word and gesture. By that standard, the 1789 election that made George Washington the first American president was far quieter, but in some ways it was even stranger.

America’s first election looked very different from today’s presidential races: There were no official political parties and campaigning, and nearly everyone wanted the same candidate to win. The election of 1789 served as a blueprint for how presidents would be picked in the United States — though many rules have changed since then. Here’s a look at this bizarre and historic experiment in democracy.

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We Can Thank This Election for the Electoral College

The origins of America’s first presidential election were the passionate discussions held by the delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Until that point in the nation’s brief history, the Articles of Confederation had proven inadequate as the basis for a unified central government, which lacked the power to levy taxes, regulate commerce, or enact foreign policies. As such, the convention delegates haggled over the details of a new system. “Federalists,” including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were eager to imbue the central government with a raft of powers, while “anti-Federalists,” such George Mason, were leery of diminishing the rights of the individual states.

Although the participants came to agree on the creation of an office for the head of government, one major point of contention was just how this chief executive would be selected. Given the prevailing belief in the separation of powers, it was determined that a parliamentary system in which the legislature voted for an executive leader (like in Great Britain) was a bad idea. The convention’s delegates also reasoned that it wasn’t feasible to leave the vote directly up to the people, who harbored diverse interests and were likely to put forth an array of provincial candidates in lieu of a unifying national figure.

The delegates ultimately settled on a system of “electors,” now known as the Electoral College, to be appointed by each state according to a process of its choosing. The number of electors was equal to the state’s number of congressional representatives (ranging from three in Delaware to 12 in Virginia), for a total of 69 electors in all. As eventually stated in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, each of these electors was to vote for two people — at least one of them from another state — after which the leading vote-getter would become president and the runner-up would be vice president. If two candidates tied, or if anyone failed to accumulate a majority, the winner would be determined by the House of Representatives.

Only 10 States Participated in the Election

Adhering to the language of the Constitution, each state determined its own method for naming electors, which had to be chosen by January 7, 1789. In Connecticut, Georgia, and South Carolina, electors were appointed by the state legislatures, while in New Jersey, the governor and a privy council did the deed. In New Hampshire, residents voted on a list of candidates, and the legislature selected five of the top 10 finalists; in Massachusetts, the legislature chose one of the two candidates who received the most votes by residents in each of eight districts and appointed two additional electors at large.

Elsewhere, the populace largely determined the winning electors, with various regional wrinkles. Pennsylvania and Maryland both had statewide ballots, although the latter instituted a rule in which the majority of electors had to come from the western shore and the rest from the eastern shore. Delaware’s electors were determined by the winners of three districts, while Virginia split the votes among 12 electoral districts that were distinct from its 10 congressional districts.

Noticeably absent from this list are North Carolina and Rhode Island, the two commonwealths that had not yet ratified the Constitution and as such were not formally part of the United States. New York was a member of the union by then, but its legislature failed to agree on a process for determining electors by the January 7 deadline, rendering the state ineligible to participate in the election.

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George Washington Was Basically the Only Serious Candidate

So who were the candidates to lead the nation from this brand-new office? The overwhelming favorite was George Washington, the Revolutionary War hero who had also presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The only question was whether he would accept the job. The former general, who was in his mid-50s at the time, had expressed a preference for “living and dying a private citizen on my own farm,” although he seemed resigned to the likelihood of a return to public service.

John Adams, the former Massachusetts delegate and U.S. minister to Great Britain, emerged as a likely choice for vice president, in part because his Northern roots would provide a balance to the Southern sensibilities of the Virginia-born Washington. Meanwhile, anti-Federalists who had lingering misgivings about the Constitution coalesced around New York Governor George Clinton, who was a prominent advocate for states’ rights and a limited central government.

While support for Washington was strong, some of the Founding Fathers were concerned about a process that failed to distinguish between votes cast for president or vice president. Worried that anti-Federalist electors would siphon votes away from Washington and inadvertently tip the election to Adams, a Federalist faction led by Alexander Hamilton privately pressured select electors to name someone besides Adams as the second name on their ballots.

Washington Swept Into Office With a Unanimous Vote

Ultimately, the concerns about an unfavorable outcome ended up being overblown. When the votes were counted on April 6, 1789, Washington had appeared on all 69 electoral ballots to become unanimously selected as the first U.S. president. Adams collected 34 votes, causing him to finish second and become the first vice president. However, he was upset by what he considered a relatively meager total, and reportedly held a grudge against Hamilton after learning of the back-channel plot to limit his support. The remaining votes were spread among 11 names, with John Jay (9), Robert H. Harrison (6), John Rutledge (6), and John Hancock (4) all surpassing the three votes cast for Clinton.

Shortly after receiving news that a life of leisure would have to wait, Washington undertook the weeklong journey from Virginia to New York to take the oath of office at Manhattan’s Federal Hall on April 30, 1789. The inauguration being held in New York City was just one of many elements of the U.S. presidential election that later changed, along with the formation of political parties, the 1804 ratification of the 12th Amendment that separated voting for the president and vice president, and the emergence of a national identity spawned by the success of this once-novel system of government.

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The U.S. Presidents’ Favorite Foods

Making cheese grits

From hearty steaks to sugary snacks, the culinary preferences of U.S. presidents have always fascinated the American public. That’s perhaps no surprise, as the quirks of presidential palates offer a unique glimpse into the personalities behind the Oval Office. And when it comes to comfort foods and guilty pleasures, be it FDR’s love of grilled cheese sandwiches or Ronald Reagan’s obsession with jelly beans, you might find that presidents are more like us than you’d think. Here are the favorite foods of 14 U.S. presidents.

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George Washington: Hoecakes With Honey

George and Martha Washington often hosted guests at their home at Mount Vernon, with large spreads laid out for hungry visitors. Washington’s favorite dish was surprisingly simple and reflected his farming roots: He loved hoecakes, a type of cornmeal pancake. According to Martha Washington’s granddaughter Nelly Custis, he preferred them “swimming in butter and honey,” and would regularly eat them for breakfast.

Thomas Jefferson: Macaroni

Thomas Jefferson's fondness for macaroni began during his time in France, and upon his return to America he imported a pasta machine to make his own. A recipe for macaroni written in Jefferson’s own hand still exists, and his instructions for creating something similar to modern mac and cheese is credited with popularizing the dish in the United States.

Abraham Lincoln: Apples

Abe Lincoln was known for his frugal eating habits, often to the dismay and concern of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Some sources note his fondness for two particular dishes: chicken fricassee with biscuits, and oyster stew. But Lincoln’s favorite food might well have been apples, which, according to his friends, he ate with gusto on a daily basis.

