U.S. Presidents Playing Sports

SI Staff | Feb 17, 2014

U.S. Presidents Playing Sports /

U.S. Presidents Playing Sports

A young Dwight Eisenhower kicks a football during a practice session at West Point in 1912.

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, plays golf in 1916.

Warren Harding, the 29th President of the United States, plays golf in 1922.

A 10-year-old John F. Kennedy suited up for football in 1927 at the Dexter School in Brookline, Mass.

A young Richard Nixon dons his football attire while playing pigskin at Whittier High School, circa 1928.

Gerald Ford poses ready to snap the ball while a star center at Michigan in 1934.

Babe Ruth presents Yale baseball captain and first baseman George H. W. Bush the original manuscript of "The Babe Ruth Story" in 1948 at Yale Field in New Haven, Conn.

Actor Ronald Reagan gets some firsthand instruction from Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Lemon in 1951 at Burbank, Calif. Reagan has the role of Pete Alexander, the great Grover Cleveland Alexander of pitching fame, and Lemon is trying to add realism to Reagan's task. Reagan, incidentally, had played baseball at Eureka College in Illinois.

Dwight Eisenhower enjoys a laugh with Arnold Palmer before a round of golf in 1960 at the Gettysburg Country Club in Gettysburg, Penn.

John F. Kennedy tees off in 1963 at The Hyannis Port Country Club in Massachusetts.

Ronald Reagan watches his tee shot on the first hole of LA Country Club where he played a round of golf in 1976.

Jimmy Carter jogs with a Secret Service agent at the Prairie Du Chien High football field in Wisconsin.

Jimmy Carter tosses a pitch during a softball game between the alumni of Plains High and Carter's Secret Service team. The softball game was part of the closing of the Peanut Festival in Plains, Ga.

Bill Clinton takes aim with a bow as he tours the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

clinton.2.jpg — Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Bill Clinton enjoys a cigar while shooting a round at Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.

George W. Bush hits out of the rough as he finishes up a round at Cape Arundel Golf Club.

George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, joined by CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, play golf in 2005 at the Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Senator Barack Obama shoots a layup in 2007 at Spencer Family YMCA in Des Moines, Iowa.

Barack Obama reacts to a putt on the ninth green during his golf match in 2009 at Mid-Pacific County Club in Kailua, Hawaii.

Barack Obama plays with a "soccket" ball, a soccer ball that captures the energy during game play to charge LEDs and small batteries, alongside Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete (left) during a demonstration in 2013 at the Ubungo Plaza Symbion Power Plant in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Published Feb 17, 2014

SI STAFF