# Senior elected official, cabinet member or head of major government agency w/o a college education? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923 "2013-01-21T17:42:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/1 "2013-01-21T17:42:52Z")
What’s the most recent example of an senior elected official, a cabinet member or head of a major government agency who did not have a college education? Can be Federal or state level, executive branch or legislative branch. Military also counts (maybe somebody who rose through the ranks?). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/2 "2013-01-21T17:51:39Z")
Here’s a slideshow of [members of Congress without college degrees.](http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/an-unlikely-path-members-of-congress-without-bachelor-s-degrees-pictures-20110923) The names I recognize are [Mark Begich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Begich), who has a fair amount of power by virtue of being a Senator, and [Rand Paul](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Paul), who managed to get into ophthalmology school at Duke without a bachelor’s degree. (Since he has an M.D., though, I suspect he’s not what you’re looking for.) ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/3 "2013-01-21T17:53:47Z")
It looks like [Harry S Truman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_education) was the last US president without at least a bachelor’s degree, although he did take some coursework. It looks like Grover Cleveland was the last president who never went to college at all. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/4 "2013-01-21T17:56:34Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Here’s a slideshow of [members of Congress without college degrees.](http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/an-unlikely-path-members-of-congress-without-bachelor-s-degrees-pictures-20110923) The names I recognize are [Mark Begich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Begich), who has a fair amount of power by virtue of being a Senator, and [Rand Paul](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Paul), who managed to get into ophthalmology school at Duke without a bachelor’s degree. (Since he has an M.D., though, I suspect he’s not what you’re looking for.) Yes, I probably phrased that poorly. I was looking for people without any academic degree whatsoever, either because they dropped out or because they never bothered to enter college, graduate school, divinity school, medical school, law school etc. in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/5 "2013-01-21T18:00:13Z")
Wisconsin Governor [Jesse Ventura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura) went to community college, but since no other college is listed for him I assume he didn’t get a bachelor’s degree. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/6 "2013-01-21T18:05:33Z")
As you did not specify the country I’d like to mention Ilse Aigner, the German minister for food, agriculture and consumer affairs. By training she is a journeywoman TV/radio technician (by apprenticeship) and an electrical technician (by _Fachschule_ course) - both vocational qualifications, i.e. she was not educated at a tertiary education institution. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/7 "2013-01-21T18:11:39Z")
It looks like [Jan Brewer, governor of Arizona, and Gary Herbert, governor of Utah](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_any_states_have_governors_without_college_degrees) are both college dropouts. RL anecdote time - I was working for a small business a while back and helping put together a proposal package to drum up business. I was doing blurbs about our staff capability when I came to one who was a college dropout. I wrote that the person had “studied” at such and such college. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/8 "2013-01-21T19:02:41Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > As you did not specify the country I’d like to mention Ilse Aigner, the German minister for food, agriculture and consumer affairs. By training she is a journeywoman TV/radio technician (by apprenticeship) and an electrical technician (by _Fachschule_ course) - both vocational qualifications, i.e. she was not educated at a tertiary education institution. Good point. Actually, this wasn’t all that uncommon in German politics until recently. Leading politicians like Willy Brandt (Chancellor), Johannes Rau (Federal President), George Leber (Minister of Defense) and several Ministers of Agriculture never set foot in a university. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/9 "2013-01-21T19:52:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Wisconsin Governor [Jesse Ventura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura) went to community college, but since no other college is listed for him I assume he didn’t get a bachelor’s degree. Unless I missed something, Ventura was governor of Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/10 "2013-01-21T20:03:04Z")
UK prime minister John Major - [John Major - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Major) - didn’t even have the equivalent of a high school diploma. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/11 "2013-01-21T20:29:33Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Unless I missed something, Ventura was governor of Minnesota. Nope, you didn’t miss anything. Wisconsin has its own history of flaky politicians; we don’t need to take credit for our neighbors’ weirdos, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/12 "2013-01-21T21:46:40Z")
Out here in West Redneckistan (otherwise known as Idaho) the state superintendent of education, [Tom Luna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Luna) is a college dropout. He was elected on the strength of his standing in the all-powerful Idaho Republican party, and his percieved ability to bust the teacher’s union. When someone pointed out the incongruity of having a relatively uneducated man leading the state’s ed. Dept. he purchased a bullshit degree from an online diploma mill. Also, two recent governors, [Phil Batt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Batt) and [Cecil Andrus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_D._Andrus) were dropouts, each with only about a year of college. Andrus also served as Jimmy Carter’s interior secretary. Both, incidentally were very competent governors. SS ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/13 "2013-01-21T22:38:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Nope, you didn’t miss anything. Wisconsin has its own history of flaky politicians; we don’t need to take credit for our neighbors’ weirdos, too. 😉 True, but our very own Scott Walker does not have a college degree. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/14 "2013-01-21T22:43:02Z")
Queen Elizabeth II seems not to have gotten any degrees. Granted, she was homeschooled by some notable notables… her father, a vice-provost from Eton, and an arch-bishop. But, no degrees listed on her home page. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/15 "2013-01-21T23:42:59Z")
Karl Rove attended several colleges but graduated from none of them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-elected-official-cabinet-member-or-head-of-major-government-agency-w-o-a-college-education/647923/16 "2013-01-21T23:46:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Queen Elizabeth II seems not to have gotten any degrees. Granted, she was homeschooled by some notable notables… her father, a vice-provost from Eton, and an arch-bishop. But, no degrees listed on her home page. She’s also not a senior governmental official. Just because we Americans have our head of state do double-duty as head of government, doesn’t mean everyone else does it the same way.