Nifty Fun Fact

LamdaXiDZ · #1 07-10-2002, 11:25 PM

Hey while doing reasearch for a paper i found this out........85% of congress and the supreme court are Greek and every president (except 2) since 1825 have been Greek.....GO US

ThielGirlie · #2 07-11-2002, 01:09 AM

A lot of orgs on my campus use that for recruitment flyers. Pretty nifty

douthit · #3 07-11-2002, 12:19 PM

I think you are correct about the close to 85% of Congress being Greek, but unfortunately, there are more than two presidents who haven't been Greek, and no president before 1825 was

JMUduke · #4 07-11-2002, 12:26 PM

well i am proud to be greek and all...but, you have to think about what a bad rap the politicians get. thankfully, most people don't associate active greeks with future politicians (until it is brought to their attention!). btw, anyone know of which fraternities they are associated with? I'd be curious to hear about W and Condit....

TrojanGirl · #5 07-11-2002, 01:26 PM

W was a DeKE

TG

MysticCat · #6 07-11-2002, 01:52 PM

The statistic that I have seen is that all but two Presidents and two Vice-Presidents born after the birth of the first social fraternity in 1825 were fraternity men.

The following information is from the Center for the Study of College Fraternities under FAQ's, and shows that the "only two presidents" statement, however it is worded, is wrong -- there have been three non-greek presidents just in the last 40 years:

Perhaps you have encountered the following statistics in a publication, web site, or speech:

... All but two U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men....

The North-American Interfraternity Conference has also compiled a list of U.S. Presidents who were/are fraternity members. Contrary to the statistic quoted above, no president prior to 1877 was a fraternity member and seven presidents since then have not been fraternity men. President who were fraternity members are:

President
Years in Office
Fraternity

Rutherford B. Hayes
1877-1881
Delta Kappa Epsilon

James Garfield
1881
Delta Upsilon

Chester Arthur
1881-1885
Psi Upsilon

Benjamin Harrison
1989-1893
Phi Delta Theta

William McKinley
1897-1901
Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Theodore Roosevelt
1901-1909
Delta Kappa Epsilon/Alpha Delta Phi

William Howard Taft
1909-1913
Psi Upsilon

Woodrow Wilson
1913-1921
Phi Kappa Psi

Calvin Coolidge
1923-1929
Phi Gamma Delta

Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933-1945
Alpha Delta Phi

Harry S. Truman
1945-1953
Lambda Chi Alpha

Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953-1961
Tau Epsilon Phi

John F. Kennedy
1961-1963
Phi Kappa Theta

Gerald R. Ford
1974-1977
Delta Kappa Epsilon

Ronald Reagan
1981-1989
Tau Kappa Epsilon

George H. W. Bush
1989-1993
Delta Kappa Epsilon

George W. Bush
2001-
Delta Kappa Epsilon

And here I have to give props to the Phi Mu Alpha's Thomas Dewey, who served as governor of New York as well as province governor for the fraternity, and who went to bed one election night thinking he had defeated Harry S. Truman (thanks to "Dewey Beats Truman" headlines), only to wake and find that late returns turned the table. Ah, so close.

douthit · #7 07-11-2002, 02:35 PM

That is the the the study I have seen and was referring to. Thanks!

wvapogirl · #8 07-11-2002, 03:46 PM

Bill Clinton is a brother of Alpha Phi Omega.

MysticCat · #9 07-11-2002, 03:52 PM

My guess is that, since the study the Center for the Study of College Fraternities cited was done by the North American Inter-Fraternity Conference, they only looked at GLO's that were/are members of that group. That, of course, would not have included a member of AFW. It would also have also excluded a brother in Phi Mu Alpha... perhaps not much longer, though.

Using a broader net than just the IFC might mean more Greek presidents, but I don't know how many more.

Tom Earp · #10 07-11-2002, 04:14 PM

I am sure, that while they may not have been of Greek Social Organizations, they were members of the Masons!

Starting With George Washington!

The reason is that most were in a battle of some kind and need a Brotherhood who could and would back them in times of striff.
People they could turn to for advice and counsel!

Sound familiar for even today?

Little did I know back when, that when I knew H S Truman that he would be a Brother of mine as well as my President!

shadokat · #11 07-11-2002, 04:44 PM

Thank God Clinton was not in a social fraternity. He would probably be the creepiest alum on the planet, and would be trying to get with collegiates at homecoming!

EagleChick19 · #12 07-11-2002, 07:54 PM

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! Bad mental picture!!!

Senusret I · #13 07-11-2002, 08:48 PM

shadokat. . .

I'm sure your intent wasn't malicious, but Bill Clinton pledged at my chapter, Mu Alpha at Georgetown University. He has done great things for my Fraternity and I take exception to your comments.

No matter how public his indiscretions, I feel that no matter what our letters, social or non-social, all of our members deserve our respect.

Quote:

Originally posted by shadokat
Thank God Clinton was not in a social fraternity. He would probably be the creepiest alum on the planet, and would be trying to get with collegiates at homecoming!

dekeguy · #14 07-18-2002, 03:58 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TrojanGirl
[B]W was a DeKE

TrojanGirl,
Thanks for your posting about our president. May I offer one small correction, W IS a DEKE!