The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-08-16
Nineteen Of Our Presidents .
HaUe Been College Graduates

scncOb and is therefore enrolled as
an alumnus Of that university.
The lamented Garfield was a Will
l1ams college man, and his son, Har-
ry R., is now president of the college
The story has often been told how he
was led to go to Williams. After two
years at Hiram college, Ohio, he
wrote to the presidents of Yale,
Brown and Williams, telling what his
studies had been,< and asking how
long 1t would take to finish their
course. In reply all informed him
that he could graduate in two years.,
but President Hopkins added to the
business letter this sentence, ''If you
come here, we shall be glad to do
what we can for YOU" Said Garfield,
Other things being so near equal,
this sentence, which seems to be a
kind of friendly grasp of the hand,
has settled the question for me. l
shall start for Williams next week.
So the great educators friendly word
gave Williams the honor of a presi-
dent among its aluIlni, and also the
choice Of a head for the institution
itself.
Cleveland Not a colIeglan.
Arthur, who succeeded Garfield, was
a graduate Of Union college. After
him came Cleveland, who was not a
collegian, though later in life he be-
came closely identified with Prince
ton university, and the handsome
tower Of the graduate school there is
called by his name.
Between Cleveland's two terms
came Benjamin Harrison, a graduate
OF Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio.
His was one of the strongest classes
in Miami's history, but he kept well
at the top" He also improved his
time at college by counting the pres
ident's daughter, Miss Carrie Scott.
A remarkable coincidence was the
nomination of Whitelaw Reid, also of
Miami, as candidate for vice presi-
dent at the time of his second nomi-
nation, which resulted in the defeat
OF both.
Mckinley spent but about one year
at Allegheny college, Meadville, Pa.
Roosevelt, as every one knows, is a
Harvard man. At college "he was
neither a grind nor trifler." Taft
was the first Yale man to reach the
presidency.
Wilson has probably had the most
extensive and varied college expert
! ence Of any Of our presidents. He
spent one year in Davidson college,
small North Carolina institution:
then graduated at Princeton and
studied law at the University Of Vir-
ginia. He also spent two years in
special study at Johns Hopkins uni
versity, Baltimore. Then he has
taught in three institutions, Bryn
Mawr, Wesleyan and Princeton. His
class in Princeton numbered 122, and
he stood forty-first, being just with
in the honor line.
Brown Has Z Candidate.
| If Hughes is elected president. a
Brown university graduate will :. fol
1.-THE first time occupy the chair. He
took the first part of his college
course at Colgate university at Ham
ilton, N. Y, so that institution would
also share in the honor of educating
president of the nation.
The entire list Of presidents in
| cludes 81 names. OF these eight
| Washington Jackson, Van Buren,
Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, Johnson
and Cleveland-had no college train
ing. Three-Jefferson. Monroe and
cKinley-did not graduate. This
leaves 10 cOllege SraQuateS-JOnn
Adams. Madison, John Quincy Adams
w. H. Harrison, Tyler, Polk. Pierce
Buchanan, Grant. Hayes, Garfield, Ar
thur, BENJAMIN Harrison. Roosevelt
Taft and Wilson. A total Of 10 col.
lege men out OF q is not, after all, a
bad proportion. While it is true that
the two most famous presidents
Washington and Lincoln. were not
collegians, yet such men are rare, and
Jackson and Johnson. to mention nc
Others, would have been the better
for broader education and more gen
eral culture.