List of multilingual presidents of the United States

Of the 45 persons who have served as president of the United States, at least half have displayed proficiency in speaking or writing a language other than English. Of these, only one, Martin Van Buren, learned English as his second language; his first language was Dutch. Four of the earliest presidents were multilingual, with John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson demonstrating proficiency in a number of foreign languages.

James A. Garfield and his successor Chester A. Arthur knew Ancient Greek and Latin; Garfield's ambidexterity would lead to rumors that he could write both at the same time. Both Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke French, and Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke German. As for Asian languages, James Madison studied Hebrew, Herbert Hoover spoke some Mandarin Chinese, while Barack Obama spoke Indonesian fluently as a child.

18th century John Adams John Adams, the second president of the United States, learned to read Latin at a young age.Crapo (2007), 4. In preparation for attending Harvard University, Adams attended a school for improving his Latin skills.McLeod (1976), 23. While posted in France during the Revolutionary War, Adams became fluent in French.McCullough (2001), 321.

19th century Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson spoke and read multiple languages, which included French. According to notes he made while traveling in 1788, he was able to speak French, Latin, and Italian. He claimed to be able to read, as of 1817, these languages along with Greek and Spanish. He also studied and wrote about the Anglo-Saxon language (Old English) and studied German to some extent. After his death, a number of other books, dictionaries, and grammar manuals in various languages were found in Jefferson's library, suggesting that he studied additional languages, possibly including Hebrew, Arabic, Irish, Russian, Welsh, and various Native American languages. His proficiency in these languages is not known.

Jefferson, while acting as an American diplomat in Paris, took a short trip along the Rhine. He also had several interactions with German characters such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, and Friedrich Caspar von Geismar, who Jefferson met with in Hesse-Hanau in his trip. Despite his education, Jefferson remarked that it was difficult for him to travel due to his lack of command in the German language. During that trip, he briefly made his way into the Dutch Republic, where he met Van Hogendorp, a royal Dutch noble, so it is likely he could speak some Dutch.

Regarding Spanish, Jefferson told John Quincy Adams that he had learned the language over the course of nineteen days while sailing from the U.S. to France. He had borrowed a Spanish grammar and a copy of Don Quixote from a friend and read them on the voyage. Adams expressed skepticism, noting Jefferson's tendency to tell "large stories." Though he never visited Portugal, Jefferson also had a number of Portuguese acquaintances and owned some Portuguese books in his private library.

James Madison James Madison began his studies of Latin at the age of twelveKetcham (1990), 20. and had mastered Greek, Latin, Italian, and French (the last reportedly with a Scottish accent) by the time he entered the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University.Brookhiser (2011), 19. He produced many translations of Latin orations of Hugo Grotius, Samuel von Pufendorf, and Emer de Vattel. He also studied Horace and Ovid. He learned Greek as an admissions requirement for higher college learning.

While in college, Madison learned to speak and read Hebrew. When he could have graduated, Madison remained at college for an additional year to study ethics and Hebrew in greater depth.Hodge and Nolan (2007), 35.

James Monroe James Monroe was enrolled in the best school in the Colony of Virginia, Campbelltown Academy, which is why Monroe was later able to immediately take advanced courses in Latin at the College of William & Mary.

Monroe adopted many French customs while a diplomat in Paris, including learning fluent French. The entire Monroe family knew the language, and often spoke it with one another at home.

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams went to school in both France and the Netherlands, and spoke fluent French and conversational Dutch.Adams (1874), 229 Adams strove to improve his abilities in Dutch throughout his life, and at times translated a page of Dutch a day to help improve his mastery of the language.Adams (1874), 176. Official documents that he translated were sent to the secretary of state, so that Adams' studies would serve a useful purpose as well. When his father appointed him ambassador to Prussia, Adams dedicated himself to becoming proficient in German in order to have the tools to strengthen relations between the two countries. He improved his skills by translating articles from German to English, and his studies made his diplomatic efforts more successful.

In addition to the two languages he spoke fluently, he also studied Italian, but he admitted to making little progress in it since he had no one with whom to practice speaking and hearing the language, as well as Russian, but never achieved fluency. Adams also read Latin very well, translated a page a day of Latin text,Adams (1874), 177. and studied classical Greek in his spare time.Adams (1874), 380.

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was exposed to Greek and Latin as part of his education.

