Editing John Danforth (section)

==Early life and education==
Danforth was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dorothy (Claggett) and Donald Danforth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4gYAAAAIAAJ&q=Dorothy+Claggett+Donald+Danforth|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=Sep 17, 1992|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|access-date=Sep 17, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> He is the grandson of [[William H. Danforth]], founder of [[Ralston Purina]]. Danforth's brother, [[William Henry Danforth]], was former chancellor of [[Washington University in St. Louis]].

Danforth attended [[Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School|St. Louis Country Day School]]. He graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1958 with an A.B. in religion after completing his senior thesis, "Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology."<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Danforth|first=John Claggett|date=1958|title=Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology|url=http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01tm70mw77t|publisher=Princeton University}}</ref> He received degrees from [[Yale Law School]] and [[Yale Divinity School]] in 1963.