This is a list of the occupations of Presidents before they entered politics. Often, previous career experience is minimal; however, the most common previous occupation is lawyer,[1] and many presidents did spend their younger years in college and/or the military.
Order / President / Previous occupation(s)1 / George Washington / Land surveyor,[2] farmer/plantation owner, soldier (Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army)
2 / John Adams / Lawyer, farmer
3 / Thomas Jefferson / Land surveyor, writer, inventor, lawyer, architect, farmer/plantation owner, diplomat, linguist, theologian
4 / James Madison / Farmer/plantation owner
5 / James Monroe / Farmer/plantation owner, lawyer
6 / John Quincy Adams / Lawyer
7 / Andrew Jackson / Soldier (Major General), lawyer
8 / Martin Van Buren / Lawyer
9 / William Harrison / Soldier
10 / John Tyler / Lawyer
11 / James Polk / Lawyer, plantation owner
12 / Zachary Taylor / Soldier (Army Major General)
13 / Millard Fillmore / Lawyer
14 / Franklin Pierce / Lawyer
15 / James Buchanan / Lawyer, diplomat
16 / Abraham Lincoln / Land surveyor, lawyer
17 / Andrew Johnson / Soldier, tailor
18 / Ulysses Grant / Soldier, General of the Army
19 / Rutherford Hayes / Lawyer
20 / James Garfield / School teacher, minister, soldier
21 / Chester Arthur / School teacher, lawyer, collector of tariffs
22 !22, 24 / Grover Cleveland / Sheriff, lawyer, assistant teacher
23 / Benjamin Harrison / Lawyer, journalist
25 / William McKinley / Lawyer, soldier
26 / Theodore Roosevelt / Public official, rancher, soldier
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 / Journalist, newspaper publisher/editor
30 / Calvin Coolidge / Lawyer, public official, vice president of Northampton Savings Bank
31 / Herbert Hoover / Engineer, investor
32 / Franklin Roosevelt / Lawyer
33 / Harry Truman / Farmer, soldier, haberdasher
34 / Dwight Eisenhower / Soldier (General of the Army), president of Columbia University
35 / John F. Kennedy / Writer, sailor (Navy Lieutenant)
36 / Lyndon Johnson / Teacher, public official
37 / Richard Nixon / Lawyer, sailor (Navy Lieutenant Commander)
38 / Gerald Ford / Football player, sailor (Navy Lieutenant Commander), lawyer
39 / Jimmy Carter / Sailor (Navy Lieutenant),[3]peanut farmer,[4] writer
40 / Ronald Reagan[5][6] / Actor & broadcaster, President of the Screen Actors Guild[7]
41 / George H. W. Bush / Pilot (Navy Lieutenant, Junior Grade),[8] businessman (oil),[9] C.I.A. Director, ambassador to China.
42 / Bill Clinton / Lawyer, law lecturer
43 / George W. Bush / Pilot (Texas Air National Guard), businessman (oil,[10]baseball)[11]
44 / Barack Obama / Community organizer, lawyer, professor (incorrectly referred to by some as a lecturer),[12]
45 / Donald Trump / Businessman, real estate developer, reality television host, television producer, investor, actor
References[edit]
- Jump up ^ International Law, US Power: The United States' Quest for Legal Security, p 10, Shirley V. Scott - 2012
- Jump up ^Heather Lehr Wagner; Walter Cronkite (1 January 2009). George Washington. Infobase Publishing. pp.28–. ISBN978-1-4381-0302-0.
- Jump up ^SD Homes Stock Video Footage Collections - Royalty Free by FootageHouse. Archived from the original on 27-6-2009.
- Jump up ^[1]Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up ^REAGAN, RONALD - The Museum of Broadcast Communications
- Jump up ^[2]Archived February 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up ^SparkNotes: Ronald Reagan: A Leading Man: 1946–1962
- Jump up ^School House to White House
- Jump up ^[3]Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up ^ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - Timeline: George W. Bush and RangersArchived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up ^Washingtonpost.com: Bush Name Helps Fuel Oil Dealings
- Jump up ^FactCheck: Obama a Constitutional Law Professor?