William Howard Taft: Steak Breakfasts

William Howard Taft, who weighed 354 pounds when he took his oath of office, remains the heaviest person to ever occupy the White House. His weight owes much to his breakfast habits. According to his head housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray, he began each day by eating a “thick, juicy 12-ounce steak” served alongside two oranges, buttered toast, and a “vast quantity of coffee, with cream and sugar.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Grilled Cheese

FDR’s White House was known for serving terrible food, due in part to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s well-intentioned desire to show solidarity with regular Americans during the Great Depression. It was slim pickings for FDR, but he did very much enjoy classic grilled cheese sandwiches. He also liked hot dogs, which were infamously served to the visiting king and queen of England.

John F. Kennedy: New England Fish Chowder

JFK was particularly fond of soup, and New England fish chowder was a favorite. In 1961, a young girl named Lynn Jennings wrote to President Kennedy asking what he liked to eat. He promptly replied and passed along the recipe for his preferred fish chowder. Kennedy was also known to be a fan of waffles for breakfast; in fact, his family waffle recipe is preserved in the National Archives.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Texas-Style Barbecue

LBJ’s love of barbecue was legendary. In the 1950s and ’60s, he and Lady Bird Johnson hosted large Texas-style barbecues at their ranch along the Pedernales River in the Texas Hill Country. The president served brisket, ribs, and his favorite Texas-style chili to hundreds of guests from around the world.

Richard Nixon: Cottage Cheese and Ketchup

Richard Nixon was a cottage cheese devotee, initially as part of his diet regimen. It appears he grew to love the stuff and ate it on a daily basis, often alongside fresh fruit, wheat germ, and coffee. In one of the stranger presidential food combos, he also enjoyed his cottage cheese topped with ketchup and black pepper.

Gerald Ford: Pot Roast and Red Cabbage

Gerald Ford preferred hearty, homestyle cooking. His favorite meal was a pot roast with red cabbage, followed by butter pecan ice cream for dessert.

Jimmy Carter: Cheese Grits

Jimmy Carter's Southern roots showed in his love of grits — especially cheese grits. In 1976, his daughter Amy told The New York Times, “Daddy makes grits for breakfast, then breaks a couple of eggs into it and adds some cheese, and it's yummy.” The family dog was even named Grits.

Ronald Reagan: Jelly Beans

Ronald Reagan began eating jelly beans as part of his successful attempt to give up pipe smoking, but then his candy consumption became something of an obsession. While he was president, Reagan placed a standing order of 720 bags of jelly beans per month — that’s 306,070 total jelly beans — to be distributed among the White House, Capitol Hill, and other federal buildings.

George H.W. Bush: Pork Rinds

During his 1988 presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush expressed his love for pork rinds, which he at times enjoyed with a splash of Tabasco sauce. Sales of the fried pig skins soared, despite some sections of the media claiming his comment was nothing more than Bush attempting to appear down-to-earth, and that he actually preferred popcorn and martinis.

Bill Clinton: Jalapeño Cheeseburgers

Before his heart issues and subsequent switch to veganism, Bill Clinton was famous for his love of fast food; he even took reporters on jogs to McDonald’s. He particularly enjoyed jalapeño cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickles, and onions.

George W. Bush: Cheeseburger Pizza

In 2007, White House chef Cristeta Comerford told reporters about George W. Bush’s fondness for a peculiar pizza topping. “For dinner,” she explained, “the president loves what we call homemade ‘cheeseburger pizzas’ because every ingredient of a cheeseburger is on top of a margherita pizza.” Soon after, the topping could be found in pizzerias across the nation.

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How 8 U.S. Presidents Stayed in Shape

Dwight D. Eisenhower playing golf

The role of president of the United States is intensely demanding, and requires both physical strength and mental acuity to perform the job properly. This is why it’s so important for presidents to care for themselves and embrace a healthy lifestyle, which often involves a regular fitness regimen. All 45 people who have served as POTUS have gone about this in their own unique way. Some turned to organized sport, others oversaw the installation of new fitness equipment in the White House, and one president even had a workout routine named in his honor. Here’s how eight former U.S. presidents stayed in shape.

Thomas Jefferson Rode Horses Down Pennsylvania Avenue

Thomas Jefferson is famed for being one of the most learned and bookish presidents to ever hold office. But according to some of his correspondences, he valued physical fitness even more than knowledge. In a letter he wrote on June 11, 1790 — 11 years prior to his presidency — Jefferson said that he preferred to use “all the afternoon for exercise and recreation… because health is worth more than learning.” One of his favorite ways to stay in shape was by riding horses. According to historian William Seale, Jefferson was one of a few early presidents who would hop on a horse and “jump and gallop down Pennsylvania Avenue.” Seale also noted, “In those days, there was a rule that a president didn’t have to stop at an intersection,” so Jefferson could ride unimpeded to his heart’s content. Even after leaving office, he continued to ride horses for three to four hours daily, according to a letter he wrote to John Adams in 1812.

Teddy Roosevelt Held White House Boxing Matches

Theodore Roosevelt was an avid sportsman who wrestled and practiced jiujitsu in order to stay fit. He also enjoyed sparring with boxing partners in the White House, and one of his favorite people to spar with was Dan Tyler Moore, the cousin of first lady Edith Roosevelt. During one sparring session in 1905, Moore hit Roosevelt so hard in the eye that it partially blinded the president. However, the permanent injury wasn’t enough to deter Roosevelt, who continued to box with amateur and professional boxers. Another way that Roosevelt liked to stay fit was playing tennis. He even oversaw installation of the first White House tennis courts, just behind the West Wing. (They were relocated in 1911 by Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft.)

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Calvin Coolidge Rode a Mechanical Horse

The president known as “Silent Cal” for his reserved demeanor preferred artificial horses to the real thing, and even had a mechanical horse installed inside his private White House dressing room. Calvin Coolidge rode the “horse” three times a day in order to lose weight and improve his liver function. This routine was kept a secret until 1925, when the press caught word of the unusual regimen and leaked it to the public. This led to an onslaught of jokes and teasing from Coolidge’s fellow politicians. Kentucky Representative Fred Vinson even got up in front of Congress and read a mocking poem about the president’s “hobbyhorse.” To avoid any further ridicule, Coolidge switched from the mechanical horse to an electric vibration machine that purportedly reduced his waistline.

