Which U.S. President could write Greek and Latin simultaneously?

James Garfield, the 20th US President, was a brilliant man who could write Greek with one hand while simultaneously writing Latin with the other.

The last President to be born in a log cabin, Garfield was encouraged by his mother to overcome his humble beginnings. When he turned 17, she pushed him to quit working on the canals and begin his formal education. Already a voracious reader, who devoured every book he could lay his hands on, Garfield fulfilled his promise by shining as a student and dazzling everyone with his formidable intellect.

He held various menial jobs as he progressed through his academic career. He eventually became a teacher and President of Hiram College. He subsequently studied law and became interested in politics. During service in the Union Army, Garfield's abilities caught the attention of his Republican friends who urged him to run for office. His intellectual prowess didn't abate when he assumed office. During his Congressional tenure he developed a trapezoid proof of the Pythagorean theorem that was published in the New England Journal of Education.

Ironically, while of humble origins, he could be dismissive of others. Generally supportive of Abraham Lincoln, he marveled that Lincoln could devise the Emancipation Proclamation, calling him a "second-rate" lawyer. Although his admiration of him did grow with time.

Elected President in 1880, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau on July 2, 1881, dying on September 19, 1881.