This is a list of presidents of the United States by other offices (either elected or appointed) held. Every president 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Vice President
! President served under
! Year(s) served
! Notes
|-
|
|
| 1789–1797
| Incumbent vice president succeeded Washington after winning the 1796 election
|-
|
|
| 1797–1801
| Incumbent vice president succeeded Adams after winning the 1800 election
|-
|
|
| 1833–1837
| Incumbent vice president succeeded Jackson after winning the 1836 election
|-
|
|
| 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
|-
|
|
| 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
|-
|
|
| 1865
| Became president after Lincoln's assassination, lost nomination for the Democratic Party in 1868 election bid
|-
|
|
| 1881
| Became president after Garfield's assassination, failed to secure the Republican Party nomination in 1884 election bid
|-
|
|
| 1901
| Became president after McKinley's assassination, later elected to own term in 1904
|-
|
|
| 1921–1923
| Became president after Harding's death, later elected to own term in 1924
|-
|
|
| 1945
| Became president after Roosevelt's death, later elected to own term in 1948
|-
|
|
| 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
|-
|
|
| 1961–1963
| Became president after Kennedy's assassination, later elected to own term in 1964
|-
|
|
| 1973–1974
| Became president after Nixon's resignation, lost the 1976 election in bid for own term
|-
|
|
| 1981–1989
| Incumbent vice president succeeded Reagan after winning the 1988 election
|-
|
|
| 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 (Richard Mentor Johnson, John C. Breckinridge, Levi P. Morton, Adlai Stevenson I, Charles W. Fairbanks, John Nance Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Alben W. Barkley, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Mike Pence, and Kamala 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, Joe Biden was the third former vice president to try for the presidency, and the second to win the presidency post-vice presidency. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson would become president after a presidential death in office and go onto win their own subsequent elections.
Cabinet secretaries
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Secretary
! Office
! President served under
! Year(s) served
|-
|
| rowspan="3" | Secretary of State
|
| 1790–1793
|-
|
|
| 1801–1809
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| 1811–1817
|-
| Secretary of War
| 1814–1815
|-
|
| rowspan="3" | Secretary of State
|
| 1817–1825
|-
|
|
| 1829–1831
|-
|
|
| 1845–1849
|-
|
| Acting Secretary of War
|
| 1867–1868
|-
|
| Secretary of War
|
| 1904–1908
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" | Secretary of Commerce
|
| rowspan="2" | 1921–1928
|-
|
|}
Calvin Coolidge (as the vice president) and Herbert Hoover both served in the Cabinet of Warren G. Harding.
Ambassadors
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Position
! President served under
! Year(s) served
|-
|
| Minister to Britain
| rowspan="2" | Congress of the Confederation
| 1785–1788
|-
|
| rowspan="2" | Minister Plenipotentiary to France
| 1785–1789
|-
| rowspan="2" |
|
| 1794–1796
|-
| Minister to Britain
|
| 1803–1807
|-
| rowspan="4" |
| Minister to the Netherlands
| <br>
| 1794–1797
|-
| Minister to Germany||
| 1797–1801
|-
| Minister to Russia
|
| 1809–1814
|-
| rowspan="2" | Minister to Britain
|
| 1815–1817
|-
|
|
| 1831–1832
|-
|
| Minister to Gran Colombia
|
| 1828–1829
|-
|
| Minister to Britain
|
| 1853–1856
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| Ambassador to the United Nations
|
| 1971–1973
|-
| Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing
|
| 1974–1975
|}
Other federal appointees
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Office
! President appointed by
! Year(s) served
|-
|
| United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire
|
| 1845–1847
|-
|
| Collector of the Port of New York
|
| 1871–1878
|-
| rowspan=2|
| Member, United States Civil Service Commission
|
| 1889–1895
|-
| Assistant Secretary of the Navy
|
| 1897–1898
|-
|
| Solicitor General
|
| 1890–1892
|-
|
| Assistant Secretary of the Navy
|
| 1913–1920
|-
|
| Director of Central Intelligence
|
| 1976–1977
|}
Judicial branch
Chief Justice of the United States
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! State
! President
! Year(s) served
! Notes
|-
| California
|
| 1950–1953
|Resigned to become vice president
|-
| Delaware
|
| 1973–2009
|Resigned to become vice president
|-
| Indiana
|
| 1881–1887
|
|-
| Illinois
|
| 2005–2008
| Third sitting senator elected to the presidency
|-
| rowspan=2 | Massachusetts
|
| 1803–1808
|
|-
|
| 1953–1960
| Second sitting senator elected to the presidency
|-
| Missouri
|
| 1935–1945
|Resigned to become vice president
|-
| New Hampshire
|
| 1837–1842
|
|-
| New York
|
| 1821–1828
|
|-
| rowspan= 2 | Ohio
|
| 1825–1828
|
|-
|
| 1915–1921
| First sitting senator elected to the presidency
|-
| Pennsylvania
|
| 1834–1845
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | Tennessee
| rowspan=2 |
| 1797–1798
|
|-
| 1823–1825
|
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| 1857–1862
|
|-
| 1875
| Only former president in the Senate
|-
| Texas ||
| 1949–1961
| Senate minority leader 1953–1955<br>Senate majority leader 1955–1961<br>Resigned to become vice president
|-
| rowspan=2 | Virginia
|
| 1790–1794
| First former senator to become president
|-
|
| 1827–1836
| Only former president pro tempore to become president
|}
A number of future presidents served together while in the Senate:
- James Monroe served under Vice President John Adams (1790–1794).
