These Presidents Were Surprisingly Athletic
We expect our presidents to be great politicians but we certainly don’t expect them to be great athletes as well. But when you think about it, the sports that a president played can say a lot about their success in politics. People have theorized that a president who did well at a team sport like football and baseball tended to rely on staff members more, while those who played individual sports like golf or jogging were more inclined to make decisions on their own.
Whether or not sports have any connection to a president’s politics, we can be sure that they helped keep our commander in chiefs healthy throughout their years in the Oval Office.
Lincoln Was An Amateur Wrestler
Yep, you read that right. Honest Abe turned to $10 fights as a young man in Illinois. In the early 1930s, he developed an impressive record as an amateur wrestler after a saloonkeeper bet him that he couldn’t beat the champion of a nearby town.
While Lincoln might have looked thin and wiry, he was a lot stronger than you’d think. His long arms allowed him to fend off other wrestlers and deliver blows from far away. Lincoln ended up winning his inaugural fight and showed his true tenacity when it came to leading the Union in the Civil War.
FDR Started Swimming To Save His Life
The fifth cousin of Teddy Roosevelt chose a much less aggressive sport to keep in shape with. Franklin D. Roosevelt didn’t play many sports as a young adult and only took up swimming after being stricken by polio at age 39. The disease took away his ability to walk but FDR realized that water could support his weakened body.
He then began swimming three times a week and within a few months, he gained enough strength back to stand for short periods at a time. FDR’s love of swimming even led him to build a small, 50-foot-long pool inside the White House that is still there today.
Kennedy Played A Ton Of Sports In College
JFK was a seriously athletic guy in his younger years. He played left end and tackle on his prep school football team at Choate Hall. Kennedy then went on to swim for the varsity team at Harvard. Unfortunately, he cut both of those sports short when Addison’s disease began to plague his body.
With severe back pain and a lack of energy, Kennedy took up the sport of golf to stay active. Golf wasn’t just a hobby though. According to a biographer, Kennedy had a “lyric swing and was told that if he was healthy, he “could have been a professional golfer.”
George H.W. Bush Loved Nearly Every Sport
When George H.W. Bush became president in 1989, he was known for being an all-around athlete. The former president’s biographer said “sailing, skydiving, horseshoes, fishing, tennis, and golf—you name the sport, and he was good at it.” While H.W. might have been a natural at all sports he excelled at one in particular: baseball.
When he returned from service in WWII, Buh became an all-star fielder for Yale’s varsity baseball team. With a .992 fielding percentage, he twice led the Yale Bulldogs to the College World Series. In his later life, Bush Sr. was often invited to throw out the first pitch at major league baseball games.
Gerald Ford Was An All-American Linebacker
During his presidency, Ford was mocked by Saturday Night Live for his clumsiness but in reality, he’s probably one of the most athletic people to serve in America’s highest office. As a teenager, Ford played center and linebacker and the University of Michigan football team. Under his wing, the team won two national championships. Ford actually turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers after graduating.
Instead, he chose to become a Navy officer. Once he reached the White House, the 38th president swam on a daily basis, loved to ski, golf, and play tennis.
Richard Nixon Was A Benchwarmer
When the 37th president attended Whittier College in California, his dream of being a varsity lineman was crushed. Nixon was small for a lineman and spent most of his college days riding the bench. Still, he was known for attending every practice even if it meant he was used as “scrap iron.”
While Nixon remained a devoted football fan all his life, when he reached the White House he became more famous as a bowler. Nixon installed a new single-lane bowling ally in the basement of the White House. Both he and his wife Pat would bowl every night.
Jimmy Carter Was A Track Star
At first glance, Jimmy Carter doesn’t look like the greatest athlete. His goofy smile and love of peanut farming wouldn’t make you guess that he was a star on his high school tennis and basketball teams. While Carter enjoyed the team sports, he excelled at individual competition and was a track star. At the U.S. Naval Academy, he ran cross-country and was a pole vaulter.
As president, Carter continued to jog every morning, play tennis, and occasionally golf. As he grew older his real passion was for outdoor sports though, and Carter loved to fish, hike, and hunt at Camp David.
Obama Breaks Ankles On The Basketball Court
The 44th president developed a fan base devoted to his court skills. Barack Obama’s love of basketball began when he was a young child living in Hawaii. He recalled playing pickup games every day on a court near his school. As a left-handed forward, Obama even led his high school team to the state championship game.
