# Multi-lingual U.S. Presidents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2002, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723 "2002-04-26T05:14:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/21 "2002-04-27T00:55:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Kahuna Burger \* > \*\*Herbert Hoover spent a long time in China so he was quite fluent in Mandarin. He and his wife were so good at it that they’d talk in it when they didn’t want White House aides to know what was going on. \*\* Like to see a cite if you have it. Was Hoover a missionary? Those were pretty much the only people who lived in China and learned the language. I seem to remember Ford or Carter blowing away a head of state by speaking French, as it was assumed that Americans can’t speak anything other than English. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/22 "2002-04-27T01:02:31Z")
Hey-why hasn’t anyone mentioned Bill Clinton? I’m given to understand that he’s a very cunning – Never mind. Too easy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/23 "2002-04-27T01:05:20Z")
Um, okay, I googled myself and found [http://www.stanford.edu/group/wais/hooverinstit\_herberthooverandchina112101.html](http://www.stanford.edu/group/wais/hooverinstit_herberthooverandchina112101.html) Timothy Walch, Director of the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, writes: “I would like to add a word or two about the Hoovers in China. As Ron notes, the evidence for Mr. Hoover speaking Mandarin is slim. It is likely that he understood what was being said to him in Mandarin, but could neither read or write the language. Mrs. Hoover was a different case, however. Among her papers at the Hoover Library is her English-Mandarin dictionary. It is clear from contemporary evidence that she not only understood Chinese, but also wrote and read the language. There also is anecdotal evidence that Mrs. Hoover would occasionally speak to Mr. Hoover in Chinese during their White House years. The Hoovers arrived in China in April 1899 and lived through the siege of Tienjin. Being an engineer, Mr. Hoover and his detail were responsibie for maintaining the battleworks; Mrs. Hoover worked as a nurse. Although both Hoovers knew how to fire a gun, there is no evidence that they ever shot at the boxers. They left China in August 1900”. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/24 "2002-04-27T01:28:48Z")
I’ve heard Jimmy Carter speak Spanish on Mexican television, better than George W. Bush (with actual verb conjugation!) - well that’s not saying much. That didn’t keep him from making the famous “Montezuma’s Revenge” gaffe during his state visit to Mexico in 1979. However I am not sure he spoke it as president - he may have learned it after he left the White House. Franklin Roosevelt spent much of his youth in Europe, and I believe he learned fluent French and German…this is according to my World Book Encyclopedia - which isn’t immune to errors. I do think he made some radio addresses in French during the war though. I can’t find a really good online cite. [http://wondersmith.com/clipart/presidents/Franklin\_D\_Roosevelt.htm](http://wondersmith.com/clipart/presidents/Franklin_D_Roosevelt.htm) \<\\> This site cooraborates that, but doesn’t mention the language. [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/42.html](http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/42.html) ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/25 "2002-04-27T02:36:19Z")
Herbert Hoover famously produced an English translation of a 16th Century Latin text on mining. Which greatly assisted his diplomatic dealings with the Holy Roman Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/26 "2002-04-27T04:32:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheeGrumpy \* > \*\*Herbert Hoover famously produced an English translation of a 16th Century Latin text on mining. Which greatly assisted his diplomatic dealings with the Holy Roman Empire. \*\* 1. The Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist in the 19th century 2. When it did exist, they spoke mostly German 3. Am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/27 "2002-04-27T05:58:49Z")
To John Corrado: Yes, I knew, a long time ago, about Garfield’s ambidextrous talents. I wish he had lived longer. ☹ \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > [@](#): > > And I’m sure most of us remember when Dan Quayle regretted never having learned Latin so that he could converse with the Latin Americans! I have posted at least once on the SDMB that Bob Hope spoke this line about _Ronald Reagan_ in 1982, on a Christmas TV special he did. I can vouch for it since I still have an audio recording of it. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/28 "2002-04-27T06:09:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by poolboy21\_2000 \* > \*\*IMHO, if we each spoke more languages there’d be less world conflict. call me naive, but in europe and montreal, most people speak three languages. in NY/LA, most people speak two languages. > \*\* I live in the L.A. area. Where are all these bilingual speakers you speak of? I’ve been to Montreal? Where are all these trilinigual speakers? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/29 "2002-04-27T07:53:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Kahuna Burger \* > \*\* > > 1. The Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist in the 19th century > 2. When it did exist, they spoke mostly German > 3. Am I being whooshed? \*\* I’m too lazy at this time of night to look it up, but the part about the book translation is true. The book is called _De Re Metallica_. I think the bit about the Holy Roman Empire was a ha-ha. ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723/30 "2002-04-27T09:20:19Z")
_De Re Metallica_ is correct. But Hoover translated this along with his wife; she apparently did most of the translating while Herbert provided the expertise on mining and geology. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-lingual-u-s-presidents/105723.md?page=1)