Who was the first POTUS to have the modern educational experience? Modern= enter kindergarten in a school at age 5, graduate from HS at 18.
Printable View
Who was the first POTUS to have the modern educational experience? Modern= enter kindergarten in a school at age 5, graduate from HS at 18.
So many of them came from very wealthy families it might turn out to be as late as Harry S. Truman. I'll do a little checking.
So how technical do you want to be? Kindergarten didn't become fairly normal until the late 1880s. Many President had home tutoring as again, wealthy families. Abraham Lincoln was largely self-taught as a different example.
ETA: William Taft probably did K-12 in public schools, I forgot the Tafts were not wealthy. His mother was a strong believer in Education, so if Kindergarten was available he probably would have been sent. Problems is there is an excellent chance there was no Kindergarten available.
Theodore Roosevelt had a lot of home tutoring, so I know he is out. Though NYC had kindergarten earlier than most of the US.
This gets better, Louisa Taft, President Taft's mother, started the Kindergarten movement in Ohio. I can't confirm the year, but there is an excellent chance William Howard Taft is the answer to your question.
That’s interesting information! I basically wondered who was the 1st POTUS who wasn’t homeschooled/self taught.
That is a little tougher, the Kindergarten part gave me a lot to work with. School was different early in our history, Jefferson probably counts for the not homeschooled/self taught as he went to formal schools from a fairly early age. But this was not a K-12 format or even a 1-12 format.Quote:
Originally posted by Erictelevision
I know Washington's education was interrupted by his father's death when George was still a child.
John Adams had some formal schooling and then in his mid-teens a tutor to prep him for Harvard.
To simplify: first POTUS to be educated by professional educators away from home.
OK, so that was Jefferson. He went to at least 2 different schools for multiple years as a kid and a teen before heading to college.Quote:
Originally posted by Erictelevision
Cool, even an easy cite: https://www.monticello.org/site/rese...rmal-education
So 3 schools from as early as age 5 before the College of William and Mary at age 17.Quote:
at the English school at 5. years of age and at the Latin at 9. where I continued until his death."1 The Latin school was conducted by the Reverend William Douglas, of whom Jefferson wrote, "[he] was but a superficial Latinist, less instructed in Greek, but with the rudiments of these languages he taught me French."2 Early in 1758, Jefferson began attending the school of Reverend James Maury, whom Jefferson credited as "a correct classical scholar." He continued studies with Reverend Maury for two years before entering the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the spring of 1760, at the age of seventeen.
And if you did want to specify K-12 it very much looks like Taft is the answer to that one.
__________________________________________________ ______________
That was fun, I had enough knowledge on the subject to find the details pretty easily. I've read a lot on Washington, both of the Adams and Jefferson plus The Roosevelts and Taft. The kindergarten movement I was also aware of, so I knew I could eliminate the early Presidents up to at least Teddy, who I knew had home tutoring due to his asthma. That Taft's mother was integral to the Kindergarten movement I had either forgotten, or did not know. But in reading about Taft in the past I knew she was big on education.
Very nice Exit! Thanks! We need more Botticelli players. Come join us.