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The job of every American president before winning the White House

Life before the White House
George Washington: surveyor, military commander, planter
John Adams: teacher, lawyer, VP
Thomas Jefferson: planter, lawyer, politician, VP
James Madison: politician, planter, secretary of state
James Monroe: soldier, lawyer, politician
John Quincy Adams: lawyer, foreign ambassador, politician, secretary of state
Andrew Jackson: lawyer, military general, politician
Martin Van Buren: lawyer, politician, VP
William Henry Harrison: military officer, politician
John Tyler: lawyer, politician, VP
James K. Polk: lawyer, politician
Zachary Taylor: military officer
Millard Fillmore: lawyer, politician, VP
Franklin Pierce: lawyer, politician, military officer
James Buchanan: lawyer, politician, secretary of state
Abraham Lincoln: rail-splitter, storekeeper, postmaster, surveyor, lawyer, politician
Andrew Johnson: tailor, politician, VP
Ulysses S. Grant: military commander
Rutherford B. Hayes: lawyer, soldier, politician
James A. Garfield: teacher, military officer, politician
Chester A. Arthur: lawyer, tariff collector, politician, VP
Grover Cleveland: lawyer, sheriff, politician
Benjamin Harrison: lawyer, military officer, politician
William McKinley: military officer, lawyer, politician
Theodore Roosevelt: politician, rancher, military officer, VP
William Howard Taft: lawyer, judge, politician
Woodrow Wilson: lawyer, teacher, politician
Warren G. Harding: journalist, publisher, politician
Calvin Coolidge: lawyer, politician, VP
Herbert Hoover: miner, businessman, politician
Franklin D. Roosevelt: lawyer, politician
Harry S. Truman: timekeeper, bank clerk, farmer, military officer, politician
Dwight D. Eisenhower: military general, university president, author
John F. Kennedy: secretary, author, naval officer, politician
Lyndon B. Johnson: teacher, politician, VP
Richard Nixon: lawyer, naval commander, politician
Gerald Ford: lawyer, naval officer, politician
Jimmy Carter: naval officer, peanut farmer, politician
Ronald Reagan: radio announcer, actor, TV host, politician
George H. W. Bush: naval pilot, businessman, politician
Bill Clinton: lawyer, teacher, politician
George W. Bush: naval pilot, businessman, politician
Barack Obama: lawyer, author, teacher, politician
Donald Trump: businessman, actor, TV host
Joe Biden: lawyer, politician, VP
1 of 46
Stock Montage/Getty Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images/JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/AFP via Getty Images

Life before the White House

It's America's top job – but what kind of careers did the presidents of the United States have before they won the White House?

From the predictable (we're talking lawyers and politicians) to the more surprising (think Hollywood movie stars and peanut farmers), read on to discover what each POTUS did before they took office. 

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Danielle McAdam

10 June 2025

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