How 12 US Presidents Liked To Have Their Steaks Cooked

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There's a common thread running through the diets of just about all the presidents in U.S. history, beginning with George Washington and the Founding Fathers in the late 1700s and continuing right up to today. That thread is steak. Many U.S. presidents were really into steak. Some presidents ate it every chance they got, others ate it because it was there, and most of them had particular ideas of how they liked the meat to be cooked.

Preferences in steak doneness and temperature have been attributed to one's level of taste and refinement in the world of gastronomy. Rare or medium rare steaks are associated with a more distinguished palate, while well-done steaks are associated with picky yet less-discerning eaters. For a lot of the presidents on this list, their favorite ways to enjoy steak aren't direct indicators of how classy they are. Instead, they are more reflective of the geographical regions these men came from and the times in which they lived. From steak in the morning, steak to soothe the stomach, and the finest slice of Kobe beef, here are the steak-cooking preferences of 12 of our nation's presidents.

Back in President George Washington's day, steak was very much a thing, it was just served in formats that are different from the typical cuts we see in grocery stores and restaurants these days. Steak and kidney pie was a pub food mainstay of the colonial era and Washington was a big fan. This savory pie, which is literally filled with chunks of steak and kidneys, has been around since at least the 17th century, and unsurprisingly, was a recipe dreamed up by the Brits (though early recipes called for lamb and fruits). The steak and kidney pies Washington enjoyed were baked with sherry, mushrooms, and seasoned with black pepper and parsley.

As a product of the colonial era, Washington was well-accustomed to English cuisine and pub food. He was known to enjoy the steak and kidney pie served at Fraunces Tavern in New York City. The still-operating tavern was one of our first president's favorite restaurants, and was a Founding Father's haunt during the Revolutionary period (steak and kidney pie is no longer on the menu).

Washington's affection for steak and kidney pie also had to do with practicality. By the age of 45, Washington had lost all but one of his teeth and wore dentures made of lead, steel, gold springs, and hippopotamus tusk with a mixture of cow and human teeth. The dentures were uncomfortable to wear and made chewing difficult, so Washington preferred soft foods.

Just because he's a Civil War hero doesn't mean he's got a taste for blood. In fact, the mere sight of animal blood was said to make President Ulysses S. Grant downright squeamish. He enjoyed steak as much (or maybe a little less) as the next guy, it just had to be cooked well-done.

Grant's uneasiness around blood dated back to his formative years. His father owned a tannery, and when the younger Grant attempted to get involved in the family business, his animal blood aversion reportedly earned him the nickname "Useless." This character trait carried into his adult years. Even as a Union Army General, Grant refused to eat meat that wasn't positively charred. Equally paradoxical were Grant's dislike for guns and opposition to war.

Grant was one of the first war generals-turned-presidents and to some degree this made his culinary predilections decidedly simple. Hearty meals of meat and potatoes appealed to our 18th president. A rare-cooked steak, not so much.

Throughout his life, President Theodore Roosevelt was an avid outdoorsman whose steak preferences reflected his adventurous lifestyle and exuberance toward the land. The 26th president was born in 1858 to one of Manhattan's wealthiest families, yet his taste in food was decidedly simple. Many of the steaks Roosevelt enjoyed he cooked himself while basking in nature.

In 1903, Roosevelt famously embarked on a camping trip in Yosemite Valley with world famous naturalist John Muir. Together, they enjoyed campfire meals of grilled steak and fried chicken (a Roosevelt favorite) while mulling over the finer points of what would evolve into America's National Park Service. On visits to Pine Knot, the Roosevelts' cottage retreat situated on over 90 acres in rural Virginia, the president was known to fry up breakfasts of steak and eggs for himself and First Lady Edith Roosevelt.

Unfussy as he was, Roosevelt wouldn't settle for steak he deemed subpar — and didn't think anyone else should have to either. When Roosevelt read Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel "The Jungle," which exposed the appalling conditions and political corruption within Chicago's meatpacking industry, he was shaken. Sinclair's work compelled Roosevelt to launch a secret investigation into the Chicago meatpacking plants, which confirmed that "The Jungle" was based on real life. This led Roosevelt to enact the groundbreaking Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act in 1906.

To the non-historian, President William H. Taft's legacy is best-known for being America's fattest president. It's a designation that's both reductive and true at once, and maybe his affinity for steak had something to do with his girth. Taft was a fan of most foods, but meat was a particular passion for the 27th Commander in Chief. According to one of the White House stewardesses who served him, Taft preferred to greet the day with a juicy 12-ounce steak. That was just meal one.

