What Did These Presidents Do Before They Took Office?

Herbert Hoover majored in geology at Stanford University. There, he also met his wife, who was the only woman in the geology major. Hoover’s work took him to Australia and China, and eventually all over the world for high-profile engineering jobs mining valuable mineral deposits. In 1908, he opened his mining consulting firm, and one year later, wrote the “Principles of Mining,” a leading textbook on the topic.

An 18-year-old James Madison left for Princeton in 1769. (Back then, it was known as the College of New Jersey.) Though the course was four years, Madison finished it in two. However, he was not yet satisfied with his education and decided to stay at the school for another year, taking more classes under the supervision of the university president. He wasn’t awarded an advanced degree, but today, the university acknowledges him as its very first graduate student.

Woodrow Wilson had an extensive educational background before becoming President in 1913. Wilson graduated from Princeton University in 1879, and after a short stint at law school, decided to study government and history at Johns Hopkins University. He graduated with his Ph.D. in 1886, becoming the only U.S. President to date to hold that degree.

Before he became the 35th President, John F. Kennedy served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In August 1943, Kennedy’s PT boat was rammed by a Japanese cruiser. Kennedy reportedly led his 10 crewmates on a three-mile swim to a nearby island, towing a badly injured crewmate with a life jacket strap as he swam. Upon his return home, he received the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Valor and a Purple Heart.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, had a successful career with the U.S. Postal Service before entering politics. He is the only President to be appointed and serve as postmaster. (Harry Truman was given the title but immediately turned it over to his assistant.) At 24 years old, Lincoln hand-delivered uncollected mail as part of his daily duties.

Harvard Business School class of 1975 alum George W. Bush became the first (and only, to date) U.S. President to obtain a Master of Business Administration when he took office in 2001. In Bush’s 1999 book, “A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House,” he credited Harvard with giving him the tools he needed for the business world, and later, the political world.

After graduating from Harvard with a law degree in 1991, Barack Obama moved to Chicago to pursue his career. There, he represented Black voters, community organizers, and victims of discrimination. He also lectured about civil rights law at the University of Chicago before entering the political arena. In 2008, he was elected the first Black President of the United States.

General George Washington’s heroic efforts commanding the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War against Great Britain earned him the title of the first President of the newly formed United States. Washington was elected in 1789, and today he is still the only President to ever be unanimously elected.

Dwight Eisenhower saw an impressive rise to power during WWII when, in just a few years, he went from a rather unknown lieutenant colonel to a four-star general, orchestrating some of the biggest moments of WWII. During his time in command, Eisenhower was named supreme commander in Operation Overlord, the 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe. He also launched the Allied forces on D-Day on June 6, 1944.

After tragically losing his wife and mother, Theodore Roosevelt left New York in 1884 and moved west. He settled in the Dakota badlands, where he lived as a successful frontiersman, buying 1,000 head of cattle and two ranches. He rode horses, herded cattle, and even chased outlaws as a frontier sheriff. He eventually returned to the East Coast in 1886 after a harsh winter took most of his cattle, and he resumed his career in politics.