© Shutterstock

Silver Star -

To date, only one US president has been awarded the Silver Star. That president is Lyndon B. Johnson. He was awarded with the Silver Star for "gallantry in action on a flight over enemy territory" in the Pacific in 1942.

© Getty Images

Purple Heart -

In 1944, President John F. Kennedy was awarded a Purple Heart for his bravery in a mission in the Pacific.

© Getty Images

Navy and Marine Corps Medal -

In addition to the Purple Heart, JFK was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal that same year. He is the only American president to have ever earned such honors.

© Getty Images

Pulitzer Prize -

JFK is also the only US president in history to have won a Pulitzer Prize. The president was the 1957 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Biography for the book ‘Profiles in Courage.’

© Getty Images

Medal of Honor -

The Medal of Honor is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration. It was awarded to Theodore Roosevelt posthumously in 2001 for his bravery in Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Pictured receiving the medal is Tweed Roosevelt, the great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt.

© Getty Images

Golden Globe -

President Ronald Reagan won the Golden Globe Hollywood Citizenship Award in 1957. He’s the only US president ever to win such an accolade, thanks to his career as an actor before he got into politics! 

© Getty Images

Eagle Scout -

Eagle Scout is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. Only one president managed to attain such honor: Gerald R. Ford. President Ford was named a Distinguished Eagle Scout in 1970.

© Getty Images

Distinguished Flying Cross -

The then-Lieutenant George H.W. Bush received the Distinguished Flying Cross (a military decoration of the US Armed Forces) for “heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight [...] in the vicinity of the Bonin Islands, on September 2, 1944.”

© Getty Images

Charlemagne Prize -

The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is awarded for work done in the service of European unification. In 2000, it was awarded to President Bill Clinton.

© Getty Images

Primetime Emmy Award -

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the winner of the 1956 Primetime Emmy Governors Award for his use and encouragement of television.

© Getty Images

Primetime Emmy Award -

But President Eisenhower wasn’t the only president to win such an accolade. More recently, another US president won it—twice! President Barack Obama won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narrator for ‘Our Great National Parks’ (2022), and ‘Working: What We Do All Day’ (2023).

© Getty Images

Hollywood Walk of Fame -

Only two American presidents have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The first one to have it was President Ronald Reagan in 1960.

© Getty Images

Hollywood Walk of Fame -

In 2007, it was then-TV personality Donald Trump’s turn to have his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

© Getty Images

Profile in Courage Award -

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was created in 1989 by the Kennedy family to “recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage that he admired most.” The first president to receive it was Gerald R. Ford in 2001, for his courage to take the controversial decision to pardon President Nixon.

© Getty Images

Profile in Courage Award -

The second president to be recognized with a Profile in Courage Award was George H. W. Bush in 2014. President Bush was awarded for his negotiation of a budget deal aimed at reducing the deficit. The unpopular decision turned out to have a positive impact on the country years later. The award was accepted by President Bush’s granddaughter, Lauren Bush.

© Getty Images

Profile in Courage Award -

The third, and last, US president to win a Profile in Courage Award was Barack Obama in 2017. According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Obama’s “entire public life has exemplified the courage that John F. Kennedy celebrated.”

© Getty Images

Grammy Award -

Three US presidents have been awarded Grammys. President Jimmy Carter won the Best Spoken Word Album category three times; first in 1999 with ‘The Virtues of Aging,’ then in 2002 with ‘An Hour Before Daylight,’ and finally in 2007 for ‘Our Endangered Values.’

© Getty Images

Grammy Award -

President Bill Clinton won two Grammys for the Best Spoken Word Album. The first one was in 2008 with ‘Giving,’ and then in 2013 with ‘Back to Work.’

© Getty Images

Grammy Award -

And last but not least, we have President Obama with two Grammys in total in the same category. He was awarded for ‘Dreams From My Father’ in 2006 and ‘The Audacity of Hope’ in 2008.

© Getty Images

Nobel Prize -

There are four presidential Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The first one to receive such a prestigious prize was Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for his efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War.

© Getty Images

Nobel Prize -

In 1919 it was President Woodrow Wilson who won the Nobel Peace Prize as "the leading architect behind the League of Nations,” which ensured world peace after the First World War.

© Getty Images

Nobel Prize -

Jimmy Carter is the third US president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Carter was awarded the prize in 2002 "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

© Getty Images

Nobel Prize -

The most recent president to win the Nobel Peace Prize is Barack Obama. The 44th President of the United States won the prize in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

© Getty Images

Presidential Medal of Freedom -

The nation’s highest civilian honor has been bestowed by a number of US presidents over the years. The first one to receive it was Ronald Raegan in 1993.

© Getty Images

Presidential Medal of Freedom -

Two presidents were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. The first one was John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1980.

© Getty Images

Presidential Medal of Freedom -

Other recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom include Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1999, George H. W. Bush in 2001, Bill Clinton in 2013, and the latest, Joe Biden in 2017.

© Getty Images

Congressional Gold Medal -

The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the US. In total, eight presidents received the accolade. America’s first president George Washington was the first winner in 1776.

© Getty Images

Congressional Gold Medal -

This was followed by Andrew Jackson in 1815 and William Henry Harrison in 1818. President Zachary Taylor is the only one to have won three Congressional Gold Medals, in 1846, 1847, and 1848, respectively.

© Getty Images

Congressional Gold Medal -

Other recipients of the medal include Ulysses S. Grant in 1863, Harry S. Truman in 1984, Gerald R. Ford in 1998, and Ronald Reagan in 2008.

© Getty Images

Time Person of the Year -

A whopping 14 US presidents have been named Time Person of the Year. Some of them, more than once. The first ever was Franklin D. Roosevelt, for three years: 1932, 1934, and 1941.

© Getty Images

Time Person of the Year -

This was followed by Harry S. Truman (1945, 1948), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944, 1959), John F. Kennedy (1961), Lyndon B. Johnson (1964, 1967), Richard M. Nixon (1971, 1972) Jimmy Carter (1976), Ronald Reagan (1980, 1983), George H. W. Bush (1990), and Bill Clinton (1992, 1998).

© Getty Images

Time Person of the Year -

In the 2000s we have George W. Bush (2000, 2004), Barack Obama (2008, 2012), Donald Trump (2016), and Joe Biden (2020).

Sources: (POTUS) (The Nobel Prize) (JFK Library) (Grammy) (National Archives)

See also: Who was Person of the Year the year you were born?

© Getty Images