How Many Presidents Went to Harvard?
Harvard University is currently the world’s second-top-ranked university. It is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Puritan clergyman John Harvard founded this university in 1636.
It is one of the oldest universities in the United States for higher education. Many well-known personalities, including numerous presidents, went to Harvard for their higher studies.
The following article contains a detailed list of the presidents who went to Harvard and information about when they joined and learned at Harvard. Let’s dig into the article below and learn about those eight presidents who went to Harvard to pursue higher studies.
About Harvard
As I mentioned earlier, Harvard University was founded in 1636 and is one of the oldest higher education institutes in the United States. Its main campus is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a total area of 209 acres. The main motto of the university is “Truth.”
It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,240 and a postgraduate enrollment of 14,373 as of Fall 2022. Harvard University has ten academic faculties and an additional Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Faculty of Arts And Sciences at Harvard University is prominent in offering numerous undergraduate and graduate academic disciplines.
Furthermore, this institute has three main campuses: Cambridge, an adjoining campus across Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, and the medical campus in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. Harvard is one of the wealthiest academic institutions in the world, with an endowment value of around $50.9 billion as of 2022.
The endowment value of this institute plays a prominent role in allowing Harvard College, the undergraduate college, to support the Need-blind admission policy. This policy in the United States is a college admission policy that states that a college must not consider an applicant’s financial status when deciding whether to accept them.
The endowment value of Harvard is vital in providing financial aid to students, helping them to pursue their higher studies without worrying about their economic conditions. Numerous other reasons also play a significant role in making Harvard one of the world’s best institutes and why many well-known people, including eight presidents, chose it to pursue their higher studies.
8 Presidents Who Went To Harvard
1. John Adams
John Adams was an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the second President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before becoming the President, he served as the leader of the American Revolution. Moreover, he was the first person to hold the office of the United States vice president from 1789 to 1797.
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735. He was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. Adam entered Harvard College in 1751 at sixteen to continue his higher studies.
While growing up, Adam was greatly interested in reading the works of ancient writers like Thucydides, Plato, Cicero, and Tacitus. Adam received a Bachelor of Arts degree after completing his four-year undergraduate studies at Harvard. Although his father wanted him to become a minister, Adam was more interested in noble work.
He thus decided to return to Harvard to pursue a career in law and graduate with a Master’s degree in Arts. Adam earned a Master of Arts degree from Harvard in 1759.
He practiced law for several years and was elected the second President of the United States in 1797. John Adam died on the 4th of July, 1826.
2. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was an American diplomat, politician, and the sixth president of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He also served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825.
John Quincy Adams was the eldest son of John Adams, the second president of the United States. He was born on July 11, 1767, in a part of Braintree, Massachusetts, now known as Quincy.
During his early life, John’s cousin, James Thaxter, and his father’s law clerk, Nathan Rice, served as his private tutors. Adams, along with his father, departed for Europe in 1778.
He returned to the United States in 1785 and got admission to Harvard College. After graduating from Harvard College and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, Adams pursued his law studies. He died on February 23, 1848.
3. Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes was an American lawyer, politician, and the 19th president of the United States. He served as the President from 1877 to 1881. Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, on October 4, 1822.
He finished his high school studies at a boarding school and returned to his home state, Ohio, to enroll in Kenyon College in 1838. In 1843, he went to Harvard Law School to study law.
After graduating with an LL.B degree, he was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1845 and opened his law office in Lower Sandusky. Hayes was elected as the 19th president of the United States on March 4, 1877. He died on January 17, 1893.
4. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States and served from 1901 to 1909. Besides being a president, he was also a writer, soldier, conservationist, and naturalist. Moreover, he was the 25th vice president from March to September 1901.
He was born on October 27, 1858, in Manhattan, New York City. In his early life stages, his parents and tutors homeschooled T.R. for several years. Later, in 1876, he enrolled in Harvard College to pursue his studies in natural science.
He was a good student in many subjects, including science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses. At Harvard, he participated in numerous activities like rowing and boxing.
He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1880. After his father’s death, Roosevelt moved back into his family’s home in New York City, giving up his earlier plan of studying natural science and deciding to attend Columbia Law School instead.
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 to 1945. He was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York. His father and cousin were Harvard graduates, so Roosevelt was also destined to enroll in Harvard.
Since his childhood, Roosevelt has been an athletic child. He was homeschooled until the age of 14. Later, he went to Groton School, a boarding school for high school studies.
He went to Harvard College and graduated from Harvard in 1903 with an A.B. degree in history. In 1904, he enrolled in Columbia Law School but left in 1907 after passing the New York Bar exam.
6. John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. He is also known as JFK or Jack. John F. Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963.
JFK is assumed to be the youngest President at the end of his tenure. He attended the Edward Devotion School, the Noble Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School in Boston till 4th grade.
In September 1935, Kennedy traveled to London and attended Princeton University. Unfortunately, he had to leave Princeton after two months because of his health issues. Later in September 1936, he enrolled at Harvard College and graduated cum laude from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 1940.
7. George W. Bush
George Walker Bush served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was born on July 6, in New Haven, Connecticut. Bush attended public schools in Texas until he reached 7th grade.
Later, his family shifted to Houston, where he spent two years at The Kinkaid School. Bush completed his Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University between 1964 and 1968.
He later attended Harvard Business School in 1973 to pursue an MBA degree. Bush graduated from Harvard in 1975, and he is the only President of the United States with an MBA degree.
8. Barack Obama
Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States and served from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. The majority of Obama’s childhood was spent in Hawaii.
He attended a high school in Hawaii to prepare for college and later attended Columbia University to earn a degree in international relations in 1983. Later, in 1988, he enrolled at Harvard University to pursue a legal education.
How many presidents went to Harvard?
Many well-known personalities, including numerous presidents, went to Harvard for their higher studies. Eight presidents of the United States went to Harvard to pursue their higher education.
What are the names of the presidents who went to Harvard?
The following are the names of the presidents who went to Harvard.
1. John Adams
2. John Quincy Adams
3. Rutherford B. Hayes
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. John F. Kennedy
7. George W. Bush
8. Barack Obama
Did Barack Obama go to Harvard?
Obama is one of the eight presidents of the United States who went to Harvard for higher education. Barack Obama enrolled in Columbia University to earn a degree in international relations in 1983. He later attended Harvard University in 1988 to pursue legal education.
The above article contains a detailed list of the eight presidents of the United States who went to Harvard to pursue their higher education. Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It is one of the oldest universities in the United States for higher education. Many well-known personalities, including numerous presidents, went to Harvard for their higher studies.