Background
The son of Corwin Rule and Elaine Rule, John Rule attended Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis, Indiana and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a bachelor"s degree and a master"s degree in history in 1952 with a thesis on "Nicolas de Lamoignon de Basville and the Protestants of the Languedoc, 1685-1702." He went on to Harvard University, where he completed his doctorate in history in 1958 with a thesis on "The preliminary negotiations leading to the Peace of Utrecht, 1709-1712".
