Polyglot Presidents

[ThelmaLou]

Has any President of the US been fluent in a foreign language in addition to English?




(Bracing myself for those who choose to take that question as a straight line. Yeah, I know this crowd.)

[Iggy]

At least half spoke a second language per Wikipedia.

ETA: But fluency wasn't as common.

FDR was raised speaking German and French.
Herbert Hoover spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently.

[robert_columbia]

I believe that Eisenhower was from a Mennonite background (though his parents had converted to another church). It's possible that he spoke Pennsylvania Dutch.

[ragerdude]

Van Buren's native language was Dutch, and English was his second language.

[JKellyMap]

Very cool Wikipedia page -- thanks, Iggy!

Interesting how the only president so far whose first language was not English, was Martin Van Buren (Dutch, then spoken in the village in New York's upper Hudson River Valley where he was raised).

(Ninja'd! Oh, well.)

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by Iggy

At least half spoke a second language per Wikipedia.

Interestingly, seven of those were 18th or 19th century presidents who only spoke Latin, classical Greek, or Hebrew, which were standard requirements at the better schools in those days. (And they probably weren't of too much use in conducting diplomacy.)

[Iggy]

And of the major party candidates in the 2012 election...

Obama has expressed regret at not speaking another language. I guess he did not pick up fluency in a second language during his youth in Indonesia, though some sites say he speaks a bit of Bahasa Indonesia and Spanish poorly.

Joe Biden speaks no foreign languages.


Romney is reportedly fluent in French from his studies and time spent in France doing missionary work for his church.

Paul Ryan speaks no foreign languages.

[Tim R. Mortiss]

I've seen George W. Bush speak creditable Spanish.

[Johanna]

Jefferson knew a whole slew of languages.

[septimus]

No one's mentioned JFK? Isn't he famous for going to Berlin and saying "I am a jelly donut" with a good accent?

Thomas Jefferson may deserve the Gold Medal, but surely Garfield deserves at least Honorable Mention:

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.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by septimus

No one's mentioned JFK? Isn't he famous for going to Berlin and saying "I am a jelly donut" with a good accent?....

An impossible-to-kill urban legend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin..._misconception

[astorian]

John Quincy Adams spoke several languages fluently, including Russian- he served as the American Ambassador to Russia, during the reign of Tsar Alexander I.

He didn't really NEED to speak Russian, of course, as everyone in the Tsar's court tended to speak French.

[TriPolar]

Garfield is the one that impresses me. I've never known anything about him except that he was assasinated and named after a cat. Maybe I should read up on the lesser presidents.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

An impossible-to-kill urban legend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin..._misconception

I don't remember ever hearing the "jelly doughnut" slander until many years after the fact. I'd say it didn't start until a Kennedy backlash appeared, when people felt comfortable talking about his mistresses and failures. The line seemed to have slipped in as proof that he was a phony.

Once a story hits print, it gets repeated just because everything that is in print must be true, just as today everything on the internet must be true. If it wasn't why would they print it. It's like the line that the porn industry "generates more profits annually than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, and Netflix combined." as discussed in this thread. Not possibly true, but it gets repeated by people looking for a bit of color to add to a piece, totally without thinking.

[KarlGauss]

Originally Posted by TriPolar

Garfield is the one that impresses me. I've never known anything about him except that he was assasinated and named after a cat. Maybe I should read up on the lesser presidents.

As a congressman, Garfield came up with a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Tell me that's not cool.

ETA: The US lost a potentially great president when he was assassinated. If you're interested in him (and the assassination), Destiny of the Republic is an outstanding book.

[Loach]

All that and he still didn't know how to duck.

[md2000]

If JFK had said "I am a Danish" would we be having a similar argument?

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by md2000

If JFK had said "I am a Danish" would we be having a similar argument?

Fortunately for the Danes, the Soviets never had tanks in Copenhagen.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by md2000

If JFK had said "I am a Danish" would we be having a similar argument?

If he said it in Danish, perhaps.

[kayT]

Is a danish called a danish in Danish?

[TriPolar]

Originally Posted by kayT

Is a danish called a danish in Danish?

In Danish it's called a Kennedy.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by Colibri

Interestingly, seven of those were 18th or 19th century presidents who only spoke Latin, classical Greek, or Hebrew, which were standard requirements at the better schools in those days. (And they probably weren't of too much use in conducting diplomacy.)

I'm guessing we've had alot more Presidents that could speak French then we did Hebrew.

[AK84]

I must say I am surprised at thatblist. Most educated men of that time spoke French and I would have thought people like Grant (a West Pointer) would have been familiar with it.

[kombatminipig]

Originally Posted by kayT

Is a danish called a danish in Danish?

Nope, it's called "wienerbrød", or Viennese bread, correctly denoting its origin. Like Swedish Massage, Russian Dressing, French Toast or French Fries, it's one of the many things whose origin has been messed up in the English Language.