Being elected to the office of President of the United States is not only the highest honor, but is also the most important job anyone takes on. But it doesn't necessarily mean it will be the most fun, or perhaps the most unusual!
From ice cream scooper to bear guard and chicken plucker, here are seven of the oddest jobs held by former US president…
© Getty ImagesBarack Obama, ice cream scooper
Before President Obama became the first African-American President of the United States, he had a career in law, community organizing… and ice cream!
Obama's first job at 16 was scooping hard ice cream at Baskin-Robbins in Honolulu, Hawaii, and he's been honest about how scooping rock-hard ice cream was tough on his wrists.
But it was also foundational for the teenager, as Barack used his time as inspiration for the Summer Opportunity Project, a movement to help teenagers find employment, during his time in the White House.
© Getty ImagesAbraham Lincoln, wrestler
Long before President Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War - defeating the Confederacy, and playing a major role in the abolition of slavery - he was a catch-as-catch-can (CACC) wrestler, becoming a county champion at the age of 21, and amassed 300 victories over 12 years.
CACC is a British grappling style that permits near-complete control of an opponent; the sport was included in the Olympic Games in 1904.
Honest Abe reportedly became a county wrestling champion at the age of 21, and amassed 300 victories over 12 years, according to the Olympics website, with his only known defeat coming at the hands of Hank Thompson during the Black Hawk War of 1832.
In 1992, he was officially recognized by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an “Outstanding American” in the sport.
© Corbis via Getty ImagesGerald, in 1933, on the UoM football team
Gerald Ford, bear guard
A young Gerald spent the summer of 1936 working for the National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park, where part of his duties included protecting visitors against bears as an armed guard on the park's bear-feeding truck.
At the time, the park intentionally fed bears at designated sites in order to attract tourists, and Gerald's role was to protect the rangers dumping the food as well as the public from attacks.
The 38th President is the only President to have worked for the park service and he called it "one of the greatest summers of my life," according to the Yellowstone Park Foundation.
© Bettmann ArchiveRonald was a contract player for WB
Ronald Reagan, actor
Ronald had one of the most varied careers before he entered politics: lifeguard, sports announcer, and actor.
As a teenager, he worked 12-hours a day seven days a week as a lifeguard at Rock River outside of Dixon, Illinois, and reportedly saved 77 lives over seven summers, according to the Reagan Presidential Library.
After college, he went into show business, working in radio as a sports announcer where he had his contract extended due to his popularity with listeners, before signing as a contract player with Warner Bros.
He earned the lifelong nickname "Gipper" from his memorable turn in "Knute Rockne, All-American," and was one of the first actors to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
© Getty ImagesTricky Dicky plucked feathers from chickens
Richard Nixon, chicken farmer
Before Watergate and becoming one of the most controversial Presidents of all time, Tricky Dicky grew up on a California farm where he worked hard manual jobs.
So when he visited family in Arizona in 1928 and 1929 he was ready for the opportunity to pluck feathers from slaughtered chickens for a local butcher.
© Universal Images Group via GettyBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President
Benjamin Harrison, crier
In modern days it can often feel like the President's only job is to yell at the American people, but for one President, that was literally his actual job.
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison was elected as the 23rd president of the US but years before that, he worked as a court crier for $2.50 a day. Court criers were responsible for making public announcements, keeping order during proceedings, and opening or adjourning court sessions.
© Universal Images Group via GettyCalvin was a toy decorator
Calvin Coolidge, toy designer
President Coolidge was raised in Vermont by his mother and father, who owned their own store. His father's business acumen encouraged Calvin to pick up a weekend as a teenager that not only helped to pay for his education but would teach him the value of hard work early.
At the age of 14, Calvin earned money with a weekend job making doll carriages at the Ludlow Toy Manufacturing Company. The job included hands-on factory work, such as sawing, gluing, and painting wooden toys and doll carriages.
Calvin assumed he would follow his father into business, but four years at Amherst College led him into a world of politics and eventually the presidency, where he was known as Silent Cal for his reticence to engage more than necessary.
Famously, in 1923 when President Harding died, his Vice President Calvin was sworn in in the middle of the night, and then went back to bed.
