An Overview of Presidents and Sports
This article briefly examines American presidents and sports, from FDR to Biden (with Teddy Roosevelt thrown in for good measure). For each of these 16 presidents, I’ll discuss:
Athletic Rank. My ranking of their athletic accomplishments and skills.
Impact on Sports. My ranking of the impact they had on the sporting world.
Biggest Sporting Decision. The most significant political decision the president made regarding sports.
Golf Handicap. Presidential handicaps come from the Southern California Golf Association.
Athletics. A brief background of the sports presidents played.
Politics and Sports. A highlight of the president’s political involvement with sports.
Post-Game Wrap-Up. What does each president teach us about sports, politics, and society?
I conclude with my Top 10 Presidential Actions on Sports.
[The following draws heavily on John Watterson’s excellent history, The Games Presidents Play.]
Teddy Roosevelt
The pugilistic Teddy Roosevelt. UIG | Getty Images | Vox.com
Athletic Rank: 2/16
Impact on Sport: 3/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Saving college football and founding the NCAA.
Golf Handicap: None
Athletics (TR)
Asthmatic and small as a child, TR used sports to overcome his physical challenges.
Boxed and wrestled at Harvard. Would wrestle visitors to the governor’s mansion in New York and the White House.
Played recreational tennis
Hunted, fished, and hiked (even climbing the Matterhorn). If we consider these activities as “sport,” TR is unquestionably the greatest sporting president ever.
In 1902, Roosevelt went on a bear hunt in Mississippi. The organizers wanted a successful hunt, so they captured a sickly old bear and tied it to a tree. Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear and chastised his hosts for such an unsportsmanlike act. With that, the Teddy Bear was born.
Politics and Sports (TR)
A proponent of conservation, TR created the U.S. Forest Service and established 150 national forests and five national parks, protecting approximately 230 million acres of public land.
In 1905, Roosevelt held a meeting at the White House to make college football safer, out of which came the modern rules of football and the NCAA. You can read more about that case in “The AAU and NCAA’s Battle for Control of Amateur Athletics.”
Post-Game Wrap-Up (TR)
Teddy Roosevelt is significant in three respects.
1. Sports did more to shape Roosevelt’s public image than any other president. Hunting was as much a part of TR’s “American manliness” persona as his Rough Riding exploits during the Spanish-American War.
Teddy Roosevelt in North Dakota. UIG | Getty Images | History.com
2. TR didn’t involve himself in sports politics often, but when he did, it mattered. His effort to clean up college football helped save the game and create the NCAA; one could argue this was the most consequential action a president has taken on sports.
3. TR is an exception to the rule that presidents fail when trying to get the sports world to clean up its act. As I discuss in “Five Lessons on the Modern Presidency,” presidents have little formal power to change sports. Because presidents can’t order, they must persuade. Persuasion rarely works in the sporting world, with two exceptions: (1) TR and college football, and (2) Jimmy Carter and the 1980 Olympic boycott.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR on the links. fdrlibrary.org | scga.org
Athletic Rank: 14/16
Impact on Sport: 6/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: FDR’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) built thousands of public golf courses, tennis courts, recreational fields, and stadiums during the Depression.
Golf Handicap: No official handicap, but estimated to be around an 8.
Athletics (FDR)
FDR swimming at Warm Springs, Georgia.
Before being stricken with polio, FDR played tennis and was an avid golfer who routinely shot in the low 80s. As a teen, he and some friends built the nine-hole Campobello Golf Club. He won the club championship at 22.
Cheerleader at Harvard.
After polio, FDR swam, fished, and sailed. His friends built the White House pool; FDR would swim in it every afternoon.
Politics and Sports (FDR)
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed thousands of recreational facilities and stadiums during the Depression. See Living New Deal for a great map of these sites.
In 1942, FDR wrote a letter to MLB commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis saying that the White House would not decide whether or not to play baseball during the war. Nevertheless, FDR wrote, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.” Later, he supported night baseball games despite war-time blackouts.
FDR throwing baseball at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC. Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Senators, April 24, 1934.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (FDR)
FDR’s public works project constructed over 300 municipal golf courses, including Bethpage, and was largely responsible for the post-war golfing boom in America.
