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 appointed) held. Every president of the United States except Donald Trump has served as at least one of the following:
- 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
Federal government
Vice presidents
Vice President | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John Adams | George Washington | 1789–1797 | Succeeded Washington after winning the 1796 election |
Thomas Jefferson | John Adams | 1797–1801 | Succeeded Adams after winning the 1800 election |
Martin Van Buren | Andrew Jackson | 1833–1837 | Succeeded Jackson after winning the 1836 election |
John Tyler | William Henry Harrison | 1841 | Became President after Harrison's death, ran for re-election in 1844 as nominee of Democratic-Republican Party before dropping out and endorsing Polk, the eventual winner |
Millard Fillmore | Zachary Taylor | 1849–1850 | Became President after Taylor's death, lost nomination for Whig Party in 1852 election bid, later also ran unsuccessfully in the 1856 election |
Andrew Johnson | Abraham Lincoln | 1865 | Became President after Lincoln's assassination, lost nomination for Democratic Party in 1868 election bid |
Chester A. Arthur | James A. Garfield | 1881 | Became President after Garfield's assassination, failed to secure Republican Party nomination in 1884 election bid |
Theodore Roosevelt | William McKinley | 1901 | Became President after McKinley's assassination, later elected to own term in 1904. |
Calvin Coolidge | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1923 | Became President after Harding's death, later elected to own term in 1924. |
Harry S. Truman | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1945 | Became President after Roosevelt's death, later elected to own term in 1948. |
Richard Nixon | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 | Lost 1960 election, later ran and won the 1968 election. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | John F. Kennedy | 1961–1963 | Became President after Kennedy's assassination, later elected to own term in 1964. |
Gerald Ford | Richard Nixon | 1973–1974 | Became President after Nixon's resignation, lost 1976 election in bid for own term. |
George H. W. Bush | Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | Succeeded Reagan after winning the 1988 election |
Joe Biden | Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | Did not run in the 2016 election, later ran and won the 2020 election. |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
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 | 1811–1817 |
Secretary of War | 1814–1815 | ||
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 |
Calvin Coolidge (as the vice president) and Herbert Hoover both served in the Cabinet of Warren G. Harding.
Ambassadors
President | Position | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Adams | Minister to Britain | Continental Congress | 1785–1788 | |
Thomas Jefferson | Minister Plenipotentiary to France | Continental Congress | 1785–1789 | |
James Monroe | Minister Plenipotentiary to France | George Washington | 1794–1796 | |
Minister to Britain | Thomas Jefferson | 1803–1807 | ||
John Quincy Adams | Minister to the Netherlands | George Washington John Adams |
1794–1797 | |
Minister to Germany | John Adams | 1797–1801 | ||
Minister to Russia | James Madison | 1809–1814 | ||
Minister to Britain | James Madison | 1815–1817 | ||
Martin Van Buren | Minister to Britain | Andrew Jackson | 1831–1832 | |
William Henry Harrison | Minister to Gran Colombia | John Quincy Adams | 1828–1829 | |
James Buchanan | Minister to Britain | Franklin Pierce | 1853–1856 | |
George H. W. Bush | Ambassador to the United Nations | Richard Nixon | 1971–1973 | |
Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing | Gerald R. Ford | 1974–1975 | Head of U.S. mission in China |
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 |
Theodore Roosevelt | Member, United States Civil Service Commission | Benjamin Harrison | 1889–1895 |
Assistant Secretary of the Navy | William McKinley | 1897–1898 | |
William Howard Taft | Solicitor General | Benjamin Harrison | 1890–1892 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Assistant Secretary of the Navy | Woodrow Wilson | 1913–1920 |
George H. W. Bush | Director of Central Intelligence | Gerald Ford | 1976–1977 |
Chief Justice of the United States
President | President nominated by | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
William Howard Taft | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1930 | Only President to serve on the Supreme Court. |
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 |
Senators
State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
California | Richard Nixon | 1950–1953 | |
Delaware | Joe Biden | 1973–2009 | |
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 S. Truman | 1935–1945 | |
New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1837–1842 | |
New York | Martin Van Buren | 1821–1828 | |
Ohio | William Henry Harrison | 1825–1828 | |
Warren G. 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:
- Monroe served under Vice President Adams (1790–1794).
