11 Presidents Who Came From Humble Beginnings

It takes a lot of money to run for president and win, and indeed some people who have tried to reach the land’s highest office have come from wealthy backgrounds. At the same time, the most powerful people in the free world came up from modest means and sometimes knew the lowest depths of poverty.

These presidents all started with very little and achieved greatness, personifying the American dream. Here’s our list of 11 U.S. Presidents who came from humble beginnings, proving that even modest upbringings can lead to the highest office in the land.

Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States from 1861 to 1865. Lincoln grew up in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor, and his farmer father, Thomas, put him to work before his seventh birthday.

Andrew Jackson hailed from Tennessee and served as president from 1829 to 1837. The son of Scots-Irish immigrants, his father died before he was born, and he grew up poor. His mother, who raised him, died when he was 14.

Harry S. Truman came from Missouri and served as president from 1945 to 1953. Born in a small Missouri town, Truman worked on the family farm before becoming president, and is the only president in the 20^th century never to earn a college diploma.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a member of the Republican Party who originally came from Texas and served as President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. He grew up poor; his father, David, was a creamery worker.

Lyndon B. Johnson, who was vice president to John F. Kennedy, was thrust into the presidency in 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated, and he served until 1969. He was born in Texas Hill Country to two former schoolteachers turned farmers, and their small farmhouse had no electricity or running water.

Richard Nixon was president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. Raised in a house his father had built, he grew up poor but took it in stride, saying, “We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn’t know it.”

James A. Garfield began his presidency in 1881, but it was cut short that same year when he was assassinated. Garfield, whose father died when he was 2, has been said to be “arguably the poorest man ever to be president” and he himself said, “To some men, the fact they came up from poverty is a matter of pride. I lament it sorely,"

Jimmy Carter came from Georgia and served as president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was raised on his family farm outside Plains, Georgia, where the home he grew up in had no electricity or indoor plumbing.

Illinois native Ronald Reagan was president from 1981 to 1989. He was raised in a small town by an alcoholic and underemployed traveling salesman with a grade-school education. He said that despite his family’s financial straits, his mother gave generously to charity.

Calvin Coolidge served as president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Coolidge was raised on a family farm in rural Vermont, where he helped his storekeeper father keep the family business up and running.

Martin Van Buren served as president from 1837 to 1841. His parents were Dutch immigrants with six children in the household, including three that his mother had with her previous husband, who had passed away and widowed her.

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