How These Former Presidents Ordered Their Steak

America is a nation of steak lovers, so it stands to reason that the leader of the free world would share the same appetite. Just like us regular folk, several presidents have detailed their love for steak over the centuries. Some opt for indulgent Kobe beef, while others have expressed their preferences for cuts cooked so well it verges on cremation. In other words, the steak orders at the White House throughout history have proven as varied as each leader's politics.

They say you can tell a lot about a person based on the way they like their steak. If a steak order truly is the window into a president's soul, then we'll admit that we're definitely silently judging several for their preferences. But then again, we're not here to judge (much), so we'll leave it up to you to decide what these steak orders say about the men who made them.

We know a surprising amount about America's first president. For one thing, it's on the record that, unlike our recent teetotal presidents, George Washington drank an astounding amount of wine and was partial to a glass (or three) of Madeira. He was also notably keen on hoecakes — a type of cornmeal pancake — which he would devour for breakfast with butter, honey, and hot tea.

Come dinner, however, Washington was reportedly a big fan of steak and kidney pie. While this isn't as popular a method of chowing down on steak today, it was a common dish in Washington's time and remains a popular choice in the United Kingdom, where it's considered a classic pub food. With its tender meat cooked in gravy — typically accompanied by beef or lamb kidneys — steak and kidney pie is gentle on the teeth, which may have been part of its appeal to Washington. The president suffered from notoriously bad teeth throughout his lifetime, relying on multiple kinds of dentures that probably weren't compatible with a tough, well-done steak.

Before his 1869 inauguration, Ulysses S. Grant was a commanding general who helped lead the Union to victory in the Civil War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the nation's history. When it came to his steak, however, Grant had a strong aversion to the slightest hint of blood on his plate.

In general, it's said that Grant wasn't the most voracious eater, and he was noted for his thin stature during the war. He wouldn't eat poultry, and apparently also wasn't overly keen on red meat, preferring pork instead. He would only eat red meat if cooked to the point of being burned. Instead, he preferred relatively plain foods, with beans, fruit, and buckwheat cakes all ranking higher on his list of go-to foods. His ambivalence makes him a bit of an outlier among his fellow presidents, but historians do claim that his appetite varied and expanded somewhat once he entered the White House. Perhaps, over time, Grant developed a deeper appreciation for meat.

Some elements of Chester A. Arthur's diet aren't dissimilar to those of his presidential predecessors and successors. Arthur apparently liked coffee and a roll for breakfast, as well as dishes such as fish, salmon, oysters, mutton, and roast beef for his lunch and dinner, followed by a serving of Nesselrode pie. He also liked steak, but probably not the kind you're picturing.

Turtle was Arthur's steak of choice. Considering the culinary interests of the time, that's not the wildest dietary preference. Turtle soup, for example, was a foodie favorite in England and the U.S. — particularly Philadelphia — in the late 18th and 19th century. The dish was both difficult and expensive to prepare, making turtle more common in wealthier households. Typically made with diamondback terrapin and sherry, turtle soup all but disappeared in the wake of Prohibition. With the Endangered Species Act now covering several species, the delicacy is now not only rare but largely illegal. Anyone hoping to recreate Arthur's diet will have to stick to some of his less adventurous favorite dishes.

William Howard Taft was America's 27th president, inaugurated in 1909. Today, he primarily has a legacy of being a rather poor politician, but there is one key detail in his biography that helps him stand out from the country's other leaders: he was the first (and, we assume, only) president to serve a 26-pound possum for Thanksgiving dinner at the White House. Luckily for America's marsupial population, however, that wasn't his favorite meat, with Taft renowned as a big steak lover.

As noted by The Washington Post in 1935 (via Food Timeline), "Steak spelled with a big 'S' was the favorite food of William Howard Taft." In fact, his breakfast of choice was an 8-ounce broiled steak (preferably T-Bone, tenderloin, or sirloin), sprinkled with salt and pepper, slathered in butter, and served with two oranges, toast, and coffee. While Taft was forced to slow down his steak consumption later in life, it remained his preferred indulgence — ideally with a side of hash browns.

Asking for a well-done steak in a restaurant today is often seen as something of a culinary crime, akin to putting ketchup on pasta or adding mayonnaise to your coffee. Yet, for Harry Truman, it was the only way to order. The president — who famously asked the nation not to eat red meat on Tuesdays in the first-ever televised presidential address — was known to like his steak thoroughly cooked.