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren was the only American president who did not speak English as his first language, and was the first of non-British ancestry. He was born in Kinderhook, New York, a primarily Dutch community, spoke Dutch as his first language, and continued to speak it at home.Widmer (2005), ii. He learned English as a second language while attending Kinderhook's local school house. He obtained a small understanding of Latin while studying at Kinderhook Academy and solidified his understanding of English there.Holland (1836), 15.

William Henry Harrison At Hampden–Sydney College, William Henry Harrison spent a considerable time learning Latin, and favored reading about the military history of ancient Rome and Julius Caesar from Latin histories. While there, he also learned a small amount of French.Owens (2007), 14.

John Tyler John Tyler excelled at school, where he learned both Latin and Greek.May and Wilentz (2008), 13.

James K. Polk Although James K. Polk had no background in foreign languages upon entering college, he proved a quick learner.Mayo (2006), 11. Upon graduating from the University of North Carolina, he was asked to give the welcoming address at graduation; he chose to do so in Latin. He proved very proficient in classical languages, and received honors in both Greek and Latin on his degree.Behrman (2005), 18.

James Buchanan James Buchanan studied a traditional classical curriculum, which included Latin and Greek, at the private Old Stone Academy before transferring to Dickinson College. He excelled in both subjects.Baker (2004), 12.

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford B. Hayes studied Latin and Greek at the Isaac Webb school in Middletown, Connecticut. He initially struggled with the languages, but soon became proficient in them. He also briefly studied French there.Trefousse (2002), 5.

James A. Garfield James A. Garfield knew and taught both Latin and Greek, and he was the first president to campaign in two languages (English and German). He was also ambidextrous. Stories emerged to the effect that Garfield would entertain his friends by having them ask him questions, and then writing the answer in Latin with one hand while simultaneously writing the answer in Greek with the other. However, specifics of these stories are not documented. Garfield reportedly was a bright student during his time at Williams College in Massachusetts, where his knack for languages would expand to include German and Hebrew.

Chester A. Arthur Chester A. Arthur was known to be comfortable enough in Latin and Greek to converse with other men who knew the languages.Reeves (1975), 21.

20th century Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt read both German and French very well and kept a good number of books written in these languages in his personal library.New York Times (1898), IMS10. A foreign correspondent noted that although Roosevelt spoke clearly and quickly, he had a noticeable German accent while speaking in French.New York Times (1909), 2. He first learned German, French, and Latin starting at the age of 13, when his parents hired a tutor, and French was spoken on occasion at the dinner table to encourage fluency. He quite often read fiction, philosophy, religion, and history books in both French and German, for example Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in French translation during his time ranching in the Dakotas.Wagenknecht (2008), 39. He was most comfortable with informal discussions in French, but he made two public addresses in the West Indies in French in 1916. He recognized that, while he spoke French rapidly and was able to understand others, he used unusual grammar "without tense or gender". John Hay, secretary of state under Roosevelt, commented that Roosevelt spoke odd, grammatically incorrect French, but was never difficult to understand.

Though he could read and understand the language thoroughly, Roosevelt struggled to speak German. When Roosevelt attempted to speak with a native German, he had to apologize after botching the attempt. While not fluent in the language, Roosevelt was also able to read Italian. Though he at one point studied Greek and Latin, Roosevelt found both languages a "dreary labor" to translate.Wagenknecht (2008), 38. Roosevelt most likely studied some form of these two languages for his Harvard entrance exam, though he never maintained a good control of them.

Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson learned German as part of earning his Ph.D. in history and political science from Johns Hopkins University. However, he never claimed proficiency in the language. While he did read German sources when they were available, he often complained about the amount of time and effort it took him.Pestritto (2005), 34.

Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover spoke Latin and some Mandarin Chinese.

Hoover and his wife, Lou, translated De re metallica, a 16th-century tract on mining written in Latin. The effort took five years, during which the Hoovers sacrificed much of their spare time.Lewiston Evening News (1933), 5. While at Stanford University, Hoover had access to the extensive library of John Casper Branner, where he found the important mining book which had never been fully translated into English. For years, five nights of the week were spent translating the book, including naming objects that the author had merely described, drawing on their own subject-matter knowledge (Herbert being a mining engineer and Lou being a geologist as well as a Latinist). The Hoovers' translation is still considered definitive and has been the model for later translations of De re metallica into other modern languages.

The Hoovers learned Mandarin while living in China from April 1899 until August 1900. Lou Hoover studied the language daily in China but Herbert Hoover confessed that he "never absorbed more than a hundred words." Still, the two would converse in their limited Mandarin when they wanted to keep their conversations private from guests or the press.

Franklin D. Roosevelt