Presidents and College Degrees- Is Having one a Necessity?

How important is a college degree for the position of President of the United States?

If you follow the writings of the Founding Fathers then the answer is “not very.” However if you scrutinize the credentials of America’s chief executives, most of them had college degrees. Many of them had law degrees as well. However, Woodrow Wilson was the only President to have earned a Ph.D. It should be noted that in the Constitution of the United States there is no mention about government involvement in education or about any education requirements to become President. The question is whether a college education is a requirement to be a successful president.

In taking a look at the forty-four men who have held the position, it comes to mind that at least three of our nation’s greatest leaders had no college training. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Harry Truman.  Others without a degree include Zachary Taylor, Andrew Jackson, and Millard Fillmore. The reverse can also be said. Some of our well-educated presidents were mediocre at best and several were down right failures.

This issue is bound to come up as we enter the 2016 presidential race. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, often mentioned as a possible Republican presidential candidate, does not have a college degree. From the standpoint of an educator, is one required? I think yes. While Silicon Valley successes can be mentioned as exceptions, the ability to reason, the importance of being well read, and having a mastery of “Cultural Literacy” will come into play at some point during a president’s administration. There are those who will argue that a President is only as good as the people he surrounds himself with and to a certain extent this is true. However, the ultimate decision maker is POTUS and as President Harry Truman noted with a sign on his desk, “ the buck stops here.”

c.2015 J. Margolis