List of Presidents of the United States, sortable by previous experience

Although many paths may lead to the Presidency of the United States, the most common job experience, occupation or profession of U.S. presidents has been lawyer. This sortable table enumerates all holders of that office, along with major elective or appointive offices or periods of military service prior to election to the Presidency. The column immediately to the right of the Presidents' names shows the position or office held just before the Presidency. The next column to the right lists the next previous position held, and so on. Note that the total number of previous positions held by an individual may exceed four; the number of columns was limited to what would fit within the page width. The last two columns on the right list the home state (at the time of election to the Presidency) and primary occupation of each future President, prior to beginning a political career.

Of the 44 different people who have served as President:

26 Presidents had previously been lawyers

22 Presidents had previous military experience; 9 were Generals in the US Army.

18 Presidents previously served as U.S. Representatives; 6 of 18 held this office prior to the four 'previous positions' shown in this table. Only one - James A. Garfield - was a Representative immediately before election as President. Only John Quincy Adams served as a U.S. Representative after being President.

17 Presidents previously served as state Governors; 9 were Governors immediately before election as President.

16 Presidents previously served as U.S. Senators; only 3 immediately before election as President. Only one president, Andrew Johnson, ever served as a U.S. Senator after his presidency.

14 Presidents previously served as Vice-President. All except Nixon were VP immediately before election as President; 9 of the 14 succeeded to the Presidency because of the death or resignation of the elected President; 5 of those 9 were not re-elected.

8 Presidents were out of office (for at least one year) immediately before election as President.

8 Presidents previously served as Cabinet Secretaries; 6 as Secretary of State; 5 of the 8 served immediately before election as President.

7 Presidents had previous experience in foreign service.

7 Presidents came from the state of New York (8 if Grover Cleveland is counted twice), 7 from Ohio and 5 from Virginia; 4 from Massachusetts; 3 each from the states of Tennessee, California, Texas and Illinois. Presidents have come from 9 other states, 18 different states in all.

5 Presidents were close family relations of previous presidents: John Quincy Adams (son of John Adams), Benjamin Harrison (grandson of William Henry Harrison), Zachary Taylor (second cousin of James Madison), Franklin Roosevelt (nephew-in-law and distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt), and George W. Bush (son of George H. W. Bush).

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Wikipedia