- Andrew Jackson served under Vice President Thomas Jefferson (1797–1798). Jackson later served with Martin Van Buren (1823–1825). Van Buren also served with William Henry Harrison (1825–1828) and John Tyler (1827–1828). James Buchanan also served with Tyler (1834–1836) and later served with Franklin Pierce (1837–1842). Both Buchanan and Tyler served under Van Buren (1833–1837), while Buchanan and Pierce briefly served under Tyler (1841).
- Benjamin Harrison briefly served under Vice President Chester A. Arthur (1881).
- Lyndon B. Johnson served with both Richard Nixon (1950–1953) and John F. Kennedy (1953–1960). Johnson and Kennedy both served under Nixon (1953–1961).
- Joe Biden served under vice presidents Gerald Ford (1973–1974) and George H. W. Bush (1981–1989) and later served with Barack 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.
Representatives
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! State
! President
! Year(s) served
! Notes
|-
| California
|
| 1947–1950
|
|-
| Illinois
|
| 1847–1849
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Massachusetts
|
| 1831–1848
| Only former president in the House of Representatives
|-
|
| 1947–1953
|
|-
| Michigan ||
| 1949–1973
| House minority leader 1965–1973<br>Resigned to become vice president
|-
| New Hampshire
|
| 1833–1837
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | New York
| rowspan="2" |
| 1833–1835
|
|-
| 1837–1843
|
|-
| Northwest Territory
|
| 1799–1800
| Served as a non-voting delegate
|-
| rowspan=5 | Ohio
|
| 1816–1819
|
|-
|
| 1865–1867
|
|-
|
| 1863–1880
| Republican floor leader 1877–1880<br>Only sitting representative elected to the presidency
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| 1877–1883
|
|-
| 1885–1891
|
|-
| Pennsylvania
|
| 1821–1831
|
|-
| rowspan=3 | Tennessee
|
| 1796–1797
|
|-
|
| 1825–1839
| Only former speaker to become president
|-
|
| 1843–1853
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Texas
|
| 1937–1949
|
|-
|
| 1967–1971
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Virginia
|
| 1789–1797
| First former representative to become president
|-
|
| 1816–1821
|
|}
A number of future and former presidents served in the House together:
- Andrew Jackson served with James Madison (1796–1797).
- William Henry Harrison served with John Tyler (1816–1819).
- James Buchanan served with James K. Polk (1825–1831). Polk also served with John Quincy Adams (1831–1839). Adams later served with Millard Fillmore (1833–1835; 1837–1843), Franklin Pierce (1833–1837), Andrew Johnson (1843–1848), and Abraham Lincoln (1847–1848). Johnson and Lincoln would continue to serve alongside each other (1848–1849).
- James A. Garfield served with both Rutherford B. Hayes (1865–1867) and William McKinley (1877–1880).
- Richard Nixon served with Lyndon B. Johnson (1947–1949), John F. Kennedy (1947–1950), and Gerald Ford (1949–1950). Ford, who continued to serve alongside Kennedy (1950–1953), later served with George H. W. Bush (1967–1971).
1835 was the year in which the most former and future presidents served together in Congress: six presidents (Representatives 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 (John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon), two presidents who served in both the Continental Congress and the Congress of the United States (James Madison and James Monroe), and one president who served in both the U.S. Congress and the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States (John Tyler).
