Presidential Shysters

25 of the 44 U.S. Presidents were lawyers, and some were arguably Presidential Shysters.

Presidential Shysters?

Taking the law into their own hands

shy ster [shahy-ster] noun Informal.
1. A lawyer who uses unprofessional or questionable methods.

25 of the 44 U.S. Presidents Have Been Lawyers

  • #2 – John Adams
    • (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #3 – Thomas Jefferson
    • (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #4 – James Madison
    • (College of New Jersey – now Princeton – then read law)
  • #6 – John Quincy Adams
    • (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #7 – Andrew Jackson
    • (self-taught lawyer)
  • #8 – Martin Van Buren
    • (Kinderhook Academy, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #10 – John Tyler
    • (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #11 – James Polk
    • (University of North Carolina, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #13 – Millard Fillmore
    • (clerked for and studied under New York Judge Walter Wood)
  • #14 – Franklin Pierce
    • (Bowdoin College, then studied law)
  • #15 – James Buchanan
    • (Dickinson College, then studied law)
  • #16 – Abraham Lincoln
    • (No formal education, a self-taught lawyer)
  • #19 – Rutherford Hayes
    • (Kenyon College, Harvard Law)
  • #21 – Chester Arthur
    • (Union College, then studied law)
  • #22 – Grover Cleveland
    • (apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #23 – Benjamin Harrison
    • (Miami University in Ohio, then studied law)
  • #25 – William McKinley
    • (Allegheny College, Albany law)
  • #27 – William Howard Taft
    • (Yale, Cincinnati Law)
  • #28 – Woodrow Wilson
    • (College of New Jersey – now Princeton – then UVA Law)
  • #30 – Calvin Coolidge
    • (Amherst, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
  • #32 – Franklin Roosevelt
    • (Harvard, Columbia Law)
  • #37 – Richard Nixon
    • (Whittier College, Duke Law)

    Nixon’s Watergate scandal put a permanent stain of the office of president

    • Not only did he order the break-in at Watergate, but his administration then tried to cover up their illegal actions
    • Nixon refused to answer questions directly or to submit evidence requested during the investigation
    • In lieu of his inevitable impeachment, Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office
presidential-lawyer-shysters
  • #38 – Gerald Ford
    • (University of Michigan, Yale Law)

    Ford took the office of president following Nixon’s resignation

    • One of his first actions was to pardon Nixon completely
    • Nixon was released from any obligation to stand trial for the Watergate scandal
    • Going around the law made Ford very unpopular with both the right and the left
  • #42 – Bill Clinton
    • (Georgetown University, Yale Law)

    Clinton did a lot of good during his presidency, but is marked by sexual scandal

    • In court, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with House intern, Monica Lewinsky
    • After finally admitting to “improper physical relationship”, Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice
    • The impeachment trial was acquitted and charges dropped after 21 days
    • Clinton was also investigated for illegal real estate dealings in Arkansas