9 US Presidents' Favorite Candy

If there's one thing you can count on in U.S. politics, it's the public's fascination with what each president likes to eat or drink. During campaign season, headlines regularly feature what candidates reach for when they're hungry. This obsession with presidential food isn't a 21st-century phenomenon. In the 1950s, for example, the public eagerly devoured recipes from the Eisenhower administration. From favorite desserts to preferred snacks, people have long been curious about what the occupants of the White House like to chow down on.

Records of presidential candy preferences before the 1900s are scarce, which isn't all that surprising. Until about the mid-1800s, candy was mainly used to preserve food or to disguise the taste of medicine. While sweets did exist as treats, it wasn't until the mid- to late-1800s that sugar became affordable enough for people to produce candy purely for enjoyment. Since then, its popularity has only grown. Today, we can confirm that at least nine U.S. presidents had a favorite type of candy they were known to enjoy.

The first president with a documented favorite candy was William Howard Taft, who took office in 1909. He liked taffy — a lot. In fact, the William Howard Taft National Historic Site wrote in a Facebook post that a contributing factor to Taft's hefty weight, which was more than 300 pounds, was too much taffy. His wife, First Lady Nellie Taft, apparently even once said to him, "You indulged in too much taffy, which is a little fault of yours."

The fact that "Taft" and "taffy" sound alike wasn't lost on his 1908 presidential campaign team. According to Heritage Auctions, the campaign issued 3.5-inch club-shaped souvenirs with the slogan, "Taffy on a stick" on one side, along with Taft's picture. His running mate, James S. Sherman, was pictured on the other side with the quote, "A little smooth and not quite so hard but the same old stick."

Marshmallows had only recently begun to be classified as candy in the 1920s, but by the time Herbert Hoover took office in 1929, he clearly had a fondness for them. According to the December 1935 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, the White House Staff claimed that he really enjoyed the treats (per the White House Historical Association). Hoover particularly liked chocolate marshmallows and was also known to enjoy sweet potato casserole topped with the fluffy stuff — a dish that still puzzles many people outside the United States. 

President Hoover also reportedly had a soft spot for homemade candy. In "The Presidents' Cookbook," authors Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks note, "When he allowed himself a sweet, it was often a homemade candy, something to which he was partial." However, the authors did not specify exactly what kind of candy Hoover preferred.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's favorite candy was one that became popular throughout the country in the 1950s: Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge. "Mamie," in this case, was First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. We know that this was the president's favorite because it appears in a list of his favorite foods on the Eisenhower Presidential Library website. 

The simple fudge recipe didn't require babysitting with a thermometer, nor did it demand the physical effort traditional fudge often needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Grainy fudge can sometimes be fixed, but it's far easier to avoid the problem in the first place. The nearly foolproof method in the Eisenhowers' recipe likely helped drive its popularity.

The fudge may not have actually been Mamie Eisenhower's creation because a similar recipe existed before her name was attached. But because she shared the recipe with newspapers, the public assumed it was hers. The recipe became so popular that the Eisenhower Presidential Library offers a copy for the public to download.

Lyndon B. Johnson had two favorite candies: peanut brittle and the "Texas Chewie," but judging by the list of his preferred foods archived at the LBJ Presidential Library, it's safe to say the president had quite a sweet tooth.

It's unclear whether Johnson favored a particular brand or recipe of peanut brittle. However, he was known to enjoy the Texas Chewie Pecan Praline from Lammes Candies in Austin, Texas. In a Facebook post for National Praline Day, the presidential library confirmed that the sticky, chewy, pecan-filled confection was a favorite of the Johnson family. The post even included a photo of Lady Bird Johnson visiting one of the Lammes locations.

Over the years, the confectioner and the library have celebrated Johnson's fondness for the chocolate-praline candy. In August 2023, the Lammes Candies Since 1885 Facebook page marked LBJ's birthday by offering customers free admission tickets to the library. Earlier that summer, the LBJ store at the library and museum also celebrated the connection by giving customers who spent $50 a free box of Texas Chewies.