FDR left a legacy in sports economics. FDR was a Keynesian who believed that the government should spend more, not less, during periods of economic slowdown. Most of this federal spending was on non-divisible and non-excludable public goods; things like roads, bridges, and schools. However, the WPA also built 2,302 stadiums. As any sports fan knows, stadiums are both divisible (there are only so many seats) and excludable (you can’t go in without a ticket). One legacy of Depression-era politics is that many Americans, and every sports team owner, still consider stadiums to be a public good. As a result, Americans pay billions of tax dollars to build stadiums they’ll never visit, with most of that money ending up in owners’ deep pockets. To learn more, see my article “Publicly Funded NFL Stadiums.”
Harry S. Truman
Truman and his wife Bess fishing off Key West.
Athletic Rank: 15/16
Impact on Sport: 16/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Inviting Black Olympians to the White House.
Golf Handicap: NA
Athletics (Truman)
Truman was not an athlete, although he was very physically fit.
As a youth, Truman worked long hours on his family farm and had no time for athletics. His poor eyesight may have also contributed to his disinterest in sports.
His wife, Bess, was an outstanding athlete.
Politics and Sports (Truman)
In 1948, Truman invited six African American female Olympians to the White House, which, at that time, was highly symbolic. Truman’s support of civil rights—e.g., the signing of executive orders desegregating the military and civil service—fractured the Democratic Party and led to the creation of the Dixicrats.
In 1951, 90 West Point cadets, many of them football players, were expelled for academic dishonesty. In response, Truman personally investigated what he felt was the outsized role athletics played at the military academies.
The Washington Senators’ crowd booed Truman on Opening Day, 1951. Some of the boos were for his firing of General Douglas MacArthur, but most were because fans had to remain in their seats until Truman left the stadium. Truman was the first president to be booed at a baseball game since thirsty Prohibition-era fans chanted at Herbert Hoover, “We want beer!”
In 1952, Truman signed Proclamation 2976, establishing Olympic Week and encouraging Americans to give $850,000 so the U.S. team could travel to Helsinki. The Proclamation is significant because Truman asked the American public to donate while the U.S. government refused to give a dime. Indeed, the U.S. is one of the only nations that does not provide federal funding to its Olympic teams.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Truman)
Truman and Lyndon Johnson are the only modern presidents not to play a sport or be a sports fan. They are also accidental presidents—Truman assumed the presidency when FDR died in 1945, and LBJ in 1963 after the Kennedy assassination—which may or may not be a coincidence. Although a letterman’s jacket is not the first thing voters look for in a president, sports can help project an “everyman” image that presumably carries some electoral benefit. Would America elect a president who cared not a whit for sports? Maybe, but it hasn’t in over 60 years. Moreover, even the most non-athletic presidents participate in those most sacred rituals of American sports, like throwing out the first pitch.
Dwight Eisenhower
Ike at West Point.
Athletic Rank: 7/16
Impact on Sport: 12/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Created the President’s Council on Youth Fitness.
Golf Handicap: 15
Athletics (IKE)
Varsity letterman in football and baseball for Abilene High School.
Played semi-pro baseball
Was a promising halfback at West Point until he tore up his knee.
Became a football coach after his injury, coaching the Army’s JV team (1913); St. Louis College (1916); Fort Meade (1921-1924); Fort Benning (1926).
Hunted and Fished
Ike took up golf in his 30s and was an average player with a world-class temper.
Member of Augusta National and part of the “Golf Gang” with Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. Ike’s nemesis was a pine tree on the 17th at Augusta, what came to be known as the Eisenhower Pine. Ike asked the Club to cut it down, but Roberts refused.
Ike on the first at Augusta National. Source: augusta.com.
Augusta National co-founders Clifford Roberts (left) and Bobby Jones (cart) talking with Eisenhower. Source: augusta.com.
Politics and Sports (Ike)
Put a putting green in the White House. Sparked controversy when he ordered the Secret Service to shoot the squirrels ripping up the green (the Secret Service decided shooting squirrels on White House grounds was a bad idea).
Ike was criticized for playing too much golf—an estimated 800 rounds over two terms, a presidential record—including during the fall of Dien Bien Phu.
In 1956, Ike signed Executive Order 10673, creating the President’s Council on Youth Fitness.
Criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for not recognizing the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the 1960 Olympic Games.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Ike)
Eisenhower’s executive order on youth fitness began the longest-running presidential involvement in sports, with every successive president issuing similar orders. Ike’s order was more about Cold War military preparedness than health for health’s sake.
