11 US Presidents That Played College Sports

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There have been 45 different men to serve as President of the United States. A number of those politicians were recognized as athletes prior to their professional careers.

There are at least 11 US Presidents that played college sports at a high level before going onto lead the nation. Those athletic pursuits span across many different forms of competition.

Many in the Oval Office have expressed passions for athletics over the years, and each President is given the opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes by hosting national champions at the White House.

In the past, we’ve seen politics and sports intersect. It’s currently being seen as the NCAA continues to navigate a new world of NIL.

Maybe the most notable leader to impact college sports was Teddy Roosevelt. While he didn’t compete for any university, he reportedly had a large hand in the formation of the NCAA.

He stepped in when Harvard’s AD threatened to abolish football at the school. The result was the creation of the Inter Collegiate Athletic Association, which changed its name in 1910, and hands out the Theodore Roosevelt Award yearly in his honor.

US presidents that played college sports

Roosevelt’s action has paved the way for many Presidents that followed in regard to NCAA competition. Football seems to be the most popular sport amongst this particular list of notable athletes, though baseball, wrestling, swimming, sailing, and tennis are also represented.

Here, we’ll take a look at 11 US Presidents that played college sports. We’ll detail accomplishments and school affiliations starting with the earliest.

William Taft

Taft is known as being one of the heaviest US Presidents, believed to have reached 340 pounds on his 5-foot-11 frame while in the White House. It’s no surprise that he was a wrestling star while attending Yale.

He was much lighter in college, competing in the 225-pound class. At the time, the Bulldogs’ wrestling squad was an intermural team. Still, he is recognized as the school’s first intramural heavyweight champion.

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson spent one season on the Davidson baseball team where he played as an outfielder. His passions for history, however, might’ve outweighed his love of the game.

Friend and eventual North Carolina governor Robert Broadnax Glenn said, “When the team would be called out for practice, we’d have to drag him away from a book… but when he wanted to play, he was a star.”

Glenn described Wilson as the team’s best pinch hitter and a great defender. Wilson left Davidson after one year to transfer to Princeton.

Dwight Eisenhower

Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States of America. Prior to his presidency, he played football at Army.

He spent two seasons (one on the varsity team) with the Black Knights as a halfback and linebacker. Unfortunately, a severe leg injury ended his playing career. Despite the setback, he won the first ever Theodore Roosevelt Award in 1967.

He later went on to coach the Army JV team.

John F. Kennedy

Kennedy played multiple sports at Harvard, competing on the freshman teams in football, swim, and golf. He was on the small side for football, so he left the team after just one year.

Kennedy was also a star on a sailing crew that won an Eastern Collegiate Championship. He was recognized for his achievement in sailing by being inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club in 1998.

Richard Nixon

Nixon attended Whittier College in California during the early 1930s. He was both a class president and a member of the Poets’ football team.

Unfortunately, he never saw the field for Whittier. Still, he remained an avid football fan and was later inducted as an honorary member of the team’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Gerald Ford

Ford is the most accomplished member of this list starring as a center on two national championship winning teams. He started every game in his senior season for the Michigan Wolverines.

His number was retired by the university in 1994 but was later pulled to allow linebacker Desmond Morgan to wear No. 48 in 2012. After Michigan, Ford spurned NFL offers from the Packers and Lions to attend Yale Law School. There, he was an assistant football coach on the Bulldogs’ staff.

Ronald Reagan

Reagan lettered in football three seasons at Eureka College in Illinois. He played guard but might’ve been more widely known for his contributions to other teams.

Reagan was reportedly a star on the track and field squad while also suiting up for the swim team. He was inducted into the Eureka Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982.

After graduation, he worked briefly as a radio announcer covering the University of Iowa football team. He later portrayed Notre Dame halfback George Gipp in the 1940 film Knute Rockne: All-American.

George H.W. Bush
George HW Bush

Bush was a first baseman at Yale, competing in the first two College World Series ever played and reaching the title series in 1947. The Bulldogs’ home field is now named in his honor.

While Bush credits teammates for Yale’s success, he was named a team captain in his senior year. He was also a cheerleader at the school, like his father, and later, his son.

George W. Bush

The younger Bush spent one season as a pitcher for the Yale Bulldogs before making the switch to the club rugby squad. That said, his passion for baseball never left him.

Bush was later the owner of the Texas Rangers. He’s been seen throwing out multiple honorary first pitches over the years.

Donald Trump
Donald Trump attends a football game

Trump spent two years at Fordham University before transferring to Penn. He competed on both the tennis and squash teams for the Rams.

The current President was primarily a squash player, playing as both a freshman and a sophomore. He joined the tennis team ahead of his second year, spending one season with the squad.

Trump’s been vocal on the state of college sports, and more specifically non-revenue sports, in the modern era. He signed an executive order to “Save College Sports” following the introduction of NIL.

Joe Biden

Biden played one season on the football team at the University of Delaware. His parents made him leave the team after seeing his grades suffer as a freshman.

He attempted to return to the team as a senior. He wrote in his memoir that he had a chance to start as a defensive back after moving up the spring depth chart but quit the team a second time to pursue a long-distance relationship with his future first wife.

11 US Presidents That Played College Sports

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