List of Presidents of the United States by other offices held
This is a list of Presidents of the United States by other offices (either elected or appointive) held. Every President of the United States has served as either:
- Vice President of the United States
- a Member of Congress (either U.S. Senator or Representative)
- a Governor of a state
- a Cabinet Secretary
- a General of the United States Army
President-elect Donald Trump will be the first President of the United States not to have served in any of the above roles.
Federal Government
Executive Branch
Vice Presidents
Vice President | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John Adams | George Washington | 1789–1797 | |
Thomas Jefferson | John Adams | 1797–1801 | |
Martin Van Buren | Andrew Jackson | 1833–1837 | |
John Tyler | William Henry Harrison | 1841 | Became President after Harrison's death |
Millard Fillmore | Zachary Taylor | 1849–1850 | Became President after Taylor's death |
Andrew Johnson | Abraham Lincoln | 1865 | Became President after Lincoln's assassination |
Chester A. Arthur | James A. Garfield | 1881 | Became President after Garfield's assassination |
Theodore Roosevelt | William McKinley | 1901 | Became President after McKinley's assassination |
Calvin Coolidge | Warren Harding | 1921–1923 | Became President after Harding's death |
Harry Truman | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1945 | Became President after Roosevelt's death |
Richard Nixon | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 | Only former Vice President to become President in a non-immediate fashion |
Lyndon B. Johnson | John F. Kennedy | 1961–1963 | Became President after Kennedy's assassination |
Gerald Ford | Richard Nixon | 1973–1974 | Became President after Nixon's resignation |
George H. W. Bush | Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 |
In addition, both George H. W. Bush and Dick Cheney served as Acting Presidents for brief periods under Reagan and George W. Bush, respectively.
13 former Vice Presidents (R. Johnson, Breckinridge, Morton, Stevenson, Fairbanks, Garner, Wallace, Barkley, Nixon, Humphrey, Mondale, Quayle, and Gore) all made failed runs for the Presidency. Nixon, Humphrey, Mondale, and Gore received their party's nomination. Nixon would later be elected in a second run for the presidency.
Cabinet Secretaries
Secretary | Office | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas Jefferson | Secretary of State | George Washington | 1790–1793 | |
James Madison | Secretary of State | Thomas Jefferson | 1801–1809 | |
James Monroe | Secretary of State | James Madison | 1811–1814 | |
Secretary of War | 1814–1815 | |||
Secretary of State | 1815–1817 | |||
John Quincy Adams | Secretary of State | James Monroe | 1817–1825 | |
Martin Van Buren | Secretary of State | Andrew Jackson | 1829–1831 | |
James Buchanan | Secretary of State | James K. Polk | 1845–1849 | |
William Howard Taft | Secretary of War | Theodore Roosevelt | 1904–1908 | |
Herbert Hoover | Secretary of Commerce | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1928 | |
Calvin Coolidge |
John Adams (as Vice President) and Thomas Jefferson both served in the Cabinet of George Washington.
Both Theodore (from 1897–1898) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (from 1913–1920) served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Presidents McKinley and Wilson, respectively. William Howard Taft served as Solicitor General from 1890 to 1892 under President Harrison.