No athletic activity is more fraught with symbolic hazards than golf. Presidents are criticized for playing golf when they should be governing, golfing with wealthy business interests, or playing at restrictive clubs. Ike’s popularity and the restrained journalism of the day dampened some criticism of his time on the links.
If sports reveal personality and character, Ike’s reputation as a football coach is instructive. As a coach, Ike was regarded as a great strategist and leader, traits he exhibited as a general and president.
John F. Kennedy
Athletic Rank: 5/16
Impact on Sport: 13/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: His administration’s pressuring the Washington football team to integrate.
Golf Handicap: 7
Athletics (JFK)
JFK (second from right) at Choate Hall Prep, 1932. Bettmann/CORBIS/si.com
Varsity letterman in football, basketball, and baseball for Choate Prep School.
At Harvard, JFK played on the junior varsity football team, and golfed and swam for the freshman teams. A back injury suffered when playing football ended his collegiate athletic career.
Swam four hours to help rescue his crew when his PT 109 patrol boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in World War II. Although swimming for survival is not a sport, it does speak to JFK’s athletic ability.
Played golf most of his life, often using the game to cover up his affairs.
A good athlete, but health issues and injuries limited his athletic career and activities.
Sports and Politics (JFK)
JFK appointed legendary Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson to head the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.
Wrote “The Vigor We Need” for Sports Illustrated, encouraging Americans to become more physically fit.
In 1961, Kennedy’s Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, pressured Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall to draft a Black player. Udall, with Kennedy’s blessing, threatened to revoke the Redskins’s 30-year lease on D.C. stadium unless they racially integrated the team. In 1961, Marshall finally relented and drafted Syracuse running back Ernie Davis and promptly traded him to Cleveland for two other Black players, Leroy Jackson and Bobby Mitchell.
One of the biggest sports problems that Kennedy, and all subsequent presidents until Reagan, faced was the ongoing conflict between the AAU and the NCAA for control over amateur athletics. That conflict lasted decades, led to underperforming teams, and repeatedly threatened U.S. participation in the Olympic Games, including at Tokyo in 1964. You can read more about it in my article, “The AAU and the NCAA’s Battle for Control of Amateur Athletics.”
In November 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy flew to New York to mediate the AAU/NCAA dispute.
On January 9, 1963, JFK appointed retired General Douglas MacArthur to mediate the conflict.
On August 13, 1963, JFK signed Executive Order 11117, establishing the Interagency Committee on International Athletics.
In 1963, Kennedy reiterated that segregation is prohibited at municipal golf courses, playgrounds, swimming pools, or other city-owned facilities.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (JFK)
JFK used sports to burnish his youthful and energetic image, often playing touch football games on the White House lawn. In reality, Kennedy suffered from many serious health issues, including Addison’s disease and a back injury he sustained while playing football at Harvard.
Kennedy’s attempt to resolve the AAU/NCAA spat exemplifies the limits of presidential power. Because presidents can’t order, they must persuade. Despite JFK sending some pretty persuasive people to negotiate on his behalf—RFK and MacArthur—the AAU and NCAA remained at odds until Congress finally enacted the Amateur Sports Act in 1978.
Lyndon Johnson
LBJ throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day, 1964.
Athletic Rank: 16/16
Impact on Sport: 14/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Introduced the Presidential Physical Fitness test.
Golf Handicap: None. LBJ once quipped, “I don’t have a handicap…I’m all handicap.”
Athletics (LBJ)
Played no high school or college sports.
Hunted and fished.
LBJ was a poor athlete and not much of a sports fan, although he developed a passion for Texas Longhorn football after leaving the White House.
Swam nude in the White House pool.
Used to go to Washington Senators games with his friend, Senator Richard Russell. Russell hated these outings because LBJ would spend the entire time talking politics.
Eisenhower and LBJ golfing in Palm Springs, 1968. The press was confined to the 18th hole, which is the only hole LBJ won. Ike was not happy. Source: Bettmann/Corbis/New York Times
Politics and Sports (LBJ)
Instituted the Presidential Physical Fitness Award in 1966.
On June 12, 1964, LBJ appointed Lt. Gen James M. Gavin (Ret.) to investigate the AAU/NCAA conflict.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (LBJ)
LBJ’s main contribution to the sporting world was the Presidential Physical Fitness Award given to those schoolchildren who scored in the 85th percentile on seven fitness tests. In terms of sheer numbers, one could argue this was the most influential presidential decision on sports. If you attended an American school between 1965 and 2013, chances are you participated in the Presidential Physical Fitness test and faced the public humiliation of the pull-up bar. This seems like a good example of a president exercising power over sports and fitness. However, LBJ couldn’t mandate that schools implement the test, so it was up to states and school districts to decide whether they’d follow federal guideliness. This shows the limits of presidential power.
