The very picture of presidential sportsman should begin with Dwight D. Eisenhower on a golf course. The celebrated general was as passionate about golf as any past Commander-in-Chief had ever been about a particular sport. President Eisenhower made the popular pastime even more so with his numerous well-documented golf outings throughout his presidency, including this one pictured with golfing legend Arnold Palmer.

The eternally youthful image of John F. Kennedy and his beautiful wife, Jacqueline, on one of the Kennedy clan's many sailboats in Massachusetts' Cape Cod, is etched in many people's consciousness as a moment in a more innocent time in our country's history. An avid sportsman, President Kennedy also enjoyed golf, swimming and, most especially, touch football with many, many members of his immediate family. Like so many presidents before and after him, he was also a big baseball fan.

Has anyone looked more natural up on a horse than Lyndon Baines Johnson? Well, okay, maybe John Wayne and Gary Cooper can give President Johnson a run for his money, but the native Texan's love of all things horses is very well documented. Any chance the former president had to escape to Texas to indulge his athletic passion was not to be taken lightly. Also a passionate baseball fan, LBJ would relish throwing out te ceremonial first pitch at many a contest.

Are you ready for some football? Gerald Ford always was. A standout college football player for the undefeated national championship winning University of Michigan Wolverines, President Ford continued his love of pick-up games in Washington, D.C., often passing the pigskin with his children on the White House lawn. Not since John Kennedy was in office, has a president been so enamored with playing football. Golf, of course, became a later passion for the former president.

When Jimmy Carter came to Washington, D.C. he came running in to change the culture in the nation's capital—literally. A passionate runner for most of his life, President Carter was notorious for his early morning runs around D.C.'s stunning monuments. A long-time Atlanta Braves baseball fan, the former president stays active to this day by rebuilding homes for Habitat For Humanity, one of his favorite charities.

Long before Ronald Reagan fell in love with acting, Nancy Davis, lofty oratory or even conservative values, the guy was a lifeguard. A great one. In his youth, President Reagan was credited with saving countless lives thanks to his expert swimming skill. Later, in the White House, President Reagan would add horseback riding (here, he's with Queen Elizabeth II) and chopping wood to his rigorous athletic pursuits.

It's a sight to behold, to be sure, George Herbert Walker Bush on a tennis court. A lifelong passion, the first President Bush plays a vigorous game of tennis and is an avid and loyal fan of the sport. A regular participant in many pro-am tennis tourneys, the former president has played doubles and mixed doubles with the likes of champions Chris Evert, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.

An avid golfer, Bill Clinton's first athletic foray into the national spotlight were in those slightly unseemly jogging shorts he broke out during his first presidential campaign. As President Clinton, the man found a passion for the links and played 18 holes whenever he could find the time partnering with the likes of that sport's greatest including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman and, of course, Tiger Woods.

Not sure how this plays part in George W. Bush's whole rough-and-tumble cowboy Texas image, but W sure does enjoy his time on a bicycle. First prescribed as part of his regular fitness regimen, President Bush has been seen riding a bike everywhere from the White House to his ranch in Crawford, TX and even in China, riding with the U.S. athletes during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Barack Obama loves basketball and is actually still a very good player (though he tends to hog the ball a bit, according to some of his previous coaches). A varsity high school b-baller in Hawaii, President-elect Obama still shoots hoops with his old teammates as part of an election night ritual all throughout the long primary and general election campaign. Obama will be the first president who puts basketball on top of his athletic must-do activities.