Ambassadors
Other Federal Appointees
President | Office | President appointed by | Year(s) served |
---|---|---|---|
Chester A. Arthur | Collector of the Port of New York | Ulysses S. Grant | 1871–1878 |
George H. W. Bush | Director of Central Intelligence | Gerald Ford | 1976–1977 |
Judicial Branch
Chief Justice of the United States
President | President nominated by | Year(s) served |
---|---|---|
William Howard Taft | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1930 |
Other Federal Judges
President | Court | President nominated by | Year(s) served |
---|---|---|---|
William Howard Taft | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | Benjamin Harrison | 1892–1900 |
Legislative Branch
Senators
State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
California | Richard Nixon | 1950–1953 | |
Indiana | Benjamin Harrison | 1881–1887 | |
Illinois | Barack Obama | 2005–2008 | Third sitting Senator elected to the presidency |
Massachusetts | John Quincy Adams | 1803–1808 | |
John F. Kennedy | 1953–1960 | Second sitting Senator elected to the presidency | |
Missouri | Harry Truman | 1935–1945 | |
New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1837–1842 | |
New York | Martin Van Buren | 1821–1828 | |
Ohio | William Henry Harrison | 1825–1828 | |
Warren Harding | 1915–1921 | First sitting Senator elected to the presidency | |
Pennsylvania | James Buchanan | 1834–1845 | |
Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1797–1798 | |
1823–1825 | |||
Andrew Johnson | 1857–1862 | ||
1875 | Only former President in the Senate | ||
Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1949–1961 | Senate Minority Leader 1953-1955 Senate Majority Leader 1955-1961 |
Virginia | James Monroe | 1790–1794 | First former Senator to become President |
John Tyler | 1827–1836 | Only former President pro tempore to become President |
A number of future Presidents served together while in the Senate:
- Senator Monroe served under Vice President Adams (1790–1794)
- Senator Jackson served under Vice President Jefferson (1797–1798)
- Senator Van Buren served with Senators Jackson (1823–1825), Harrison (1825–1828), and Tyler (1827–1828)
- Senator Buchanan also served with Senator Tyler (1834–1836) and later served with Senator Pierce (1837–1842). Both Buchanan and Tyler served under Vice President Martin Van Buren (1833–1837), while Pierce later served under Vice President Tyler (1841).
- Senator Harrison briefly served under Vice President Arthur (1881).
- Senator Johnson served with both Senators Nixon (1950–1953) and Kennedy (1953–1960). Johnson and Kennedy both served under Vice President Nixon (1953–1961).
James A. Garfield was elected senator for Ohio in 1880, but he did not take up the office due to being elected President later that year.
Members of the House of Representatives
State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
California | Richard Nixon | 1947–1950 | Later elected to the Senate |
Illinois | Abraham Lincoln | 1847–1849 | |
Massachusetts | John Quincy Adams | 1831–1848 | Only former President in the House of Representatives |
John F. Kennedy | 1947–1953 | Later elected to the Senate | |
Michigan | Gerald Ford | 1949–1973 | House Minority Leader 1965-1973 |
New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1833–1837 | Later elected to the Senate |
New York | Millard Fillmore | 1833–1835 | |
1837–1843 | |||
Northwest Territory | William Henry Harrison | 1799–1800 | Served as a non-voting delegate |
Ohio | William Henry Harrison | 1816–1819 | Later elected to the Senate |
Rutherford B. Hayes | 1865–1867 | Later elected Governor of Ohio | |
James A. Garfield | 1863–1881 | Republican Floor Leader Only sitting Representative elected to the presidency | |
William McKinley | 1877–1883 | Later elected Governor of Ohio | |
1885–1891 | |||
Pennsylvania | James Buchanan | 1821–1831 | Later elected to the Senate |
Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1796–1797 | Later elected to Senate |
James K. Polk | 1825–1839 | Only former Speaker to become President later elected Governor of Tennessee | |
Andrew Johnson | 1843–1853 | Later elected to the Senate | |
Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1937–1949 | Later elected to the Senate |
George H. W. Bush | 1967–1971 | Later elected Vice President of the United States | |
Virginia | James Madison | 1789–1797 | First former Representative to become President |
John Tyler | 1816–1821 | Later elected to Senate |
A number of future Presidents served in the House together:
- Congressman Jackson served with Congressman Madison (1796–1797)
- Congressman Harrison served with Congressman Tyler (1816–1819)
- Congressman Buchanan served with Congressman Polk (1825–1831)
- Congressman Adams also served with Congressman Polk (1831–1839), and later served with Congressmen Fillmore (1833–1835; 1837–1843), Pierce (1833–1837), Johnson (1843–1848), and Lincoln (1847–1848)
- Congressman Garfield served with both Congressmen Hayes (1865–1867) and McKinley (1877–1881)
- Congressman Nixon served with Congressmen Johnson (1947–1949), John F. Kennedy (1947–1950), and Ford (1949–1950). Congressman Ford later served with Congressman Bush (1967–1971).
