A leader of the free world who at one time revved up sports fans with their enthusiasm, Franklin Roosevelt was a cheerleader at Harvard University. The Ivy League cheerleader was on the squad for three years in total, from 1900 to 1903. It’s difficult to imagine Roosevelt (or any other man) in a cheerleader suit however, back in the day, the uniforms were slightly different than what we know today.
Despite his athletic past, Roosevelt sadly developed polio later in his life and was wheelchair-bound even during his presidency. There was no cure for his paralysis (which was from the waist down), but he was able to find some relief through hydrotherapy.
Emma Chamberlain
YouTuber Emma Chamberlain took her cheerleading very seriously and was considered a competitive cheerleader. She described herself as a “sassy” cheerleader who was on the California All-Stars Pink cheer squad. These days she is a globally known Internet personality, and in 2018 she grasped the Streamy Award for Breakout Creator.
Emma was in competitive cheerleading for five years and was also on her high school team but was later dismissed for an undisclosed reason. But today, the twenty-year-old influencer and businesswoman is bust with other ventures and is worth about 8 million dollars, so it’s doubtful she misses those cheerleading days!
Ronald Reagan
There are a number of political figures on this list, but it may not be surprising to see Ronald Reagan here, considering he went on to be an actor before becoming the 40th President of the United States. It still amazes us how so many politicians, in general, and former presidents, in particular, tried the arts before turning to the serious stuff.
In his youth, Reagan was a member of the cheer squad at Eureka College in Illinois. But he was also a jock too and was the captain of the swim team and on the football team. It seems Reagan was never afraid to be front and center.
Mitt Romney
Here is a politician who was involved in cheerleading, Mitt Romney. Well, technically, the former Republican presidential candidate was in the Pep club, but at least he showed some school spirit! Romney has had his share of scandals in American politics, however, we are here to cover his former days as part of the squad.
Unfortunately for Romney, he received some light chastisement while he was on the campaign trail for his former cheerleading. It seems that while cheerleading is considered primarily a feminine activity today, in decades past no one thought any differently of guys and girls cheerleading together. Hopefully, this idea will soon be revived.
Rick Perry
The former secretary of energy and former governor of Texas has been known to the public for more than two decades and not because of his political career. The two-time presidential candidate who attended Texas A & M University Texan governor likes to say that he wasn’t actually a cheerleader but a “yell leader” maybe this description sounds better to him?
Texas A & M is actually a military-type university, and being a cheer, um, we mean yell leader, is actually a position of honor. Perry was chosen for the position through the votes of his peers and ended up becoming “the face” of the athletic department. Seems his early life was political even before he entered politics.