During his time at the White House, Obama’s basketball skills routinely became a point of competition between him and his staff. He would play games against his aide that played basketball at Duke, and his Secretary of Education who played at Harvard.
Clinton Loved Jogging
Bill Clinton was and still is an avid jogger. He ran track throughout high school and college and kept up the habit when he entered politics. Clinton was known in the White House for going on daily jogs and even made headlines for doing it in some scanty jogging shorts. For him, it was a “temporary mental escape from the White House.”
While Clinton loved to stay active while jogging, his Secret Service detail hated it. The agent in charge called it a “nightmare” because Clinton loved to meet with people while jogging, which made it really difficult to protect him.
Eisenhower Was A Varsity Football Player
The rough and tough leader of the WW2 Allied forces was also a leader on the football field. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a star halfback and linebacker on his varsity football team at the military academy, West Point. In November 1912, Eisenhower recalled playing the game of his life against the Carlyle Indian School, whose football team was headed by renowned athlete Jim Thorpe.
Eisenhower apparently “dreamed of hitting Thorpe hard enough to knock him out.” Unfortunately, the opposite played out and it was Eisenhower that suffered a knee injury. Luckily the injury didn’t affect his military career and he could go on to defeat Hitler.
Trump Sure Does Love To Golf
The current president’s love of golf has gained quite a lot of attention in the media. Trump owns 17 golf courses under The Trump Organization. He began collecting and constructing golf courses in 1999 but his love for the sport goes back to his college years. He began playing when he attended the University of Pennsylvania and has even written that golf is not just a game, “it is a passion.”
During the few moments that he’s not playing golf, Trump also likes to play tennis at country clubs and at the White House’s tennis courts.
Bush Jr. Was Also A Baseball Player
Like his father, George W. Bush also took a liking to baseball. He played on the same varsity team as his father at Yale but he just didn’t have the same passion or talent. Bush Jr. was a relief pitcher who only made his way into three games. After giving up sports for a short while, Bush Jr. took up running in order to get back in shape.
In 1993, Bush Jr. finished the Houston Marathon with a time of 3:44:52 and as president, he competed in a three-mile race. One of his former Secret Service agents admitted that “few agents could keep up with him when he ran.”
Harry Truman Adored College Football
Growing up as a poor farmer, Truman wished all his life that he could play football. He applied to West Point military academy for college since there was no tuition, but he was refused entry because he had poor eyesight. That left him to turn to becoming a soldier rather than playing football.
Even though he never played, he adored the sport all his life. He still holds the record for attending the most Army vs. Navy games while in office. Truman also attended to most college football games overall while in office.
Taft Was A Heavyweight Wrestling Champion
As one of the more heavyset men to sit in the Oval Office, many people have assumed that William Howard Taft wasn’t the most athletic, but they’d be wrong. Taft was an avid wrestler at Yale College and was actually crowed the intramural heavyweight wrestling champion.
Taft credits his family for his love and success in wrestling. The 27th president grew up with four brothers. Anyone with siblings knows that wrestling and fighting are unavoidable. Taft learned to wrestle and protect himself as a kid and that carried over to his college days.
Wilson Coached A Rugby Team
Before becoming one of the most memorable presidents of the 20th century, Wilson was just like any other college kid who desperately wanted to make his school’s baseball team. Wilson attended Davidson for a year where it played on the freshman team. One year later, he transferred to Princeton where he chose instead of coach rugby rather than play himself.
He turned to a different sport later in his life, one that influenced his presidential policy. Read on to learn which one he chose!
Hoover Managed A Football Team
Yet another president who didn’t actually play the sport they love, Herbert Hoover made up for it with his business skills. Knowing that he wasn’t athletic enough to make the Stanford football team, Hoover instead offered to be the team’s business manager and even claimed he would sell out their games.
Hoover must have had a calling when it came to business because not only did he sell out tickets to Stanford’s game, he actually ran out and had to take coins at the gate.
Reagan Loved Sports So Much He Was A Sportscaster
The actor-turned-politician always had a love for anything athletic. In high school, Reagan played football, captained the swim team, and ran track. In his spare time, he also loved to ride horseback with his wife Nancy.
Reagan loved athletics so much that he worked as a sportscaster calling games. He called various Iowa football games and even broadcasted the 1932 World Series game that was famous for Babe Ruth’s called shot.
Grant Made Baseball Popular In America
The 18th president of the United States who led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War also had a deep love of baseball. He was the sitting president at the time when the National Baseball Association and the National League was formed. Grant attended early games as a show of support.