Herbert Hoover Helped Create a Game Known as Hoover-Ball

Herbert Hoover may be the only president with a popular ball game named in his honor. The game is called Hoover-ball, and it was inspired by a game called bull-in-the-ring that was popular on naval ships. The rules of Hoover-ball were developed by White House physician Joel T. Boone in 1928 in order to keep Hoover physically fit. The game was nameless until the moniker “Hoover-ball” was coined in a 1931 article by a New York Times Magazine reporter.

The game is played with two teams of anywhere from two to four players, and it’s scored quite similarly to tennis. The goal is to hurl a 6-pound medicine ball over an 8-foot-high net so it touches the ground on the other side before an opponent can catch it. Hoover and other VIPs played the game on the South Lawn of the White House at 7 a.m. sharp every morning except Sundays. In Hoover’s memoirs, he claimed the game required “less skill than tennis,” though it was also described by a friend as “more strenuous than either boxing, wrestling, or football.”

FDR Had a White House Swimming Pool Installed

Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio in 1921, and found that swimming was one of the best ways to get exercise with his affliction. He often swam at therapy pools at his New York home, though he had to give that up upon moving into the White House in March 1933. This is when the president’s supporters came to his aid, as the New York Daily News led a campaign to raise funds to build a White House pool. That effort was successful, and a new indoor swimming pool was installed that June. FDR’s new pool was state of the art, as it featured underwater lighting and sterilizers. Swimming quickly became a part of the president’s daily fitness routine.

The pool was also often used by Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy, but Richard Nixon drained it in 1970 to make space for a new press briefing room. President Gerald Ford, however, oversaw construction of a new outdoor pool in 1975 that opened on White House grounds. Ford took his inaugural dip on July 1, and a few days later welcomed the press to watch him do laps, telling reporters that he hoped “to do about 40 laps a day.”

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Harry Truman Enjoyed Vigorous 5 a.m. Walks and Morning Bourbon

A morning stroll is often meant to be relaxing and provide a low-impact workout. But President Harry Truman’s daily walks were anything but relaxing, as he often conducted them at a rather brisk pace. The 33rd president began each morning at 5 a.m. by putting on a suit and tie and going out for a 2-mile walk. And instead of a slow saunter, Truman preferred walking at a rate of about 120 steps per minute — the pace of a traditional quick march in the U.S. Army. Upon the walk’s conclusion, Truman returned to the White House and downed a shot of bourbon at the advice of his doctor. The president diligently adhered to this fitness routine whether in D.C. or back in his hometown of Independence, Missouri, where he began his morning just a little later around 7:30 a.m. That routine also differed in that it would start with a shot of bourbon and a glass of orange juice, followed by a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Popularized Golf as a Presidential Sport

According to historians, William McKinley was the first president to embrace golf as a hobby, though he largely kept it a secret. It wasn’t until 1953 that golf became deeply intertwined with the presidency, and it’s thanks to Dwight D. Eisenhower. While serving as commander in chief, Eisenhower played more than 800 rounds of golf over the course of his eight years in office, logging an average score in the mid-80s. He was so fond of golf that he used the South Lawn of the White House as a practice range, and even had a 3,000-square-foot putting green built outside the Oval Office in 1954. Eisenhower often played with fellow politicians and dignitaries, as well as golf legends such as Arnold Palmer.

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Bill Clinton’s Jogging Annoyed the Secret Service

Bill Clinton’s affinity for long jogs was described as a “nightmare” by the Secret Service agents who were tasked with protecting him. Clinton enjoyed jogging three days a week, often at breakneck speed for no more than 37 minutes at a time. Secret Service agents sometimes struggled to maintain his pace, and their job was made all the more difficult by the many people that Clinton would encounter and talk to along the way. But the president loved jogging as a way to stay fit and also connect with voters. Despite his vigorous workout routine, Clinton was also a huge fan of McDonald’s, and many of his jogs ended up at a local McDonald’s establishment.

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The Secret Service Code Names of 9 U.S. Presidents

Secret Service men

Ever since Harry S. Truman’s presidential terms, from 1945 until 1953, presidents have been given descriptive code names used by the Secret Service to provide an added layer of anonymity when discussing the movements of the commander in chief. The process of selecting these code names is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Sometimes, the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) comes up with a list of words starting with the same letter, and the president chooses something from the list that resonates with them. Other times, the Secret Service simply assigns one of the WHCA-supplied names to the president.

But how does the WHCA come up with the list to begin with? The agency is tight-lipped about its exact process, but a spokesperson once said the words are usually determined by “sheer whim.” While the code names often reflect something unique about the leader — whether it’s a nod to their personality, principles, or background — other times, the inspiration isn’t entirely clear.

Presidential code names started as an added security measure at a time when it was easier to intercept electronic communications. Yet despite modern advancements in technology, the tradition has endured, and these nicknames have become not-so-secret pieces of presidential lore along the way. Here are some of the U.S. presidents’ Secret Service code names, and the suspected meaning behind them.

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Harry S. Truman: “General”

Harry S. Truman was the first U.S. president with a documented Secret Service code name. “General,” though not a military title he ever held, reflects his leadership as a field artillery captain during World War II — as well as his critical, though controversial, decisiveness as president.

Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Providence”

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s code name, “Providence,” echoed his reputation for being a guiding force of virtue and purpose for many Americans. According to the Eisenhower National Historic Site, he became known as “Scorecard” after he retired, due to his love of golf.

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John F. Kennedy: “Lancer”

Lancelot, a legendary knight of King Arthur’s court, was the inspiration for the charismatic president’s code name, “Lancer.” Following John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the Kennedy administration’s nickname of “Camelot” was popularized by former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, solidifying this romanticized vision of JFK’s presidency.

Lyndon B. Johnson: “Volunteer”

In 1941, when Lyndon B. Johnson was serving as a Texas Democrat in the House of Representatives, the U.S. entered World War II. In a move that likely inspired his nickname, Johnson became the first member of Congress to volunteer for active duty. He served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy until members of Congress were recalled to Washington in 1942.

Richard Nixon: “Searchlight”

The code name “Searchlight” took a prophetic turn when an early morning break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters led to the unraveling of the Watergate scandal. But the name’s initial link to Richard Nixon may have come from his time as a U.S. representative, when he played a role in — and gained political prominence from — the investigation of a U.S. State Department official who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union.

Jimmy Carter: “Deacon”

Jimmy Carter was a devout Christian before, during, and after his presidency. In the years following his time in the Oval Office, he continued to teach Sunday school, making the name “Deacon,” referencing a church official, particularly apt.

Ronald Reagan: “Rawhide”

The name “Rawhide” drew not only from Ronald Reagan’s role in Hollywood Westerns, but also from the fact that he was a real-life rancher, with a small ranch outside Santa Barbara, California.