Continental Congress
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! State
! Year(s) served
! Body served
|-
|
| Virginia
| 1774–1775
| First Continental Congress
|-
|
| Massachusetts
| 1774–1777
| First Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress
|-
|
| rowspan="3" | Virginia
| 1775–1776<br>1783–1784
| Second Continental Congress, Congress of the Confederation
|-
|
| 1780–1783<br>1787–1788
| Second Continental Congress, Congress of the Confederation
|-
|
| 1783–1786
| Congress of the Confederation
|}
State and territorial government
Governors
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! State / Territory
! President
! Year(s) served
! Notes
|-
| American occupation zone in Germany
|
| 1945
| Military governor
|-
| rowspan=2 | Arkansas
| rowspan=2 |
| 1979–1981
|
|-
| 1983–1992
|
|-
| California
|
| 1967–1975
|
|-
| Cuba
|
| 1906
| Provisional governor
|-
| Florida Territory
|
| 1821
| Military governor
|-
| Georgia
|
| 1971–1975
|
|-
| Indiana Territory
|
| 1801–1813
|
|-
| Louisiana District
|
| 1804–1805
| Interim authority
|-
| Massachusetts
|
| 1919–1921
|
|-
| New Jersey
|
| 1911–1913
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | New York
|
| 1829
|
|-
|
| 1883–1885
|
|-
|
| 1899–1900
|
|-
|
| 1929–1932
|
|-
| Northwest Territory
|
| 1798–1799
| Acting governor
|-
| rowspan=3 | Ohio
| rowspan=2 |
| 1868–1872
|
|-
| 1876–1877
|
|-
|
| 1892–1896
|
|-
| Philippines
|
| 1901–1904
| Governor-general
|-
| rowspan=3 | Tennessee
|
| 1839–1841
|
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| 1853–1857
|
|-
| 1862–1865
| Military governor
|-
| Texas
|
| 1995–2000
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | Virginia
|
| 1779–1781
|
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| 1799–1802
|
|-
| 1811
|
|-
|
| 1825–1827
|
|}
State legislators
: See below for information about pre-1776 colonial offices held.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! State legislature
! President
! Year(s)served
! Notes
|-
| Georgia State Senate
|
| 1963–1967
|
|-
| Illinois House of Representatives
|
| 1834–1842
|
|-
| Illinois Senate
|
| 1997–2004
|
|-
| Massachusetts House of Representatives
|
| 1907–1909
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Massachusetts Senate
|
| 1802
|
|-
|
| 1912–1915
|
|-
| New Hampshire House of Representatives
|
| 1829–1833
| Speaker of the House, 1832–1833
|-
| rowspan="2"| New York Senate
|
| 1812–1820
|
|-
|
| 1911–1913
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| New York State Assembly
|
| 1829–1831
|
|-
|
| 1882–1884
| Assembly minority leader in 1883
|-
| rowspan="3"| Ohio Senate
|
| 1819–1821
|
|-
|
| 1859–1861
|
|-
|
| 1899–1903
|
|-
| Pennsylvania House of Representatives
|
| 1814–1816
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Tennessee House of Representatives
|
| 1823–1825
|
|-
|
| 1835–1837
|
|-
| Tennessee Senate
|
| 1841–1843
|
|-
| rowspan="5"| Virginia House of Delegates
|
| 1776–1779
|
|-
|
| 1776–1777
|
|-
|
| 1782–1783
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|
| 1811–1816
|
|-
| 1823–1825
|
|}
Other statewide offices
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Office and jurisdiction
! Year(s) served
|-
|
| Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court
| 1798–1804
|-
|
| Attorney General of New York
| 1815–1819
|-
|
| New York State Comptroller
| 1847–1849
|-
|
| Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
| 1904–1906
|-
|
| Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
| 1916–1919
|-
|
| Attorney General of Arkansas
| 1977–1979
|}
Local government
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Office and jurisdiction
! Year(s) served
|-
|
| County surveyor in Mount Vernon
| 1749–1751
|-
|
| Surrogate of Columbia County, New York
| 1808–1812
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Postmaster of New Salem, Illinois
| 1832–1833
|-
| County Surveyor for Sangamon County, Illinois
| 1833–1834
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Alderman, Greeneville, Tennessee
| 1828–1830
|-
| Mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee
| 1834–1835
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Sheriff of Erie County, New York
| 1871–1873
|-
| Mayor of Buffalo, New York
| 1882–1883
|-
|
| Judge on the Superior Court of Cincinnati
| 1887–1890
|-
|
| Superintendent of the New York Board of Police Commissioners
| 1895–1897
|-
|
| Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts
| 1910–1911
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Judge of Jackson County, Missouri's Eastern District
| 1923–1925
|-
| Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri
| 1927–1935
|-
|
| Member of the New Castle County, Delaware County Council
| 1970–1972
|-
|}
Presidents who had not previously held elective office
With previous experience in government
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Term of office
! Notes
|-
|
| 1867–1868
| Acting Secretary of War
|-
|
| 1929–1933
| Secretary of Commerce
|-
|
|1945
| Military governor of the American occupation zone in Germany
|}
With previous experience in the military
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Term of office
! Position(s)
|-
| Major General
| 1849–1850
| Major general in the United States Army
|-
| General of the Army of the United States
| 1869–1877
| Commanding General of the United States Army (1864–1869)
|-
| General of the Army
| 1953–1961
| Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952)
|}
Without previous experience in government or the military
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! President
! Term of office
! Notes
|-
| Donald Trump
| 2017–2021, 2025–present
| Chairman of The Trump Organization
|}
Colonial governments
Colonial and confederate legislators
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Legislature
! President
! Year(s) served
! Notes
|-
| Confederate Congress
|
| 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
|
| 1768–1774
| rowspan="3"| All served as regular members of their colonial legislature under the Kingdom of Great Britain before 1776.
|-
| rowspan="2"| Virginia House of Burgesses
|
| 1758–1774
|-
|
| 1769–1774
|}
See also
- List of former presidents of the United States who ran for office
- List of vice presidents of the United States by other offices held