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

Federal Government

Executive Branch

Vice Presidents

A timeline graph of Presidents with a highlighting of those who had been Vice Presidents. A gray arrow points to those who became president without having been elected as president. The double arrow indicates Ford becoming president without having been elected as vice president also. (See source image for more info.)

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
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
Herbert Hoover	Secretary of Commerce	Calvin Coolidge	1921–1928

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

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
James Monroe	Minister to Britain	Thomas Jefferson	1803–1807	Served under Secretary of State James Madison
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	Served under Secretary of State James Monroe
	Minister to Britain	James Madison	1815–1817	Served under Secretary of State James Monroe
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
George H. W. Bush	Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing	Gerald R. Ford	1974–1975	Ambassador in all but name

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
Massachusetts	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
Ohio	Warren Harding	1915–1921	First sitting Senator elected to the presidency
Pennsylvania	James Buchanan	1834–1845
Tennessee	Andrew Jackson	1797–1798
	Andrew Jackson	1823–1825
	Andrew Johnson	1857–1862
	Andrew Johnson	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
Virginia	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).

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
Massachusetts	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
New York	Millard Fillmore	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
	William McKinley	1885–1891	Later elected Governor of Ohio
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
Texas	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
Virginia	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
Arkansas	Bill Clinton	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
	Rutherford B. Hayes	1876–1877
	William McKinley	1892–1896
Philippines	William Howard Taft	1901–1904	Governor-General
Tennessee	James K. Polk	1839–1841
	Andrew Johnson	1853–1857
	Andrew Johnson	1862–1864	Military Governor
Texas	George W. Bush	1995–2000
Virginia	Thomas Jefferson	1779–1781
	James Monroe	1799–1802
	James Monroe	1811
	John Tyler	1825–1827

State Legislators

See below for information about pre-1776 colonial offices held.

State Legislature	President	Year(s)served	Notes
Georgia State Senate	Jimmy Carter	1963–1967
Illinois House of Representatives	Abraham Lincoln	1834–1842
Illinois Senate	Barack Obama	1997–2004
Massachusetts House of Representatives	Calvin Coolidge	1907–1909
Massachusetts Senate	John Quincy Adams	1802
Massachusetts Senate	Calvin Coolidge	1912–1915
New Hampshire House of Representatives	Franklin Pierce	1829–1833	Speaker of the House 1832-1833
New York Senate	Martin Van Buren	1812–1820
New York Senate	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1911–1913
New York State Assembly	Millard Fillmore	1829–1831
New York State Assembly	Theodore Roosevelt	1882–1884	Assembly Minority Leader 1883
Ohio Senate	William Henry Harrison	1819–1821
	James A. Garfield	1859–1861
	Warren G. Harding	1899–1903
Pennsylvania House of Representatives	James Buchanan	1814–1816
Tennessee House of Representatives	James K. Polk	1823–1825
Tennessee House of Representatives	Andrew Johnson	1835–1837
Tennessee Senate	Andrew Johnson	1841–1843
Virginia House of Delegates	Thomas Jefferson	1776–1779
	James Madison	1776–1777
	James Monroe	1782–1783
	John Tyler	1811–1816
	John Tyler	1823–1825

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
Abraham Lincoln	County Surveyor for Sangamon County, Illinois	1833–1834
Andrew Johnson	Alderman, Greeneville, Tennessee	1828–1830
Andrew Johnson	Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee	1830–1833
Grover Cleveland	Sheriff of Erie County, New York	1871–1873
Grover Cleveland	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)
Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953–1961	General of the Army of the United States

Foreign Governments

Colonial and Confederate Legislators

Legislature	President	Year(s) served	Notes
Confederate Congress	John Tyler	1861	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
Virginia House of Burgesses	Thomas Jefferson	1769–1774

