In July of 2025, President Donald Trump reinstated the Presidential Physical Fitness Test,[1] a standardized evaluation of fitness for American school-age children. It includes a one-mile run, pull-ups or push-ups, sit-ups, a shuttle run, and a sit-and-reach (flexibility) test.

Fitness tests for American youth have been administered in various forms since the mid-20th century.[2] The earliest version of the Presidential Fitness Test was introduced by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956,[3] then revised and popularized by President John F. Kennedy.[4] Several iterations of the test were implemented over the years until it was discontinued in 2012. The Obama administration replaced it with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which minimized the competitive structure and promoted setting personal fitness goals for lifelong health.[5] Thirteen years later, the test was reinstated by Executive Order to “promote the physical, mental, and civic benefits” of exercise and create “a national culture of strength, vitality, and excellence.”[6]

There are two justifications provided for a national interest in physical training. The first concerns “America’s declining health and physical fitness,” including “rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity, and poor nutrition.”[7] The second concerns building a culture of “excellence” and good character.[8] We will evaluate the latter justification here.

The idea that physical training can be used to form character is ancient. In Plato’s Republic, Socrates describes the

© Psychology Today