# 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 appointed) held. Every president of the United States except Donald Trump has served as at least one of the following:
* a member of the Presidential Cabinet (either Vice President or Cabinet secretary)
* a member of Congress (either U.S. senator or representative)
* a governor of a state
* a general of the United States Army

## Federal government
### Executive branch
#### Vice presidents

| Vice President | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
| John Adams | George Washington | 1789–1797 | Incumbent vice president succeeded Washington after winning the 1796 election |
| Thomas Jefferson | John Adams | 1797–1801 | Incumbent vice president succeeded Adams after winning the 1800 election |
| Martin Van Buren | Andrew Jackson | 1833–1837 | Incumbent vice president succeeded Jackson after winning the 1836 election |
| John Tyler | William Henry Harrison | 1841 | Became president after Harrison's death, ran for election in 1844 as nominee of Democratic Party before dropping out and endorsing Polk, the eventual winner |
| Millard Fillmore | Zachary Taylor | 1849–1850 | Became president after Taylor's death, lost nomination for Whig Party in 1852 election bid, later also ran unsuccessfully in the 1856 election |
| Andrew Johnson | Abraham Lincoln | 1865 | Became president after Lincoln's assassination, lost nomination for Democratic Party in 1868 election bid |
| Chester A. Arthur | James A. Garfield | 1881 | Became president after Garfield's assassination, failed to secure Republican Party nomination in 1884 election bid |
| Theodore Roosevelt | William McKinley | 1901 | Became president after McKinley's assassination, later elected to own term in 1904. |
| Calvin Coolidge | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1923 | Became president after Harding's death, later elected to own term in 1924. |
| Harry S. Truman | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1945 | Became president after Roosevelt's death, later elected to own term in 1948. |
| Richard Nixon | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 | Lost as incumbent vice president in the 1960 election, later ran and won the 1968 election becoming the first former vice president to win the presidency. |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | John F. Kennedy | 1961–1963 | Became president after Kennedy's assassination, later elected to own term in 1964. |
| Gerald Ford | Richard Nixon | 1973–1974 | Became president after Nixon's resignation, lost 1976 election in bid for own term. |
| George H. W. Bush | Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | Incumbent vice president succeeded Reagan after winning the 1988 election |
| Joe Biden | Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | Did not run as incumbent vice president in the 2016 election, later ran and won the 2020 election becoming the second former vice president to win the presidency. |
Fifteen former vice presidents (R. Johnson, Breckinridge, Morton, Stevenson, Fairbanks, Garner, Wallace, Barkley, Nixon, Humphrey, Mondale, Quayle, Gore, Pence and Harris) all made failed runs for the presidency. Breckinridge was nominated by the Southern Democratic Party in 1860 but came in second in the Electoral College. Humphrey, Mondale, Gore, Harris, and Nixon received their party's nominations. Nixon would later be elected in a second run for the presidency becoming the first former vice president to try and win the presidency post-vice presidency. In 1984, Mondale would be the second former vice president to try for the presidency. In 1988, Vice President George H. W. Bush would be elected president. In 2020, Biden was the third former vice president to try for the presidency, and the second to win the presidency post-vice presidency. Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson would become president after a presidential death in office and go onto win their own subsequent elections.

#### 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 | 1811–1817 |
| James Monroe | Secretary of War | James Madison | 1814–1815 |
| 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 |
| Ulysses S. Grant | Acting Secretary of War | Andrew Johnson | 1867–1868 |
| 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 |
Calvin Coolidge (as the vice president) and Herbert Hoover both served in the Cabinet of Warren G. Harding.

#### Ambassadors

| President | Position | President served under | Year(s) served |
| John Adams | Minister to Britain | Congress of the Confederation | 1785–1788 |
| Thomas Jefferson | Minister Plenipotentiary to France | Congress of the Confederation | 1785–1789 |
| James Monroe | Minister Plenipotentiary to France | George Washington | 1794–1796 |
| James Monroe | Minister to Britain | Thomas Jefferson | 1803–1807 |
| John Quincy Adams | Minister to the Netherlands | George Washington John Adams | 1794–1797 |
| John Quincy Adams | Minister to Germany | John Adams | 1797–1801 |
| John Quincy Adams | Minister to Russia | James Madison | 1809–1814 |
| John Quincy Adams | Minister to Britain | James Madison | 1815–1817 |
| 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 Ford | 1974–1975 |