Bill Clinton: “Eagle”

Although Bill Clinton’s code name, like most, was never explained, it has been speculated that it has to do with his connection to the Boy Scouts of America. Although he did not achieve Eagle Scout rank (Gerald Ford is the only president to do so), he served as a Cub Scout in his youth, and he spoke at the 1997 National Scout Jamboree.

George H.W. Bush: “Timberwolf”

The reason for George H.W. Bush’s code name, “Timberwolf,” isn’t known, but the 41st U.S. president was an avid outdoorsman who championed environmental protection.

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All the Presidents in Age Order

Herbert Hoover and FDR

The ages of U.S. Presidents have varied significantly over the years, changing with voting demographics and shifting societal attitudes toward age. Younger presidential candidates have been seen as symbols of change and energy, appealing to young voters or people seeking a fresh perspective. Older candidates have often brought decades of experience and a sense of maturity. Here is a full list of the ages of the U.S. Presidents at the time of their inauguration, listed from oldest to youngest, spanning an almost 40-year age difference, from 42 to 78.

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Over 70

When 46th President Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021, he became the oldest U.S. President to date, at 78 years and 61 days old. Just four years prior, the second-oldest President, Donald Trump, was sworn in at 70 years and 220 days old. He was about 15 years older than the overall average presidential age of 55. Biden’s term punctuated a trend of increasingly older Presidents: The average age of Presidents elected between 1875 and 1899 was 53, whereas the average age between the late 1990s and today is 63. When the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution in 1787, they set 35 years as the minimum age to run for President; at the time, it was seen as a mature age due to lower life expectancy in the 1700s. Meanwhile, the oldest national leader in the world today is Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, at 91. To date, just two U.S. Presidents have been over 70 years old when inaugurated.

– Joe Biden (46th President) — 78 years, 61 days
– Donald J. Trump (45th President) — 70 years, 220 days

Over 60

More than 20% of U.S. Presidents were elected while in their 60s. Ronald Reagan, who was 69 at his first inauguration in 1981, faced public scrutiny for his age during both election campaigns, something that had not commonly been seen up until then. The concerns didn’t seem to matter much: Reagan went on to serve two terms and completed his presidency just shy of 78 years old. The shortest-serving U.S. President, William Henry Harrison, was just over 68 years old when he assumed office in 1841, but his term was cut short just a month later when he died of what is now believed to have been typhoid. Harrison was, at the time, the oldest President to serve in the Oval Office, and he held that record for 140 years until Reagan was elected. Of the first 10 American Presidents, just three were over 60; of the most recent 10, half were over 60. Here are the 10 U.S. Presidents who were in their 60s when they were inaugurated.

- Ronald Reagan (40th President) — 69 years, 348 days
- William Henry Harrison (9th President) — 68 years, 23 days
- James Buchanan (15th President) — 65 years, 315 days
- George H.W. Bush (41st President) — 64 years, 222 days
- Zachary Taylor (12th President) — 64 years, 100 days
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th President) — 62 years, 98 days
- Andrew Jackson (7th President) — 61 years, 354 days
- John Adams (2nd President) — 61 years, 125 days
- Gerald R. Ford (38th President) — 61 years, 26 days
- Harry S. Truman (33rd President) — 60 years, 339 days

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Over 50

Almost half of Americans surveyed by Pew Research in 2023 said that someone in their 50s was the ideal age for a President. It makes sense, then, that 55 is indeed the average age at inauguration — though only four Presidents were that exact age when sworn into office. They were Benjamin Harrison in 1889; Grover Cleveland, the only President to serve two nonconsecutive terms, at his second inauguration in 1893; Warren G. Harding in 1921; and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963. George W. Bush, part of one of only two father-son presidential duos, was 54 years old when he was sworn in as the 43rd President in 2001. His father, George H.W. Bush, was 10 years older than that when he was sworn in as the 41st President 12 years earlier in 1989. Of the 25 Presidents inaugurated in their 50s, three also died in their 50s while in office: 29th President William Harding, 25th President William McKinley, and 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Here is the list of Presidents who took office in their 50s.

- James Monroe (5th President) — 58 years, 310 days
- James Madison (4th President) — 57 years, 353 days
- Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) — 57 years, 325 days
- John Quincy Adams (6th President) — 57 years, 236 days
- George Washington (1st President) — 57 years, 68 days
- Andrew Johnson (17th President) — 56 years, 107 days
- Woodrow Wilson (28th President) — 56 years, 66 days
- Richard M. Nixon (37th President) — 56 years, 11 days
- Grover Cleveland (24th President) — 55 years, 351 days
- Benjamin Harrison (23rd President) — 55 years, 196 days
- Warren G. Harding (29th President) — 55 years, 122 days
- Lyndon B. Johnson (36th President) — 55 years, 87 days
- Herbert Hoover (31st President) — 54 years, 206 days
- George W. Bush (43rd President) — 54 years, 198 days
- Rutherford B. Hayes (19th President) — 54 years, 151 days
- Martin Van Buren (8th President) — 54 years, 89 days
- William McKinley (25th President) — 54 years, 34 days
- Jimmy Carter (39th President) — 52 years, 111 days
- Abraham Lincoln (16th President) — 52 years, 20 days
- Chester A. Arthur (21st President) — 51 years, 349 days
- William H. Taft (27th President) — 51 years, 170 days
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President) — 51 years, 33 days
- Calvin Coolidge (30th President) — 51 years, 29 days
- John Tyler (10th President) — 51 years, 6 days
- Millard Fillmore (13th President) — 50 years, 183 days

Credit: National Archives/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Over 40

Despite the minimum age of 35 required for the job, no one in their 30s has ever been elected President of the United States. John F. Kennedy remains the youngest elected President in U.S. history; he was 43 years, 236 days old at his 1961 inauguration. Although Theodore Roosevelt was younger, at 42, when he took office, his presidency was assumed, not voted on, after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. Roosevelt remains the youngest person to ever become President. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both defeated candidates more than 20 years their senior in 1992 and 2008, respectively. Clinton was inaugurated at the age of 46 in 1993 (George H.W. Bush was 68 at the time), and Barack Obama was first inaugurated in 2009 at the age of 47 (his opponent, John McCain, was 72). Here are the nine Presidents inaugurated in their 40s.

