For over a century, as the chapters in this volume edited by Adam Burns and Rivers Gambrell demonstrate, sport has been a part of the presidency – both the men holding the highest elected office in the United States and those individuals who have run for and lost these elections. These individuals played a variety of sports during their youth and during their time as the occupant of the White House, with those activities shaping their outlook and approach. They have used sporting metaphors themselves or have had comparisons with sport applied to their presidencies. They have sought athlete and coach endorsements of their candidacies and used appearances at sporting events as well as championship team visits to the White House to their advantage, conveying a specific message to the public. These experiences shaped the presidents’ views regarding sport and physical fitness, which they promoted in their speeches, writings, and, in some cases, within policies.

In many ways, this book is about the media, sport, and the presidency, as most of the ways the public has known about the presidents and their participation in or views on sport has been presented through the media. Sport and the media have long had a symbiotic relationship, with sport helping each new media form (newspapers, radio, television, internet) gain popularity, while that same media coverage of sport has helped to further popularize and bring new audiences to sport. With an entire Washington, D.C.-based press corps to cover politics, much is known about the lives of presidents, including their sporting preferences. The growth of mass media, particularly the 24/7 coverage by the end of the twentieth century with television channels devoted entirely to politics or sport, has meant that the public knows even more about more recent presidents than their predecessors. Through news stories and social media posts, scholars can even examine a president’s relationship with sport less than a year after that term ended, as Russ Crawford has done for Donald Trump.

Sport has therefore played a significant role in the public relations of presidents, on the campaign trail, during their time in the White House, and afterwards.