#### Other federal appointees

| President | Office | President appointed by | Year(s) served |
| Franklin Pierce | United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire | James K. Polk | 1845–1847 |
| Chester A. Arthur | Collector of the Port of New York | Ulysses S. Grant | 1871–1878 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Member, United States Civil Service Commission | Benjamin Harrison | 1889–1895 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Assistant Secretary of the Navy | William McKinley | 1897–1898 |
| William Howard Taft | Solicitor General | Benjamin Harrison | 1890–1892 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Assistant Secretary of the Navy | Woodrow Wilson | 1913–1920 |
| 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 | Notes |
| William Howard Taft | Warren G. Harding | 1921–1930 | Only president to serve on the Supreme Court. |

#### 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 | Resigned to become vice president |
| Delaware | Joe Biden | 1973–2009 | Resigned to become vice president |
| 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 S. Truman | 1935–1945 | Resigned to become vice president |
| New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1837–1842 | |
| New York | Martin Van Buren | 1821–1828 | |
| Ohio | William Henry Harrison | 1825–1828 | |
| Ohio | Warren G. Harding | 1915–1921 | First sitting senator elected to the presidency |
| Pennsylvania | James Buchanan | 1834–1845 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1797–1798 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1823–1825 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Johnson | 1857–1862 | |
| Tennessee | 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 Resigned to become vice president |
| 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:
* Monroe served under Vice President Adams (1790–1794).
* Jackson served under Vice President Jefferson (1797–1798). Jackson later served with Van Buren (1823–1825). Van Buren also served with W.H. Harrison (1825–1828) and Tyler (1827–1828). Buchanan also served with Tyler (1834–1836) and later served with Pierce (1837–1842). Both Buchanan and Tyler served under Vice President Van Buren (1833–1837), while Buchanan and Pierce briefly served under Vice President Tyler (1841).
* B. Harrison briefly served under Vice President Arthur (1881).
* L. Johnson served with both Nixon (1950–1953) and Kennedy (1953–1960). L. Johnson and Kennedy both served under Vice President Nixon (1953–1961).
* Biden served under vice presidents Ford (1973–1974) and Bush (1981–1989) and later served with Obama (2005–2008).
James A. Garfield was elected senator for Ohio in 1880, but he did not take up the office due to being elected president later that year.
Seven former senators (Monroe, Adams, Jackson, W.H. Harrison, Pierce, Buchanan, and B. Harrison) were elected to the presidency without ever serving as the vice president between their departure from the Senate and the beginning of their presidencies.

#### Members of the House of Representatives

| State | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
| California | Richard Nixon | 1947–1950 | |
| 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 | |
| Michigan | Gerald Ford | 1949–1973 | House minority leader 1965–1973 Resigned to become vice president |
| New Hampshire | Franklin Pierce | 1833–1837 | |
| 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 | |
| Ohio | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1865–1867 | |
| Ohio | James A. Garfield | 1863–1880 | Republican floor leader 1877–1880 Only sitting representative elected to the presidency |
| Ohio | William McKinley | 1877–1883 | |
| Ohio | William McKinley | 1885–1891 | |
| Pennsylvania | James Buchanan | 1821–1831 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Jackson | 1796–1797 | |
| Tennessee | James K. Polk | 1825–1839 | Only former speaker to become president |
| Tennessee | Andrew Johnson | 1843–1853 | |
| Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1937–1949 | |
| Texas | George H. W. Bush | 1967–1971 | |
| Virginia | James Madison | 1789–1797 | First former representative to become president |
| Virginia | John Tyler | 1816–1821 | |
A number of future and former presidents served in the House together:
* Jackson served with Madison (1796–1797).
* W.H. Harrison served with Tyler (1816–1819).
* Buchanan served with Polk (1825–1831). Polk also served with J. Q. Adams (1831–1839). J. Q. Adams later served with Fillmore (1833–1835; 1837–1843), Pierce (1833–1837), A. Johnson (1843–1848), and Lincoln (1847–1848). A. Johnson and Lincoln would continue to serve alongside each other (1848–1849).
* Garfield served with both Hayes (1865–1867) and McKinley (1877–1880).
* Nixon served with L. Johnson (1947–1949), Kennedy (1947–1950), and Ford (1949–1950). Ford, who continued to serve alongside Kennedy (1950–1953), later served with G. H. W. Bush (1967–1971).
1835 was the year in which the most former and future presidents served together in Congress: six presidents (Representatives J.Q. Adams, Pierce, Fillmore, and Polk, and Senators Buchanan and Tyler), who all served under vice president (and future president) Martin Van Buren.
The time period between 1891 and 1915 (24 years) was the longest time period with no former or future presidents serving in Congress. In total, there were 65 years in which no former or future president was serving in Congress.
As of 2024, there were 10 presidents who served in both chambers of congress (J.Q. Adams, Jackson, Pierce, Buchanan, A. Johnson, Kennedy, L.B. Johnson, and Nixon), 2 presidents who served in both the Continental Congress and the Congress of the United States (Madison and Monroe), and 1 president who served in both the Congress of the United States and the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States (President John Tyler).

