John Robert Howard was born on July 26 1939 in Earlwood, New South Wales, to Mona and Lyall Howard. Lyall ran a petrol station, and was a strong supporter of the National Party, and its leader, Robert Menzies, giving Howard his middle name. Howard was a good student, despite hearing problems and a speech impediment, and in 1960 he graduated from Sydney University with a degree in Law. Howard had hoped to go into the legal profession, but his poor hearing made it difficult for him to perform well in a courtroom.