children of Presidents
Thirty-five Presidents of the United States and their wives, through Bill and Hillary Clinton, had 89 boys and 61 girls. Six had no children: George Washington, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, and Warren Harding. Presidents with large families living in the White House included John Tyler, Benjamin Harrison, and Theodore Roosevelt. All the Presidential children were born in the United States except for George Washington Adams (son of John), who was born in Berlin; Herbert Clark Hoover, Jr., and Allen Henry Hoover, both born in London; and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., born at the Roosevelt vacation home on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.
Theodore Roosevelt's children kept a small zoo and a pony on the White House grounds. His daughter Alice once interrupted a White House meeting, and Roosevelt said, “I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.” John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline, was also known for her antics in the Oval Office, and his son John-John made the Presidential desk his secret hiding place. The Kennedy children also had a small zoo as well as a tree house and a playground with a slide and tunnel. The Kennedys established a nursery school in the White House, which Caroline and nine other children attended. Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy, went to a public school in the District of Columbia. She took advantage of the White House movie theater and used a telescope on the White House roof. When Chelsea Clinton, who had lived in government housing since she was two years old, exchanged her room in the White House for a dormitory cube at Stanford University in 1997, the country watched the transition with fascination and curiosity. Her parents had gone to great lengths to shield her from media intrusion into her private life, though once in college she began to travel to various foreign countries with them.
Some children of Presidents have grown up to have distinguished government careers of their own. John Quincy Adams was a secretary of state and the sixth President of the United States. Robert Todd Lincoln served as secretary of war for President James Garfield. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., served as under secretary of commerce for President Lyndon Johnson after several terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Other Presidential sons who served in the House include Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy), John Scott Harrison (son of William Henry), David Tyler (son of John), and James Roosevelt (son of Franklin). Robert Taft, Sr. (son of William Howard), was a U.S. senator and a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination. Other sons who were involved in Presidential politics include John Van Buren, who declined the Free-Soil nomination in favor of his father, Martin; John Scott Harrison, who declined the Whig nomination in 1856; and Robert Todd Lincoln, who was defeated at Republican conventions in 1884 and 1888.
A number of Presidential children have served in the armed forces. Frederick D. Grant graduated from West Point. During the Spanish-American War, James Webb Cook Hayes, son of former President Rutherford B. Hayes, won a Medal of Honor in the Philippines. Aviator Quentin Roosevelt, son of Theodore, was shot down and killed in a dogfight in France in World War I. Roosevelt's two other sons, Archibald Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., also served in that war, and Theodore, Jr., was killed in the Normandy campaign during World War II. The four sons of Franklin D. Roosevelt—James, Elliott, Franklin, and John— also served in World War II. John Eisenhower graduated from West Point and served in the Korean War, turning down an opportunity to leave the combat zone offered by President Harry Truman, who finally ordered him to a different command.
In recent years the children of Presidents have gravitated to the media and entertainment fields. Margaret Truman became a mystery writer. Ron Reagan, Jr., was a ballet dancer and then host of a talk show; his sisters, Maureen Reagan and Patti Davis, wrote books about the First Family. Caroline Kennedy became a lawyer and wrote a best-selling book about the Bill of Rights. Several of George Bush's children have been involved in business and politics. His sons George W. and Jeb have served as governors and George W. became the 43rd President.
Several Presidential children have been married at the White House. These include Maria Hester Monroe, John Adams (son of John Quincy), Elizabeth Tyler, Nellie Grant, Alice Roosevelt (daughter of Theodore), Jessie Woodrow Wilson and Eleanor Wilson (who married her father's secretary of the Treasury), Lynda Bird Johnson, and Tricia Nixon.
See also First Lady