Taft championed steak for lunch and dinner too. For these meals, the beef was accompanied by copious portions of sauced seafood dishes, terrapin (turtle) stew, and boatloads of coffee with sugar and cream. Taft liked his steaks cooked medium, seasoned with salt and pepper, and broiled in butter. During his time in the White House, 6-foot tall Taft hit a peak weight of 332 pounds — though executive staff recalled him looking more like 400 pounds. First Lady Nellie Taft expressed concern for her husband's well-being, prompting Taft to reluctantly reduce his breakfast steak from 12 ounces to 6 ounces.

Between his humble upbringing in Abilene, Kansas and heroic days as a five-star Army General, President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew his way around a grill. Eisenhower's signature move was throwing down some steaks. Presidents are used to being served, but Eisenhower genuinely liked to cook — a skill bestowed upon him by his mother (who also taught him how to sew). According to Alex Prud'Homme's 2023 book "Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House," cooking gave Eisenhower a "creative feeling."

One of Eisenhower's steak-cooking methods was unorthodox, and legendary. He loved to throw a thick, sometimes 3-inch steak directly onto hot coals. This gave the beef (he was partial to strip steaks) an exquisitely charred crust and a rare center. Eisenhower called it "outdoor steak," but the method widely became known as "Eisenhower steak."

Eisenhower's happy place in the White House was the solarium, which featured a spacious balcony with a view of Washington D.C.'s National Mall. Eisenhower set up a grill on the balcony, where he would fire up steaks and flip pancakes in a small adjoining kitchen. Eisenhower also grilled steaks for occasions that he called "stag dinners." For a stag dinner, Eisenhower would invite 15 or so world leaders and prominent businessmen, grill the steaks, and insist everyone talk at the table. It was his clever way of gathering intelligence and indulging his love of grilling at the same time.

President John F. Kennedy's steak was subdued and ordinary, but the circumstances under which he ate it were not. In the 1940s, Kennedy dated a Danish journalist Inga Arvad who was working in Washington D.C. (Arvad was married, Jackie wasn't in the picture yet). Ever the doting girlfriend, Arvad cooked her man steak dinners just the way he liked them: plain. Yet Arvad wasn't like most girlfriends. She was a suspected Nazi spy being monitored by the FBI.

Under J. Edgar Hoover's paranoid eye, the FBI surveilled anyone perceived as even slightly unpatriotic. As a reporter in 1930s Berlin, Arvad had interviewed Adolf Hitler, who was so taken by her he offered her a job as a spy (which freaked Arvad out so she moved to the U.S.). With her room bugged by the feds, the bureau got to know a lot about Kennedy, including how he liked his steak. Kennedy privately suffered from colitis, a condition that inflames the colon, and it caused him a lot of pain. He admitted to Arvad that he couldn't tolerate heavily seasoned or spicy food.

Arvad regularly prepared Kennedy steak, peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes, which his stomach seemed to tolerate. Historians point to this tender gesture as a rare instance of Kennedy showing vulnerability — something his overbearing father, Joseph, had instructed his sons not to do. Joseph wasn't keen on the relationship with Arvad either. After about a year, Kennedy broke things off at his father's insistence.

President Lyndon B. Johnson was very in touch with his Texas roots and didn't care who knew it. When he wasn't inhabiting the White House, Johnson lived on a ranch in Texas hill country where hosted cowboy-style barbecues for his fellow politicians. Texas-style barbecue differs from that of other Southern states due to its use of beef ribs in addition to pork. At Johnson's Texan barbecues, ribs were served alongside molasses baked beans, cornbread, salad, coffee, and beer.

By the time his political status had risen to Vice President, Johnson's barbecues were the stuff of legend. The Kennedys had planned a barbecue-style soiree at Johnson's ranch during their campaign stop in Texas, but President John F. Kennedy was assassinated the day before, and Johnson was thrust into the executive office. A month later, Johnson hosted the first ever presidential barbecue, where meaty Texas steaks were served on paper plates.

For the 36th president, getting homesick for tried and true Texan cuisine while living in the White House was not an option. The Johnsons brought their own barbecue specialist, or Barbecue King as they called him, to the premises to make sure their smoked meats were always the real deal. Johnson's devotion to barbecue wasn't all encompassing though. Chicken fried steak was another one of his favorites.

President Gerald R. Ford's time in the White House was unique in several ways, and a frugal approach to food was one of them. Ford served just two and a half years in office and is the only U.S. president that wasn't elected. He assumed the presidency in 1974 after Nixon's dramatic resignation. He'd already replaced Nixon's Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1973 due to tax evasion. First Lady Betty Ford entered the White House armed with a selection of budget-minded home recipes, including Chinese Pepper Steak and Braised Eye Round of Steak — said to be a favorite of President Ford.