Truman had one simple explanation for this preference. "[O]nly coyotes and predatory animals eat raw beef," he said (via "Talking with Harry: Candid Conversations with President Harry S. Truman"). "That's the reason we like it cooked." While we're not too sure that chefs sitting in the anti-well-done steak camp would agree with that logic, Truman certainly isn't alone in this thought. A 2019 YouGov study found that 24% of Americans opt for a well-done steak, outpacing the 23% of participants who cited medium-rare as their preference.

By all accounts, President Dwight D. Eisenhower wasn't just a foodie but an avid cook. Having learned his way around the kitchen as a child, Eisenhower is said to have rustled up a mean beef stew and Pennsylvania Dutch-style breakfasts. Like any true Texan, he was also a dab hand on the barbecue, which is where Eisenhower preferred to cook his steaks.

To be more accurate, Eisenhower liked to grill his steaks directly on the coals. According to the New York Times, an account in The Miami Daily News in 1953 claimed that Eisenhower "rubs the steak with oil and garlic and then, as the horrified guests look on, casually flings the steak into the midst of the red and glowing coals." The steaks in question are said to have typically been thick four-inch sirloins, which likely developed a charred exterior and a medium-rare finish during their time on the coals.

John F. Kennedy suffered from a string of medical issues during his lifetime. As if struggling through chronic back pain — a side-effect from an unexpected tackle during a football game — and a childhood bout of scarlet fever wasn't enough, Kennedy was diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease (now known as colitis) as a teenager. This led to years of stomach issues, partially tackled with a diet of primarily bland foods, including steak.

While it's not totally clear how Kennedy liked his steak, we do know that he probably didn't eat very much. Unsurprisingly, considering the problems he faced with his stomach, Kennedy didn't have the biggest appetite and often had to be reminded to eat. His sides weren't particularly exciting, either. One of Kennedy's mistresses, Dutch journalist and suspected Nazi spy Inga Arvad, claimed to always prepare him the same simple dinner: steak, accompanied by soup, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

When Lyndon B. Johnson took the Oath of Office just two hours after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, he ushered in a new era for the White House kitchens. This time around, steak was a firm favorite. Texan barbecue was the food Johnson loved to serve to guests, and he loved steak to the point of not only eating it at dinner but also for breakfast and lunch. While we'd like to say that he didn't do this all on the same day, it is on record that he had a filet mignon for his inaugural presidential luncheon, then tucked into a sirloin for his evening meal before his inaugural ball later that same day.

Steak was far from Johnson's only vice. The president was renowned for his varied tastes, rivaling those of fellow foodie Thomas Jefferson. Before being sworn into office, Johnson suffered a heart attack in 1955, sparking some dietary changes. However, he was known to still indulge when not under the watchful eye of his wife, Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson.

President Jimmy Carter was famously health-conscious. The former peanut farmer had a proclivity for fresh vegetables and homemade foods and is renowned as the first president to openly acknowledge the connection between diet and disease. He was also an advocate for watching your salt intake and regular exercise, with his grandson later claiming that his running habit likely played a role in his impressively long life.

There was still space in his strict nutritional standards for steak, although Carter liked to keep things simple. He enjoyed a rare broiled sirloin steak — specifically, a 12 or 14-ounce, two‐inch strip — accompanied by potatoes and a salad drizzled in Roquefort dressing. The rest of his culinary preferences were just as uncomplicated, with soups and sandwiches acting as his go-to lunch. Meanwhile, indulgences like desserts and sauces were a rarity on Carter's plate, with the White House's executive chef only making the latter for special occasions.

While Ronald Reagan is known to have hosted extravagant state dinners, his preferences when off the clock were a little more basic. The president's favorite foods were those he consumed in his youth, such as meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and jelly beans, with the latter playing an important role in helping him quit pipe smoking. He was equally nostalgic with his steak, which he preferred to eat with a side of chili.

As for the steak itself, Reagan ate his meat well-done, while his wife, Nancy Reagan, opted for medium-well. However, this wasn't always the case. In 1985, midway through his presidency, Reagan was ordered to eat more fiber and cut back on both orange juice and rare steaks while he underwent medical tests. Later that same year, Reagan underwent surgery to remove a polyp and a section of his colon, having been diagnosed with colon cancer.

George H.W. Bush may not have been born in Texas, but with much of his political career tied to the Lone Star State, it's no surprise he adopted some of its cultural quirks — by which we mean a love of steak. He had extremely specific requirements for his steak, requesting a T-bone that was charred but rare. Clearly, Bush was a man with a love of contrasting textures.