- Jackson served under Vice President Jefferson (1797–1798). Jackson later served with Van Buren (1823–1825). Van Buren also served with W.H. Harrison (1825–1828) and Tyler (1827–1828). Buchanan also served with Tyler (1834–1836) and later served with Pierce (1837–1842). Both Buchanan and Tyler served under Vice President Van Buren (1833–1837), while Buchanan and Pierce later served under Vice President Tyler (1841).
- B. Harrison briefly served under Vice President Arthur (1881).
- L. Johnson served with both Nixon (1950–1953) and Kennedy (1953–1960). L. Johnson and Kennedy both served under Vice President Nixon (1953–1961).
- Biden served under vice presidents Ford (1973–1974) and Bush (1981–1989) and later served with Obama (2005–2008).
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.
Seven former senators (Monroe, Adams, Jackson, W.H. Harrison, Pierce, Buchanan, and B. Harrison) were elected to the presidency without ever serving as the vice president between their departure from the Senate and the beginning of their presidencies.
Members of the House of Representatives
State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
California | Richard Nixon | 1947–1950 | |
Illinois | Abraham Lincoln | 1847–1849 | |
Massachusetts | John Quincy Adams | 1831–1848 | Only former president in the House of Representatives |
John F. Kennedy | 1947–1953 | ||
Michigan | Gerald Ford | 1949–1973 | House minority leader 1965–1973 |
New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1833–1837 | |
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 | |
Rutherford B. Hayes | 1865–1867 | ||
James A. Garfield | 1863–1880 | Republican floor leader Only sitting representative elected to the presidency | |
William McKinley | 1877–1883 | ||
1885–1891 | |||
Pennsylvania | James Buchanan | 1821–1831 | |
Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1796–1797 | |
James K. Polk | 1825–1839 | Only former speaker to become President | |
Andrew Johnson | 1843–1853 | ||
Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1937–1949 | |
George H. W. Bush | 1967–1971 | ||
Virginia | James Madison | 1789–1797 | First former representative to become President |
John Tyler | 1816–1821 |
A number of future and former presidents served in the House together:
- Jackson served with Madison (1796–1797).
- W.H. Harrison served with Tyler (1816–1819).
- Buchanan served with Polk (1825–1831). Polk also served with J. Q. Adams (1831–1839). J. Q. Adams later served with Fillmore (1833–1835; 1837–1843), Pierce (1833–1837), A. Johnson (1843–1848), and Lincoln (1847–1848). A. Johnson and Lincoln would continue to serve alongside each other (1848–1849).
- Garfield served with both Hayes (1865–1867) and McKinley (1877–1880).
- Nixon served with L. Johnson (1947–1949), Kennedy (1947–1950), and Ford (1949–1950). Ford, who continued to serve alongside Kennedy (1950–1953), later served with G. H. W. 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 / Territory | 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 | 1899–1900 | ||
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 | ||
1862–1865 | 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 |
---|---|---|
George Washington | County surveyor in Mount Vernon | 1749–1751 |
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 | 1834–1835 | |
Grover Cleveland | Sheriff of Erie County, New York | 1871–1873 |
Mayor of Buffalo, New York | 1882–1883 | |
William Howard Taft | Judge on the Superior Court of Cincinnati | 1887–1890 |
Theodore Roosevelt | Superintendent of the New York Board of Police Commissioners | 1895–1897 |
Calvin Coolidge | Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts | 1910–1911 |
Harry S. Truman | Judge of Jackson County, Missouri's Eastern District | 1923–1925 |
Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri | 1927–1935 | |
Joe Biden | Member of the New Castle County, Delaware County Council | 1970–1972 |
Presidents who had not previously held elective office
With previous experience in government or the military
President | Term of office | Position(s) |
---|---|---|
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 |
Without previous experience in government
President | Term of office | Notes |
---|---|---|
Donald Trump | 2017–2021 | Chairman of The Trump Organization |
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 |