### Continental Congress

| President | State | Year(s) served | Body served |
| George Washington | Virginia | 1774–1775 | First Continental Congress |
| John Adams | Massachusetts | 1774–1777 | 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 1787–1788 | Second Continental Congress, Congress of the Confederation |
| James Monroe | Virginia | 1783–1786 | Congress of the Confederation |

## State and territorial government
### Governors

| State / Territory | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
| American-occupied zone of Germany | Dwight Eisenhower | 1945 | Military Governor |
| 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 | |
| New York | Grover Cleveland | 1883–1885 | |
| New York | Theodore Roosevelt | 1899–1900 | |
| New York | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1929–1932 | |
| Northwest Territory | William Henry Harrison | 1798–1799 | Acting Governor |
| Ohio | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1868–1872 | |
| Ohio | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1876–1877 | |
| Ohio | William McKinley | 1892–1896 | |
| Philippines | William Howard Taft | 1901–1904 | Governor-General |
| Tennessee | James K. Polk | 1839–1841 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Johnson | 1853–1857 | |
| Tennessee | Andrew Johnson | 1862–1865 | Military Governor |
| Texas | George W. Bush | 1995–2000 | |
| Virginia | Thomas Jefferson | 1779–1781 | |
| Virginia | James Monroe | 1799–1802 | |
| Virginia | James Monroe | 1811 | |
| Virginia | 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 | |
| Ohio Senate | James A. Garfield | 1859–1861 | |
| Ohio Senate | 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 | |
| Virginia House of Delegates | James Madison | 1776–1777 | |
| Virginia House of Delegates | James Monroe | 1782–1783 | |
| Virginia House of Delegates | John Tyler | 1811–1816 | |
| Virginia House of Delegates | John Tyler | 1823–1825 | |

### Other statewide offices

| President | Office and jurisdiction | Year(s) served |
| Andrew Jackson | Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court | 1798–1804 |
| 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 |

## Local government

| President | Office and jurisdiction | Year(s) served |
| George Washington | County surveyor in Mount Vernon | 1749–1751 |
| 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 | 1834–1835 |
| Grover Cleveland | Sheriff of Erie County, New York | 1871–1873 |
| Grover Cleveland | Mayor of Buffalo, New York | 1882–1883 |
| William Howard Taft | Judge on the Superior Court of Cincinnati | 1887–1890 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Superintendent of the New York Board of Police Commissioners | 1895–1897 |
| Calvin Coolidge | Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts | 1910–1911 |
| Harry S. Truman | Judge of Jackson County, Missouri's Eastern District | 1923–1925 |
| Harry S. Truman | Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri | 1927–1935 |
| Joe Biden | Member of the New Castle County, Delaware County Council | 1970–1972 |

## Presidents who had not previously held elective office
### With previous experience in government

| President | Term of office | Notes |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 1867–1868 | Acting Secretary of War |
| Herbert Hoover | 1929–1933 | Secretary of Commerce |
| Dwight Eisenhower | 1945 | Military Governor of American-occupied zone of Germany |

### With previous experience in the military

| President | Term of office | Position(s) |
| Major General Zachary Taylor | 1849–1850 | Major general in the United States Army |
| General of the Army of the United States Ulysses S. Grant | 1869–1877 | Commanding General of the United States Army (1864–1869) |
| General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953–1961 | Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952) |

### Without previous experience in government or the military

| President | Term of office | Notes |
| Donald Trump | 2017–2021, 2025–present | Chairman of The Trump Organization |

## Colonial governments
### Colonial and confederate legislators

| Legislature | President | Year(s) served | Notes |
| Confederate Congress | John Tyler | 1861–1862 | 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 | All served as regular members of their colonial legislature under the Kingdom of Great Britain before 1776. |
| Virginia House of Burgesses | Thomas Jefferson | 1769–1774 | All served as regular members of their colonial legislature under the Kingdom of Great Britain before 1776. |