The US Presidents with knighthoods

While the United States does not have orders of chivalry and cannot present any titles of nobility, that has not prevented some US Presidents from being granted honorary knighthoods in the United Kingdom.

Currently, three US Presidents have been granted honorary knighthoods by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.

King George VI gave President Dwight D. Eisenhower the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross (G.C.B.) on 12 June 1943. Ike, as he was commonly known, was also given the Order of Merit on 12 June 1945. Both honours came from his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Second World War.

Queen Elizabeth II honoured President Ronald Reagan with a knighthood in the 1980s. She and the President shared a close relationship and bonded over their love of horses. He was presented with the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath (the highest order of chivalry the UK can award to a foreigner) at Buckingham Palace on 15 June 1989.

He later said about the investiture: “I feel greatly honoured.”

Queen Elizabeth II also made President George H.W. Bush a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath in 1993, after leaving office. He was presented with the knighthood by the late Queen at Buckingham Palace on what was described at the time as a private visit.

While Bush and Reagan received the Order of the Bath in the civil division, Ike received his in the military division due to his role and leadership as a general during World War II.