| Share
History and Government > U.S. Presidents
Presidents' Occupations
This table provides information about the occupations held by U.S. Presidents before and after their time in office.
President Major Jobs Before the Presidency Jobs After the Presidency
George Washington surveyor, planter, general of the Army of the United Colonies planter, lieutenant-general of all the U.S. armies
John Adams schoolteacher, lawyer, diplomat, vice president under Washington writer
Thomas Jefferson writer, inventor, lawyer, architect, governor of Virginia, secretary of state under Washington, vice president under Adams writer, gentleman farmer, rector at the University of Virginia
James Madison lawyer, political theorist, U.S. congressman, secretary of state under Jefferson rector at the University of Virginia
James Monroe soldier, lawyer, U.S. senator, governor of Virginia writer, regent at the University of Virginia
John Quincy Adams lawyer, diplomat, professor, U.S. senator, secretary of state under Monroe U.S. representative from Massachusetts
Andrew Jackson soldier, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, governor of Florida gentleman farmer
Martin Van Buren lawyer, U.S. senator, governor of New York, vice president under Jackson activist for Free Soil Party
William Henry Harrison soldier, diplomat, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from Ohio died in office
John Tyler lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, vice president under Harrison lawyer, chancellor of the College of William and Mary, member of the Confederate House of Representatives
James Knox Polk lawyer, U.S. congressman, governor of Tennessee died 103 days after leaving office
Zachary Taylor soldier died in office
Millard Fillmore lawyer, U.S. congressman, vice president under Taylor rogue political activist, chancellor of the University of Buffalo
Franklin Pierce lawyer, soldier, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from New Hampshire gentleman farmer
James Buchanan lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state writer
Abraham Lincoln postmaster, lawyer, U.S. congressman from Illinois died in office
Andrew Johnson tailor, U.S. congressman, governor of Tennessee, U.S. senator from Tennessee, vice president under Lincoln U.S. senator from Tennessee
Ulysses Simpson Grant U.S. Army general political activist, writer
Rutherford Birchard Hayes lawyer, soldier, U.S. congressman, governor of Ohio education activist, president of the National Prison Reform Association
James Abram Garfield schoolteacher, soldier, U.S. representative from Ohio died in office
Chester Alan Arthur schoolteacher, lawyer, tariff collector, vice president under Garfield lawyer
Grover Cleveland sheriff, lawyer, mayor, governor of New York reelected president
Benjamin Harrison lawyer, soldier, journalist, U.S. senator from Indiana lawyer, lecturer
William McKinley soldier, lawyer, U.S. congressman, governor of Ohio died in office
Theodore Roosevelt rancher, soldier, governor of New York, vice president under McKinley hunter, writer
William Howard Taft lawyer, judge, dean of the University of Cincinnati Law School, U.S. secretary of war professor, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Woodrow Wilson lawyer, professor, president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey retired in poor health
Warren Gamaliel Harding newspaper editor, U.S. senator from Ohio died in office
Calvin Coolidge lawyer, governor of Massachusetts, vice president under Harding writer, president of the American Antiquarian Society
Herbert Clark Hoover engineer, U.S. secretary of commerce chair of the Hoover Commission on administrative reform
Franklin Delano Roosevelt lawyer, governor of New York died in office
Harry S. Truman farmer, soldier, haberdasher, judge, U.S. senator, vice president under Roosevelt writer
Dwight David Eisenhower supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, U.S. Army chief of staff writer
John Fitzgerald Kennedy journalist, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from Massachusetts died in office
Lyndon Baines Johnson schoolteacher, soldier, congressman, U.S. senator from Texas, vice president under Kennedy rancher, writer
Richard Milhous Nixon lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, vice president under Eisenhower writer
Gerald Rudolph Ford lawyer, U.S. congressman, vice president under Nixon writer
James Earl Carter, Jr. peanut farmer, governor of Georgia writer, humanitarian, Nobel-prize winning statesman
Ronald Wilson Reagan movie actor, corporate spokesman, governor of California writer
George Herbert Walker Bush oil executive, U.S. congressman, U.S. ambassador to the UN, Director of CIA, vice president under Reagan private citizen; teamed with President Clinton to form tsunami and Hurricane Katrina aid funds
William Jefferson Clinton lawyer, governor of Arkansas writer, independent ambassador; teamed with President G.H.W. Bush to form tsunami and Hurricane Katrina aid funds
George Walker Bush oil executive, sport team owner, governor of Texas —
Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. community organizer, civil rights lawyer, constitutional law professor, Illinois state senator, U.S. senator —
Read more: Presidents' Occupations — Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0768854.html#ixzz125mmzu00