+15 It's hard to have a normal childhood when your dad is the president of the United States. Still, the title of first son or daughte...
It's hard to have a normal childhood when your dad is the president of the United States. Still, the title of first son or daughter comes with its perks. From extra family time inside the White House walls and diplomatic world travels to sleepovers and White House hosted senior proms, here's what it was like for 15 presidents and their kids in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
THE LINCOLN FAMILY 1861 - 1865: When Honest Abe was elected president in 1861, he left his eldest son Robert back at home in Kentucky and headed to the White House with his wife, Mary Todd, and their two youngest children Willie, 11, and Tad, 8. Although Lincoln was a serious, war-time president, he was also a family man with a soft spot for his children, who were allowed to run free throughout the private and public parts of the building. According to historians, the boys were known to barge in on important meetings, run through the halls with their pet goat and cut up unattended tablecloths. Tragically, both children caught typhoid fever. Willie didn't recover and died in 1862. Tad, pictured here in 1864, also passed away 10 years later of an unknown disease, most likely tuberculosis or pneumonia.
THE GRANT FAMILY 1869 - 1877: Ulysses S. Grant, who was known for his steadfastness and resolve on the battlefield as a Union general, was a doting dad to his four kids in the White House. Frederick, Ulysses Jr., Ellen (nicknamed Nellie) and Jesse fell between the ages of 11 and 19 when they moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1869 — and were pleased to receive more attention and consideration from their father than they previously received while he was occupied with military duties. In fact, Grant's only daughter never wanted to leave the White House. When Nellie Grant's parents sent her to boarding school in Connecticut, she begged her father to bring her home to DC; after a trip to England, she returned to the White House once again with a suitor she would later wed in a grand White House wedding. Pictured: Nellie Grant.
THE TAFT FAMILY 1909 - 1913: When William Howard Taft became the 27th POTUS, only one of his children joined him in the White House — 11-year-old Charles. After spending several years traipsing through the hallowed halls of the presidential palace, Charles joined the army and went on to follow in his father's footsteps and become a local politician. To preserve his father's legacy and their familial bond, the former first child worked to preserve his father's childhood home in his late adulthood. The Cincinnati, Ohio house later served as the William Howard Raft National Historic Site. Pictured, Charles (left) with his siblings and parents.
THE CLEVELAND FAMILY 1885 - 1889, 1893 - 1897: An American president unafraid of flaunting convention, Grover Cleveland didn't let the job of commander in chief stop his personal life. In his first term, beginning in 1885, the 49-year-old president married his 21-year-old First Lady Frances. After a brief political hiatus (Cleveland was the only American president to serve two nonconsecutive terms), he returned to the White House with a 2-year-old daughter, Ruth. Eager to grow his family, Frances fell pregnant again and gave birth to Esther in 1893 — the only child ever born inside the White House. After Cleveland's final term ended, he and his wife had two more children. Pictured, a political cartoon of Cleveland from 1884.
THE COOLIDGE FAMILY 1923 - 1929: Calvin and Grace Coolidge moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with their sons John, 17, and Calvin Jr., 15, in 1923 — but tragedy struck within the White House grounds. The two boys enjoyed many of the amenities the White House offered, including its tennis courts. In an awful turn of events, Calvin Jr. developed a blister on his foot after a tennis match which turned into a deadly sepsis infection. According to historians, Coolidge never forgave himself for his son's death.
THE KENNEDY FAMILY 1961 - 1963: From John Jr. playing under JFK's desk in the Oval Office to Caroline riding her pet pony on the White House lawn, photos from John F. Kennedy and Jackie O's time in the White House have become some of the most iconic presidential photos in history. Two of the youngest kids to ever live in the presidential mansion, Caroline was age 4 and John Jr. was just a year old when JFK took office in 1961. By August 7, 1963 the First Family welcomed another baby, Patrick, to Camelot. Tragically, the child died two days after his birth — three months before the 35th President was assassinated.
