12 U.S. presidents who played high school sports

It’s political debate season leading up to the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

But here’s something else to debate: What if high school sports were more prevalent in the 1700s and 1800s?

What if we could have seen a teenage Theodore Roosevelt on the edge with William Howard Taft trying block him? Or Andrew Jackson at corner shutting down wideout William Henry Harrison? (And trying to convince Jackson that guns aren’t allowed on the gridiron).

Those are dreams, but the reality is that 12 U.S. presidents played high school sports. The only one of the past 13 presidents who didn’t play high school sports is Bill Clinton (a huge sports fan, especially when it comes to the Arkansas Razorbacks).

Here are all the U.S. presidents who played high school sports, starting with the most recent president and heading back through the years.

Biden played football and baseball for the Archmere Academy Auks, but football was by far his better sport. He played outfield on the baseball team and was a star wide receiver in football.

Trump was a three-sport athlete at New York Military Academy, playing one season each of football and soccer, but his best sport was baseball, where he pitched and played first base. 

Obama — then known as Barry Obama — won a high school basketball state championship with the Punahou Buff ‘N Blue in 1979. The lefty went on to play for Occidental College in California in the early ’80s.

Bush was a three-sport athlete at Phillips Academy, playing baseball, basketball and football and known for his scrappiness at all three. Once at Yale, he found a new sport that suited his scrappiness: rugby.

No, Bill Clinton didn’t play any high school sports, but George H.W. Bush sure did. He’s a baseball legend at Phillips Academy, and he went on to become a star first baseman at Yale. He also played soccer for Phillips Academy.

Reagan was a star offensive guard/tackle for the football team and played basketball in high school. He was also an accomplished swimmer but there wasn’t a high school swim team, though he swam and played football for Eureka College in Illinois.

Carter played basketball at Plains High School, which closed in 1997 and is now the site of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site visitor’s center and museum. He ran cross-country at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Ford played on the football, basketball and track teams for Grand Rapids South, but football was his forte. As good of a lineman as Reagan was, Ford was much better. He went on to win two national championships at Michigan and was the Wolverines’ captain as a senior center in 1934.

Nixon followed the same athletic slate as Ford in high school sports — football, basketball and track — and like Ford, football was his favorite. But he was better at basketball, which he went on to play for Whittier College (and also subbing on the football team).

Johnson’s senior class comprised just six students, and he graduated at age 15, but he reportedly played high school baseball. Co-op, or maybe everyone at Johnson City High School in 1924 played baseball? The school was renamed Lyndon Baines Johnson HS in 1963.

Kennedy played left end and tackle on the 1932 Choate Hall football team. He went on to play football and compete on the swim team at Harvard, but back problems ended his athletic career.

Abilene High School had no organized sports, so Eisenhower and his friends formed the Abilene Athletic Association to compete with other area high schools. He played baseball and football, graduating in 1909 and going on to play the latter at West Point, where he famously got injured trying to tackle Jim Thorpe.

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— Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

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For more information, visit si.com/high-school.