My Boarding School Blog

Presidential Frat Boys

It’s hard to picture a President of the United States as a stereotypical drunken college frat boy, but that’s not to say they weren’t in fraternities! Here’s a collection of Presidents that may have indulged in a kegger or two during their college days.

George W. Bush

 

Following in his father’s footsteps, Bush attended Yale University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in history and was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Clinton

While in college, Clinton became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi’s National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

George H.W. Bush

 

While at Yale, he was enrolled in an accelerated program that allowed him to graduate in two and a half years, rather than four. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was elected president.

 

 

 

 

 

Ronald Reagan
Reagan attended Eureka College, where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, majored in economics and sociology, and was very active in sports

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gerald Ford
At University of Michigan, Ford became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and washed dishes at his fraternity house to earn money for college expenses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John F. Kennedy

 

JFK attended Harvard College, residing in Winthrop House during his sophomore through senior years as a member of Phi Kappa Theta

 

 

 

 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Roosevelt went to Harvard, where he lived in luxurious quarters and was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity

 

 

 

 

 

Calvin Coolidge

 

At Amherst College, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892

 

 

 

 

 

Woodrow Wilson

 

In 1873, Wilson spent a year at Davidson College in North Carolina, then transferred to Princeton as a freshman, graduating in 1879, becoming a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity

 

 

 

 

 

William Howard Taft

At Yale, he was a member of the Linonian Society, a literary and debate society; Skull and Bones, the secret society co-founded by his father in 1832; and the Beta chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity

 

 

 

 

 

Theodore Roosevelt

 

Teddy Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard in 1880

 

 

 

 

 

William McKinley

 

McKinley attended Allegheny College for one term in 1860, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Harris

 

Harrison Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, where he was a member of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta and graduated in 1852.

 

 

 

 

 

Chester Arthur

 

 

Chester Arthur was a member of Psi Upsilon while he attended Union College in Schenectady, New York

 

 

 

 

 

James Garfield

The next President in line after Hayes was also a frat boy in college. James Garfield belonged to Delta Upsilon way back in 1856 while attending Williams College in Massachusetts

 

 

 

 

 

Rutherford B. Hayes

 

The nineteenth president of the United States, Hayes was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon back when he was at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.