The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-09
DEGREES OF THE PRESIDENTS.
1OOsEJELT AWAY IN THE Lead
WITH 4 RECORD or TEN.
Warrington, JEFFERSON and Mckinley. h,s
nearest Competitors, in the Rear. win
Only Five Degrees Each-Record I"
the IIonors bestowed by the Colleges

,bc uonors BESTOWED by the Colleges
Even before receiving the two doctorates
conferred upon him recently. lheodore
y pnoseyclt had larger collection OF college
,,nr,es than any of his predecessors in the
oe;cc Of President Of the United States.
Including his B. A.. taken in course at
Harvard twenty-five years ago, he has now
Nod bestowed upon him ten titles to. dis
faction of this kind, and is privileged to
,ri,e after his name eight LII. DIS and
anaI, II, D. This total is just twice the
t;sbest number of honorary degrees given
hs tbe colleges Of the country to any OF
his predecessors.
Washington. jefferson and Mckinley
.,oh received five degrees. John Adams
and Rutherford b, Hayes each received
49,. 1.lvsses s. Grant received three.
Ct, other Presidents received two each,
.or.r received one each, and four Of the
nations Chief Magistrates managed to end
their days without any recognition OF learn
inc or achievement from the colleges.
Tho record is extremely interesting-to
,.,sons interested in statistics OF the kind
and so far az is known 1t has never before
been compiled
Irotber curious fact about Mr.. Roose-
,el,,s honorary degrees is that their NUM-
her is exactly the highest number Of such
ho,nrs bestowed on Presidents OF the
United States by any one college. Har-
ward and Princeton have each given the
electorate of laws to Presidents nine times.
Yale has conferred the same degree on
Presidents six times. Brown University
Columbia, Dartmouth and Union College
have each bestowed an IL. d. on three
Presidents.
These are followed in the list by the
University Of California, University Of Chi
cago, University Of Pennsylvania and Will
ans College lone LII. D. and one L. H. D.
each Of which has thus honored two Presi-
dents,
Clark University. Dickinson College,
Hope College. Johns Hopkins, Kenyon.
Mount Holyoke, University of North Caro-
lima. Northwestern University. Rutgers
College Smith College. Washington Cole ge
Maryland) and William and Mary have
each decorated one President with a doc
tors hood
The regular degree for Presidents, it
appears, ia the LII. D. All OF them who
have received any honorary degree have
received that one. Mount Holyoke is tho
only college in the list which has not given
MILD. Its honor for President Mckinley
was D. c. L., and he was the only Presi-
dent who ever received this degree, Presi-
dent Roosevelt is the first to get the I'M
usual degree for a statesman Of l.. H. D.
There Ia no rule or law for thus desig-
mating the scholarship Of the Presidents
to be deduced from the record. Whom the
colleges choose to honor they choose to
honor, and there's an end ont.
Here is the complete record. Its per1lsal
will probably surprise most readers that
90 many Of tho Presidents-fourteen out
Of the twenty fve-had received a COL
lego training in youth; the wrong impression
seems to be widespread that a majority
Of the American Presidents were not COL
lege bred men.
George Washington never attended COL
lege nor took any instruction in the ancient
languages. But long before he became
President the Colonial seats of learning
recognized his greatness.
Harvard led the way by making him a
doctor Of laws in 177e. Yale followed
suit in 1881, the University Of Pennsylvania
In 1888 and Brown in 1890. And before
his death Washington College of Maryland
also honored itself by giving it's namesake
the highest degree it could bestow.
John Adams was graduated from Harvard
in 1855 His alma mater, in recognition of
his scholarly attachments and public SER
vices, gave him an LII. D. in 1881. He re-
ceved the same degree from Dartmouth
in 1852, from Yale in l7ss, and from Brown
&47sI.
Thomas Jefferson was a classical student
In childhood, retained his love for learn
tag ~ long as he lived, and throughout his
ire was deeply interested in the cause of
education, for which he did more than
any other Of the early Presidents. After
retiring from the Presidency he founded
university and directed that the words
Father of the University of Virginia"
should be inscribed on his tomb
He entered William and Mary College
in an advanced class at the age of II and
was graduated in 1852. Just twenty years
later that college gave him an LII. .. Yale
did likewise in 1888, Harvard and Brown
In isl. and Princeton, then the College of
New Jersey, in 1891.
James Madison was graduated from
''e 'oiiege OF Nc" Jer:ey IN I'LL, and
was honored by that college with the
electorate of laws in 1887. There j. no
record of any other collegiate honor for
him
James Monroe entered William and Mary
College at the age Of 10 and left college two
years later to take Lieutenant's commits
son In the Continental Army Yet he is
on the roll Of the college "a having re-
ceived his A b. degree in the year
i'''' Harvard made him a doctor of laws
n 1911 Dartmouth in the same year, and
Princeton in 1922
John Quincy Adams was graduated from
harvard In 1887. Princeton conferred the
H. D. upon him in lsoG, and Harvard rather
arnily did the same in 1922.
andrew jackson had practically no
schooling in his youth, and according TO
me sanderous legend still heard at times
was the most iliterate OF all the Presidents.
ne had picked up enough learning to try
"nooi teaching in his teens and he was
admitted to practise law when he was 20.
harvard was glad to honor him with the
ooctor's degree. which it did in 1893.
Martin Van Buren, received a good aca-
,e'N'r education, for the time, and began
,he study Of law at IA. Union college