579St Bryde

U.S. Presidents. 

I am frequently asked during the course of my Masonic Lectures if I could give any information on which United States Presidents were Freemasons. I asked my good friend Bro. Richard Radi of Virginia for information for our Right Angle  and he came up with some interesting information.

Washington, George - 1st  President of the United States. Following his death, his widow sent locks of his hair (a  common practice of the time) to Masons throughout the country and such revered treasures were the object of great appreciation. To this day, a lock of his hair sent to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is carried in a golden urn preceding the entry of the Grand Master at the Annual Meeting of the Grand Lodge. 1789-1797.  Fredericksburg Lodge, Virginia.

Monroe, James – 5th President of the United States (1817-1825), whose      administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819), the Missouri Compromise (1820), in which Missouri was declared a slave state, and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which declared U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas. 

Jackson, Andrew - 7th President of the U.S. Grand Master of Tennessee 2 terms. 1829-37. Harmony Lodge, Nashville, Tennessee

Polk, James Knox - 11th President of the U.S.  Governor of Tennessee. 1845-49.    Columbia Lodge, Columbia Tennessee. 1845-50

Atchison, David Rice – 11 ½   President.  James Polk’s term expired on Sunday, 4/3/1849. Zachary Taylor refused to be inaugurated because it was a Sunday. Following the law, the President Pro-Tem of the Senate takes over as President and that is how Brother Atchison became President of the United States from Noon, 4/3/1849 to Noon 5/3/1849.

Buchanan, James - 15th President of the U.S. (1857-1861). Lodge 45, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Johnson, Andrew - 17th Pres.  succeeded Abraham Lincoln. An attempt to unseat Sec. of War Edwin Stanton led to his impeachment on purely political grounds; he was acquitted by one vote. Ross, Edmund G. – U.S.Senator who cast the 1 impartial vote of "Not Guilty" thus saving President (and Brother)    Andrew Johnson from impeachment and preserving the American system of  Constitutional government. President 1865-69.  Greenville Lodge 119, Greenville,  Tennessee.

Garfield, James A. - 20th President of the United States, assassinated in 1881. Columbus #30, Columbus, Ohio

McKinley, William - The 25th President of the U.S. His presidency was marked by the Spanish-American War (1898), the annexation of Cuba & the Philippines, an open-door policy with China, & the passage of the Gold Standard Act (1900). He was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo, N.Y.  President 1897-1901. Hiram 21, Winchester, Virginia.

Roosevelt, Theodore - Hero of the Spanish-American War, Governor of NY, Vice President and when President  William McKinley was assassinated, became  26th President of the United States. 1901-09.

Taft, William Howard – 27th President of the U.S. 1909-1913. Grand Master of Masons in Ohio. Made Mason on Sight, Occassional Lodge, Cincinnatti, Ohio

Harding, Warren G. - 29th President of the United States. He died in office. 1921-23. Marion #70, Marion, Ohio.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. – Gov. of NY & 32nd President of the United States, the only US president to be  reelected three times. He brought his     country out of the Great Depression, guided them through World War II and died in office. President 1933-45.  Holland Lodge #8, New York, NY 

Truman, Harry S. 33rd President of the United States with the death of        President Franklin D. Roosevelt, another Mason. The most active Mason to hold the highest office in the United States. 1945-53. Belton Lodge #450, Belton, Missouri. Grand Master of Missouri.

Johnson, Lyndon B. 36th. President. 1963 - 1969. E.A. in Johnson City, Texas, 30th. Oct. 1937. Did not advance.

Ford, Gerald R. - 38th President of the United States. 1974-77, Columbia #3, Washington, DC   

Bro James L Jack RWPGM. November 2006