- James K. Polk (11th President) — 49 years, 123 days
- James A. Garfield (20th President) — 49 years, 105 days
- Franklin Pierce (14th President) — 48 years, 101 days
- Grover Cleveland (22nd President) — 47 years, 351 days
- Barack Obama (44th President) — 47 years, 169 days
- Ulysses S. Grant (18th President) — 46 years, 311 days
- Bill Clinton (42nd President) — 46 years, 154 days
- John F. Kennedy (35th President) — 43 years, 236 days
- Theodore Roosevelt (26th President) — 42 years, 322 days

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Surprising Daily Habits of U.S. Presidents

Ronald Reagan with jelly beans

Being president of the United States leaves little time for anything outside the demands of the office. Nearly every minute of the commander in chief’s day is spent serving the country, be it attending cabinet meetings and press briefings or meeting with foreign leaders. But even with this jam-packed schedule, the 45 people who have served as POTUS found time for their own hobbies and interests. For some presidents, that meant regular fishing trips or nightly dinners with the first family; for others, it meant something more unusual. Here are some surprising daily habits of former U.S. presidents.

John Quincy Adams Skinny-Dipped in the Potomac

While serving as James Monroe’s secretary of state prior to his own presidency, John Quincy Adams frequently bathed nude in Tiber Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River that once flowed just south of the White House. In a July 1818 diary entry, Adams wrote that he would wake every morning between 4 and 5 a.m., walk 2 miles over to the creek, and enjoy a swim, sans clothing. Adams continued skinny-dipping in the Potomac during his presidency, swimming between 20 minutes and an hour each day. He did, however, eventually cut back per the advice of his physician, who spent years warning Adams about overexerting himself. But in 1846, 17 years after leaving office, a 78-year-old Adams returned to the Potomac for a final skinny-dip before his death less than two years later.

William Howard Taft Ate Steak Every Morning

William Howard Taft is notorious for being one of the more portly presidents in history, so it should come as no surprise that he consumed a substantial breakfast each morning. Taft began each day with a doctor-prescribed workout with a personal trainer in his private quarters, which he followed with breakfast at precisely 8:30 a.m. His usual meal consisted of a 12-ounce steak, plenty of buttered toast, and coffee loaded with large amounts of cream and sugar. You’d never find eggs on Taft’s plate, however, as they were one of the few foods he despised. As Taft got older, he eventually cut back to just a 6-ounce serving of steak for breakfast.

Calvin Coolidge Rode a Mechanical Horse

Calvin Coolidge’s time in office was unique for many reasons. He became president unexpectedly after the death of Warren G. Harding, and he was such a big animal lover that many unusual creatures occupied the White House during his term, including donkeys and raccoons. But one of Coolidge’s more notable quirks was his untraditional take on staying fit and healthy. Coolidge had a mechanical horse installed inside the White House that he rode three times a day in order to lose weight and improve his liver function. After the press caught word of this mechanical horse, Coolidge was teased relentlessly by his fellow politicians. To avoid further ridicule, he switched to an electric vibration machine that purportedly reduced the waistline.

Credit: Hulton Deutsch/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

Franklin D. Roosevelt Collected Stamps

Franklin D. Roosevelt had been fond of stamps since childhood, though it wasn’t until the 1930s, during his presidency, that stamp collecting coincidentally took off as a nationwide trend. With stamp fever sweeping the nation, the White House often published photos of FDR admiring and examining his stamps. Roosevelt was said to spend time every single day adding to and looking through his collection, and he even joined stamp clubs, participated in stamp auctions, and sketched out prospective designs.

Harry Truman Enjoyed Vigorous 5 a.m. Walks and Morning Bourbon

A morning stroll is often a relaxing activity, but Harry Truman’s daily strolls were conducted at a rather brisk pace. The 33rd president began every morning at 5 a.m. by putting on a suit and tie and stepping out for a 2-mile walk. But rather than a slow saunter, Truman preferred walking at a rate of about 120 steps per minute, equivalent to the pace of a traditional quick march in the U.S. Army. Upon returning to the White House, the president would down a shot of bourbon — at the advice of his doctor — eat a light breakfast, and begin his work day. Truman also spent many days in his hometown of Independence, Missouri, where he began his morning routine a little later, around 7:30 a.m. Those days would start with a shot of bourbon and a glass of orange juice, followed by a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

John F. Kennedy Smoked Four to Five Cigars Every Day

Some people enjoy a cigar after their wedding or the birth of a child, but cigars were more than an occasional indulgence for John F. Kennedy. JFK famously smoked four to five cigars every day, adding up to more than 4,000 cigars during his presidency alone. His preferred brands included Monticello and Upmann, the latter of which were Cuban cigars. This of course caused an issue when the United States implemented a trade embargo against Cuba in the early 1960s, but Kennedy planned ahead. One day in 1961, he called press secretary Pierre Salinger into his office and instructed him to purchase 1,000 Upmann Petit cigars by the following morning. Salinger went from shop to shop around Washington, D.C., and returned to the Oval Office with 1,200 cigars to satisfy the request. Shortly after, Kennedy signed a ban on Cuban products being sold in the U.S.

Lyndon B. Johnson Held Meetings in the Bathroom

Lyndon B. Johnson was an untraditional politician in many ways, not least of which was his habit of holding meetings with advisers while he was seated on the toilet. This was part of what became known as the “Johnson treatment,” a method of persuasion that relied on flattery, bullying, and other unusual tactics to win political victories. While walking down the hall, LBJ would regularly wander into the bathroom and tell his advisers to follow him inside so the meeting could continue. He even had telephones installed in various White House bathrooms, and also instructed aides to stand outside the shower to hold conversations while he bathed. On many mornings, LBJ began the day by inviting aides into his private bedroom, where he would conduct official business while still in bed with his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.

Ronald Reagan Constantly Snacked on Jelly Beans

Ronald Reagan was a heavy pipe smoker for much of his life, until he decided to quit in 1966 at age 55. In order to help satisfy his oral fixation and kick the habit, Reagan snacked on Goelitz Mini Jelly Beans (which later became Jelly Belly). Reagan was such a devoted fan of these candies that Goelitz sent a 3.5-ton shipment of special red (very cherry), white (coconut), and the newly created blue (blueberry) jelly beans to Washington, D.C., for his first presidential inauguration in 1981. After moving into the White House, Reagan always had jars of jelly beans within arm’s reach, as he snacked on them no matter where he was conducting business. In fact, the president issued a standing order of 720 bags of jelly beans every month — that’s 306,070 individual beans — to be distributed throughout many government buildings in the nation’s capital.

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We Made Thomas Jefferson’s Ice Cream

Ice cream ingredients

Thomas Jefferson’s complicated legacy encompasses his roles as an American founding father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States. Jefferson was also an enthusiastic foodie, with a willingness to try new cuisine and an interest in kitchen gadgets. He particularly enjoyed ice cream, a dessert he likely encountered during his time in France from 1784 to 1789. And while Jefferson did not introduce the young United States to ice cream — the frozen treat was served in the American colonies as early as 1744 — he certainly helped popularize the dish, and he is the first known American to write down a recipe for it.

