American presidents who were also farmers
George Washington
President: 1789-1797
Although not actually getting his hands dirty, Washington had a large plantation in Mount Vernon, Virginia. He was innovative for his time, for example by applying crop rotation and to introduce grain growing in an area that primarily cultivated tobacco.
John Adams
President: 1797-1801
Together with his wife Abigail, Adams John ran a production company called Peacefield, in Quincy, Massachusetts. His 16 hectares included an orchard. He left his business to his son and sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams.
Thomas Jefferson
President: 1801-1809
After having governed the United States for eight years, Thomas Jefferson went back to his farm. The former president liked experimenting in his garden at Monticello, and cultivated another 2,000 hectares of nearby farmland with a total of 330 different fruit and vegetable varieties. He experimented with different varieties, more than 100 different types of fruit trees and exotic species.
James Monroe
President: 1817-1825
The fifth US president had a farm that started in 1724, and has been in operation to this very day. After two terms in Washington, James Monroe returned to his ranch to write his memoirs.
William Henry Harrison
1841-1841
This unknown president was President of the United States for exactly 32 days. William had already retired to his farm in Ohio when he was elected US president. He died of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history.
John C. Tyler
1841-1845
The tenth president of the United States owned Walnut Grove in Virginia. The company was first owned by his predecessor William Henry Harrison. Tyler changed the company's name in Sherwood Forest.
James K. Polk
1845-1849
James Polk was ten when he moved over the Appalachians with his family to set up a farm in Tennessee. The health of the young James was not always very good and even though he grew up in the countryside, he chose to become a lawyer.
Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
Abraham Lincoln is probably the most famous presidents in this list. He grew up on the borders of the US, first in Illinois on the Sinking Springs Farm, later on Knob Creek Farm. Eventually he transformed the US agricultural system by creating the Ministry of Agriculture. He also played a major role in the establishment of the Land Grant System and the Homestead Act.
Ulysses S. Grant
1869-1877
Not known as a good farmer, in fact Grant is said to have been a lousy farmer. In between military exploits, farming was just one of the things he tried.
Theodore Roosevelt
1901-1909
It’s his efforts as a rancher that gave Theodore Roosevelt the rough and adventurous image. Roosevelt was a lifelong rancher (he lost his flock almost entirely during a severe winter) and in later life busied himself with the establishment of national parks and nature conservation.
Harry Truman
1945-1953
At the age of 22, Harry Truman decided to quit his job as a banker and return to the family farm in Grandview, Missouri. He spent the next eleven years helping out with milking, feeding and kitchen work.
Lyndon Johnson
1963-1969
Johnson grew up on his uncle’s farm. Later he started his own LBJ Ranch where he kept cattle. Lyndon Johnson made daily calls to hear how things were faring on the farm. The ranch was visited by President Nixon and the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, among others.
Jimmy Carter
1977-1981
Carter’s parents had a peanut company outside Plains, Georgia, where Jimmy grew up. By the time he took over the farm, the company was transformed into a distribution and storage center.
Ronald Reagan
1981-1989
Despite appearances, Reagan had no real peasant background, and his ranch served mainly as a refuge outside the White House. On his Rancho del Cielo in California he kept horses.
Bill Clinton
1993-2001
Raised in Arkansas, he spent much time on several family farms, especially livestock farms.
George W. Bush
2001-2009
The former president is a rancher at heart. Located in Crawford, Texas, the Prairie Chapel Ranch sports over 640 hectares of land.