During his presidency, he was also said to have joined in with boys who used to play baseball on a field behind the White House. In 1868, supporters of Grant and supporters of the candidate opposing him faced off in a fun baseball game.
Harding Golfed Until His Final Breath
Warren G. Harding is often forgotten in presidential history because he died in office after suffering from a heart attack. As a result, he was in office for barely two years. Still, those two years were enough time to fit in quite a few rounds of gold.
Harding loved golf so much that not long after being elected, he went on a golf trip instead of making important decisions. When Congress passed the resolution to formally removed the U.S. from WWI, Harding was playing golf in New Jersey. Unsurprisingly, his apparent love for golf more than his country left him to be one of the worst-rated presidents in history.
Theodore Roosevelt Was An Avid Boxer And Outdoorsman
Teddy Roosevelt is by far one of the more athletic presidents. He was an avid outdoorsman all his life and tried any sport he could. His passion for athletics came after being sick as a child. After that, he vowed to build up his body and began entering himself into boxing tournaments. What Teddy lacked in skill he made up with fierceness.
The 26th president kept up the sport after he entered the White House. He was known for engaging in sparring sessions with some of his White House aides. One fight even left him with a permanent eye injury!
George Washington Excelled At Many Sports
You can add the nation’s very first president to this list. That’s right – George Washington was a multi-talented athlete! He stood at a towering six feet and two inches and had an incredible throwing arm. According to one report, he participated in an iron bar-throwing contest at Mount Vernon in 1773.
Artist Charles Willson Peale was there and wrote of the event: “no sooner…did that heavy iron bar feel the grasp of his mighty hand than it lost the power of gravitation and whizzed through the air, striking the ground far, very far, beyond our utmost limits. As he walked away, Washington slyly observed, ‘When you beat my pitch, young gentlemen, I’ll try again.'”
Washington Was Also An Accomplished Horseman
Thomas Jefferson once called George Washington “the best horseman of the age.” He had a lifelong love of horsemanship that started when he was very young. Washington personally checked on his horses’ conditions and closely supervised their care. He even wrote a journal entry about riding a horse across a river in Maryland when he was just 14 years old.
He owned many horses during his lifetime, but his favorites were Nelson and Blueskin, which were both gifted to him during the Revolutionary War. Washington brought both of them home to Mount Vernon when the war was over.
Teddy Roosevelt Took Up Jiu Jitsu Later In Life
After receiving a permanent eye injury during a wrestling match, Roosevelt took up the Japanese martial art Jiu Jitsu. He’d often talk about the sport to people visiting the White House. One visitor named Robert Johnstone Mooney recalled a conversation with Roosevelt during one of these visits.
“[He] sprang to his feet and excitedly asked: ‘By the way, do you boys understand jiu-jitsu?’ We replied in the negative, and he continued, pounding the air with his arms, ‘You must promise me to learn that without delay. You are so good in other athletics that you must add jiu-jitsu to your other accomplishments. Every American athlete ought to understand the Japanese system thoroughly.’” Above is a political cartoon from Roosevelt’s era.
Woodrow Wilson Was Also A Cyclist
Later in his life, Wilson took up cycling as a way to stay active. He went on several cycling trips in England and once even rode more than 200 miles from York to London. His love of cycling led him to become a powerful advocate for road improvement, and he wrote this policy during his 1916 presidential election campaign:
“The happiness, comfort and prosperity of rural life, and the development of the city, are alike conserved by the construction of public highways. We, therefore, favor national aid in the construction of post roads and roads for military purposes.”
Ronald Reagan Was A Lifeguard
Ronald Reagan was such a good swimmer that he worked as a part-time lifeguard as a teenager. He is said to have rescued 77 people in that job! He continued swimming after becoming president, in the White House pool, the swimming pools at Camp David, and at his own California ranch.
In addition, he was honored with a gold medallion at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Upon his passing, the president of the International Swimming Hall of Fame said, “Publicizing [Reagan’s] lifelong love affair with our sport could have done wonders for its growth and popularity.”
There Was A Bowling Alley In The White House Named For Truman
Although Harry Truman didn’t bowl frequently, he greatly admired the sport and supported White House employees who formed a bowling league in 1950. The league’s teams included a variety of staff, from secretaries to groundskeepers to Secret Service agents and everyone in between.
In 1947, bowling lanes were built in the ground floor of the West Wing as a birthday gift for the president. That area is now the Situation Room. As we read earlier, President Nixon built another bowling lane during his time in office.
