Tailors, teachers, and peanut farmers: See the jobs US presidents held before taking office

John Adams was a diplomat in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain between 1778 and 1788.

However, PBS reported, "His independent, unbending temperament was not ideal for diplomacy, and his diplomatic triumphs were offset by feelings of alienation."

Abraham Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem, Illinois, in 1833 and served until 1836.

The mail arrived in New Salem once a week, and if someone didn't collect it from the post office, Lincon would hand-deliver it to them, per USPS.

Andrew Johnson started working as a tailor in Greeneville, Tennessee, when he was just 17 years old.

According to the National Park Service, Johnson said, "When I was a tailor I always made a close fit, and was always punctual to my customers, and did good work."

William Taft was appointed governor general of the Philippines by President McKinley in 1900.

Taft, his wife, and their three children lived in Southeast Asia for three years, where he improved the local Filipino economy, as reported by Biography.com.

Woodrow Wilson became the president of Princeton University in 1902 and held the position until 1910.

Wilson's name was removed from Princeton's public policy school in June 2020.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because we believe that Wilson's racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school whose scholars, students, and alumni must be firmly committed to combating the scourge of racism in all its forms," the board said.

Warren Harding was a newspaper editor in Marion, Ohio.

Harding and two friends purchased the failing Marion Star for $300 in 1884.

He turned the near-defunct paper into a successful publication. According to the Marion Star, "He said once someone asked him, 'Why newspapering?' and he said, 'It combines my two passions, writing and the opportunity to affect change.'"

Calvin Coolidge was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1918 and served during the Boston Police Strike.

Coolidge sent a telegram to union leader Samuel Gompers that said, "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime."

His response to the strike made him famous across the country, and led him to be chosen as Warren Harding's vice presidential candidate. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a lawyer in New York City at a law firm called Carter Ledyard and Milburn from 1907 to 1911.

However, Roosevelt disliked the profession and didn't even graduate law school at Columbia University; he left after he passed the bar in 1907, as reported by the Miller Center.

Harry Truman operated his family farm in Grandview, Missouri, for 11 years.

According to the National Archives, Truman was working a bank job in Kansas City when his father asked him to help manage the family farm owned by his widowed grandmother.

"It was on the farm that Harry got his common sense. He didn't get it in town," his mother, Martha Truman, said of her son.

Dwight Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II.

During that time, he "developed diplomatic skills that he would later employ as America's 34th president," wrote History.com.

John F. Kennedy was a journalist for Hearst Newspapers. He covered World War II news during the summer of 1945.

As a foreign correspondent, Kennedy attended the first United Nations meeting, the Potsdam Conference, and other key meetings following the end of World War II.