John Kerry earned Grades Worse than George W Bush at Yale!

**Crazed Rabbit** · 06-07-2005, 16:55

Well, well, well. Now that Kerry has finally released his military records (contrary to earlier promises to do it before), we see that his grade average at Yale was 76 (out of 100 grading scale, equal to a C), while George Bush's average was 77.

Not a huge difference at all, but the point is that, despite Kerry's grandstanding and portrayal of himself as a superior intellectual, his grades were not better than Bush's were! And, Kerry got 5 Ds over the years (4 in his frosh year), while Bush only got 1! (And a high D at that!

)

Somehow, I doubt the news sources will make a big deal out of this.

the article

Crazed Rabbit

**BDC** · 06-07-2005, 16:57

So, the mightiest country on Earth could only put forward two C students as its leadership candidates?

Something is amuck in the political system...

**Ldvs** · 06-07-2005, 17:10

Perhaps you don't get good marks as easily as in "lesser" universities, which would explain the mediocre marks. Perhaps Bush is bright, although he hides it perfectly.

**Kanamori** · 06-07-2005, 17:13

**BDC** · 06-07-2005, 17:20

Originally Posted by Ldvs

Perhaps you don't get good marks as easily as in "lesser" universities, which would explain the mediocre marks. Perhaps Bush is bright, although he hides it perfectly.

Perhaps...

He passed acting with an A* yes?

**Proletariat** · 06-07-2005, 17:25

This is also partly from the days before grade inflation. These days, you get a "D" in a core freshman course, you're probably in the bottom 5% of the class and will have to repeat that class. The numbered grades carried different connotations, and were rarely taken out of context. Recommendations meant a lot more in those days.

I have no doubt that both Kerry and Bush are intelligent men. I also have no doubt that neither is anywhere near an ideal presidential candidate.

The current presidential primary system is designed to ensure that any strong and independent candidate is eliminated long before he gets to the forefront.

**ICantSpellDawg** · 06-07-2005, 18:43

relative mediocrity in most of our presidents is not such a bad thing
i dont want a president with a personality cult around him

anyway - we will see how the administrations policies work out in the next decade and then we can make final judgements on how "ideal" they were

**bmolsson** · 06-08-2005, 02:44

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

Well, well, well.

**JAG** · 06-08-2005, 03:02

Originally Posted by BDC

So, the mightiest country on Earth could only put forward two C students as its leadership candidates?

Something is amuck in the political system...

Now that is the real point!

**Proletariat** · 06-08-2005, 04:10

Originally Posted by JAG

Now that is the real point!

No, it isn't.

**Redleg** · 06-08-2005, 12:50

Lets go down the list of how good many of the presidents did in school, before jumping to conclusions that you have to be a "brain" to be successful as President.

This was reinforced by Roosevelt's schooling at Groton, an elite Episcopalian boarding school in Massachusetts. He was heavily influenced by the headmaster, Endicott Peabody, who preached the duty of Christians to help the less fortunate and urged his students to enter public service—although most of them in fact entered banks and Wall Street law firms. Roosevelt graduated from Groton in 1900, and naturally progressed to Harvard University, where he enjoyed himself in conventional fashion and graduated with an AB (arts degree) in 1904 without much serious study. While he was at Harvard his cousin Theodore became President, and his vigorous leadership style and reforming zeal made him Franklin's role model. In 1903 he met his future wife Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore's niece, at a White House reception. (They had previously met as children, but this was their first serious encounter.)

Roosevelt next attended the Columbia Law School. He passed the bar exam and completed the requirements for a law degree in 1907 but did not bother to actually graduate. In 1908 he took a job with the prestigious Wall Street firm of Carter, Ledyard and Milburn, dealing mainly with corporate law