Presidents: William Henry Harrison and Donald Trump
Harrison had quite an opportunity on his hands at the University of Pennsylvania, which he began attending in 1790.
He studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush, a famed physician and Founding Father who signed the Declaration of Independence.
However, Harrison realized shortly after that he didn’t want to be a physician. He told his biographer that he found himself “not liking the medical profession,” so, after his father died and left his family in financial straits, he pursued a military career.
The first actual University of Pennsylvania graduate to ascend to the White House is Trump, who transferred from Fordham University to the Wharton School. While in college, Trump worked for his father’s business.
In speeches, Trump often uses his Wharton pedigree as evidence that he is “a very smart person.”
“Good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart,” he told a South Carolina crowd in July 2015.
