US Presidents with Irish Ancestry

Andrew Jackson (Scots-Irish)
7th President (1829–1837): Two years after his parents departed Boneybefore, close to Carrickfergus in County Antrim, he was born in the primarily Ulster–Scots Waxhaws region of South Carolina. Old Hickory, the People's President, is honoured in the village by a heritage centre. Later, Jackson relocated to Tennessee, where he held the office of governor.

James Knox Polk (Scots-Irish)
11th President, 1845–1849: His family emigrated from Coleraine in 1680 to establish themselves as a significant political family in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. They were among the first Ulster-Scots settlers. Before winning the race to become president, he relocated to Tennessee and assumed the office of governor.

James Buchanan (Scots-Irish)
President No. 15 (1857–1861): A proud native of Pennsylvania, "Old Buck" loved his roots: "My Ulster blood is a priceless heritage." He was born in a log cabin, which has now been moved to his old school in Mercersburg. The ancestral home of the Buchanans still stands in County Tyrone's Deroran, close to Omagh.

Andrew Johnson (Scots-Irish & English)
President No. 17 (1865–1899): His grandfather moved to North Carolina circa 1750 from Mounthill, near Larne in County Antrim. Before being chosen as vice president, Johnson managed a prosperous business in Greeneville, Tennessee, while working there as a tailor. After the death of Abraham Lincoln, he was elected president.

Ulysses S. Grant (Scotch-Irish, English & Scottish)
The residence of his maternal great-grandfather, John Simpson, at Dergenagh, County Tyrone, is where an exhibition regarding the adventurous life of the successful Civil War general who spent two terms as President is on display. He was the 18th President, 1869–1877. In 1878, Grant travelled to his ancestral home.

Chester A. Arthur (Scotch-Irish & English)
His election marked the beginning of a quarter-century span when individuals with Ulster-Scots ancestry held office as president, of which he was the 21st (1881–1855). In 1815, his family departed Dreen, a town close to Cullybackey in County Antrim. The Arthur Ancestral Home is now accompanied by a neighbouring informative centre that is devoted to his life and times.

Grover Cleveland (Scotch-Irish & English)
22nd and 24th Presidents, 1885–1889 and 1893–1997: He was the maternal grandchild of businessman Abner Neal, who moved from County Antrim in the 1790s, and was born in New Jersey. The only president to hold office for non-consecutive terms is Cleveland.

Benjamin Harrison (Scotch-Irish & English)
The 23rd President, 1889–1893, was descended from Ulster-Scots through his mother Elizabeth Irwin's great-grandfathers James Irwin and William McDowell. Before beginning a career in Indiana politics that eventually brought him to the White House, Harrison, an Ohio-native, served as a brigadier general in the Union Army.

William McKinley (Scotch-Irish & English)
President No. 25 (1897–1901): He was proud of his lineage and spoke at a national Scotch-Irish Irish convention that was conducted in the late 19th century. He was born in Ohio and was a descendent of a farmer from Conagher, close to Ballymoney, County Antrim. A murderer's gunshot halted his second term as president.

Theodore Roosevelt (Scotch-Irish, Irish, Dutch, Scottish, English & French)
His mother, Mittie Bulloch, had Ulster Scots ancestors who left Glenoe, County Antrim, in May 1729. He served as president from 1901 to 1909. Irish Presbyterians were described by Roosevelt as "a brave and robust people."

William Howard Taft (Scotch-Irish & English)
President No. 27 (1909–13): Robert Taft, his great, great, great grandpa, was born in Ireland in 1640 and emigrated to America in the middle of the 17th century. County Louth, Republic of Ireland native Robert Taft passed away at Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Woodrow Wilson (Scotch-Irish)
The 28th President (1913–21) His roots were deep and precious to him; he was of Ulster-Scottish descent on both sides of the family. He was the great-grandson of a printer from Dergalt, County Tyrone, close to Strabane, whose former residence remains open to guests. He considered the impact of his ancestors' morals on his lifelong pursuit of knowledge and happiness throughout his professional life.

Warren G. Harding (Scotch-Irish & English)
He presided over the country as the 29th president from 1921 until his death in 1923. He was a Republican and one of the most well-liked presidents in office during that period of time.

Harry S. Truman (Irish Scotch-Irish, English & German)
He was the country's 33rd president, holding office from 1945 to 1953. He previously served as Franklin Roosevelt's 34th vice president from January to April 1945 and as a United States senator in Missouri from 1935 to January 1945. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

John F. Kennedy (Irish)
(County Wexford) John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy, also known by his initials JFK, was an American politician who held the post of 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination towards the conclusion of his third year in office. He died on November 22, 1963.

Richard Nixon (Scotch-Irish, Irish)
The Nixon family fled Ulster in the middle of the 18th century, and the Quaker Milhous family had relations in County Antrim and County Kildare. Nixon served as president from 1969 to 1974.

Jimmy Carter (Scotch-Irish & English) (County Antrim)
The 39th president of the United States, James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924), presided over the country from 1977 to 1981. He previously served as Georgia's 76th governor from 1971 to 1975 and as a state senator from 1963 to 1967. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Ronald Reagan (Irish)
40th President 1981–1989: On his father's side, he was the great-grandson of Irish immigrants from Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, who arrived in America in the 1840s and stopping off in England and Canada on the way. His mother was English and Scottish in descent.

George H. W. Bush ( Irish, Scotch-Irish & English) (County Wexford)
41st President 1989–93: His lineage can be traced down to Dermot MacMurrough, the Gaelic ruler of Leinster, and Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (better known as Strongbow

George W. Bush (Irish & English)
43rd President (2001–2009): William Holliday, one of his five times great-grandfathers, was born in County Down's Rathfriland around 1755 and passed away in Kentucky in 1811–1812. William Shannon, who was one of the President's seven times great-grandfathers, was born around 1730 somewhere in County Cork and passed away in Pennsylvania in 1784.

Barack Obama (Kenyan (Luo), English, and Irish)
Forty fourth President (2009–17): His father was a Kenyan ethnic Luo. Although most of his mother's ancestors were of English descent, a small number of them were from Moneygall, County Offaly.

The 46th president of the United States is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., an American politician born on November 20, 1942. He represented Delaware in the US Senate from 1973 to 2009 and was a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as President Barack Obama's 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017.

Cool to be Irish