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List of multilingual presidents of the United States

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Thomas Jefferson claimed to read and write six different languages.

Of the 44 Presidents of the United States under the Constitution, few have spoken or had a reading knowledge of a language other than English. However, a number of Presidents have spoken two or more languages. Of these, only one, Martin Van Buren, learned English as his second language: his first language was Dutch. Four of the earliest Presidents were multi-lingual, with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson demonstrating proficiency in a number of foreign languages.

James A. Garfield not only knew Greek and Latin, but used his ambidexterity to write both at the same time. Both Roosevelts spoke French, and Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke German. Few modern Presidents have spoken a foreign language. Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush displayed a limited ability in Spanish. Only two presidents have known an Asian language: Herbert Hoover spoke fluent Mandarin Chinese and Barack Obama speaks conversational Indonesian.

18th and 19th centuries

John Adams

John Adams, the second President of the United States, learned to read Latin at a young age.[1] In preparation for attending Harvard University, Adams attended a school for improving his Latin skills.[2] Adams translated a number of classical Latin works into English, including some works of Horace.[3] He also demonstrated proficiency in Hebrew by translating books of the Old Testament into English. He also translated parts of the New Testament from Greek.[3] Matthew Adams claimed that John Adams knew nine languages and had translated works from the Greek, Latin, French, and Spanish.[3]

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson read a number of different languages. In a letter to Philadelphia publisher Joseph Delaplaine on April 12, 1817, Jefferson claimed to read and write six languages: Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and English.[4] After his death, a number of other books, dictionaries, and grammar manuals in various languages were found in Jefferson's library, suggesting that he studied additional languages beyond those he spoke and wrote well. Among these were books in Arabic, Gaelic, and Welsh.[4]

In regard to learning Spanish, Jefferson told John Quincy Adams that he had learned the language over the course of nineteen days while sailing from the United States to France. He had borrowed a Spanish grammar and a copy of Don Quixote from a friend, and read them on the voyage. Adams expressed skepticism, noting Jefferson's tendency to tell "large stories."[5]

James Madison

James Madison began his studies of Latin at the age of twelve[6] and had already mastered both Greek and Latin by the time he entered the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University. He produced many translations of Latin works, including translations of Grotius, Pufendorf, and Vattel.[6] He also studied Horace and Ovid.[6] He learned Greek as an admissions requirement for higher college learning.[6]

While in college, Madison learned to speak and read Hebrew.[1] When he could have graduated, Madison remained at college for an additional year to study ethics and Hebrew in greater depth.[7]

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams went to school in both France and the Netherlands, and spoke fluent French and conversational Dutch.[8] Adams strove to improve his abilities in Dutch throughout his life, and at times translated a page of Dutch a day to help improve his mastery of the language.[9] Official documents that he translated were sent to the Secretary of State of the United States, so that Adams' studies would serve a useful purpose as well.[9]

In addition to the two languages he spoke fluently, he also studied Italian, though he admitted to making little progress in it since he had no one with whom to practice speaking and hearing the language.[9] Adams also read Latin very well, translated a page a day of Latin text,[10] and studied classical Greek in his spare time.[11]

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the only U.S. President who did not speak English as his first language. He was born in Kinderhook, New York, a primarily Dutch community, spoke Dutch as his first language, and continued to speak it at home.[12] He learned English as a second language while attending Kinderhook's local school house. He obtained a small understanding of Latin while studying at Kinderhook Academy and solidified his understanding of English there.[13]

James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield knew both Latin and Ancient Greek. As the first ambidextrous president, Garfield entertained his friends by having them ask him questions, and then writing the answer in Latin with one hand while simultaneously answering in Greek with the other.[14]

20th century

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt spoke French. A foreign correspondent noted that, although he spoke clearly and quickly, he had a German accent while speaking in French.[15] He read both German and French very well, and kept a good number of books written in these languages in his personal library.[16] He quite often read fiction, philosophy, religion, and history books in both French and German.[17] He was most comfortable with informal discussions in French, though he made two public addresses in the West Indies in French in 1916.[17] He recognized that, while he spoke French rapidly and was able to understand others, he used unusual grammar "without tense or gender." John Hay, Secretary of State under Roosevelt, commented that Roosevelt spoke odd, grammatically incorrect French, but was never difficult to understand.[17]

Though he could read and understand the language thoroughly, Roosevelt struggled to speak German. When Roosevelt attempted to speak with a native German, he had to apologize after botching the attempt.[17] While not fluent in the language, Roosevelt was also able to read Italian.[18] Though he at one point studied Greek and Latin, Roosevelt found both languages a "dreary labor" to translate.[19]

Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson learned German as part of earning his Ph.D. in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University. However, he never claimed proficiency in the language. While he did read German sources when they were available, he often complained about the amount of time and effort it took him.[20]

Herbert Hoover

The 1556 Latin edition of De re metallica.

