List of United States Presidents by previous occupation

This is a list of the occupations of Presidents before they entered politics. Often, previous career experience is minimal; however, many presidents did spend their younger years in college and/or the military.

Order	President	Previous occupation(s)
1	George Washington	Surveyor, Farmer/plantation owner, Soldier (General of United Army of the Colonies)
2	John Adams	Lawyer, Farmer
3	Thomas Jefferson	Writer, Inventor, Lawyer, Architect, Farmer/Plantation owner
4	James Madison	Lawyer
5	James Monroe	Lawyer
6	John Quincy Adams	Lawyer
7	Andrew Jackson	Soldier, Lawyer
8	Martin Van Buren	Lawyer
9	William Harrison	Soldier
10	John Tyler	Lawyer
11	James Polk	Lawyer, Plantation owner
12	Zachary Taylor	Soldier
13	Millard Fillmore	Lawyer
14	Franklin Pierce	Lawyer
15	James Buchanan	Lawyer, Prizefighter, Diplomat
16	Abraham Lincoln	Lawyer
17	Andrew Johnson	Tailor
18	Ulysses Grant	Soldier, General of the Army, Tanner
19	Rutherford Hayes	Lawyer
20	James Garfield	School teacher, minister, soldier
21	Chester Arthur	School teacher, lawyer, collector of tariffs
22, 24	Grover Cleveland	Sheriff, lawyer, assistant teacher
23	Benjamin Harrison	Lawyer, journalist
25	William McKinley	Lawyer
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Public Official, Rancher
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	Newspaper publisher/editor
30	Calvin Coolidge	Lawyer, Vice President of Northampton Savings Bank
31	Herbert Hoover	Engineer, Investor
32	Franklin Roosevelt	Lawyer
33	Harry Truman	Farmer, Men's clothing retailer
34	Dwight Eisenhower	Soldier (Supreme Allied Commander, Army Chief of Staff), President of Columbia University,
35	John F. Kennedy	Writer, Sailor (Navy Lieutenant)
36	Lyndon Johnson	Teacher, Public Official
37	Richard Nixon	Lawyer
38	Gerald Ford	Sailor (Navy Lieutenant Commander), Lawyer
39	Jimmy Carter	Sailor (Navy Lieutenant), peanut farmer, writer
40	Ronald Reagan	Actor & broadcaster, President of the Screen Actors Guild
41	George H. W. Bush	Pilot (Navy Lieutenant, Junior Grade), Businessman (Oil), Director of Central Intelligence
42	Bill Clinton	Lawyer, Law lecturer
43	George W. Bush	Businessman (Oil, baseball)

Presidential trivia lists