By Jessica Wedemeyer
1:42pm PST, Nov 22, 2023
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Join us as we take a look back at America's commanders-in-chief from recent history when they were young, starting with JFK, who was assassinated 60 years ago on Nov. 22, 1963…
John F. Kennedy was just 21 in this photo — which shows him posing alongside his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who was the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain at the time — taken on Dec. 15, 1938. JFK was assassinated while president 25 years later.
Keep reading to see more presidents in their younger years…
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In 1946, a young Jimmy Carter posed for a portrait in honor of his graduation from the United States Naval Academy. He was just 21 at the time.
He and Rosalynn Carter — who tied the knot in 1946 and welcomed four children together — both entered hospice care in 2023: the 39th POTUS in February and his wife in November, just two days before she died at 96.
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In 1932, a 7-year-old Jimmy Carter was all ears in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
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In 1980, a teenaged Barack Obama posed for a photo in the library at Occidental College in Los Angeles — which he briefly attended before transferring to Columbia University in New York City. He was just 19 at the time.
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We love a man in uniform! George W. Bush posed for a portrait while serving in the Texas Air National Guard in 1970. He was 24 at the time.
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There's no mistaking that mug! A young Bill Clinton posed for a portrait while studying at Oxford's University College in England in 1968. He was 22 at the time.
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A young Bill Clinton rocked a Western-style jacket in an undated photo from his childhood.
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Look at that baby face! In 1943 — the year he enlisted — a teenaged George H. W. Bush posed for a portrait while serving as a naval aviator cadet in the United States Navy. He was 18 at the time.
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A face for radio? No way! A young Ronald Reagan posed for a portrait while working for WHO radio in Des Moines, Iowa, in the mid-1930s. He was in his mid-20s at the time.
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We'd NEVER recognize him! A 20-year-old Gerald Ford kept his eyes on the ball while playing football for the University of Michigan in 1933. (He won two national championships with the team!)
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A young Gerald Ford rocked a particularly fantastic hairstyle circa 1918 when he was about 5 years old.
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A teenaged Richard Nixon — who grew up playing several instruments including violin and piano — posed for a portrait sometime in the late 1920s.
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Richard Nixon looked too cute in a portrait from circa 1917 when he would've been about 4 years old.