Herbert Hoover spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently; he lived in China as a young mining engineer.[21] He and his wife Lou Henry Hoover, also fluent in Mandarin, often had public conversations in the language so that aides and others nearby could not eavesdrop on them.[22]

The Hoovers once translated a book from Latin to English.[21] The pair took five years, and sacrificed much of their spare time, to translating the Latin mining tract De re metallica.[23] While at Stanford University, Hoover had access to the extensive library of John Casper Branner, where he found the important mining book, which had never been fully translated into English.[23] For years, five nights of the week were spent translating the book, including naming objects that the author had merely described.[23]

Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke both conversational German and French. He was raised speaking both, as his early education consisted of governesses from Europe preparing him for boarding school in his teens. In particular, he had a German governess and a French governess who taught him their languages. A Swiss governess, Jeanne Sandoz, furthered his studies in both languages.[24] She particularly stressed French.[25] Roosevelt spent one summer of his schooling in Germany;[26] both his time with his instructors and his frequent trips abroad allowed him to master German and French, though he always spoke them with a distinct New England dialect.[27] Though he never had a mastery of the language, his governesses also taught him a limited amount of Latin.[28]

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter has a functional command of Spanish, but has never been grammatically perfect.[29] Carter studied the language at the United States Naval Academy[30] and continued his studies while an officer of the United States Navy.[31] He could speak fairly fluently, but joked about his sometimes flawed understanding of the language while discoursing with native speakers.[32] Carter has given a number of addresses in the Spanish language, which he wrote himself,[33] and sometimes spoke to constituents in Spanish.[31]

21st century

George W. Bush on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), 2001, delivering the first Weekly Radio Address of the President of the United States broadcast in both English and Spanish by any President.[34]

George W. Bush

George W. Bush speaks Spanish, and delivered speeches in the language.[35] However, there are those who question the extent to which Bush can speak the language, noting that he kept to similar phrasing and used fairly basic vocabulary and grammar.[36]

Barack Obama

Barack Obama claims to speak no foreign languages.[37] Obama speaks some Indonesian at a conversational level.[38] He picked up the language while he lived in Jakarta from age six to ten with his mother and stepfather, an Indonesian native. President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono noted that, in a phone call to him, Obama seemed fairly fluent in the language.[38] There is doubt, however, that his level of expertise in the language would be adequate to conduct foreign relations entirely in Indonesian.[38] He can deliver Spanish with a decent accent, but admits to only knowing "15 words" and having a poor knowledge of the language.[39]

Chart comparison

President Dutch English French German Greek Hebrew Indonesian Italian Latin Mandarin Chinese Spanish
John Adams Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Thomas Jefferson Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
James Madison Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
John Quincy Adams Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Martin Van Buren Green tickY Green tickY
James A. Garfield Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Theodore Roosevelt Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Herbert Hoover Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Woodrow Wilson Green tickY Green tickY
Franklin D. Roosevelt Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Jimmy Carter Green tickY Green tickY
George W. Bush Green tickY
Barack Obama Green tickY Green tickY

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Crapo (2007), 4.
  2. ^ McLeod (1976), 23.
  3. ^ a b c Franklin (2003), 96.
  4. ^ a b Berkes, Anna (10 December 2008). "Languages Jefferson Spoke or Read". Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved 22 March 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Berkes, Anna (10 December 2008). "Spanish Language". Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved 22 March 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c d Ketcham (1990), 20.
  7. ^ Hodge and Nolan (2007), 35.
  8. ^ Adams (1874), 229
  9. ^ a b c Adams (1874), 176.
  10. ^ Adams (1874), 177.
  11. ^ Adams (1874), 380.
  12. ^ Widmer (2005), ii.
  13. ^ Holland (1836), 15.
  14. ^ "James A. Garfield". American Presidents Life Portraits. Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN. 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  15. ^ New York Times (1909), 2. 7 August 2024
  16. ^ New York Times (1898), IMS10. 7 August 2024
  17. ^ a b c d Wagenknecht (2008), 39.
  18. ^ Morris, Edmund (22 March 2002). "A Matter of Extreme Urgency: Theodore Roosevelt, Wilhelm II, and the Venezuela Crisis of 1902". Naval War College Review. Newport, Rhode Island: Naval War College. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  19. ^ Wagenknecht (2008), 38.
  20. ^ Pestritto (2005), 34.
  21. ^ a b Kelly, Nataly (2009). "Caught in the Grips of Linguistic Paranoia". The New York Times. New York City: The New York Times Company. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  22. ^ King (2009), 35.
  23. ^ a b c Lewiston Evening News (1933), 5.
  24. ^ Harper (1996), 14.
  25. ^ Coker (2005), 4.
  26. ^ Harper (1996), 17.
  27. ^ Coker (2005), 6.
  28. ^ Freedman (1992), 9.
  29. ^ Poser, Bill (8 July 2007). "The Linguistic Ability of the Presidential Candidates". Language Log. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  30. ^ Carter (2004), 35.
  31. ^ a b Associated Press (1976), 46.
  32. ^ McBride (1978), 1.
  33. ^ The Washington Post (2002), 2.
  34. ^ "May 2001". Whitehouse.gov. Executive Office of the President of the United States. 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  35. ^ Gormley (2000), 113.
  36. ^ Ivin and Dubose (2000), xviii.
  37. ^ Gavrilovic, Maria (11 July 2008). "Obama: "I don't speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!"". CBS News. New York City: CBS Corporation. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  38. ^ a b c Zimmer, Benjamin (2009). "Obama's Indonesian Redux". Language Log. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  39. ^ Comer, Andy (7 May 2009). "President Obama should learn (some) Spanish". The Monitor. Rio Grande Valley: Freedom Communications. Retrieved 22 March 2010.

Bibliography

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