Presidential Notes: Their other jobs
If someone asked what Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan did, most everyone would respond that they were United States Presidents. Not nearly so widely known is what many of the American Presidents did before and after their terms of office.
Military and government service in a wide range of positions and the practice of law is very common. Several of the presidents were teachers. They included John Adams, Garfield, Arthur, Wilson, Lyndon Johnson and Obama. Beyond these pursuits, the presidents represent an eclectic range of pre-presidential jobs and professions.
Two presidents were store owners. Lincoln owned a general merchandise store for a time, and Truman was a part owner of a haberdashery (a men’s clothing store). Both business ventures failed. Washington and Lincoln both served as surveyors in their early years. Thomas Jefferson was a widely regarded horticulturist in his day, and Andrew Johnson was a tailor. Grover Cleveland was a sheriff in Erie County, New York, in the 1870s, and in that position he served as the hangman at least one execution. Abraham Lincoln was a postmaster for a time.
Ronald Reagan was an actor and later the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Earlier in life he had served as a lifeguard. He is credited with saving numerous lives. Gerald Ford served on more than one occasion as a male model. Warren Harding was a newspaper editor, and John Kennedy served briefly as a journalist. George H. W. Bush was an oil executive. His son, George Bush, served in that capacity as well. The younger Bush was also part owner of a professional sports team, the Texas Rangers.
Carter was a Georgia peanut farmer before becoming president. Theodore Roosevelt was a rancher before his time in the White House, and Lyndon Johnson was a rancher after his term ended. Three presidents served in Washington after their terms. Taft became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. John Quincy Adams was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and Andrew Johnson, who was the first president to be impeached, served in the United States Senate following his single term as president. John Tyler was also elected to a House of Representatives. He, however, was elected to serve in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America.
Like the men who have served as president, the stops along the roads they took to get to the White House are unique and varied.
Mike McGough lives in Abbottstown and is a professor at York College.