Richard Nixon
Nixon at Whittier. Source: nixonfoundation.com
Athletic Rank: 13/16
Impact on Sport: 5/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Signing of Title IX.
Golf Handicap: 13
Athletics (Nixon)
Third-string guard for Whittier College’s football team, never earning a varsity letter (1932-32)
Recreational golfer and bowler.
Arguably the biggest sports fan to serve as president, with a good understanding of the game. Nixon repeatedly said he’d have been a sportswriter if not for politics. He loved calling coaches and talking strategy, especially with Washington football coach George Allen.
Nixon at the White House bowling lane.
Nixon and Allen in 1971. Source: Nixon Presidential Library/Nixonfoundation.org.
Politics and Sports (Nixon)
Nixon used sports to communicate with people, often awkwardly. In the wake of the Kent State massacre in 1970, Nixon made an “impromptu and bizarre” visit to the Lincoln Memorial to engage demonstrating college students. Instead of talking about Kent State or Vietnam, Nixon would try to relate to hippie protesters by talking about college football. It did not go well.
“Ping pong diplomacy” is one of the best examples of sports influencing politics. The U.S. and China severed diplomatic ties after the communist revolution in 1949. In 1971, an American table tennis team played an exhibition match in China. That match paved the way for Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 and, eventually, the normalization of relations.
Nixon hated it when games were blacked out on television. In 1972, Nixon instructed his attorney general to pressure NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to change its blackout policy. Rozelle refused.
September 5, 1972, Nixon called Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to express condolences and offer support after the terrorist group Black September murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Summer Olympic Games.
Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which became the most consequential piece of sports legislation ever enacted. Title IX of the Act mandates gender equality in education, but it wasn’t until 1975 that it applied to athletics.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Nixon)
To the extent that sport reveals character, Nixon’s athletic career is a microcosm of his political career. As Watterson writes, “In both college football and sports, Nixon was simply unable to quit” (p.233). Political scientist James David Barber famously wrote that Nixon had an “active-negative” personality—i.e., someone who worked hard (active) but felt the world was against him (negative)—and that “the danger is that Nixon will commit himself irrevocably to some disastrous course of action.” Nixon’s cover-up of Watergate seemed to validate Barber’s prediction.
One could make a good case that Nixon should top the “Impact on Sports” rating since ping-pong diplomacy changed the face of international politics, and Title IX is the most consequential sports law in American history. While Nixon gets a lot of credit for using ping pong to normalize relations with China, Title IX was more of Congress’s doing and didn’t apply to sports until the Ford administration.
Gerald Ford
Ford at Michigan
Athletic Rank: 1/16
Impact on Sport: 4/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Ford’s Department of Health, Education, and Welfare published the final Title IX guidelines.
Golf Handicap: 12
Athletics (Ford)
All-State (MI) Football
Starter on Michigan’s Championship teams in 1932 and 1933. Team MVP (1934). Michigan retired his #48 jersey. Played in East-West Shrine Game (1935). Ford had a chance to play professional football but went to Yale Law instead.
Ford was a roommate of Willis Ward, a Black teammate at Michigan. In 1934, Michigan was scheduled to play Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets threatened to boycott the game if Willis played. Ford was incensed and threatened to quit over the incident but ended up playing at Ward’s urging.
Head Boxing Coach and Assistant Football Coach at Yale, 1935-37.
Skied and golfed, with a penchant for hitting spectators with golf balls.
Ford was not the most naturally gifted athlete to sit in the Oval Office—offensive linemen are generally not known for their athletic grace—but he was the most accomplished. Nevertheless, he was lampooned as a klutz by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Life and the perception stuck.
Ford looking dapper on the slopes. He was the only president to have modeled.
Politics and Sports (Ford)
In 1975, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare published final Title IX guidelines.
On June 19, 1975, Ford signed Executive Order 11868, creating a presidential commission to study the AAU and NCAA’s battle for control over amateur athletics; its recommendations eventually were enshrined as the Amateur Athletic Act of 1978.
At the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, China successfully pressured Canadian Premier Pierre Trudeau into banning Taiwan’s participation. The Ford administration considered withdrawing from the Games in protest.
