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U.S. presidents in the Boston area, from Washington to Obama

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The Boston area's connections to the the nation's presidents stretch back to before there was even a presidency: George Washington lived in the area while commanding the Continental Army during the early days of the Revolutionary War. Those connections continue right up to the present occupant of the White House, who lived in a Somerville apartment while a student at Harvard Law School.

In between, at least nine other presidents have called the region home at one time or another.

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George Washington

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George Washington commanded the Continental Army from this house during the Siege of Boston from July 1775 to April 1776. It was later the home of poet Henry Longfellow, and is now called the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

John Adams

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The second president was born here in 1735. The so-called saltbox house is part of the Adams National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service. Adams and wife Abigail are interred a few miles away at United First Parish Church.

John Quincy Adams

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The sixth president was born in 1767, on the same patch of ground as his father (the official spots are separated by several feet). Like John Sr., John Jr. is also interred a few miles away at United First Parish Church in the family crypt.

Rutherford B. Hayes

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The 19th president lived off Harvard Square while a law student at Harvard in the early 1840s. His exact residence appears lost to history (as, by and large, does Hayes himself).

Theodore Roosevelt

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The nation's 26th president lived on the second floor of what was then 16 Winthrop Street while he was a student at Harvard. According to biographer Katherine Dalton, the asthmatic Roosevelt took an off-campus, second-floor room because the ground-floor spaces of campus addresses were considered unhealthy.

Calvin Coolidge

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The 30th president did not actually live in the Boston area when he was governor of Massachusetts from 1919 to 1921 (though he did conduct the commonwealth's business at the State House). Instead, he continued to rent one half of a two-family house in Northampton at 21 Massasoit Street.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

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The 32nd president paid $225.50 a year (before maintenance and utilities) to share a first-floor room in what is now Adams House from 1900 to 1904, while a student at Harvard. (His fifth cousin, Teddy, the 26th president, also lived at Harvard, though 25 years before.)

John F. Kennedy

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The 35th president was born here in 1924. It's now a museum, having been restored to its presidential glory by JFK's mother, Rose, beginning in the late 1960s.

George H.W. Bush

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The house in which the 41st president was born in 1924 is still a private residence and not open to the public. Look for the historic marker, however.

George W. Bush

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The 43rd president lived for two years in a "notoriously untidy and sparse" apartment on the square while a student at the Harvard Business School in the early 1970s, according to a Bloomberg article from 2001. The exact address appears to be unknown.

Barack Obama

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The 44th president leased a basement apartment in Somerville while a student at Harvard Law in the late 1980s. He found the apartment through a newspaper ad (remember doing that?). According to his landlord, who has apparently been happy to talk about his old tenant, Obama always paid the rent on time.

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George Washington

George Washington commanded the Continental Army from this house during the Siege of Boston from July 1775 to April 1776. It was later the home of poet Henry Longfellow, and is now called the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

John Adams

The second president was born here in 1735. The so-called saltbox house is part of the Adams National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service. Adams and wife Abigail are interred a few miles away at United First Parish Church.

John Quincy Adams

The sixth president was born in 1767, on the same patch of ground as his father (the official spots are separated by several feet). Like John Sr., John Jr. is also interred a few miles away at United First Parish Church in the family crypt.

Rutherford B. Hayes

The 19th president lived off Harvard Square while a law student at Harvard in the early 1840s. His exact residence appears lost to history (as, by and large, does Hayes himself).

Theodore Roosevelt

The nation's 26th president lived on the second floor of what was then 16 Winthrop Street while he was a student at Harvard. According to biographer Katherine Dalton, the asthmatic Roosevelt took an off-campus, second-floor room because the ground-floor spaces of campus addresses were considered unhealthy.

Calvin Coolidge

The 30th president did not actually live in the Boston area when he was governor of Massachusetts from 1919 to 1921 (though he did conduct the commonwealth's business at the State House). Instead, he continued to rent one half of a two-family house in Northampton at 21 Massasoit Street.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The 32nd president paid $225.50 a year (before maintenance and utilities) to share a first-floor room in what is now Adams House from 1900 to 1904, while a student at Harvard. (His fifth cousin, Teddy, the 26th president, also lived at Harvard, though 25 years before.)

John F. Kennedy

The 35th president was born here in 1924. It's now a museum, having been restored to its presidential glory by JFK's mother, Rose, beginning in the late 1960s.

George H.W. Bush

The house in which the 41st president was born in 1924 is still a private residence and not open to the public. Look for the historic marker, however.

George W. Bush

The 43rd president lived for two years in a "notoriously untidy and sparse" apartment on the square while a student at the Harvard Business School in the early 1970s, according to a Bloomberg article from 2001. The exact address appears to be unknown.

Barack Obama

The 44th president leased a basement apartment in Somerville while a student at Harvard Law in the late 1980s. He found the apartment through a newspaper ad (remember doing that?). According to his landlord, who has apparently been happy to talk about his old tenant, Obama always paid the rent on time.