List of left-handed United States presidents
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There have been 45 men who have held the office of United States president.[1] Only one U.S. president prior to the 20th century was known to be left-handed.[2] Since World War II there have been fourteen different U.S. Presidents[1] and six of them have been left-handed.[3][4]
Various theories about why left-handers are overrepresented among U.S. presidents have been proposed. Biologist Amar Klar studied handedness and determined that left-handed people, "...have a wider scope of thinking".[4] In a 2019 Journal of Neurosurgery article Nathan R. Selden argued that since left-handed people are right-hemisphere–dominant individuals, this might make presidents, "more effective leaders or at least more effective political candidates".[5] A University of British Columbia psychology professor, Stanley Coren, authored the book The Left-Handed Syndrome, in which he claimed that "left-handers actually have a profile that works very well for a politician".[6]
Left-handed United States presidents[edit]
- James A. Garfield President from March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881, was ambidextrous;[7] he was the only known left-handed President prior to the 20th century.[2]
- Herbert Hoover President from March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933, was left-handed.[8]
- Harry S. Truman President from April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953, was left-handed as a child,[2] he wrote with his right hand and used his left for most other activities.[9][10]
- Gerald Ford President from August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977, was left handed with a reputation for being clumsy.[9]
- Ronald Reagan President from January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989, was left-handed but wrote with his right hand.[9]
- George H. W. Bush President from January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993, was left-handed. All three candidates for president in 1992 were left-handed: Bill Clinton won.[4]
- Bill Clinton President from January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001, was left-handed.[11]
- Barack Obama President from January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017, was left-handed.[12]
Other presidents who demonstrated left-handed ability[edit]
- Thomas Jefferson President from March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809, was right handed but after an injury to his right wrist, he wrote with his left hand.[13] He was said to have been ambidextrous, and he could write equally well with either hand.[14]
- Woodrow Wilson President from March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921, was right handed but after a stroke Wilson was able use his left hand to write "perfectly legible well formed characters". His ability was called "remarkable neurologically".[15]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Chronological List of Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents of the United States". Library of Congress. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Slauer, Shelby (6 August 2018). "8 presidents you had no idea were left-handed". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Wang, Sam; Aamodt, Sandra (6 July 2008). "A Vast Left-Handed Conspiracy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Donaldson James, Susan (14 April 2009). "Four Out of Five Recent Presidents Are Southpaws". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Selden MD, PhD, Nathan R. (26 April 2019). "Right brain? Hemispheric dominance and the United States presidency". Journal of Neurosurgery. 131 (1): 321. doi:10.3171/2019.3.JNS19510. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Roth, Melissa (30 January 2000). "The Nation: Digital Revolution; Forget Left-Wing. Say Hello to Left-Handed Politics". New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Pruitt, Sarah (1 September 2018). "The First Left-handed President Was Ambidextrous and Multilingual". A&E Television Networks, LLC. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Erhardt, Rhoda Priest (2012). Hand preference : theory, assessment, and implications for function. Maplewood, MN.: Erhardt Developmental Products. p. 11. ISBN 978-1930282667. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) Search this book on
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 McManus, I. C. (2002). Right hand, left hand : the origins of asymmetry in brains, bodies, atoms, and cultures. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 323. ISBN 978-0674016132. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) Search this book on
- ↑ McCullough, David G. (1992). Truman. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 32, 68. ISBN 978-0671869205. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
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- ↑ Smits, Rik (2011). The puzzle of left-handedness. London: Reaktion Books. p. 284. ISBN 978-1861898739. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
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- ↑ Chung, Andrew (2 March 2008). "Odds are next U.S. president will be left-handed". Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Nelson, Lyle Emerson (2004). American presidents : year by year. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference. p. 44. ISBN 978-0765680464. Retrieved 22 March 2022. Search this book on
- ↑ Eleroy Curtis, William (1901). Thomas Jefferson. Gilbert Stuwart. p. 349. Retrieved 22 March 2022. Search this book on
- ↑ Weinstein, Edwin A. (1981). Woodrow Wilson, a medical and psychological biography. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0691614960. Retrieved 22 March 2022. Search this book on
Further reading[edit]
- Right brain? Hemispheric dominance and the United States presidency JNS Nathan R. Selden MD, PhD
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