Ford wrote a letter to IOC President Lord Killanian lamenting African countries’ boycotts at the 1976 Montreal Games and promising to welcome all nations to the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games.
Signed S. 2184, approving $49 million in federal aid to build facilities for the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games. This is significant because the federal government rarely, if ever, appropriates money for sports.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Ford)
Although Nixon signed Title IX in 1972, the Ford administration gets most of the credit for the dramatic increase of women and girls in sports. When Title IX first passed, it was unclear whether it included sports; in 1975, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare said it did and set conditions for compliance. Ford supported the application of Title IX to sports but wanted to exempt football and basketball.
Jimmy Carter
Athletic Rank: 12/16
Impact on Sport: 1/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Boycotting the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games
Golf Handicap: None.
Athletics (Carter)
Plains High School varsity tennis, basketball, and track.
Played junior college basketball for Georgia Southwestern College.
Ran cross-country for the undefeated 1943 Naval Academy team.
Hunted and fished.
Recreational softball, tennis, and was an avid jogger. Once fainted while competing in a 6-mile race near Camp David.
Sports and Politics (Carter)
Signed the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which designated the U.S. Olympic Committee as the governing body for amateur Olympic sports, thus settling the long-running dispute between the AAU and NCAA.
Called for eliminating tax deductions for sports tickets and country club dues.
Carter pressured the USOC into boycotting the 1980 Moscow Games.
Source: politico.com.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Carter)
Carter didn’t get involved in sports very often, but when he did, it was big. The 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games tops my list as the most impactful presidential sporting decision. It is also one of the few successes presidents have enjoyed when “going public” on sports (see “Back Out of the U.S.S.R.”). The 1978 Amateur Sports Act was also the most consequential piece of sports legislation after Title IX, although Congress gets most of the credit for that.
A criticism of Carter was that he was more of a micromanager than a leader. One example of this is that he oversaw the scheduling of the White House tennis court, a mundane task seemingly unworthy of presidential attention.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan at Eureka College
Athletic Rank: 8/16
Impact on Sport: 15/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987.
Golf Handicap: 12
Athletics (Reagan)
North Dixon (IL) High School varsity football and basketball.
Three-year starting guard for the Eureka College football team (1929-31)
As a lifeguard, he reportedly saved 77 people.
Rode horses, golfed, skied, and surfed.
Radio announcer for WHO in Des Moines, re-creating Cubs games and calling Big Ten football.
Golf Handicap. Twelve at its lowest, ballooned dramatically during his presidency.
Played Notre Dame halfback George Gipp in Knute Rockne—All American (1940). Delivered one of the classic movie lines, “Someday, when things are tough, maybe you can ask the boys to go in there and win just once for the Gipper.” Also played pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team (1952).
Reagan as George Gipp Knute Rockne—All American (1940)
Reagan (with Doris Day) as Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team (1952)
Politics and Sports (Reagan)
In 1983, Reagan announced the minting of the first commemorative Olympic coin.
He was president when the Soviet Union and 13 other Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Argued that it was inappropriate for the U.S. government to get involved in the 1985 baseball strike.
Vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. The Act expanded Title IX to cover athletics after the Supreme Court’s Grove City (1984) decision limited its provisions to only those educational programs directly receiving federal money. Congress eventually overrode Reagan’s veto.
Repeatedly called upon Congress to revoke tax breaks for sky boxes and trips to the Super Bowl.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Reagan)
Reagan is notable for how little he influenced sports, reflecting his view of limited government. Reagan said in his 1981 Inaugural Address, “Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” When Reagan vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act, he called it “vague and sweeping,” subjecting “nearly every facet of American life” to government intrusion (see Welch Suggs’s A Place on The Team 2005, p 91). The rare override of his veto—only around seven percent of vetoes are overridden—shows Congress disagreed with this philosophy.
George H.W. Bush
H.W. Bush with Babe Ruth in 1948
Athletic Rank: 3/16
Impact on Sport: 11/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Naming Magic Johnson to the President’s Commission on AIDS.
Golf Handicap: 11
Athletics (H.W. Bush)
Captain of Andover (MA) soccer and baseball teams.
Played soccer and baseball at Yale. Captain of the baseball team.
Hunted and fished.
Played tennis, golf, and horseshoes.
Came from an athletic family.
His father, Prescott Bush, played golf, hockey, and baseball while attending Yale.
His mother, Dorothy Walker Bush, was a nationally-ranked tennis player.
