Barack Obama made history by becoming the first black president that the United States has ever had, as well as the first to be born outside of the continental United States, in Hawaii. Is this former president also one of the few to have tattoos?
Barack Obama does not have any tattoos, nor does Michelle Obama. Barack and Michelle Obama also wanted to discourage their daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, from getting tattoos of their own.
Read on to find out more about the Obamas’ plan to keep their daughters from getting tattoos, and to learn who was the only president confirmed to have tattoos.
The Family Tattoo
Barack and Michelle Obama don’t have tattoos, and they don’t seem driven to change that fact. Neither was tempted to get one when they were young and after they both went into careers that emphasized their public image, they still didn’t have any desire to get one.
While Barack and Michelle Obama may have decided about tattoos for themselves, they want to encourage their daughters to make the same choice. They even came to a deal with their daughters to motivate them.
In an interview with NBC’s Today show in 2013, Obama outlined the plan that he and Michelle came up with to make their daughters think twice before getting a tattoo.
“What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decide you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo, in the same place, and we’ll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo,’” he said. “Our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel.”
Their plan makes sure that they won’t get a tattoo as a sort of rebellion, and makes them have to be sure that the tattoo is something that they want. At the time of the interview, Malia Obama was 14 and Sasha Obama was 11.
Barack and Michelle’s tactic must have worked since there hasn’t been any other news of the Obamas getting their family tattoo and showing it off to the media.
Check out the clip from the Today show below to watch Obama talk about his and Michelle’s tattoo plan.
Presidential Tattoos
Obama has been the model of many other people’s tattoos, such as this one and this one which were both shown off on Instagram, but doesn’t have any himself.
Many presidents of the United States have been rumored to have tattoos. Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, James K. Polk, Andrew Jackson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower are all among the presidents suspected to have tattoos.
There is only one president with a confirmed tattoo: Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt sported the crest of his family on his chest, which might be why many speculated that his fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt may have gotten the same tattoo.
The family’s coat of arms, which looks like this, features a rose bush because of their name, as Roosevelt means “rose field” in Dutch. Because of this, their coat of arms is also a canting arms, containing a visual representation of their name.
It’s important to note that rumors are easily created and hard to disprove, especially if they don’t have a clear origin. That being said, what are the tattoos that other presidents are suspected of getting?
The first allegedly tattooed president to hold office was Andrew Jackson. Jackson’s unproved tattoo was a large image of a tomahawk placed on his thigh.
James K. Polk may have started the trend of getting Chinese-character tattoos while not being completely sure what they translate to. Polk allegedly had “eager” tattooed on his body in Chinese characters.
Presidents having tattoos is fairly uncommon, with only one president confirmed to have a tattoo and four others that were just rumored to have them.