Jefferson’s ice cream recipe is one of only 10 surviving recipes in his handwriting. It’s unlikely that the President created the recipe himself; the original source was likely his French butler, Adrien Petit. Still, Jefferson was fond enough of the creamy dessert to write down the recipe and ship pewter ice molds back from France.

While the founding father’s ice cream recipe is simple to make, the tools used in the early 19th century aren’t in common use today. For instance, the “sabottiere” ice cream maker (also spelled “sabotiere”) that Jefferson references was a lidded metal bucket within a larger wooden bucket. Today’s ice cream makers have similar components, but are easier, faster, and less laborious to use. Likewise, the ice cream molds that Jefferson had shipped from France are mostly obsolete today, replaced by silicone popsicle molds and pint- or quart-sized containers.

The website for Jefferson’s Virginia home, Monticello, includes both Jefferson’s original ice cream recipe and an updated version by Jefferson historian Marie Kimball. To make Jefferson’s ice cream, my son and I stuck as close to the original recipe as possible, improvising when necessary. For instance, to bring the ice cream mixture to boiling, we used a large skillet on a gas stovetop rather than an open fire. And instead of straining it “thro’ a towel,” we used a metal sieve.

Though the process took considerably longer than we expected — and longer than Jefferson himself suggested (see the note at the end of the article) — the end result was rich, creamy, and delicious!

Jefferson's Ice Cream Recipe

2 bottles of good cream.
6 yolks of eggs.
1/2 lb. sugar

mix the yolks & sugar
put the cream on a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of Vanilla.
when near boiling take it off & pour it gently into the mixture of eggs & sugar.
stir it well.
put it on the fire again stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it's sticking to the casserole.
when near boiling take it off and strain it thro' a towel.
put it in the Sabottiere
then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. put into the ice a handful of salt.
put salt on the coverlid of the Sabotiere & cover the whole with ice.
leave it still half a quarter of an hour.
then turn the Sabottiere in the ice 10 minutes
open it to loosen with a spatula the ice from the inner sides of the Sabotiere.
shut it & replace it in the ice
open it from time to time to detach the ice from the sides
when well taken (prise) stir it well with the Spatula.
put it in moulds, justling it well down on the knee.
then put the mould into the same bucket of ice.
leave it there to the moment of serving it.
to withdraw it, immerse the mould in warm water, turning it well till it will come out & turn it into a plate.

(Modern version here, adapted by historian Marie Kimball)

Gathering the Ingredients

First we gathered our ingredients and supplies. Jefferson’s recipe calls for just five ingredients: sugar, egg yolks, a pinch of salt, cream, and vanilla. But the ice cream-making process requires a number of kitchen supplies, as well as ice and salt, which lowers the freezing/melting point of water. To duplicate Jefferson’s process, I needed to purchase a metal pail, a larger wooden bucket, a large fine sieve, and ice cream “molds,” which were silicone ice cream containers. I also bought a large container of rock salt, as it reacts better with the ice than table salt.

Blending the Eggs and Sugar

In a large bowl, we whisked six egg yolks, then added 1 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt, creating a thick, bright-yellow mixture.

Heating the Cream and Vanilla

Jefferson’s recipe calls for a “stick of Vanilla,” referring to a vanilla bean, from which we get the more familiar vanilla extract. I made a slit in the vanilla bean before heating it with the cream in order to release those tiny seeds that give vanilla ice cream its speckled appearance. (It also smells amazing!)

The recipe also calls for “2 bottles of good cream,” but doesn’t specify the quantity in the bottles. For this step, we relied on Marie Kimball’s updated version of the recipe and used 1 quart of heavy whipping cream (which is the same as heavy cream).

Pouring the Hot Cream and Vanilla Over the Egg and Sugar Mixture

Once the cream and vanilla reached boiling, we took the pan off the stove and slowly poured the cream over the egg and sugar mixture. Then we gently stirred it until the ingredients were well blended before returning the mixture to the pan.

Boiling the Ice Cream Mixture

Kimball’s version of Jefferson’s recipe calls for using a double boiler to heat the ice cream mixture, but we stuck with a single pan, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. After a few minutes, the mixture began to thicken, taking on a custardy texture that smelled like vanilla cake. Once the mixture reached boiling, we took it off the heat.

Straining the Ice Cream Mixture

For the straining step, I intended to use cheesecloth to simulate Jefferson’s towel method, but due to the potential for a literal hot mess, I opted to use Kimball’s recommendation for a fine sieve. Straining the ice cream mixture like this allowed us to catch the small bits of egg and vanilla bean, leaving the ice cream mixture silky smooth.

Putting the Mixture Into the Ice Cream Maker

In place of Jefferson’s “sabottiere,” we poured the strained ice cream mixture into a lidded metal pail, filled the whiskey barrel with an ice and rock salt mixture (per Kimball’s instructions), and then turned the pail at regular intervals, stirring the ice cream mixture occasionally as it slowly began to cool and freeze.

Molding the Ice Cream

After two hours, the ice cream had cooled and thickened to a milkshake consistency. Jefferson’s recipe calls for the ice cream to be packed into ice molds, which were hinged pewter containers in the shape of flowers, fruit, and other decorative objects, but we used a quart-sized silicone ice cream container instead. In retrospect, I wish we’d used popsicle molds, as the smaller containers would have made the ice cream freeze faster.

Once the ice cream was in the container, it took another two hours to thicken to soft-serve consistency. We could have eaten it then (and we did taste test it!), but we wanted the ice cream to hold its shape when scooped. Since most of the ice in the whiskey barrel had melted at this point, we decided to put the container in our modern freezer overnight.

The Final Result

After freezing overnight, the ice cream was hard-packed and scoopable! Creamy, pale-yellow, and speckled with vanilla bean, it was the richest ice cream we’d ever tasted.

Note: One line of Jefferson’s recipe reads, “Then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served.” The actual time to freeze using his method took several hours just to get to soft-serve consistency. This could be due to the size and shape of the containers we used, but it still seems unlikely that it could be done in an hour, even using Jefferson-era ice molds.