Lost Races

Other than immediate re-election to the Presidency

President	Office and jurisdiction	Year	Notes
Thomas Jefferson	President of the United States	1796	Won in 1800, 1804
Andrew Jackson	President of the United States	1824	Won in 1828, 1832
Martin Van Buren	Democratic nomination for President of the United States	1844	Placed in distant third to James K. Polk
Martin Van Buren	President of the United States	1848	Lost to Zachary Taylor. Candidate of the Free Soil Party.
William Henry Harrison	Governor of Ohio	1820	Lost to Ethan Allen Brown
	United States Representative	1822	Lost to James W. Gazlay
	President of the United States	1836	Won in 1840
Millard Fillmore	President of the United States	1856	Placed in distant third to James Buchanan. Candidate of the Know-Nothing Party.
Abraham Lincoln	United States Senator from Illinois	1858	Lost to Stephen Douglas
Ulysses S. Grant	Republican nomination for President of the United States	1880	Lost to James Garfield
Grover Cleveland	District Attorney for Erie County, New York	1865	Lost to Lyman K. Bass
Theodore Roosevelt	Mayor of New York City	1886	Placed in distant third behind Abram S. Hewitt.
	Republican nomination for President of the United States	1912	Lost to William Howard Taft
	President of the United States	1912	Placed distant second to Woodrow Wilson. Candidate of the Progressive Party. Only third-party candidate to place second in an election.
Franklin D. Roosevelt	Vice President of the United States	1920	Later became Governor of New York (1929–1933)
John F. Kennedy	Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States	1956	Won presidency in 1960
Lyndon B. Johnson	United States Senator from Texas	1941	Later elected Senator in 1948
Richard Nixon	President of the United States	1960	Won in 1968, 1972
Richard Nixon	Governor of California	1962	Lost to Pat Brown by nearly 300,000 votes; in his concession speech, he lashed out at the media, saying "...you don't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
Jimmy Carter	Governor of Georgia	1966	Later won the office in 1970, Won presidency in 1976, but lost re-election in 1980.
Ronald Reagan	Republican nomination for President of the United States	1968, 1976	Later won in 1980, 1984
George H.W. Bush	United States Senator from Texas	1964, 1970	Lost to Ralph Yarborough in 1964 and Lloyd Bentsen in 1970
George H.W. Bush	Republican nomination for President of the United States	1980	Won presidency in 1988 but lost re-election in 1992
Bill Clinton	United States Representative	1974	Lost to John Paul Hammerschmidt in 1974
Bill Clinton	Governor of Arkansas (re-election)	1980	Lost to Frank White in 1980; won in 1978, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990
George W. Bush	United States Representative	1978	Lost to Kent Hance in 1978
Barack Obama	United States Representative	2000	Lost Democratic nomination to Bobby Rush in 2000

v t e Lists related to the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States
Presidents	Age Autobiographies Birth Burial Death Historical rankings Military rank Military service Net worth Number living Slave owners Time in office Timeline
Professional careers	Approval rating Assassination attempts and plots Campaign slogans Control of Congress Doctrines Inaugurations International trips Judicial appointments Libraries Other offices held Pardons Political affiliation Previous experience Vetoes
Personal life	Deaths in office Education Facial hair Firsts Handedness Multilingualism Names Nicknames Pets Home state Previous occupation Religious affiliation Residences Summer White Houses
Vice presidents	Age Education Other offices held Place of primary affiliation Religious affiliation Tie-breaking votes Time in office Vacancies
Succession	Designated survivor Line of succession
Elections	Electoral College margin Popular vote margin
Candidates	Democratic tickets Republican tickets Third party tickets African American Candidates with at least one electoral vote Female Former presidents who ran again Height Lost their home state
Families	First Family First ladies list number living Second ladies Children Relatives
Namesakes, honors	U.S. postage stamp appearances Currency appearances U.S. county names
In fiction	Presidents Vice Presidents Candidates Line of succession

List of Presidents of the United States by other offices held

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