The president is required to pay for their daily White House meals, and Betty Ford didn't have a taste for the extravagant. Ford was partial to hearty Midwestern-style fare and took no issue with it. On special, or at least formal occasions, Ford's steak of choice was prime rib, preferably prepared by White House Executive Chef, Henry Haller.

The first sit-down dinner the Fords ate at the White House was prime rib, new potatoes with parsley, green beans, salad, and ice cream for dessert. When Ford hosted Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1974 to discuss trade policy for crude oil, they cut the tension with prime rib and brie. On his last day as president, Ford tucked into a prime rib dinner (and a couple of martinis) on the plane ride home.

President George H.W. Bush knew how to order a steak in style. The 41st president enjoyed higher-end steak cuts like New York Strip and T-Bone, and he wanted to eat them rare. Yet rare didn't encapsulate the full scope of President Bush's favorite steak order. Bush loved steak that was charred on the inside and rare on the inside. This cook method is known as "black and blue" or "Pittsburgh Style."

One steakhouse that fulfilled Bush's steak order to a literal T was Cattleman's Steakhouse in Oklahoma City. The president stopped into the historic steakhouse while on the campaign trail in March 1992. He ordered a charred yet rare T-Bone with a side of french fries, salad with house dressing, and a vodka martini on the rocks. Bush's delight over a rare steak and a martini carried into his 90s. During a stay in the hospital, the nonagenarian former president was delighted when his best friend James A. Baker delivered a steak from Morton's and a bottle of Grey Goose (on the sly) to his room. Bush passed away in 2018 at the age of 94.

During his tenure as the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush gave lots of sound bites about how much he loved eating beef with Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Bush got especially chatty about one particular kind of beef: Kobe. After sampling Kobe beef on presidential visits to Japan in the early 2000s, Bush couldn't stop singing its praises. He may have been raised on Texan barbecue, but it's fair to say that steaks of the Kobe beef variety lassoed Bush's Lone Star heart.

Kobe, the beef derived from Japanese black cattle native to the region of the same name, is some of the most prized beef in the world. Bush discovered his Kobe passion in Japan, so he was almost certainly not making any suggestions to the chefs on how the beef should be cooked (experts recommend no more than three minutes for both sides).

For President Bush, steak was actually a significant political topic on his visits to Japan. U.S. beef was nationally banned in Japan in December 2003 after a human case of mad cow disease was documented in the States. Bush's efforts contributed to a gradual phase-out of the ban in 2006. Japan lifted the U.S. beef ban in its entirety in May 2019.

Former President Joe Biden is a proud resident of Greenville, Delaware, which is about a 40 minute drive from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the undisputed cheesesteak capital of the world. The proximity is downright convenient for Biden, because he loves cheesesteaks. When Biden is in Philly, he has been known to stop by Pat's King of Steaks, one of the city's most renowned cheesesteak establishments. Biden's order at Pat's is a cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and without onions, or as they say in Philly vernacular, "Whiz without."

Biden doesn't limit his love for cheesesteaks to the Philadelphia area. If the 46th president gets a cheesesteak craving while he's in Delaware, he can satisfy it without crossing state lines. Charcoal Pit diner in Wilmington, Delaware is one of Biden's haunts. The former president is a Charcoal Pit regular and he has a regular order: a cheesesteak and a black and white milkshake, extra thick.

When he's not pounding Diet Cokes and scarfing down Mickey D's, our current Commander in Chief, Donald Trump, mixes things up with a steak dinner every now and then. Trump's favorite restaurant 21 Club closed in 2020, and during his first presidential term he only dined out at BLT Prime – the steakhouse inside his now-closed Trump International Hotel in D.C. Where Trump gets his steak fix these days is unclear, but what is known is that he wants his steak super well-done.

Trump likes a dry-aged New York Strip well-done, or sometimes a well-done ribeye. A longtime butler for the president told The New York Times that Trump's puckered steak would "rock on the plate" as it was being brought to the table. Once a grayish cut of tough steak is placed in front of Trump, he does what most people who like their steaks cooked this way do: douses it in ketchup.

Trump is more hush-hush about his steak order than he is about his McDonald's fixation, but his choice in steak speaks volumes nonetheless. Trump likes to break rules and be in charge. He knows a good cut of steak when he sees one, but thumbs his nose at the thought of having it cooked to a chef's recommendation and not his way.