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All the Presidents in Height Order

President height lineup

When we think of U.S. presidents through history, we don’t tend to picture their physical frame so much as recall a collection of historical facts and anecdotes. If you imagine George Washington, for example, is a mental image of his presence in a room the first thing that comes to mind? Or do you recall a story about a cherry tree, or crossing the Delaware? With a few exceptions here and there, the physicality of presidents has been largely obscured by history. Can you name the tallest president? The shortest? What about the second-tallest or second-shortest? A full list of the height of each president follows, spanning a foot difference from 5 feet, 4 inches tall to 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

Images via Getty Images, illustration courtesy of Madison Hunt

Over 6 Feet Tall

The tallest president in U.S. history was Abraham Lincoln, who stood at 6 feet, 4 inches — and that’s without his signature stovepipe hat. It’s a height that still sounds fairly tall today, but it was extraordinarily tall for the time; the average height for an American male during Lincoln’s presidency was 5 feet, 7 inches, making him 9 inches taller than average. Lincoln’s equivalent height today would be 6 feet, 7 inches — a half-inch taller than the average NBA player.

Given his distinct physical presence, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Lincoln’s appearance was frequently commented upon in his day. The New York Herald once wrote, “Lincoln is the leanest, lankiest, most ungainly mass of legs, arms, and hatchet-face ever strung upon a single frame.” Another reporter wrote of his “shambling gait” in London’s The Times, and described him as “a tall, lank, lean man, considerably over six feet in height, with stooping shoulders, long pendulous arms, terminating in hands of extraordinary dimensions, which, however, were far exceeded in proportion by his feet.” Here are the 18 other presidents who stood over 6 feet, if not quite as noticeably as Uncle Abe.

– Abraham Lincoln: 6 feet, 4 inches (193 cm)
– Lyndon B. Johnson: 6 feet, 3.5 inches (192 cm)
– Donald J. Trump: 6 feet, 3 inches (191 cm)
– Thomas Jefferson: 6 feet, 2.5 inches (189 cm)
– Chester A. Arthur: 6 ft, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Bill Clinton: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– George H. W. Bush: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Franklin D. Roosevelt: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– George Washington: 6 feet, 2 inches (188 cm)
– Andrew Jackson: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– John F. Kennedy: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Barack Obama: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Ronald Reagan: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James Buchanan: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Gerald R. Ford: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James A. Garfield: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– Warren G. Harding: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– James Monroe: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)
– John Tyler: 6 feet, 1 inch (185 cm)

Over 5 Feet, 10 Inches Tall

The average height of all 46 U.S. presidents is 5 feet, 11 inches, and it has been decades since the United States elected a president below that height (in part, notably, because all U.S. presidents have been male). Jimmy Carter was the last one, at 5 feet, 9.5 inches — still roughly an inch taller than the average American male at the time. According to the data, the United States almost never elects a president who is shorter than the average U.S. citizen of the time. The last time Americans voted in a shorter-than-average president was when Benjamin Harrison emerged victorious in the election of 1888, though at only 1.5 centimeters below the average of the time, he wouldn’t have been noticeably shorter. Based on this fact, it does seem that Americans prefer their presidents to be somewhat tall — though, considering the lack of mention in exit polls over the years, that may be a subconscious preference rather than an actual requirement. Here are the presidents who fell right around average height for a commander in chief, between 5 feet, 10 inches and 5 feet, 11 inches tall.

- Joe Biden: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- George W. Bush: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Herbert Hoover: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Richard M. Nixon: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- William H. Taft: 5 feet, 11.5 inches (182 cm)
- Grover Cleveland: 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm)
- Woodrow Wilson: 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: 5 feet, 10.5 inches (179 cm)
- Calvin Coolidge: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Andrew Johnson: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Franklin Pierce: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)
- Theodore Roosevelt: 5 feet, 10 inches (178 cm)

Under 5 Feet, 10 Inches Tall

On the other end of the height spectrum, the shortest U.S. president was James Madison, who at 5 feet, 4 inches holds that record by 2 inches — the next-shortest presidents were Martin Van Buren and Benjamin Harrison, both at 5 feet, 6 inches. The average height in Madison’s time was actually slightly taller than in Lincoln’s time; 172 centimeters to 170 centimeters, or just a bit shy of 5 feet, 8 inches. Despite Madison being the only president on record who was shorter than his First Lady (Dolley Madison was around 5 feet, 7 inches tall), his relatively diminutive physical stature didn’t cause nearly the same level of commentary as Lincoln’s lanky height (or if it did, that commentary is lost to history). To conclude our list, here are the 14 presidents who stood under 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

- Jimmy Carter: 5 feet, 9.5 inches (177 cm)
- Millard Fillmore: 5 feet, 9 inches (175 cm)
- Harry S. Truman: 5 feet, 9 inches (175 cm)
- Rutherford B. Hayes: 5 feet, 8.5 inches (174 cm)
- Ulysses S. Grant: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- William Henry Harrison: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- James K. Polk: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- Zachary Taylor: 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm)
- John Quincy Adams: 5 feet, 7.5 inches (171 cm)
- John Adams: 5 feet, 7 inches (170 cm)
- William McKinley: 5 feet, 7 inches (170 cm)
- Benjamin Harrison: 5 feet, 6 inches (168 cm)
- Martin Van Buren: 5 feet, 6 inches (168 cm)
- James Madison: 5 feet, 4 inches (163 cm)

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History’s Most Surprising Vice President Picks

Truman’s presidential oath

Despite being only one degree away from the presidency, the Vice President of the United States has long been viewed as an inauspicious position. John Adams called it “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.” And when Theodore Roosevelt had a noisy chandelier removed from the White House, he ordered, “Take it to the office of the Vice President. He doesn’t have anything to do. It will keep him awake.”

But the Vice President is one step of succession away from the Oval Office, and that simple fact lends weight to the selection. That weight can, in turn, make for some surprising results. These are some of the more unexpected U.S. Vice Presidents to take office.

Credit: Donaldson Collection/ Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

Theodore Roosevelt as William McKinley’s VP

In 1899, in the months leading up to William McKinley’s 1900 reelection campaign, Vice President Garret Hobart began suffering from symptoms of a severe heart condition, including fainting spells. Though Republican Senator Mark Hanna tried to assure the public that “nothing but death or an earthquake can stop the re-nomination of Vice President Hobart,” the former seemed to be exactly the concern. Unfortunately, Hobart’s health worsened, and he died on November 21, 1899. And McKinley found himself unexpectedly looking for a running mate for reelection.

At the time, Theodore Roosevelt was serving his first year as governor of New York, and immediately emphasized a slate of reforms that put him at odds with the establishment in his own party. Republican Party bosses realized that they could effectively remove “that damned cowboy” (as Hanna referred to Roosevelt) from New York politics by nominating him as McKinley’s running mate. Roosevelt realized the political exile the vice presidency would entail, and argued against his nomination. Hanna, for his part, was vehemently opposed to the idea of Roosevelt as Vice President, at one point pleading, “Don’t any of you realize that there’s only one life between that madman and the presidency?”

