Which US Presidents Served in the Military?

Thelma Raker Coffone is an award winning non-fiction writer. She enjoys sharing information about America's presidents and their families.

31 US Presidents Are Military Veterans

Currently, the United States has had a total of 44 people serve as president of the country. There are 31 presidents who are veterans and 13 who never served in the military.

Who are the 31 veterans, which branch of service were they in, and which war, if any, did they fight in?

List of Veteran Presidents

13 Presidents did not Serve in the Military

Of the 44 presidents, the following 13 are not veterans:

1. John Adams
2. John Quincy Adams
3. Martin Van Buren
4. Grover Cleveland
5. William Taft
6. Woodrow Wilson
7. Warren Harding
8. Calvin Coolidge
9. Herbert Hoover
10. Franklin D. Roosevelt
11. William Clinton
12. Barack Obama
13. Donald Trump

Why Not 45 Presidents?

You may be wondering if President Trump is referred to as president #45 why is the list of presidents above showing 44 presidents? Grover Cleveland served two terms but not consecutively. He is known as president #22 and #24. Consequently, there are 44 people who are presidents.

Test Your Knowledge of Little Known Facts of Veteran Presidents

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

1. Which naval aviator president parachuted out of his plane after being shot down over the Pacific?
   • Jimmy Carter
   • George H. W. Bush
   • John F. Kennedy
2. In 2001, which president posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his valor during the Spanish-American war?
   • Harry Truman
   • Franklin D. Roosevelt
   • Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt
3. Who was the West Point graduate who became one of just a few soldiers to attain the rank of 5 Star General?
   • George Washington
   • Dwight D. Eisenhower
   • Ulysses S. Grant
4. Who was the only president to receive the Purple Heart?
   • Abraham Lincoln
   • George H. W. Bush
   • Benjamin Harrison
5. Which president served as a messenger during the Revolutionary War at the young age of 13?
   • George Washington
   • Andrew Jackson
   • James Madison
6. This president had the very depressing job of burying the dead soldiers during the Black Hawk War?
   • Martin Van Buren
   • Abraham Lincoln
   • James Garfield
7. Which president was still in the Army when he died?
   • Theodore Roosevelt
   • Andrew Jackson
   • George Washington
8. Who only served 3 months in the military?
   • George W. Bush
   • Harry Truman
   • Abraham Lincoln
9. Which president who was labeled a "draft dodger" received a pardon from President Jimmy Carter in 1977?
   • George W. Bush
   • Barack Obama
   • Bill Clinton

Answer Key

1. Jimmy Carter
2. Harry Truman
3. George Washington
4. Abraham Lincoln
5. Andrew Jackson
6. Martin Van Buren
7. George Washington
8. George W. Bush
9. Bill Clinton

Do you Recognize These Presidents in Uniform?

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Answers:

1. Harry S. Truman
2. Gerald R. Ford
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. John F. Kennedy
5. George W. Bush

© 2019 Thelma Raker Coffone

Comments

Thelma Raker Coffone (author) from Blue Ridge Mountains, USA on January 23, 2020:

JC I didn't recognize Truman at first either. JFK was the easiest to recognize because I am old and I was alive during his presidency!

JC Scull on January 11, 2020:

Excellent article. I didn't recognize Truman at first. It took me a little while.

Umesh Chandra Bhatt from Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India on December 17, 2019:

Interesting article. Nice reading. Thanks.

N E Wright from Dover, Delaware on July 06, 2019:

Thank you for this article. Now let me just say I shamed myself in front of my teenage son taking your quiz that I failed miserably. 33% bad. Someone needs to refresh herself on Presidential history. Lol. I did not cheat. I could have cheated when my son offered to look the info up for me. I did not need him to see how much I did not know about our presidents, but I did not need him to see me cheat either. I should have know these things. This is part of being American. My total bad. Thanks again for the article. Nice my son read with me. Lol.

Doris James MizBejabbers from Beautiful South on July 01, 2019:

Gee, Thelma, I don't know much although I have a minor in history. I scored 33% on your quiz, and I didn't recognize the young Harry Truman in the photos. But then history in my day didn't teach much about our presidents' military service, except for Washington, Jackson and Roosevelt. I love history, and this is a very informative well-written article. I enjoyed it very much.

Larry Slawson from North Carolina on July 01, 2019:

Very informative article. Thank you for sharing!

FlourishAnyway from USA on June 30, 2019:

This was wonderful to know and I did terrible on your quiz. I’d love to know if there have been any academic studies about military service and leadership and how well they performed as President.