The most recent president of the United States is not a person who was educated at a university. In fact, in the past 100 years, there have been eight presidents who did not receive a college degree. Among those eight presidents, there were three women: Abigail Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Hillary Clinton. While this makes up a small portion of the presidents, it is still a very important part of the American history.
Zachary Taylor
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Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was the first US president to be elected without a college degree. He was born in Virginia in 1784, and was a career military officer. His fame rested in his victories during the Mexican War.
Taylor’s father, Richard, was a prosperous plantation owner. The family moved to Kentucky when Zachary was a child. In 1790, his father built the earliest portion of the house in Springfield. It grew to double its size in the 1830s.
A career army officer, Taylor was a major general during the Mexican War. After the war, he became a national hero, and won a number of battles. When he was a teenager, he joined the Kentucky militia.
He was an ardent supporter of the Union and opposed the expansion of slavery. Despite his vague political views, Taylor was successful in gaining a nomination from the Whig Party.
During his term as President, Zachary Taylor was the leader of the nation during debates over secession. He did not defend the spread of slavery, but rather offered concessions to Southerners. This led to the Compromise of 1850, which guaranteed that California would become a free state.
Harry S. Truman
Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. He was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. His parents were John A. and Martha E. Truman.
Harry attended the Columbian School in 1895 and transferred to Ott School around January 1896. He then took night courses at the University of Kansas City School of Law. However, he did not graduate from either of these schools.
Truman graduated from Independence high school in 1901. Afterward, he studied at the Spalding Commercial College. This experience shaped his character.
After his father’s death in 1914, Harry continued to work on the family farm. Then, in 1917, the United States entered World War I. He served as an artillery captain in France.
When World War II drew to a close, Harry was elected to the Senate. During his first two months in office, Truman oversaw the end of the war in Europe. Among his other accomplishments, he played a key role in the passage of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 and the Wheeler-Truman Transportation Act of 1940.
Truman’s presidency marks the beginning of a new age in the history of the United States. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the nation underwent a major shift in political ideology and culture. During this period, anti-communism became the predominant characteristic of American political culture.
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren is not well-known as a president. But he is a prominent historical figure. Not only did he become the eighth president, but he also served in the White House during the 1837 Panic of 1837. He is also credited with helping to establish the modern two-party political system in the United States.
Van Buren was born in 1782. His parents were Dutch immigrants who had settled in Kinderhook, New York. They owned a tavern in which prominent lawyers and government workers often met.
Van Buren was a member of the Bucktail faction of the Democratic-Republican Party. This faction was focused on Jeffersonian concepts of limited government and free trade. It included followers of Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun.
In 1828, Van Buren became the first non-British-born president of the United States. His opposition to the Patriot War contributed to healthy relations between the United States and Canada.
When Van Buren was in office, he made a commitment to the principles of Jefferson. He believed that only the states would be able to protect their people. During his administration, he criticized the federal government for interfering in state affairs. Eventually, Van Buren began to argue against interference in the slaveholding states.
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson is one of the more recent presidents who did not earn a college degree. He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins. His first presidential term was devoted to progressive reforms within the country.
When he became president, Wilson’s background was radically different from that of his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt. Despite a lack of political experience, he was able to defeat the incumbent Republican, William Howard Taft, and secure the Electoral College.
In 1912, the Democratic Party nominated Wilson to run for president. His campaign was successful, as he defeated third party nominee Theodore Roosevelt. However, his victory was largely due to his popularity among the American people.
Throughout his presidency, Wilson pushed progressive reforms through the state legislature and regulated the big businesses and utilities. He pushed legislation to limit child labor, prohibit unfair business practices, and increase workers’ compensation.
One of the most notable aspects of Wilson’s presidency was the Federal Reserve Act. This act increased the money supply and paved the way for the modern income tax.
Wilson was also the first to introduce a system of governmental segregation, which allowed large corporations to operate separately from smaller firms. He hoped that his scholarly pursuits would lead to a career in politics.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was the wife of the second President of the United States, John Adams. She became the first woman to live in the White House. In addition, she was a political activist, and advocated for women’s rights.
Her father was a minister of the First Congregational Church in Weymouth, Massachusetts. When Abigail was eleven years old, she began receiving tutoring. As she grew up, she received further education on her own. At age nineteen, she married a lawyer and Harvard graduate named John Adams.
The two married on October 24, 1764. They had a son, Charles, who died at an early age. After his death, she had four children.
Although Abigail lacked a formal education, she had a lot of intelligence. This made her an influential and important figure during the Revolutionary War.
In addition, she was an outspoken advocate of women’s rights. In a letter to her husband, she described the need for laws to protect women.
Abigail Adams also advocated against slavery. As a single parent, she was often forced to manage the family’s finances alone. Despite her efforts, she faced several hardships.
She was also criticized in the press. Her opinions were held back by cultural restrictions of the era.
William Henry Harrison
Harrison was a prominent political figure in the United States. He was a military hero, and a delegate to the Continental Congress, as well as a member of the United States Senate. William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States, and the first president to die in office.
William Henry Harrison was a Virginian who was born in Berkeley, Virginia, in 1773. He was a part of an aristocratic family, and was the son of a former governor of Virginia. His father, Benjamin Harrison V, signed the Declaration of Independence.
During the Revolutionary War, William’s childhood plantation was attacked. When his father died, William joined the United States Army. At age 18, he commissioned as an ensign.
During the War of 1812, he served as a major general. In the Battle of Fallen Timbers, he led a successful American force against the Indian confederacy of Tecumseh.
After the war, William went on to serve as a congressman and senator from Ohio. Known as “Old Tippecanoe,” he was also the governor of the Indiana Territory in the early 1800s.
The Whig Party chose Harrison as their candidate for President in 1836. Many Democrats ridiculed his claim that he had been elected by the people.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, and he was the first American president to reach the White House without a college degree. He became President of the United States in 1829, and served in office until March 4, 1837.
Before becoming President, Jackson was a successful lawyer, politician, and military leader. He was born in 1767 in Waxhaws, South Carolina. At age 15, he was orphaned. Despite being an orphan, Jackson decided to study law and eventually passed his bar exam.
In addition to being a lawyer, he served as Tennessee’s first senator and congressman. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Jackson joined the Continental Army. His service in the American Revolutionary War boosted his career, and he soon became a major general in the United States Army.
As a soldier, Jackson served in the Creek War, the Spanish Florida Campaign, and the War of 1812. After the war, Jackson served in the United States Senate and as a Supreme Court judge.
Although he did not attend college, he was a strong leader who was able to influence the nation’s government during his presidency. He also continued to have considerable influence after leaving the White House.
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