The strangely aligned Roosevelt and Hanna were both unable to stem the tide, and the tally at the 1900 Republican National Convention concluded with 929 of a possible 930 votes in favor of Roosevelt as Vice President. The count was not unanimous only because there was one delegate who abstained from voting: Theodore Roosevelt himself. There was no choice but to accept the nomination, and party boss Thomas Platt quipped that he would attend McKinley’s second inauguration just “to see Theodore take the veil.” But Hanna’s warning would prove prescient just one year later, when McKinley was shot and killed, and Roosevelt assumed the presidency.

Harry Truman as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s VP

Harry Truman’s surprising presidential victory in 1948 is much more famous than his vice presidential candidacy in 1944, but Truman being chosen to replace incumbent Henry Wallace as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s running mate was unexpected in its own right. It wasn’t that FDR changing his Vice President was unprecedented: Wallace himself had replaced two-term VP John Nance Garner for the 1940 election. But Wallace was well established within Roosevelt’s cabinet, having served as secretary of agriculture since 1933, and Roosevelt had even suggested that he wouldn’t run for a third term without Wallace on the ticket.

By 1944, though, FDR was in poor health, and Democratic Party leaders who had disagreed with his choice of Wallace as Vice President in 1940 argued more intently for a different running mate. Perhaps concerned himself about how Wallace’s friendship with Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich left the previous campaign vulnerable to political attack in the form of the infamous “guru letters,” Roosevelt refrained from naming a preferred running mate for 1944. Still, when the first ballot was cast at the Democratic National Convention, Wallace led the pack — though he didn’t secure the number of delegates needed to win the nomination. By the second ballot, Southern states switched their delegates to Truman, allowing him to snare a come-from-behind victory. Years later, Wallace claimed in an article for TIME magazine that the convention leaders had maneuvered the delegates’ switch in favor of their preferred candidate.

Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Andrew Johnson as Abraham Lincoln’s VP

Andrew Johnson might be the most surprising “balance-the-ticket” candidate in history, since he wasn’t even in the same party as the President he was running with. But in the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln wanted a running mate to represent unity, so he advocated for the Southern Democrat to join the ticket. Despite Lincoln’s popularity, the proposal was met with a level of opposition that is probably not very surprising. When told of Lincoln’s intention for the Republican Party to nominate Johnson, Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens protested, “Can't you get a candidate for Vice President without going down into a damned rebel province for one?”

An opposition Republican National Convention was even called in Cleveland to promote California Senator John Frémont for President, with Union General John Cochrane as his running mate. But the unity Lincoln was seeking was evident in the support Johnson had from moderate Republicans. The Republican Party was temporarily renamed the National Union Party, and when the convention took place, Johnson won the vice presidential nomination.

Elbridge Gerry as James Madison’s VP

By the presidential election of 1812, Elbridge Gerry was nearly 20 years past his intended (and short) retirement from a storied career in government. He had signed the Declaration of Independence, served two stints in the Continental Congress, acted as a delegate in the Constitutional Convention, and was elected governor of Massachusetts. He was also a firebrand who refused to sign the Constitution, and his frequent overall dissent earned him accusations of partisanship; in a 1787 letter to Thomas Jefferson, an unidentified confidant called Gerry a “Grumbletonian” prone to “objecting to [anything] he did not propose.” His perceived failure to rebuke an attempted bribery scheme by French diplomats in 1796 (known as the XYZ Affair) nearly sunk his post-retirement reentry into politics from the outset. And the redistricting bill he signed early in 1812 while governor was derided to the point that the resulting district was referred to as a “Gerry-mander.”

Gerry was not originally looking to join President James Madison’s 1812 reelection bid; he was attempting to win another term as governor of Massachusetts. Besides, Vice President George Clinton was firmly entrenched in the position, having served in the office since 1805 under both Madison and Thomas Jefferson. But then something unprecedented happened: On April 20, 1812, Clinton died at age 72, marking the first time a sitting Vice President had passed away. Two months later, Gerry’s gubernatorial reelection campaign failed, and he appealed to Madison for a federal position due to the poor state of his finances. Since Madison’s first choice to replace Clinton, James Langdon, declined, Madison ended up asking Gerry to join his election ticket. This aligned with the Democratic-Republican’s desire for a Northerner to complement Madison’s Virginia origins. The Madison-Gerry ticket was a success at the polls, and Gerry served as Vice President for two years before also dying in office at age 70.

Credit: Hulton Archive/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

William Rufus King as Franklin Pierce’s VP

When William Rufus King was chosen as Franklin Pierce’s running mate for the 1852 election, he became the first U.S. senator to be nominated for Vice President. Pierce hailed from New Hampshire, and the Alabama senator was chosen for the classic “balance the ticket” strategy. At the time, nearly a decade before the Civil War, balancing the ticket meant nominating a VP who was an ardent supporter of slavery — precisely the attitude needed to appeal to the South.

During the election, however, King was ill with tuberculosis, and was unable to campaign. He spent much of the race seeking a cure in Cuba, and was still there when he and Pierce were elected. As he was not able to travel back to Washington, D.C., in time for their inauguration, Congress needed to pass special legislation in order for King to be sworn in abroad, making him the only Vice President to have ever been sworn into office outside the U.S.

Thomas Marshall as Woodrow Wilson’s VP

On the surface, Thomas Marshall’s nomination as Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President seems fairly straightforward. As the governor of Indiana, he was the popular leader of what had been a critical swing state — since 1880, no presidential candidate had won the election without carrying Indiana. But there were a few underlying problems: For one, Wilson did not want Marshall on the ticket, referring to him as “a very small caliber man.” And Marshall himself had a similar attitude toward the vice presidency as Theodore Roosevelt before him. He wryly joked, “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea; the other was elected Vice President of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again.”

By the time of the 1912 Democratic National Convention, the party was still split on who would serve as Wilson’s running mate. Democratic powerhouse William Jennings Bryan was proposed as a candidate by a delegate from the District of Columbia, but declined consideration in a response speech, and instead advocated for both North Dakota Governor John Burke and Oregon Senator George Chamberlain. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that Wilson himself was delaying the vote in order to persuade Missouri Congressman James Beauchamp “Champ” Clark to be his running mate. The first vote was held at 1 a.m., and resulted in no decision. After nearly an hour of angling and debate, Marshall was finally elected the party’s vice presidential nominee — and even then, he considered rejecting the office due to its inadequate pay.

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