George Washington only spoke English ( and famously requiredan interpreterin his dealings with Gallic and Dutch colonists ) , but many of his successors have been proficient in more than one language . Even Barack Obama had been known toshow offthe conversational Indonesianhe picked up while living in Jakarta with his parent in the former 1960s . Here are other multilingual U.S. presidents who were n’t fall behind in transformation .
1. JOHN ADAMS
John Trumbull , Wikimedia Commons
Nearly two decades before he became President , John Adams was appoint Commissioner by Congress and direct to Paris , to join fellow diplomats Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee in negotiating a military alinement with France . He arrived , unable to speak a word of French , in April 1778 , and stay there for more than a twelvemonth ( mostly spentfeeling shadow by Franklin ) before return home the following June . Later in 1779 , Adams was appoint “ Minister Plenipotentiary , ” and sent back to Europe by Congress to rejoin the talks in Paris . This time , however , he was determined to ameliorate his speech communication skills — and after several months ’ service , he eventually learnedto speak fluent French .
2. THOMAS JEFFERSON
Charles Willson Peale , Wikimedia Commons
In 1784 , Thomas Jefferson get together Adams ( who was then Ambassador to the Dutch Republic ) in Europe . Along with Benjamin Franklin , who was still posted in Paris , the two helped to arrange a significant new trade arrangement with Prussia . Jefferson ’s journeying to France take 19 mean solar day by sea — during which time he exact to have become entirelyfluent in Spanish . Adams later wrotein his daybook :
Although his claim to have mastered Spanish in a piffling under three weeks is plausibly a stretch , the fact that Jefferson was fluent in the language is entirely true . The third U.S. President also read French , Italian , Latin , and Greek , whilehis library at homereportedly included dictionaries of Welsh and Arabic .
3. JAMES MADISON
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Studying the classics was once a primal part of every child ’s education , andmany of America ’s early presidentshad a good understanding of Latin and Greek .
However , James Madison became so proficient in both language that he customarily added his owncorrections and annotationsto his copies of Romance texts by classical scholars and philosophers .
4. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
Slick - o - bot , Wikimedia Commons
When he was 10 , John Quincy Adams accompanied his father , John Adams , to Europe . He attended school in France and the Netherlands and become fluid in both French and Dutch . The 6th U.S. president also honed his language skills by routinelytranslating a pageboy of Dutchinto English every day . When he was appointed Ambassador to Prussia in 1799 , Adams appliedthe same techniqueto Prussia ’s aboriginal language , German , and master that as well .
5. MARTIN VAN BUREN
Mathew Brady , Wikimedia Commons
He may well have beenthe first American - born Chief Executive , but Martin Van Buren is also the only chairwoman in history whose first language was n’t English . He was have a bun in the oven in Kinderhook , an isolated small town in the east of New York State , where most of the universe — including both of Van Buren ’s parents — verbalize Dutch . It was n’t until he began wait on the local schoolhouse that Van Buren learned to speak English in the late 1780s .
6. JAMES GARFIELD
Ole Peter Hansen Balling , Wikimedia Commons
Like James Madison before him , James Garfield was n’t strange in having a work knowledge of both Latin and Greek . But as America ’s first ambidextrous president , Garfield took his talents one step further with a nous - bending and bizarre party illusion . Legend has it that when enquire a doubtfulness , he could reportedly indite the reply in Latin with one hand , and in Greekwith the other .
7. HERBERT HOOVER
Elmer Wesley Greene , Wikimedia Commons
As well as being highly adept in Latin ( he and his wife , Lou , translateda 16th hundred guide to mining and metal - smeltinginto English in 1912 ) , Herbert Hoover also talk fluent Mandarin Chinese . The son of a Quaker blacksmith pick up the language while living and work in China as a excavation applied scientist at the turn of the 19th-20th 100 . During his presidency , he and Lou wouldhold their private conversationsin Mandarin to prevent their staff from listening in .
8. BILL CLINTON
Bob McNeely , Wikimedia Commons
Bill Clinton was involve to study a extraneous language as a scholar at Georgetown University in the mid-1960s . Because he was “ interested in the countryand impressed by the clearness and precision of the spoken language , ” the 42nd U.S. chair later explained , he opted for German — and used his knowledge of the language to delivera memorable speechat the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1994 .