His grandfather, George Walker, was the heavyweight boxing champ of Missouri.
Criticized for playing golf during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
In 1995, Bush (score: 92) beat Bill Clinton (93) and Gerald Ford (100) in a round of golf.
Possibly the most competitive and sporting president. Athletic competition was a daily feature the Bush retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine.
H.W. Bush and tennis star Chris Evert at Camp David.
Politics and Sports (H.W. Bush)
Declined to intervene in the 1990 MLB labor dispute.
Named Arnold Schwarzenegger to head the President’s Council on Physical Fitness in 1990.
Was booed at MLB’s All-Star Game in July 1992.
In 1992, Bush named Magic Johnson to the president’s AIDS Commission. Magic soon quit, criticizing the commission for not doing enough.
Had to apologize after the Canadian flag was flown upside down at the 1992 World Series.
Signed HR 3654 into law in 1992, minting a U.S. Olympic Coin to help raise money for Olympic Athletes.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (H.W. Bush)
H.W. Bush carried on Reagan’s reluctance to get involved in sports, most notably in the 1990 MLB strike.
Sports can open political doors. Bush’s athletic ability may have led to his induction into Yale’s exclusive and secret Skull and Bones Society, which, setting aside any conspiracy theory nonsense, may have provided the powerful network needed to advance his political career.
Bill Clinton
Clinton, looking resplendent in fuchsia short shorts, jogging with Sen. Joe Lieberman. Source: Robert Giroux/AFP/Getty Images
Athletic Rank: 11/16
Impact on Sport: 7/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: His failed attempt to resolve the 1995-96 MLB strike.
Golf Handicap: 12
Athletics (Clinton)
Played no varsity sports in high school.
Played sparingly for Oxford’s basketball and rugby teams.
Although big (6’2”, 230lbs), Clinton was not a good athlete.
Was an avid jogger during his time as president.
Golfer with a big drive and a loose attachment to the rules. He gave himself as many “billigans” as needed.
A sports fan, especially of Arkansas Razorback basketball, with a good understanding of sports.
Politics and Sports (Clinton)
He was the first president to attempt to settle a labor dispute in sports when he got involved in MLB’s 1994-95 strike.
Supported Midnight Basketball, a federal program designed to give inner-city youth something to do at night. Republicans pointed to the program as an example of federal government overreach.
Urged the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to continue after the terrorist bombing in Centennial Park.
Supported the Supreme Court decision that allowed golfer Casey Martin to use a cart at PGA tournaments.
Supported the Supreme Court’s decision to allow drug testing of student-athletes.
Opposed the Supreme Court’s decision to ban public prayers before high school football games.
Strengthened the requirements for Title IX compliance.
Signed the Curt Flood Act of 1998, which modified baseball’s antitrust exemption (see “Curt Flood, The Supreme Court, and Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption”).
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Clinton)
If we think sports reveal character, Clinton’s actions on the golf course are instructive. Watterson argues the same personality traits that led Clinton to cheat on the course also explain his lying under oath in the Monica Lewinsky affair. I’m not so sure. For casual rounds among friends, a mulligan off the first tee, taking relief from a divot, and gimmies should be the norm. I think the stickler who makes you walk back to the tee after a lost ball is the one with a character flaw. Still, there seems to be a difference in how loosey-goosie Clinton and the straight-laced George H.W. Bush approached sports and politics.
As I argue in “The White House Strikes Out,” Clinton’s attempt to settle the 1994-95 MLB strike shows the limits of presidential power. Clinton had no legal authority to settle the strike, and his attempt at persuasion failed miserably.
George W. Bush
Athletic Rank: 10/16
Impact on Sport: 8/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Talking about steroids in the 2004 State of the Union Address.
Golf Handicap: 15
Athletics (W. Bush)
Pitched for high school baseball team.
At Yale, pitched for the freshman team, played rugby, and was a cheerleader.
Hunted and fished.
Played golf, but was reluctant to do so after 9/11 because it is not a good look for a president to be on the course as American soldiers were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A good runner. He reportedly ran six-minute miles and finished the Houston Marathon in 3:44:52.
Part owner and managing partner of the Texas Rangers (1989-1998).
Politics and Sports (W. Bush)
In one of the greatest moments in presidential sports history, Bush threw out the first pitch at Game Three of the 2001 World Series in Yankee Stadium, a few weeks after 9/11.
