FAQ: Was President Truman the first Baptist president?


No, President Truman, the 33rd president, was the second Baptist president.

The first, Warren G. Harding, served as the twenty-ninth president (1921-1923).

Other Baptist presidents include the thirty-ninth president, Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), and the forty-second president, Bill Clinton (1993-01).

   
Religious affiliations of the presidents
Episcopalian 10
Presbyterian 6
Unitarian 6
Baptist 4
No formal affiliation 4
Disciples of Christ 3
Dutch Reformed 2
Methodist 2
Society of Friends 2
Congregationalist 1
Roman Catholic 1

41 men have served as president, with religious affiliations as follows:
1 1789-1797 George Washington Episcopalian
2 1797-1801 John Adams Unitarian
3 1801-1809 Thomas Jefferson No formal affiliation
4 1809-1817 James Madison Episcopalian
5 1817-1825 James Monroe Unitarian
6 1825-1829 John Quincy Adams Unitarian
7 1829-1837 Andrew Jackson Unitarian
8 1837-1841 Martin Van Buren Dutch Reformed
9 1841 William Henry Harrison Episcopalian
10 1841-1845 John Tyler Episcopalian
11 1845-1849 James Know Polk Presbyterian
12 1849-1850 Zachary Taylor Episcopalian
13 1850-1853 Millard Fillmore Unitarian
14 1853-1857 Franklin Pierce Episcopalian
15 1857-1861 James Buchanan Presbyterian
16 1861-1865 Abraham Lincoln No formal affiliation
17 1865-1869 Andrew Johnson No formal affiliation
18 1869-1877 Ulysses Simpson Grant Methodist
19 1877-1881 Rutherford Birchard Hayes No formal affiliation
20 1881 James Abram Garfield Disciples of Christ
21 1881-1885 Chester Alan Arthur Episcopalian
22 1885-1889 Grover Cleveland Presbyterian
23 1889-1893 Benjamin A. Harrison Presbyterian
24 1893-1897 Grover Cleveland Presbyterian
25 1897-1901 William McKinley Methodist
26 1901-1909 Theodore Roosevelt Dutch Reformed
27 1909-1913 William Howard Taft Unitarian
28 1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson Presbyterian
29 1921-1923 Warren Gamaliel Harding Baptist
30 1923-1929 Calvin Coolidge Congregationalist
31 1929-1933 Herbert Clark Hoover Society of Friends (Quakers)
32 1933-1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Episcopalian
33 1945-1953 Harry S. Truman Baptist
34 1953-1961 Dwight David Eisenhower Presbyterian
35 1961-1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy Roman Catholic
36 1963-1969 Lyndon Baines Johnson Disciples of Christ
37 1969-1974 Richard Milhous Nixon Society of Friends (Quakers)
38 1974-1977 Gerald Rudolph Ford Episcopalian
39 1977-1981 James Earl Carter, Jr. Baptist
40 1981-1989 Ronald WIlson Reagan Disciples of Christ
41 1989-1993 George Herbert Walker Bush Episcopalian
42 1993-2001 William Jefferson Clinton Baptist

Source: the Internet Public Library, "POTUS Presidents of the United States" http://www.ipl.org/ref/POTUS/


The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is one of twelve Presidential Libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.

500 W. US Hwy. 24. Independence MO 64050
truman.library@nara.gov;
Phone: 816-268-8200 or 1-800-833-1225;
Fax: 816-268-8295.