25 of the 42 US presidents have been lawyers.

[depakid]

Here's the list:

John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams

Andrew Jackson (That one surprised me- Old Hickory had no formal education, yet he became a lawyer)

Martin Van Buren
John Tyler
James Polk
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchannon
Abraham Lincoln
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester Arthur

Grover Cleveland (he was president twice- separated by a term, hence the discrepency between 42 presidents and 43 presidencies)

William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Calvin Coolige
FDR
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton

-------------------

Seems to me that puts John Edwards in pretty good stead- considering the percentage- and considering that among the notable non-lawyers one finds:

US Grant
Warren Harding
Herbert Hoover
(not to mention Reagan and both Bush's).

[cthrumatrix]

1. shhhhh.... don't tell the repugs....this is thier 'arrow'

[Atman]

2. EEGAD! A president that knows the law, instead of just how to break it?

What next? A president who served in the military? It will be the downfall of America, I tell you!

[depakid]

3. I all fairness I should add

that George W. Bush did apply for law school, but was rejected.

Unlike some graduate programs, most law schools require that students actually demonstrate critical thinking... you can't get by with "gentlemen's C's" and ghostwriters.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Also among the non-lawyers

EDITED to add Hoover

Farmers:
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Jimmy Carter

Soldiers:
Zachery Taylor
Ulysses S. Grant
Dwight David Eisenhower

Civil Engineer:
Herbert Hoover

Academic:
Dr. Woodrow Wilson

Author:
John Kennedy

Haberdasher:
Harry Truman

[depakid]

5. Woodrow Wilson is an interesting contrast

Long before he ever became president or even a professor at his alma mater, Princeton, he wrote the classic 1887 essay that became the foundation for all public administration in America- at least up and until the year 2001.

Not a lawyer, but learned in laws and procedure.

[Scairp]

6. Andrew Jackson (That one surprised me- Old Hickory had no formal education

Neither did Abe Lincoln. His family was poor, from Kentucky, and his mother died when he was still a boy. He only sporadically went to a schoolhouse for learning, yet became what some say was the best president this country ever had.

[depakid]

8. Jackson surprised me because of his policies

In the context of his time, his policies were decidedly unlawyer-like.

Which just goes to show you, it's often (though not always) folly to judge a man or a woman by their professions-

[Trajan]

7. Abraham Lincoln ....

Amongst the greatest political minds of all time ....

Master of rhetoric and the english language ....

No WONDER they hate lawyers ...

[tjdee]

9. Bush was REJECTED by law school.

If he wasn't so stupid (no you're not stupid if you get rejected from law school, but in this case we are aware that he is, in fact, stupid), Dubya would have a law degree.

So he can suck it.

And honestly, that's as a mature reaction as that whole GOP 'OOGA BOOGA, A LAWYER' thing deserves.