List of presidents of the United States by military rank

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (November 2022) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "List of presidents of the United States by military rank" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The United States Constitution names the president of the United States the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. Many presidents, however, also served in the military before taking office; all but 13 of the 45^[a] persons to become president have served.

Of the 32 presidents with military service, 31 have been commissioned officers, of whom five began their careers as regular officers (Jimmy Carter transferred to the Naval Reserve after five years in the Navy). There have been 13 presidents who held general officer rank (four regular officers, six militia officers, three volunteers).

In addition to this, 4 of them got military awards by heroism; Theodore Roosevelt (posthumous Medal of Honor), John F. Kennedy (Navy and Marine Corps Medal), Lyndon B. Johnson (Silver Star) and George H. W. Bush (Distinguished Flying Cross), although the third was object of controversy.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).