The Top-Searched U.S. Presidents and Vice Presidents in Every State
Introduction
Presidents leave their mark in plenty of ways: laws, monuments, history books and, in some cases, the coins people still collect, trade and pass down. A face on a quarter, dime, half dollar or commemorative gold coin can keep a legacy in everyday circulation long after a presidency ends.
To see which figures Americans are still most curious about, we analyzed Google Trends search interest for every U.S. president that has served since 2000 in each state over the past 12 months. We also looked at vice presidents to see which names stood out across the country.
The results show where presidential interest is strongest, which figures have the clearest regional ties and how some legacies remain especially visible through U.S. coinage. From silver-era dimes and quarters to collectible gold coins, these searches offer a look at how history, public curiosity and precious metals continue to overlap.
The Presidents Americans Search for Most and the Coins That Keep Their Legacies in Circulation
Presidents don’t just live on in history books. Their names, faces and legacies also show up in everyday places, including the coins people collect, trade, and inherit.
To find which presidents are drawing the most interest today, we analyzed search interest for every U.S. president over the past year. The results show which figures Americans are still searching for most, while their connections to coins help explain how presidential legacy continues to circulate in a literal sense.
The Top-Searched President in Every State
John F. Kennedy was the clear leader in our analysis, ranking as the top-searched president in 15 states, touching every corner of the map.
Kennedy’s broad search interest makes sense. His presidency, assassination and cultural legacy remain major parts of 20th-century American history. His image also appears on one of the country’s most recognizable half dollars. It was first issued in 1964, and that first year of production is especially notable because those coins were struck in 90% silver before the nation began reducing silver content in circulating coins.
Ulysses S. Grant ranked second, leading in nine states, with most of his interest coming from the Midwest. Grant’s legacy spans the Civil War, Reconstruction and the presidency, but he also played a major role in the country’s monetary history. Grant signed the Coinage Act of 1873, later known by critics as the “Crime of 1873,” which moved the country away from bimetallism and toward the gold standard.
Franklin D. Roosevelt finished third and was the top-searched president in five states. His presidency reshaped the federal government during the Great Depression and World War II, and his image is still one of the most familiar in American coinage. He has appeared on the dime since 1946, making his profile a fixture in U.S. pockets, coin jars, and kitchen drawers for generations. Pre-1965 Roosevelt dimes are especially relevant to collectors and precious metal dealers because they contain 90% silver.
Gerald Ford led in two states: Michigan and Nebraska. That tracks with his biography. Ford was born in Nebraska and built much of his political career in Michigan, where he represented the Grand Rapids area in Congress before becoming vice president and then president.
Other interesting state-level findings:
Abraham Lincoln was top-searched in Illinois, where he built his legal and political career before becoming president.
Andrew Jackson pops up in Tennessee, where he lived, served in public office and became one of the state’s defining political figures.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is most often searched for in Kansas, where he grew up in Abilene.
Lyndon B. Johnson took Texas, where he was born and represented the state in Congress and the Senate before becoming vice president and president.
Harry S. Truman led in Missouri, his home state and the base of his political career.
George Washington stood out in Virginia, where he was born and spent much of his life.
In some states, the top result reflects a president’s roots, career or place in local memory. In others, national legacy seems to carry more weight.
The Coins That Keep Presidential Legacies in Circulation
Some of the presidents Americans searched for most are also among the faces most closely tied to U.S. coinage, especially silver coins and commemorative gold ones.
George Washington may be the best example. His profile has appeared on the quarter since 1932, and quarters minted before 1965 are especially notable because they contained silver. Today, those older Washington quarters fit into the broader category of 90% silver coins, alongside silver dimes and half dollars that still draw interest from collectors, dealers and precious metal buyers.
Roosevelt and Kennedy coins also fit into the silver-era.
The U.S. Mint removed silver from circulating dimes and quarters in 1965, which is why pre-1965 Roosevelt dimes are still often discussed for both their historical and metal value.
Kennedy’s half dollar debuted in 1964, shortly after his assassination, and the 1964 version was struck in 90% silver. For many collectors, the Kennedy half dollar remains both a memorial and a tangible piece of silver-era U.S. coinage.
Jefferson’s place in U.S. coin history is a little different. He has appeared on the nickel since 1938, but wartime Jefferson nickels struck during World War II stand out because they used a different composition that included silver. Those coins are still often separated from standard nickels by collectors because of that metal content and the unusual circumstances behind their production.
A few presidents in the study also appear on commemorative gold coins. Theodore Roosevelt appeared with John Muir on the 2016 National Park Service 100th Anniversary $5 gold coin. Washington, Roosevelt, James Madison, William McKinley and Ulysses S. Grant have also been honored through gold coin programs. These collectible pieces make gold bullion and coins a part of the larger story around presidents, precious metals and the objects people preserve.
