Sporty Presidents
Golf, jogging, horseback riding, Hoover Ball—U.S. Presidents have often found a way to be involved in sports. And luckily for the public, it's all documented in the holdings of the National Archives.
You can learn about the impact of sports in the exhibit All American: The Power of Sports, which ran in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, DC, from September 16, 2022 through January 7, 2024.
President Herbert Hoover plays Hoover Ball, which involved a weighted ball tossed over a volleyball net on the White House lawn. View the image, and read more about the Presidential sport on the Hoover Heads blog post, "Hoover Ball Genesis."
Franklin D. Roosevelt climbing rocks at Campobello, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1902. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Franklin D. Roosevelt swimming in a pool at Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1929. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Wallace Truman fishing from the boat Big Wheel off Key West, Florida, while on vacation on December 2, 1949. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Form left to right: Admiral William Leahy, President Harry S. Truman, and Captain Willard A. Saunders weigh the fish they had just caught in Key West, Florida, during vacation on March 15, 1947. View on the Truman Library website.
Dwight D. Eisenhower kicks the football during a practice session at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1912. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower swings a golf club on the South Lawn of the White House on December 2, 1959. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President John F. Kennedy golfs with Press Secretary Pierre Salinger and friend K. LeMoyne Billings at the Hyannisport Golf Club on July 27, 1963. Photo by Cecil Stoughton. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President John F. Kennedy, while vacationing in Maine, sails the U.S. Coast Guard Yacht Manitouin Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on August 12, 1962. Photo by Robert Knudsen. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and three guests play with a ball in the swimming pool at LBJ Ranch near Stonewall, Texas, on June 1, 1968. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Richard Nixon tees off on a golf course on August 26, 1970. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Richard Nixon bowling at the White House bowling alley on March 10, 1970. Photo by Karl H. Schumacher. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Letter from the Green Bay Football Corporation to Gerald R. Ford offering a professional football contract dated February 11, 1935. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Gerald R. Ford and his daughter, Susan, on the tennis court at Camp David on September 4, 1974. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Susan Ford lends a hand as her father, President Gerald R. Ford, dives into the new White House swimming pool on July 1, 1975. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Jimmy Carter swings a baseball bat during a softball game in Plains, Georgia., on July 7, 1977. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Jimmy Carter fishing in the Grand Tetons, Wyoming, on August 29, 1978. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Ronald Reagan throwing a football in the Oval Office on March 26, 1982. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush ride horseback in Quantico, Virginia, on July 22, 1981.View in the National Archives Catalog.
George H.W. Bush, captain of the Yale University baseball team, receives Babe Ruth's manuscript of his autobiography, which he was donating to Yale, in 1948. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President William J. Clinton jogs down 17th Street toward the White House on March 3, 1993. Photo by Sharon Farmer. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President William J. Clinton kicks a soccer ball in front of World Cup champion soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known widely as Pelé, at Mangueira School in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on October 15, 1997. Photo by Ralph Alswang. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President George W. Bush plays golf at Cape Arundel Golf Club with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, on July 6, 2001. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President George W. Bush warms up in the practice bullpen prior to throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Game Three of the World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City's Bronx borough on October 30, 2001. Photo by Eric Draper. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Barack Obama takes a shot during a game with Cabinet secretaries and members of Congress on the White House basketball court on October 8, 2009. Barack Obama Presidential Library. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Barack Obama kicks a soccer ball during a stop at the Tully Junior-Senior High School soccer practice in Tully, New York, on August 23, 2013. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Barack Obama plays golf with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom at The Grove in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, on April 23, 2016. Photo by Pete Souza. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Donald J. Trump, joined by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Hall of Fame professional golfer Isao Aoki, watches his tee shot during their golf game on May 26, 2019, at the Mobara Country Club in Chiba, Japan. Photo by Shealah Craighead. View in the archived Trump administration White House Flickr account.
Read more about sports-related holdings involving U.S. Presidents at the National Archives:
- National Archives News: First Pitch Showcased in All American Exhibit Demonstrates How Sports Helped Unite Nation After 9/11 (2022)
- Hoover Heads: Hoover Fishing Stories—As Told by Calvin Albury (2020)
- Hoover Heads: Herbert Hoover and Babe Ruth (2019)
- Text Message: Major League Baseball, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and World War II, 1941-1942 (2016)
- Forward with Roosevelt: Winter Wonderland (2016)
- Pieces of History: 10 Football Facts Featuring U.S. Presidents (2014)
- Pieces of History: Play Ball, Mr. President! (2013)