# Who was the last U.S. president to smoke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644 "2004-02-28T18:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/1 "2004-02-28T18:07:53Z")
I don’t mean Bill Clinton or JFK with their cigars, either. My question is who was the last president who regularly smoked cigarettes while in office? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/2 "2004-02-28T19:18:25Z")
Nixon smoked cigarettes to some degree, but I believe LBJ smoked a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/3 "2004-02-28T21:13:12Z")
Ford was a regular pipe smoker at the time, though I don’t think he does it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/4 "2004-02-28T21:28:19Z")
I wasn’t aware of Nixon smoking, but I was definitely going to guess LBJ. He looked like a smoker, didn’t he? His face all wrinkled up. How else do you suppose he got the angina that plagued him during the last years of his life? Cigs. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/5 "2004-02-28T21:44:37Z")
Cigars count right? In that case it would be Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/6 "2004-02-28T21:50:50Z")
Ronald Reagan has the dubious honor of being the only U.S. president to have endorsed cigarettes in print ads. I’ve seen him in 40’s-era ads for Chesterfields. Different era, though, and I don’t think you can hold this against him. He was a nonsmoker in office. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/7 "2004-02-28T22:36:04Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > Cigars count right? In that case it would be Clinton. Jeezus, Stuffy, read the OP why don’t ya? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/8 "2004-02-28T22:47:18Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > I wasn’t aware of Nixon smoking, Me neither. I thought it was Pat, not Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/9 "2004-02-28T23:21:11Z")
I’m fairly certain I once saw a photograph of the elder Bush with a cigarette, during one of those “closed door” briefings with Cheney & Powell and a few others during the Gulf war. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/10 "2004-02-28T23:22:03Z")
I remember seeing a photo of FDR smoking, he used a cigarette holder. As an aside, the expression on his face put me in mind of Batman’s foe The Penguin, who also was a smoker. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/11 "2004-02-28T23:32:55Z")
It was my understanding that Reagan smoked until some time in middle age, but gave it up in favor of jellybeans. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/12 "2004-02-29T01:01:40Z")
> [@aaslatten](#): > > I don’t mean Bill Clinton or JFK with their cigars, either. My question is who was the last president who regularly smoked cigarettes while in office? Clinton _smoked_ those cigars? I would have thought they would have been…you know…a tad too moist to light? ---
**Author:** ![Arturius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Arturius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arturius)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/13 "2004-02-29T01:52:44Z")
> [@legion](#): > > Clinton _smoked_ those cigars? I would have thought they would have been…you know…a tad too moist to light? he probably didnt inhale though 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/14 "2004-02-29T01:58:35Z")
> [@Chandeleur](#): > > I’m fairly certain I once saw a photograph of the elder Bush with a cigarette, during one of those “closed door” briefings with Cheney & Powell and a few others during the Gulf war. I also seem to remember Bush being a smoker. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/15 "2004-02-29T17:38:05Z")
I know that Bush Sr. smoked cigars. I don’t know about cigarettes, though. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/16 "2004-02-29T18:10:47Z")
So it appears to have been LBJ, if you stick to the OP. But why the distinction? It really doesn’t make any difference, cigars or cigarettes. Now that you have you answer, can you tell us why you ask? ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/17 "2004-03-01T18:02:05Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > So it appears to have been LBJ, if you stick to the OP. But why the distinction? It really doesn’t make any difference, cigars or cigarettes. > Now that you have you answer, can you tell us why you ask? I guess I made the distinction because cigars seem to be a trendier, showier thing. It seems like almost any man in a position of power could be photographed smoking a cigar at some time in his life. Cigarettes imply more a more neurotic, impulsive side. But really i just asked out of random curiosity. I remember seeing caricatures of FDR with the martini and cigarette holder, a picture of him that was used against him by critics who saw him as an elitist. so here’s the rundown? FDR = smoked with the holder JFK = cigars LBJ = last cigarette smoker while in office Nixon = maybe? Ford = pipe smoker Carter = ? Reagan = smoked until middle age; made Chesterfield ads Bush Sr. = ? Clinton = cigars Bush Jr. = too busy with other substances then 😉 … pretty much a health nut now, from what i understand ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/18 "2004-03-01T18:08:59Z")
IIRC, Johnson gave up cigarets (don’t know about pipe or cigars) after his heart attack in the mid-50s, although he began smoking again after he left the White House. And I’m pretty sure Nixon smoked cigarets while in office. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/19 "2004-03-01T19:25:22Z")
> [@aaslatten](#): > > I don’t mean Bill Clinton or JFK with their cigars, either. My question is who was the last president who regularly smoked cigarettes while in office? Why not? Does “smoking” only mean “cigarettes”? If so, does that mean I can start puffing on a cigar whenever I see a “no smoking” sign? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644/20 "2004-03-01T19:49:33Z")
Eisenhower quit smoking after World War II, just to fill in the gap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-u-s-president-to-smoke/231644.md?page=2)