Coinage policy also shaped the legacy of several presidents. Grant’s Coinage Act of 1873 changed the country’s relationship with silver, while Johnson’s Coinage Act of 1965 removed silver from circulating dimes and quarters and reduced the silver content of half dollars. Those decisions still affect how collectors and dealers distinguish modern clad coins from older silver coinage with intrinsic metal value.
Our search data and coin history show how presidential legacy moves through both culture and commerce. Some presidents remain popular because of where they lived or what they did in office. Others stay visible every time someone handles a quarter, dime, half dollar or collectible coin.
Next, we’ll take a closer look at vice presidents.
The Vice Presidents Americans Search for Most
Vice presidents often sit just outside the spotlight, but search interest shows that some still have a firm place in public memory. Some are remembered for their own political careers, others for the presidents they served beside, and a few because their stories have found new life far beyond Washington.
For this part of the analysis, we looked only at vice presidents who never became president, using the same search interest method from the previous section. While these figures don’t appear on coins as often as presidents do, several still connect to the larger story of legacy, memory and the historical eras that shaped U.S. money.
The Top-Searched Vice President in Every State
Aaron Burr dominated this part of the study, ranking as the top-searched vice president in 25 states, making him clearly top of mind across the entire country.
That result likely has less to do with his time as Thomas Jefferson’s vice president and more to do with his long afterlife in American culture. Burr, today, is best known for killing Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel, and the musical “Hamilton” has introduced that rivalry to a new generation. It’s a useful reminder that legacies stay in circulation in different ways. Some are stamped onto coins. Others return through books, classrooms, songs and stages.
William R. King was the top-searched vice president in three states: Alabama, Washington and Wisconsin. His strongest geographic tie is Alabama, where he served for years as a U.S. senator before becoming vice president under Franklin Pierce. King’s vice presidency was also unusually brief. He died in 1853 shortly after taking office.
Three other vice presidents led in two states each:
Schuyler Colfax was top-searched in Colorado and New Jersey. He served as Ulysses S. Grant’s vice president and had previously been Speaker of the House. His tenure also overlapped with the years leading up to the Coinage Act of 1873, which Grant signed shortly after Colfax left office.
John Nance Garner took Texas and West Virginia. Garner, a longtime Texas congressman and former House speaker, served as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first vice president. His time in office connects him to the broader New Deal era, when federal policy reshaped banking, money and the economy.
William A. Wheeler stood out in Illinois and Wyoming. Wheeler served as vice president under Rutherford B. Hayes after a long career in Congress.
Al Gore led in Tennessee, where he was born, raised and represented the state in both the House and Senate. He was also top-searched in Washington, DC.
Other interesting state-level findings:
Charles Curtis popped up in Kansas, where he built his political career before becoming vice president under Herbert Hoover.
Hubert Humphrey is most often searched for in Minnesota, where he served as mayor of Minneapolis and later as U.S. senator.
Elbridge Gerry is searched most in Massachusetts, where he was born and served as governor.
Hannibal Hamlin won Maine, where he served as governor and senator before becoming Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president.
Nelson Rockefeller took the top-searched spot in New York, where he served as governor before becoming vice president.
As with the president results, some states appear to search for figures with clear local ties. Others reflect broader national attention, cultural relevance or renewed interest in lesser-known names.
Some legacies are preserved in silver and gold. Some live through regional history. Others resurface through culture, politics and curiosity. In each case, the names Americans search for most reveal which figures still feel present today.
What Search Interest Says About Presidential Legacy
The presidents and vice presidents Americans search for most show how history stays present in different ways. Some figures remain closely tied to the states they called home. Others keep drawing interest because of major moments in office, pop culture or the coins and currency that still carry their images today.
That connection is especially clear in U.S. coinage. From 90% silver quarters, dimes and half dollars to commemorative gold coins, many presidential legacies continue to move through the hands of collectors, dealers and everyday Americans.
For Elemetal, that overlap between history and precious metals is part of the larger story. As a precious metals refinery and bullion dealer, Elemetal helps give old jewelry, coins and other metal-bearing materials new life — keeping value in circulation, just like the coins that continue to preserve pieces of America’s past.
Methodology
To determine the top-searched President in every state, we compiled a list of all of them that served before 2000 to remove recency bias from the data, and analyzed the regional interest in each one using Google Trends search interest from May 2025 to May 2026.
We compared search interest for each of the Presidents head-to-head across all 50 states to get an indication of who the top-searched is as of late. We replicated that method but for Vice Presidents (who never became President themselves) to finish out the analysis.
Information on coins and other historical context is supplied from other third-party sources.
Fair Use
You are welcome to use, reference, and share non-commercial excerpts of this study with proper attribution. If you cite or cover our findings, please link back to this page so readers can view the full methodology, charts, and context.
