Have any U.S. Presidents been engineers?

On the eve of the selection process for Presidential candidates, it may be worth asking if any engineers became President. Most Presidents, indeed most politicians, are lawyers, but perhaps an engineer might do a better, maybe less political, job? Of the 43 men who have been President (Grover Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms so he counts as two Presidents), only one had been a working engineer and another had a bachelor’s degree in science prior to a career as an officer in the Navy.

President Hoover (1929-1933)

The Presidents were Herbert Hoover (President No. 31) and Jimmy Carter (No. 39), one a Republican, the other a Democrat. Both had hard-luck Presidencies. Hoover presided over the Depression of 1929 and Carter over high interest rates and the Iranian hostage crisis. Both were one-term Presidents. Both, however, had long and distinguished careers as statesmen after being President: Hoover was the chairman of the Hoover Commission on administrative reform and Carter has traveled the world doing all sorts of projects through his Carter Center. Hoover lived to be 90, and Carter is approaching that age. ■

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidenf_the_United_States_by_occupation

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0768854.html

The images of the Presidents, from Washington to Eisenhower, in this series are from a little book I got from my mom when I was less than 10 years old. Simply titled Presidents of the United States , this book began my interest in the Presidents. I think it came from an insurance company, but I can't find a publisher listed in its pages. See http://www2.electronicproducts.com/How_I_got_interested_in_Presidential_history-article-fals_president_start_aug2012-html.aspx