Presidential nicknames

If you make reference "The Gipper" or "Dubya" most people have no trouble figuring out who you are referring to. Much like many other famous people, the people holding the office of President of the United States of America have had numerous nicknames throughout the years. Sometimes it is in reference to their political campaigns prior to their election, sometimes they created widely influencing policies (good or bad), sometimes it is due to a political scandal, or it may just be a personality or physical trait.

In addition to nicknames given for any of the various reasons above, the US president has other names and titles including:

• Mister President or Mister President of the United States - the proper way to address the president. When the office of the president was first created, the Senate debated how the president should be addressed. Some of the original suggestions included Your Majesty, His Patriotic Majesty, or Your Highness, the President of the United States and Protectory of their Liberties. Fortunately for us the House of Representatives was the first to address him in an official manner and simply called him Mr. President of the United States
• POTUS - an acronym of President Of The United States used commonly by the Secret Service and United States Military
• Commander-in-Chief - a reference to his position in the United States Military Chain of Command

An interesting fact about presidential nicknames is that Jimmy Carter was the first president to take his oath of office under a nickname (his real name is James).

George Washington

• The Father of His Country and Sword of the Revolution - due to his part in the American Revolution and being the first President of the United States of America

John Adams

• Atlas of Independence
• His Rotundity - due to his large size

Thomas Jefferson

• Father of the Declaration of Independence
• The Sage of Monticello - a reference to his Monticello home

James Madison

• Father of the Constitution

James Monroe

• Last of the Cocked Hats - an honorable reference to the three pointed cocked hat worn by soldiers of the American Revolution; Monroe was the last president of this era of leaders

John Quincy Adams

• Old Man Eloquent - due to his long articulate speeches
• King John II - a reference to his being the second "John Adams"

Andrew Jackson

• Old Hickory and Hero of New Orleans - both references to his excellent leadership during the War of 1812
• King Andy

Martin Van Buren

• Machiavellian Belshazzar
• Old Kinderhook - possibly the origin of "OK"
• Red Fox of Kinderhook, and The Sage of Lindenwald - a reference to his home
• Little Magician

William Henry Harrison

• Tippecanoe (and Tyler Too) - a reference to the Battle of Tippecanoe
• Granny Harrison - comes from an old political cartoon

John Tyler

• Accidental President and His Accidency - Tyler received the job because Harrison died in office

James K. Polk

• Young Hickory - due to his backing by Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory)
• Napoleon of the Stump - because he gave fiery speeches "from the stump"

Zachary Taylor

• Old Rough and Ready - he was a hero of the Mexican War
• Old Zach

Millard Fillmore

• The American Louis Philippe
• His Accidency - because Taylor died in office
• Wool-Carder President - he was an apprentice to a wool carder

Franklin Pierce

• Young Hickory of the Granite Hills - a reference to his home
• Handsome Frank - a reference to his appearance

James Buchanan

• The Bachelor President - Buchanan was the only unmarried president
• Ten-cent Jimmy and Ten-cents-a-day Jimmy - he once said that he though 10 cents a day was a fair wage for manual labor
• Old Public Functionary - a reference to one of his State of the Union Addresses
• Old Buck
• The Sage of Wheatland - his home

Abraham Lincoln

• The Great Emancipator, Black Republican, The Illinois Baboon, and The Original Gorilla - because he emancipated the slaves (some of these are slanderous terms for blacks)
• Honest Abe
• The Log-splitter and The Railsplitter - reference to one of his former occupations
• The Sectional President - because the country was divided during his term
• The Sage of Springfield - reference to his Illinois home
• The Martyr - he was assassinated

Andrew Johnson

• Father of the Homestead Act - reference to the Homestead Act
• Tennessee Tailor - reference to his home and previous occupation

Ulysses S. Grant

• Hero of Appomattox - a reference to his military service
• Unconditional Surrender Grant - both a play on his initials and his terms for enemy surrender at Fort Donelson ("no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted")

Rutherford B. Hayes

• The Dark Horse President
• Rutherfraud, His Fradulency, and Old Eight to Seven - because Samuel Tilden (democrat) won the popular vote and a dispute over electoral votes (eight to seven), it was thought that Hayes must have rigged the election

James A. Garfield

• The Preacher President - he was once a preacher
• Boatman Jim and Canal Boy - reference his experience in the American Civil War

Chester A. Arthur

• The Dude President - due to his manner of dress
• The Gentleman Boss
• Elegant Arthur

Stephen Grover Cleveland

• Grover and Grover Cleveland
• The Hangman of Buffalo - because he was sheriff and sometimes the executioner in Buffalo, New York
• The Veto President
• Uncle Jumbo - due to his large size
• Big Steve - while commonly known only as Grover Cleveland, his real first name was Stephen

Benjamin Harrison

• The Whitehouse Iceberg
• Kid Gloves Harrison - a democratic party mudslinging campaign against him

William McKinley

• The Idol of Ohio - his roots were in Ohio
• Stocking-footed Orator

Theodore Roosevelt

• Teddy and Teddy Roosevelt
• TR
• Trustbuster
• The Cyclone Assemblyman
• Rough Rider, The Hero of San Juan Hill, and That Damned Cowboy - because of his part in the Spanish-American War and membership in the cavalry unit, The Rough Riders

William Howard Taft

• Big Bill - he weighed over 300lb

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

• Woodrow Wilson
• The Schoolmaster and Schoolmaster in Politics - he was also president of Princeton
• The Phrasemaker and Coiner of Weasel Words

Warren G. Harding

• President Hardly - because he hardly made any impact during his administration

Calvin Coolidge

• Silent Cal - he did not speak well

Herbert Hoover

• Hermit Author of Palo Alto
• The Great Humanitarian
• The Great Engineer

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• FDR
• That Man in the White House
• The New Dealer and A Traitor to His Class - references to his New Deal policy

Harry S. Truman

• Give 'Em Hell Harry
• Haberdasher and Haberdasher Harry - due to his previous occupation

Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Ike

John F. Kennedy

• JFK
• King of Camelot

Lyndon B. Johnson

• LBJ
• Landslide Lyndon

Richard M. Nixon

• Tricky Dick - because of his scandals

Gerald R. Ford

• Jerry
• Mr. Nice Guy

James Earl Carter

• Jimmy and Jimmy Carter
• Peanut Farmer - he owned peanut farms

Ronald Reagan

• The Gipper - a reference to one of his film roles
• The Great Communicator - due to his oratory skills
• The Teflon President - due to his ability to dodge blame during political scandals
• Ronnie
• Ronnie Raygun - because of his Star Wars defense system ideas
• Dutch
• Rawhide - his secret service codename

George Bush

• Bush 41, Bush the Elder, and Poppy - references to signify the 41st president as opposed to his son, the 43rd president
• The Resume Candidate

William Jefferson Clinton

• Bill and Bill Clinton
• Slick Willie
• Bubba
• Commander-in-Briefs - because of the Monica Lewinsky scandal
• Comeback Kid

George W. Bush

• Dubya, W, and GW (Gee Dubya) - references his middle initial, "Dubya" is a Texan pronounciation of "W"
• Bush 43, Bush the Younger, Baby Bush, and King George III - all references to him being the son of George Bush (41st president)
• Shrub
• Dumbya - a play on Dubya due to his poor grasp of the English language (nuculer) and his numerous business failures

Barack H. Obama

• Barack - while unusual (and possibly disrepectful), I have heard Obama referred to by his first name quite commonly - including in the news. This is likely because it is such an unusual name. You couldn't just say "George" or "Bill" and assume you were talking about a former president, but it you said "Barack", who else would you be talking about?