Attended the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City despite concerns about possible terror attacks.
In his 2004 State of the Union (SOTU) address, George W. Bush called upon professional sports to “get rid of steroids now.” (See “Out of Left Field.”)
On March 17, 2005, the Department of Education ruled that schools could send a survey to their student body to gauge interest in sports, making it easier for schools to comply with Title IX.
On October 19, 2005, Bush signed the International Convention Against Doping in Sport.
Bush temporarily lifted the ban on U.S. weapons entering China so U.S. athletes could compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics shooting events. The lifting of the ban also allowed the NBC television crew to broadcast the Games since it uses military-grade gyroscopes in their H.D. cameras.
Bush attended the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games despite calls for a U.S. boycott over China’s human rights abuses.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (W. Bush)
Sports arguably advanced W’s political career more than any other president. Having a dad as president has its perks, but the White House also casts a long shadow over presidential children. By the late 1980s, Bush recognized he had little to show beyond a famous name, “My biggest liability in Texas is the question, ‘What’s the boy ever done?’ He could be riding on Daddy’s name.” To a certain extent, owning the Texas Rangers helped W. chart his own path, propelling him to the Texas governor’s mansion and, eventually, to the White House. Owing the Rangers also made him rich: Bush invested $606,302 in the Rangers and made $14.9 million in return.
As I discuss in “Out of Left Field,” Bush’s call to get rid of steroids in his 2004 SOTU is one of the most notable, if not bizarre, cases of presidential involvement in sports. The SOTU is the most important speech a president gives all year. The 2004 SOTU was especially significant given the growing insurgency in Iraq and the fact that it was an election year. That Bush chose to talk about steroids seemed unfitting for the time and occasion. Moreover, Bush echoed the conservative philosophy of Reagan and his father by rejecting a government-imposed solution to the problem of performance-enhancing drugs. The result was an odd juxtaposition: steroids were important enough to make their way into the SOTU, but not important enough for the government to do anything about it.
Barack Obama
Obama at Punahou
Athletic Rank: 6/16
Impact on Sport: 9/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: His statements on race, gender, and sexuality in sports.
Golf Handicap: 13
Athletics (Obama)
Played varsity high school basketball at Punaho (HI), winning a state championship in 1979.
Briefly played basketball for Occidental College.
Recreational basketball player and golfer.
A huge fan of Chicago teams (the Sox, not the Cubs).
Talked more about sports than any other president (see “The Sports Talk Presidency”).
Obama golfing with British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2016.
Politics and Sports (Obama)
Unsuccessfully fought for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.
Advocated for a college football playoff.
In 2010, the Obama administration expanded the rules governing the Americans with Disabilities Act to include gyms, golf facilities, swimming pools, and seating at sporting events.
Scolded the NFL for threatening to strike in 2011 but declined to involve the White House.
In 2014, Obama replaced the old Presidential Fitness Test with a new program encouraging youth activity and healthy eating.
Obama made several statements about the intersection of race, sports, and politics, including criticizing Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling for his racist comments.
Obama used the St. Louis Rams’ drafting of openly gay defensive lineman Michael Sam and the coming out of NBA player Jason Collins as opportunities to reiterate his support of same-sex marriage.
Appeared on the Tonight Show in 2013 and said the U.S. would not send a team to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games if Russia discriminated against gay and lesbian athletes. Later, Obama declined to boycott the Sochi Games.
In May 2016, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued a ruling that protects transgender students from discrimination under Title IX yet still permits sex-segregated sports.
On April 15, 2013, Obama responded to the terror attack at the Boston Marathon.
In 2014, Obama held the “Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit” at the White House to address head trauma and CTE.
In 2015, Obama’s Justice Department indicted fourteen people associated with FIFA on racketeering charges.
Repeatedly called for Congress to revoke tax breaks for sky boxes and trips to the Super Bowl.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Obama)
Obama shows the importance of presidential “position-taking” on sports. Sometimes, it is advantageous for politicians to take a position on an issue, regardless of whether they do anything about it. For instance, Obama’s statements about gay athletes Michael Sam and Jason Collins symbolized his support for the LGBTQ+ community and his evolution on gay marriage. For more on presidential position-taking and sports, see “The Sports Talk Presidency.”
Obama is also a reminder that presidents are real people with interests outside of politics. Like Nixon and Clinton before him, Obama was a genuine sports fan who liked to talk about the game. And who can blame him? I’d much rather discuss NCAA basketball than the fiscal cliff.
