By: inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/
Out of all the regions in the United States, the South probably has the most unique and interesting history. Looking at the geographic origins of each president provides a fascinating proxy of Southern influence in America. To do this, I have compiled a table which lists whether each president had Southern origins or not.
Here are the early years of America:
President | From the Former Confederacy? |
George Washington | Yes |
Yes | |
John Adams | No |
Thomas Jefferson | Yes |
Yes | |
James Madison | Yes |
Yes | |
James Monroe | Yes |
Yes | |
John Quincy Adams | No |
Andrew Jackson | Yes |
Yes | |
Martin Van Buren | No |
William Henry Harrison | Yes |
John Tyler | Yes |
James K. Polk | Yes |
Zachary Taylor | Yes |
Millard Fillmore | No |
Franklin Pierce | No |
James Buchanan | No |
CIVIL WAR BEGINS |
In this table, Southern is defined as simply the former states of the Confederacy. Presidents with two terms get two entries; those with one term get merely one. It is generally pretty clear whether or not a president had Southern origins; the only two difficult cases are that of President Harry Truman (raised in Missouri) and President George W. Bush (who was born in Connecticut but spent most of his life in Texas).
As the table indicates, Southern presidents dominate the early life of the republic.
More below.