List of left-handed presidents of the United States

Barack Obama signing with his left hand

At least seven of the 45 persons ^{[a] [1]} who have held the office of United States president have been left-handed. ^{[2] [3]} Only one U.S. president prior to the 20th century was known to be left-handed. ^[4] Since World War II there have been fourteen U.S. presidents ^[2] and six of them have been left-handed. ^{[5] [6]}

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". ^[6] 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". ^[7] 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". ^[8] In a 2021 Business Insider article titled, "From Barack Obama to Julius Caesar, here are 12 world leaders who were left-handed" reporters Alexandra Ma and Talia Lakritz state, "According to some research, lefties may be more creative, be better at 'divergent thinking' – generating new ideas based on existing information – and face challenges better." ^{[9] [10]}

Medical researcher Jonathan Belsey argued that, given a 13% prevalence of left-handedness, the long-term average is not statistically high, but rather has a p-value of 0.77, and that even the post-1881 prevalence has a 0.10 likelihood of occurring by chance. ^[3]

Left-handed presidents of the United States

• James A. Garfield (March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881) was ambidextrous; ^[11] he was the only known left-handed president prior to the 20th century. ^[4]
• Harry S. Truman (April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953) was left-handed as a child, ^[4] he wrote with his right hand and used his left for most other activities. ^{[12] [13]}
• Gerald Ford (August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977) was left-handed.
• Ronald Reagan (January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989) was naturally left-handed, but wrote with his right hand. ^{[12] [9]}
• George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993) was left-handed. All three major candidates for president in 1992 were left-handed; Bill Clinton won. ^[6]
• Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001) is left-handed. ^[14]
• Barack Obama (January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017) is left-handed. ^{[15] [16]}

Other presidents who demonstrated left-handed ability

• Thomas Jefferson (March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809) was right-handed but after an injury to his right wrist, he wrote with his left hand. ^[17] He was said to have been ambidextrous, and he could write equally well with either hand. ^[18]
• Woodrow Wilson (March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921) was right-handed but after a stroke Wilson was able to use his left hand to write "perfectly legible well-formed characters". His ability was called "remarkable neurologically". ^[19]

See also

• List of presidents of the United States

References

1. Pramuk, Jacob (January 20, 2021). "Joe Biden is sworn in as president: 'Democracy has prevailed'". CNBC. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
2. "Chronological List of Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents of the United States". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
3. Belsey, Jonathan (July 22, 2008). "Trend in left handed presidents may be due to chance". BMJ. 337: a915. doi:10.1136/bmj.a915. ISSN   0959-8138. PMID   18647785. S2CID   5394307.
4. Slauer, Shelby (August 6, 2018). "8 presidents you had no idea were left-handed". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
5. Wang, Sam; Aamodt, Sandra (July 6, 2008). "A Vast Left-Handed Conspiracy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
6. Donaldson James, Susan (April 14, 2009). "Four Out of Five Recent Presidents Are Southpaws". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
7. Selden MD, PhD, Nathan R. (April 26, 2019). "Right brain? Hemispheric dominance and the United States presidency". Journal of Neurosurgery. 131 (1): 321. doi:10.3171/2019.3.JNS19510. PMID   31026837. S2CID   135463727. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
8. Roth, Melissa (January 30, 2000). "The Nation: Digital Revolution; Forget Left-Wing. Say Hello to Left-Handed Politics". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
9. Ma, Alexandra; Lakritz, Talia (August 13, 2021). "From Barack Obama to Julius Caesar, here are 12 world leaders who were left-handed". Business Insider. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
10. 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 March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
11. Pruitt, Sarah (September 1, 2018). "The First Left-handed President Was Ambidextrous and Multilingual". A&E Television Networks, LLC. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
12. 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 March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
13. McCullough, David G. (1992). Truman. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 32, 68. ISBN   978-0671869205. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
14. Smits, Rik (2011). The puzzle of left-handedness. London: Reaktion Books. p. 284. ISBN   978-1861898739. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
15. Chung, Andrew (March 2, 2008). "Odds are next U.S. president will be left-handed". Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
16. "Top 10 Lefties". Time. August 13, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
17. Nelson, Lyle Emerson (2004). American presidents : year by year. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference. p. 44. ISBN   978-0765680464 . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
18. Eleroy Curtis, William (1901). Thomas Jefferson. Gilbert Stuwart. p. 349. ISBN   9780722286975 . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
19. Weinstein, Edwin A. (1981). Woodrow Wilson, a medical and psychological biography. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 142. ISBN   978-0691614960 . Retrieved March 22, 2022.

Notes

1. As of 2025 ^[update] . While there have been 47 presidencies, only 45 individuals have served as president. Two presidents have served non-consecutive terms: and thus, Grover Cleveland is numbered as both the 22nd and 24th U.S. president, and Donald Trump is numbered as both the 45th and 47th U.S. president.

Further reading

• Right brain? Hemispheric dominance and the United States presidency JNS Nathan R. Selden MD, PhD