Since the office was established in 1789, 45 individuals have served as president of the United States. Of these, 15, including Lyndon B. Johnson who took only the First Degree, are known to have been Freemasons, beginning with the nation's first president, George Washington. The most recent president to have undisputed membership is Gerald Ford. Ronald Reagan was granted an honorary membership in 1988, and Joe Biden was declared a "Mason at Sight" by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina in 2025, however, it is disputed whether he accepted membership.
List
The following U.S. presidents were Freemasons:
In addition to the individuals listed above, Ronald Reagan was made an honorary Freemason, and as a youth, Bill Clinton was a member of the Masonic youth group Order of DeMolay.
Disputed
Thomas Jefferson "is frequently, yet falsely, linked to the Freemasons," yet there is no record of him being initiated into any lodge, nor are there any references to Masonic membership in his personal papers.
That Woodrow Wilson was a Freemason is declared by André Combes, and disputed by others.
Joe Biden was declared a Master Mason at sight by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina on January 19, 2025. The Pillar, however, have noted that "Biden would have to himself accept, even passively by not rejecting the designation, the conferred membership — the masons don’t have the power to make someone a member without consent, anymore than one person can marry another without their consent." They further question if this actually occurred, casting doubt on his Masonic membership. Others have raised questions of Biden's legitimacy as a Master Mason given that the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina "is not recognized as regular by any so-called mainstream U.S. grand lodge, the United Grand Lodge of England, or any other major regular, recognized Masonic jurisdiction."
Gallery
See also
- List of monarchs who were Freemasons
Notes
References
External links
- The Role of Freemasons in Presidential Funerals, YouTube, 2018 presentation by author Louis Picone at the Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York
