Nine US presidents and their Leiden roots
There are many links between Leiden and the US. The highest office there has been held an impressive nine times by presidents with Leiden roots. This has led to memorable visits to Leiden University.
Anniversary edition of Leidraad alumni magazine
To celebrate the university’s 450th anniversary, Leidraad alumni magazine dived into the university’s history. In 45 key moments, milestones and highlights, the magazine details how the university developed over more than four centuries. This article also appears in the anniversary edition, which can now be found online.
Genealogical research has shown that, through his mother’s side, Barack Obama can trace his roots back to the Leiden pilgrim family Blossom. And he is not the only one: nine former presidents are descendants of the Leiden Pilgrims. The university played an important role in the life of these Puritans who had fled England. Some took classes at the university and later introduced new ideas to America, such as civil marriage. In the United States, the Leiden Pilgrims are considered the Founding Fathers of modern America. No America without Leiden, you might say. And no Thanksgiving without Leiden’s 3 October celebrations because the Relief of Leiden is one of the inspirations for this celebration.
Ice skating on the Rapenburg canal
At the start of January 1781, the second American president, John Adams, enrolled his two sons – one of whom was the 13-year-old John Quincy Adams – to study law at Leiden University. John Quincy came to live at Langebrug 45. Academically, the university was at the European top. American expert Hans Klis, who himself studied in Leiden, explains, ‘Also important was that Leiden did not have corporal punishment. The Adams children had been mistreated at the Latin School in Amsterdam – where they were expected to speak Dutch. John removed them from that school and brought them to Leiden instead.’
Since writing his book Help, de president is gek geworden (Help, the President has gone Mad) Klis has had a photo of the young Adams on his desk. ‘He suffered from depression and achievement pressure his whole life but in Leiden he got to be a child. He learned to ice skate on the Rapenburg and Nieuwe Rijn canals and had fun – something his parents did not allow because everything he did had to lead to the greater goal of becoming president. Which he became, the sixth in America.’
200 years later
It was 17 July 1989 when President Bush’s limousine stopped on the Rapenburg canal. To the horror of his security guards, he decided to get out and mix with the public. He shook some hands and visited the Academy Building. In the Sweat Room he signed a statement that he had visited Leiden University and was outside again a few minutes later. Among the frenzied crowds was psychology student Margreet van Lookeren, dressed as a dairymaid. She still remembers it to this day. ‘I was a student at the time and had a job at the Dutch Dairy Board. I often appeared as a dairymaid at events but I never expected to be kissed by the American president.’ She pauses: ‘That would be inconceivable now!’
She remembers it all going so fast and Queen Beatrix looking decidedly unamused. ‘The Netherlands is more than cheese and clogs, she seemed to be thinking, but I could be wrong.’ Bush grabbed a block of cheese and gave Margreet a kiss. ‘I still remember thinking, “The most important man in the world is putting a sweaty block of cheese in his mouth” because I had been waiting for some time with the cheese.’
Bush’s visit to Leiden was no coincidence, incidentally. His family are also descendants of the Leiden Pilgrim Fathers, as were the families of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Adams, Barack Obama and five other American presidents with Leiden ancestors.