Donald Trump
Trump at New York Military Academy, 1962. Source: The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Athletic Rank: 4/16
Impact on Sport: 2/16
Biggest Sporting Decision: Criticizing NFL players for national anthem protests.
Golf Handicap: 2.9
Athletics (Trump)
One year of football at New York Military Academy.
Played high school baseball.
Owned the USFL’s New Jersey Generals. Partially responsible for the demise of the USFL.
Hosted several boxing matches at his Atlantic City casinos
Hosted several golf events at his various clubs.
The first president not to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
As a presidential candidate, Trump criticized Obama for playing too much golf. As president, Trump played an estimated 142 rounds, a rate that exceeded Obama’s.
Politics and Sports (Trump)
In 2017, the Trump administration withdrew Obama-era guidelines that protected transgender students as part of Title IX.
Issued numerous statements criticizing NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem (see “Get That Son of a Bitch Off the Field”). Trump also stated his desire for prayers to be said before games.
Helped secure the release of UCLA basketball players from China after their shoplifting arrest.
In an interview with Jim Gray of Westwood One Sports Radio Network, Trump declined to take a position on concussions in football, gambling on sports, Deflategate, the use of medical marijuana for athletes, or Russia’s ban from Olympic competition because of state-sponsored doping.
In 2019, Trump issued an executive order allowing military academy graduates to play professional sports before fulfilling their two years of service.
In 2020, Trump falsely called out NASCAR driver Bubba Watson, who is Black, for perpetrating a “hoax” over a noose. He also criticized the Washington football club and the baseball team in Clevland for making “politically correct” decisions to rename their teams.
Trump claimed, “I brought back Big Ten football” from the Covid pandemic.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Trump)
One could argue that Trump deserves the top spot on the “Impact on Sports” list. Whereas every other president used sports to try to unify the nation, Trump used them to divide (see “Get that Son of a Bitch Off the Field”). Of course, the national anthem protests and transgender athletes would have been divisive with or without Trump. However, he effectively weaponized these issues and helped turn sports into another front in the ever-widening partisan war.
Sportswriter Rick Reilly is clearly in the sports-reveals-character camp, as you can tell from the title of his book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. Reilly argues Trump is the “worst cheat ever, and he doesn’t care who knows. I always say golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man. And golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president.”
Joe Biden
Archmere Academy wide receiver, Joe Biden (#30)
Athletic Rank: 9/16
Impact on Sport: 10/16
Biggest Sporting Decision:
Golf Handicap: 6.7
Athletics (Biden)
High school varsity football and baseball. Was reportedly a talented and fast wide receiver.
Played freshman football at the University of Delaware before quitting the team because of poor grades.
A single-digit handicap.
Politics and Sports (Biden)
On January 20, 2021, Biden signed Executive Order 13988, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
On March 8, 2021, Biden signed Executive Order 14021, which commits the federal government to creating an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
In 2022, the Biden administration agreed to release arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia on drug charges.
In 2023, the Biden administration announced a plan that would forbid states to impose an outright ban on transgender athletes. That policy has since been put on hold.
In 2023, Biden met with former college football players at the White House to discuss health and safety, NIL, and the distribution of football-related revenue.
Post-Game Wrap-Up (Biden)
The delay in the Biden administration’s policy on transgender athletes illustrates the difficulty presidents face when confronting problems in the sporting world, especially in today’s polarized era. In May 2023, the Biden administration proposed banning states from banning transgender athletes. The Department of Education then received a record number of public comments, and a year later, the policy is still on hold. It is one thing for a president to stake out popular positions in sports; it is quite another to do so on issues that fiercely divide Americans.
Top 10 Presidential Actions in Sports
Carter's boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games
The Ford administration's issuing of final Title IX guidelines mandating gender equity in sports.
Teddy Roosevelt's White House meeting that led to the modern rules of football and the creation of the NCAA
Trump's criticism of the NFL national anthem protests.
FDR building thousands of public golf courses, tennis courts, recreational fields, and stadiums during the Depression.
Nixon's ping-pong diplomacy with China.
Eisenhower's creation of the President’s Council on Youth Fitness
George W. Bush’s throwing out the first pitch at the 2001 World Series game in New York.
Clinton's failed attempt to resolve the 1994-95 MLB strike.
George W. Bush's call for getting rid of steroids in his 2004 State of the Union Address.
