Greek alum running for '08

[CasperDU173]

Tom Vilsack, Hamilton '72, (D) former Governor of Iowa who is running is a member of Delta Upsilon.

Also, Hillary Clinton's father was a DU.

[Tex1899]

Seems like an email came through fraternal groups or something that said Huckabee's son is an undergrad somewhere in Arkansas and he (Huckabee) was an alumni initiate this past fall.

[nate2512]

All but 2 U.S. Presidents since 1825 were Greek...just thought I would throw that out there.

[minDyG]

Which two?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by minDyG

Which two?

Lots more than 2 -- around 20, actually. The the claim that "all but 2 U.S. Presidents since 1825 were Greek" is a Greek urban legend that can be debunked in about one minute's worth of research. The first general (social) fraternity was Kappa Alpha Society -- founded in 1825. So a college student would have had to have been elected president that year for the statement to be true.

I've posted this before, but for the record, the following is from Center for the Study of the College Fraternity in Bloomington, Indiana:

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 ["All but two U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men"], no president prior to 1877 was a fraternity member and seven presidents since then have not been fraternity men. Presidents 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

Even if Warren G. Harding and Jimmy Carter (for Phi Alpha Delta) and Bill Clinton (for Alpha Phi Omega) are added, that is only 20 out of 42 presidents -- not even half. (Yes, I know the current President is #43, but Grover Cleveland was both #22 and #24, so only 42 people have been president.)

Jen needs to add this to her Greek Urban Legends page.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

(Yes, I know the current President is #43, but Grover Cleveland was both #22 and #24, so only 42 people have been president.)

Grover Cleveland was a Sigma Chi (One of the few Honorary Members).

For what it is worth, the NIC website states: "48% of all US presidents have been Greek". 20 divided by 42 equals 47.6. With rounding up you get - 48%.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Grover Cleveland was a Sigma Chi (One of the few Honorary Members).

Oops. I had known but forgotten that. Thanks!

On the same subject, there are at least two other honoraries on the list. Harry S. Truman was an honorary member of Lambda Chi Alpha and Ike was an honorary Tau Epsilon Phi. (He went to West Point.) Don't know why they're included in the list and Cleveland isn't.

[KyleMcGuire1983]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Lots more than 2 -- around 20, actually. The the claim that "all but 2 U.S. Presidents since 1825 were Greek" is a Greek urban legend that can be debunked in about one minute's worth of research. The first general (social) fraternity was Kappa Alpha Society -- founded in 1825. So a college student would have had to have been elected president that year for the statement to be true.

I've posted this before, but for the record, the following is from Center for the Study of the College Fraternity in Bloomington, Indiana:

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 ["All but two U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men"], no president prior to 1877 was a fraternity member and seven presidents since then have not been fraternity men. Presidents 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

Even if Warren G. Harding and Jimmy Carter (for Phi Alpha Delta) and Bill Clinton (for Alpha Phi Omega) are added, that is only 20 out of 42 presidents -- not even half. (Yes, I know the current President is #43, but Grover Cleveland was both #22 and #24, so only 42 people have been president.)

Jen needs to add this to her Greek Urban Legends page.

Richard Nixon wasn't greek but he started The Orthogonian Society at Whittier College. Whittier College banned greeks in the early 1900s and students revolted by forming their own non-greek lettered local fraternities and sororities. So while Nixon isn't greek, he had the fraternal spirit.

[nate2512]

I know i phrased it differently...but if it reads all but 2 us presidents since 1825 were in a fraternity...when you define fraternity, you are saying brotherhood...its possible that this statistic could include presidents who were part of the masonry..im not saying that this statement is true but it is definitely possible..and you are correct i will retract my statement for lack of a source