Episode 3 of 3

First Graduate

When: October 1802
Where: West Point, New York
Part of: United States Military Academy established at West Point

Joseph Gardner Swift graduated as the first official graduate in October 1802.

Joseph Gardner Swift graduated as the first official graduate of the United States Military Academy in October 1802. This event occurred shortly after the academy's official commencement of operations in July 1802, marking the beginning of its educational mission.

Sources

United States Military Academy Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.