Judging by an order placed at an Oklahoma City restaurant during his presidency, Bush liked his steak with fries and a salad with Cattlemen's dressing, plus a martini on the rocks. While we're sure that wasn't the case on every occasion, we do know one thing that likely never accompanied his steak: broccoli. The former president famously despised the leafy green and ordered the White House kitchen not to stock the vegetable. The Los Angeles Times even quoted him as declaring, "I do not like broccoli ... I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!" His anti-broccoli sentiment caused a surprising amount of backlash, but with the gift of time, we'd say that Bush's steak preferences were arguably the more controversial culinary opinion.

Decades after he left office, you're unlikely to find a steak on Bill Clinton's plate. The former president has since become (mostly) vegan or pescatarian, having decided to pursue a healthier lifestyle after undergoing emergency heart surgery in 2004. Before then, however, Clinton was known for his love of McDonald's Big Macs, and all things meat — including, of course, steak.

While in the White House, Clinton was fond of a porterhouse steak. He was keen on a 24-ounce cut, devoured with béarnaise sauce and onion rings. When back at his hometown in Arkansas, he was also known to frequent the steakhouse Doe's Eat Place, which praised Clinton as a loyal customer who put its business on the map. Although Clinton may have been spotted frequenting steakhouses in the years since, but rest assured, his interests now lie in dishes such as vegetable sh'arieh, salmon, cauliflower, and roasted honey nut squash.

Much like his father before him, George W. Bush earned a reputation for his dietary preferences. During a meeting with Bush in 2003, the then-Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, gave Bush a new nickname: Beef Man. It was in this same meeting that the pair tucked into Japanese beef, with Bush long said to hold a soft spot for Kobe beef – a rare cut renowned for its tenderness, flavor, and fat marbling — in particular.

Bush has never gone into detail about how he likes his beef cooked. All we know is that he eats it a lot — or at least, he did around the time of his presidency. Bush's second inaugural dinner in 2005 saw attendees treated to a filet of beef tenderloin, and he even took the opportunity whenever he could to advocate others to follow suit. As he said during a talk at North Dakota State University in 2005 (via the White House Archives), "We want our beef going all over the world. There's great beef here in America, and people ought to be eating it — a lot of them."

In plenty of ways, Barack Obama remains one of America's most educated and sophisticated presidents to date. But that's only if you're willing to overlook the fact that he likes his steaks done medium-well. Perhaps the then-Vice President Joe Biden had a point when he once told NBC Philadelphia, "President Obama doesn't know steaks at all."

With Michelle Obama said to prefer medium-rare steak, we're willing to cut the Obama family some slack here. To Obama's credit, he's also racked up some impressive steak credits over the years, having dined at top-notch steakhouses such as Bourbon Steak, Buzz's Lanikai, and the now-defunct BLT Steak. He's also pretty adventurous with his sides, with sautéed spinach, steak fries, asparagus, truffle butter, and green beans all cited as some of the accompaniments to his steaks over the years. Conversely to George H.W. Bush, he's even endorsed broccoli as one of his favorite foods.

If you thought President Donald Trump's policies were divisive, wait until you hear his steak order. The property mogul and reality star turned outspoken politician is famously picky with food, preferring to eat at the likes of McDonald's due to the standardized nature of its food. But when he isn't eating two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a large shake, President Trump's meal of choice is often a well-done steak, drowning in ketchup. "It would rock on the plate, it was so well done," Trump's butler once told the New York Times.

During his first term, Trump visited just the one restaurant in Washington, D.C. BLT Prime — conveniently located in his own hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, which has since closed — where staff were primed to provide his usual order with fries and shrimp cocktail. With what Trump eats in a day including up to a dozen Diet Cokes, it's not surprising that his steak was paired with a crisp soda. To satisfy Trump's germaphobic habits, standard protocol was to open and pour this soda at the table.

Other requirements involved ensuring that the president was served the biggest steak at the table. After Trump once complained that this wasn't the case, his go-to steak became a whopping 40-ounce tomahawk. While Trump is far from the only president who prefers his steak well done, a lot of people have analyzed what his order says about the man himself. More than anything, it reinforces the idea that Trump is a creature of habit.

Joe Biden is a native Philadelphian, so of course he's big on Philly cheesesteaks (even if he once declared that the best of the best can be found in Delaware). While poking fun at President Obama's lack of steak knowledge during a visit to Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia in 2010, Biden confirmed his own cheesesteak preferences: Cheez Whiz, no onions. A respectable choice.

During the four years of his presidency, there was a lot of talk that the Biden administration wanted Americans to eat less meat to meet ambitious climate goals. Not only did Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Agriculture Secretary at the time, confirm that that wasn't the case, but Biden himself was known to put away a steak or two while in office, including a dry-aged rib eye on a visit to Japan. While far from America's most outspokenly passionate president regarding steak, Biden clearly still has a taste for the good stuff.