Continental Congress
President | State | Year(s) served | Body served |
---|---|---|---|
George Washington | Virginia | 1774–1775 | First Continental Congress |
John Adams | Massachusetts | 1774–1778 | First Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress |
Thomas Jefferson | Virginia | 1775–1776 1783–1784 |
Second Continental Congress Congress of the Confederation |
James Madison | Virginia | 1780–1783 | Second Continental Congress, Congress of the Confederation |
James Monroe | Virginia | 1783–1786 | Congress of the Confederation |
State and territorial government
Governors
State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Arkansas | Bill Clinton | 1979–1981 | |
1983–1992 | |||
California | Ronald Reagan | 1967–1975 | |
Cuba | William Howard Taft | 1906 | Provisional Governor |
Florida Territory | Andrew Jackson | 1821 | Military Governor |
Georgia | Jimmy Carter | 1971–1975 | |
Indiana Territory | William Henry Harrison | 1801–1813 | |
Louisiana District | William Henry Harrison | 1804–1805 | Interim Authority |
Massachusetts | Calvin Coolidge | 1919–1921 | |
New Jersey | Woodrow Wilson | 1911–1913 | |
New York | Martin Van Buren | 1829 | |
Grover Cleveland | 1883–1885 | ||
Theodore Roosevelt | 1899–1901 | ||
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1929–1932 | ||
Northwest Territory | William Henry Harrison | 1798–1799 | Acting Governor |
Ohio | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1868–1872 | |
1876–1877 | |||
William McKinley | 1892–1896 | ||
Philippines | William Howard Taft | 1901–1904 | Governor-General |
Tennessee | James K. Polk | 1839–1841 | |
Andrew Johnson | 1853–1857 | ||
1862–1864 | Military Governor | ||
Texas | George W. Bush | 1995–2000 | |
Virginia | Thomas Jefferson | 1779–1781 | |
James Monroe | 1799–1802 | ||
1811 | |||
John Tyler | 1825–1827 |
State Legislators
- See below for information about pre-1776 colonial offices held.
Other Statewide Offices
President | Office and Jurisdiction | Year(s) served |
---|---|---|
Martin Van Buren | Attorney General of New York | 1815–1819 |
Millard Fillmore | New York State Comptroller | 1847–1849 |
Warren G. Harding | Lieutenant Governor of Ohio | 1904–1906 |
Calvin Coolidge | Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | 1916–1919 |
Bill Clinton | Attorney General of Arkansas | 1977–1979 |
Municipal Government
President | Office and jurisdiction | Year(s) served |
---|---|---|
Martin Van Buren | Surrogate of Columbia County, New York | 1808–1812 |
Abraham Lincoln | Postmaster of New Salem, Illinois | 1832–1833 |
County Surveyor for Sangamon County, Illinois | 1833–1834 | |
Andrew Johnson | Alderman, Greeneville, Tennessee | 1828–1830 |
Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee | 1830–1833 | |
Grover Cleveland | Sheriff of Erie County, New York | 1871–1873 |
Mayor of Buffalo, New York | 1882–1883 | |
Theodore Roosevelt | Superintendent of the New York Board of Police Commissioners | 1895–1897 |
Calvin Coolidge | Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts | 1910–1911 |
George Washington | County surveyor in Mount Vernon | 1749-1751? |
Presidents without prior political occupation
President | Term of office | Notes |
---|---|---|
Zachary Taylor | 1849–1850 | Major General in the United States Army |
Ulysses S. Grant | 1869–1877 | General of the Army of the United States (served as Secretary of War ad interim) |
Herbert Hoover | 1929–1933 | Secretary of Commerce |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 | General of the Army of the United States |
Colonial Governments
Colonial and Confederate Legislators
Legislature | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Confederate Congress | John Tyler | 1861–1862 | Delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress and elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, but died before entering office |
Massachusetts House of Representatives | John Adams | 1768–1774 | All served as regular members of their colonial legislature under the Kingdom of Great Britain before 1776. |
Virginia House of Burgesses | George Washington | 1758–1774 | |
Thomas Jefferson | 1769–1774 |
Lost Races
Other than immediate re-election to the Presidency