This Should Be Easy...Right?
Fifty states, more than two centuries of presidents, and somehow fewer than half the states have been the birthplace of a future president. So, can you name 8...at least?
Universal History Archive, Getty Images
Illinois
The “Land of Lincoln” has produced exactly one president by birthplace, and it wasn’t Lincoln. It was Ronald Reagan, born in Tampico in 1911. Before Hollywood, California politics and the White House, Reagan was an Illinois kid who grew up largely in Dixon.
Michael Evans, Wikimedia Commons
Virginia
Virginia leads with eight: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson. Four of America’s first five presidents were born here. The rest of the country had some serious catching up to do.
Rembrandt Peale, Wikimedia Commons
Connecticut
George W. Bush’s Texas ranch and years as governor made him seem like an obvious Texas answer. But Connecticut gets the birthplace credit. He was born in New Haven in 1946 while his father attended Yale, making him the state’s only native-born president.
Kentucky
Here’s where Abraham Lincoln actually belongs. He was born near Hodgenville in 1809, years before his political career took shape in Illinois. Kentucky has only one presidential birthplace to its name, but landing Lincoln is a pretty good way to make that one count.
Vermont
Little Vermont has two presidential birthplaces: Chester A. Arthur’s in Fairfield and Calvin Coolidge’s in Plymouth. That puts it ahead of several much larger states. And Coolidge arrived on July 4, 1872, which feels almost suspiciously appropriate for someone who would eventually become president.
Abraham Bogardus / Adam Cuerden, Wikimedia Commons
Texas
Neither President Bush was born here, but Texas still gets two names: Lyndon B. Johnson and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Johnson’s Hill Country roots fit the image. Eisenhower is the surprise, born in Denison in 1890 before growing up in Abilene, Kansas.
Yoichi Okamoto, Wikimedia Commons
Nebraska
Gerald Ford is closely associated with Michigan, but he was born in Omaha in 1913. There’s another twist: his name was Leslie Lynch King Jr. His mother left Nebraska with him while he was still an infant, and he eventually took his stepfather’s name.
David Hume Kennerly, Wikimedia Commons
New York
New York has five: Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Donald Trump. Their birthplaces stretch from Kinderhook and the Finger Lakes region to Hyde Park and New York City. The state’s presidential story reaches well beyond Manhattan.
Mathew Benjamin Brady, Wikimedia Commons
Georgia
Jimmy Carter makes this one refreshingly straightforward. He was born in Plains in 1924, later became Georgia’s governor and returned to Plains after his presidency. No surprise state swap here. Georgia’s only native-born president had a hometown connection that lasted long after Washington.
Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Naval Photographic Center, Wikimedia Commons
Hawaii
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961, nearly two years after Hawaii became a state. His political rise happened in Illinois, but his birthplace puts Hawaii on this list. It remains the only state outside the contiguous United States to have produced a president.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza, Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania
For well over a century, Pennsylvania’s presidential birthplace list consisted of James Buchanan, born near Mercersburg in 1791. Then Joe Biden, born in Scranton in 1942, became president in 2021. His decades representing Delaware didn’t change which state got to add another name.
Mathew Benjamin Brady, Wikimedia Commons
California
For all its size and political influence, California has just one native-born president: Richard Nixon, born in Yorba Linda in 1913. Ronald Reagan became California’s governor, and Herbert Hoover made the state his home, but both were born elsewhere. California had to share the credit.
Rupert Colley, Wikimedia Commons
Ohio
Ohio has seven: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren Harding. All reached the presidency between 1869 and 1921. For a stretch of American history, being born in Ohio was practically a presidential tradition.
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons
Iowa
Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch in 1874, becoming the first president born west of the Mississippi River. His birthplace was a two-room cottage, with one room serving as the family’s bedroom. It’s a considerably smaller property than the one he eventually occupied in Washington.
Herbert E. French, Wikimedia Commons
North Carolina
James K. Polk was born in what is now Pineville, while Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh. Both later built their political careers in Tennessee. North Carolina also claims Andrew Jackson, but that particular presidential birthplace comes with a disagreement that crosses the state line.
Possibly Mathew Brady, Wikimedia Commons
South Carolina
South Carolina makes the list through Andrew Jackson, bringing the total to 21. His exact birthplace in the Waxhaws remains disputed between the Carolinas, although Jackson himself identified South Carolina. Even presidential birthplace bragging rights can turn into a neighborhood argument.
Rembrandt Peale, Wikimedia Commons
Missouri
Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar in 1884, although Independence became the Missouri city most closely associated with him. His family moved several times during his childhood. Missouri still has just one native-born president, and Truman’s roots in the state ran much deeper than his birthplace.
Greta Kempton, Wikimedia Commons
Massachusetts
John Adams, John Quincy Adams and John F. Kennedy probably won’t surprise anyone. The fourth name might: George H. W. Bush. He was born in Milton in 1924, long before his oil career and political life made Texas the state most people associated with him.
Cecil W. Stoughton, Wikimedia Commons
New Jersey
New Jersey gets Grover Cleveland, born in Caldwell in 1837. He later became Buffalo’s mayor and New York’s governor, giving the neighboring state plenty of presidential connections. But when the question is where the future president first arrived, New Jersey gets this one.
Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Wikimedia Commons
Arkansas
Bill Clinton was born in Hope in 1946, giving Arkansas its only native-born president. Unlike some names on this list, his birthplace and political identity line up nicely. He later served as Arkansas’s governor before winning the presidency in 1992. Sometimes the obvious answer actually works.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s entry is Franklin Pierce, born in Hillsborough in 1804. He became the 14th president in 1853 and served one term. Not necessarily the first state that comes to mind, but it counts just as much as Virginia.
Mathew Benjamin Brady, Wikimedia Commons
So...Did You Get Eight?
So...did you know eight? If you did, congratulations. Did you get more? Did you know all 21 states?
Mathew Benjamin Brady, Wikimedia Commons
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