Mention the words president and peanuts in the same sentence, and most people will immediately think of Jimmy Carter. So it might not come as much of a surprise to learn that the favorite candy of the 39th President of the United States was, in fact, peanut brittle.

Before becoming the country's First Family, the Carters used peanuts as their family emblem, but President Carter's love of peanuts extended into the White House. There, he exchanged State Dinner silver bowls from roasted mixed nuts to plain peanuts, and included peanut brittle on the menu. On National Peanut Brittle Day in 2024, the White House Historical Association shared a recipe for the treat that it says was once served to the Carter family (but we recommend following these chef-approved tips if making peanut brittle at home).

During Carter's presidency (1977 to 1981), his nutty candy preference was even featured in a Lucille Ball television special. Lucy hilariously lost a couple of teeth (on the show, not in real life) due to the peanut brittle that she had made as part of the frantic preparations for the visit.

Ronald Reagan's favorite candy was Jelly Belly brand jelly beans, and he's credited with putting the gourmet beans on the map. Reagan used to be a pipe smoker, but when he ran for governor of California, he wanted to halt the habit. He turned to flavored mini jelly beans from the Goelitz company as a way to deal with the transition. Goelitz later introduced the Jelly Belly brand of mini jelly beans, and Reagan liked them so much that he eventually switched his entire order over to that brand. His favorite flavor? Licorice.

Reagan ordered more than three tons of red, white, and blue Jelly Belly jelly beans for his first-term inauguration. In fact, the blueberry-flavored Jelly Belly was created specifically for that occasion. But it wasn't just for special events that he kept his favorite candy on hand — he also had large and small jars of the jelly beans available when he was in meetings. 

When people found out that their new president liked Jelly Belly, sales for the beans rose so quickly that the company's production was backlogged for over a year. The Jelly Belly company even has a portrait of Reagan at its offices, and yes, it's made of Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Barack Obama's favorite candy comes from Fran's Chocolates, an artisan chocolatier in Seattle, Washington. In 2008, an aide told the New York Times that Obama loved the company's handmade milk chocolates, but his top pick was the Smoked Salt Caramels.

According to the story, a campaign staffer — already a customer of Fran's — gave Obama a box of the caramels, which he reportedly found exquisite. When plans were underway for his inaugural gala, organizers ordered 800 pieces of the milk chocolate–covered smoked salt caramels, along with 800 pieces of the dark chocolate version. The candies later became a go-to gift for visitors to the White House.

Once news of Obama's fondness for the caramels became public, demand surged. By the time he was inaugurated for his first term, the sweets were so popular that Fran's struggled to keep up with orders.

In October 2019, the New York Times asked presidential candidates about their most and least favorite Halloween candies. Joe Biden's campaign gave a characteristically diplomatic response: "Snickers. Milky Ways. Peppermint Patties. He likes them all."

That same month, CNN tweeted the results of a Monmouth University poll ranking popular Halloween candy, with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups taking the top spot. Biden weighed in on Facebook with his own opinion, writing, "Sorry America, the correct answer is Snickers."

Biden referenced the candy bar again in his 2024 State of the Union address, using Snickers as an example of shrinkflation and claiming that consumers were paying the same price for "10% fewer Snickers," a claim the company quickly disputed. Even so, it's not much of a stretch to assume that the candy bar ranks among Biden's favorites beyond Halloween — which is reasonable as Snickers placed in the top three of Chowhound's ranking of best and worst Halloween candy.

While answering questions from children during a "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" event at the White House in 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Donald Trump's favorite candies are Starburst — specifically the pink ones — and Tootsie Rolls. She also added that Trump eats a lot of candy in general.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy offered a similar anecdote in a 2018 interview with The Washington Post. He recalled being alone with Trump in the presidential suite aboard Air Force One when the president opened a pack of Starburst. According to McCarthy, Trump carefully picked out only the cherry and strawberry pieces before offering him some. "Just the red and the pink. A bit later, a couple of his aides saw me with those colors and told me, 'Those are the president's favorites,'" he recalled.

Remembering that detail, McCarthy later sent Trump a jar containing only red and pink Starburst. He made sure the gift included his name, and later heard from a White House official that Trump was grinning when he received it.