Net Worth: $1B Served: 1961-1963
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is most commonly known among Americans simply as “JFK.” Of course, he is also one of the most famous of the former presidents, perhaps largely due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding his assassination. Kennedy was born into a wealthy and powerful family and attended prestigious universities like Harvard and Stanford. He served in the Navy during WWII before he began his career in politics.
Kennedy actually spent some time as a journalist after he served, before he ran for the House. Of course, thanks to his family connections and impressive history both in education and fighting for the country – he won the election. He went on to become a senator and finally, president before he was shot and passed away in 1963. He had amassed quite a fortune for himself and his family before his death – an estimated $1 billion worth.
President John Quincy Adams
Net Worth: $23M Served: 1825-1829
Interesting that John Quincy Adams would be above his father on this list, but indeed he was able to outdo his dad by a smooth couple of million bucks, as far as their net worths are concerned! This Adams was the son of 2nd president John Adams and his lovely wife Abigail. Although, if it weren’t for his inheritance from his father, he wouldn’t have been able to make entirely so much money!
Adams was actually the first U.S. president who was the offspring of another. Before his time in the Oval Office, he served as a Senator and Minister to Russia. After losing the election for a 2nd term, he thought he was going to retire to his farm in Massachusetts, but he ended up being elected to the House of Representatives, instead. He held his seat in the house until his death in 1848. Adams’ youngest son, Charles, inherited a large portion of his father’s estate after his passing.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Net Worth: $140M Served: 1901-1909
This former president, who is most commonly called “Teddy Roosevelt,” was born and raised in a wealthy family, like so many other world leaders. He started out pursuing a career in law but quickly decided that it wasn’t for him and went into politics, instead. Roosevelt inherited an incredible amount of land from his family but lost the majority of it before his time in office after harsh winters destroyed his ranching business.
But Roosevelt had thick skin, and he wasn’t about to let himself slip into poverty. So, he decided to author a couple of books. He published several books and made a decent amount of money during his career as a writer. He became president when he in fact was set to become vice president because McKinley was assassinated in 1901 and he stepped up to take over. His elaborate estate, Sagamore Hill, has been turned into a historic site.
President William Henry Harrison
Net Worth: $6M Served: 1841
William Henry Harrison was Benjamin Harrison’s grandfather and acted as the 9th president of the United States in 1841. If he wasn’t related to the other President Harrison, most people probably would have never even heard much about him. That’s because this Harrison was only in office for an entire month that year. Unfortunately, he passed away from pneumonia before he could continue the rest of his first term.
But just because he didn’t necessarily accomplish a whole lot during his presidency doesn’t mean he still didn’t stack up a nice, solid fortune for himself over the years. He spent most of his adult life in politics, like most of his family members. He worked as both a congressman and senator in Ohio before getting elected to the Oval Office. Since Harrison’s presidency was cut so tragically short, his wife was awarded a pension check for the equivalent of the rest of the year’s worth of his salary.
President Van Buren
Net Worth: $29M Served: 1837-1841
Van Buren was actually the first president of the country who had not been born as a subject of Britain. He grew up in a semi-middle-class family in New York, making his lifetime feats that much more incredible. Although he was not rich at all when he was a child, his parents still owned slaves. He became a lawyer after his schooling, which is where he began to really stack his wealth. But the majority of the nearly $30 million he would acquire would come from his time in politics.
Van Buren, who became known by the nickname of the “Little Magician,” inherited a wealthy country, too…but that phase wouldn’t last for long. Because of some of the moves of his predecessor, Andrew Jackson, the financial crash of 1837 hit just 3 months into his presidency. Hundreds of businesses and banks were plunged into ruin, causing nationwide panic. Van Buren passed away in 1862 and unfortunately, didn’t leave much of a positive legacy behind.