THE JOHNSON FAMILY 1963 - 1969: Proud of their father, Lynda, 19, and Luci, 16, understood the monumental task Lyndon B. Johnson was faced with when he took office after JFK's assassination. Devoted to their dad, Luci once said of her time in the White House: 'For me it was the best of times and the worst of times, but it's a march through history, and there's not a moment you live there that you are able to be oblivious to that.' Despite LBJ's busy schedule, however, he always made time for his 'three girls' (Lady Bird and their two daughters) and even hosted Lynda's wedding in the East Room of the White House in 1967. He's pictured here fixing his daughter's gown for her.
THE FORD FAMILY 1974 - 1977: Gerald and Betty Ford's children took full advantage of their time in the White House. Although the two elder Ford children, John and Michael, never actually lived in DC, their younger siblings Steven, 18, and Susan, 17, lived it up with Steven reportedly a fan of blasting rock music and Susan holding her school prom in the East Room. The only prom ever held at the White House, the First Daughter was photographed bumping her rear end into her date's bottom while doing a new dance called 'the bump'. Gerald Ford was away on a diplomatic trip during the event and was unable to chaperone.
THE CARTER FAMILY 1977 - 1981: The first young child to live in the White House since the Kennedy children, Amy Carter - the youngest of Jimmy Carter's four kids (Donnel, James and Jack were already adults at the time) moved from Georgia to Washington DC to be with her parents when Carter was elected in 1977. Amy was close with her father and spent time with him in private and in public — including when she controversially occupied herself with a book while sitting at a state dinner. As historian Sandra Musgrove once noted: 'It's not normal to be a president's child. When your father is the president, you're royalty in this country.' With the position comes perks however, like Amy's treehouse on the South Lawn, pet elephant (which was donated to the National Zoo) and endless historic hallways to roller-skate through. Pictured: Amy Carter alongside her mother, father and French actor and mime Marcel Marceau.
THE CLINTON FAMILY 1993 - 2001: A daddy's girl, Chelsea Clinton, moved into the White House with her mother and father when she was just 13 years old, and immediately became a target for press coverage. Despite Bill and Hillary Clinton's privacy pleas, the news outlets discussed everything from what college the first daughter would one day attend to her appearance — and she also suffered through her father's very public cheating scandal. Still the press coverage didn't mar Chelsea's relationship with her father, who delivered a moving commencement speech at her high school graduation stating: 'Indulge your folks if we seem a little sad or we act a little weird. You see, today we are remembering your first day in school and all the triumphs and travails between then and now.' After Chelsea received her diploma, she walked back across the stage to give her father a big hug.
THE BUSH FAMILY 2001 - 2009: Perhaps the most notorious presidential trouble makers since Alice Roosevelt, fraternal twins Jenna and Barbara Bush got into some seriously sticky situations in the White House when their dad George W. Bush was president. The sisters, who made headlines when they were caught drinking underage and using fake IDs, also reportedly used to ditch their secret service agents by running red lights. Antics aside, Jenna and Barbara have said growing up in the White House was 'magical' and even wrote a letter to future first daughters Sasha and Malia Obama telling them that it's their turn to 'to fill the house with laughter' and 'enjoy it all'.
THE OBAMA FAMILY 2009 - 2017: Sasha and Malia Obama were very young when their dad took office in 2009, and spent much of the presidency at his side. From musical events to the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning, Sasha, Malia and their mom, Michelle, were the epitome of a happy family. The first black president, Obama once spoke about his role as a father stating: 'It’s up to us to say to our daughters, don’t ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for those goals.'
THE TRUMP FAMILY 2016 - 2020: The youngest of Donald Trump's five children, Barron Trump, was the only first child who lived in the White House during his dad's presidency, although Trump's other children were frequent visitors. Like his mother, Melania, Barron is notoriously private but reportedly loves sports — hopefully he's took full advantage of the big screen television in the White House family movie theater!
THE BIDEN FAMILY 2020 - PRESENT: With Joe and Dr. Jill came a Biden brood! Although Biden's children and grandchildren aren't living in the White House, they are frequent visitors and have already reportedly enjoyed nighttime movie bingers in the White House movie theater and weekend getaways to Camp David. Pictured: The Biden family in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln (from left): Son-in-law Howard, granddaughters Natalie and Maisy, daughter Ashley, POTUS, wife Jill, granddaughters Finnegan and Naomi, and grandson Hunter.
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