Kerry got slow start at Yale, transcript shows
Ex-candidate says freshman D’s stood for ‘distinguished’
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:12 a.m. ET June 7, 2005

BOSTON - Sen. John F. Kerry’s grade average at Yale University was virtually identical to President Bush’s record there, despite repeated portrayals of Kerry as the more intellectual candidate during the 2004 presidential campaign.

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Kerry had a cumulative average of 76 and got four Ds his freshman year — in geology, two history courses and political science, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

His grades improved with time, and he averaged an 81 his senior year and earned an 89 — his highest grade — in political science as a senior.

“I always told my dad that D stood for distinction,” Kerry said in a written response to reporters’ questions. He said he has previously acknowledged focusing more on learning to fly than studying.

Under Yale’s grading system in effect at the time, grades between 90 and 100 equaled an A, 80-89 a B, 70-79 a C, 60 to 69 a D, and anything below that was a failing grade.

In 1999, The New Yorker magazine published a transcript showing Bush had a cumulative grade average of 77 his first three years at Yale, and a similar average under a non-numerical rating system his senior year.

Bush’s highest grade at Yale was an 88 in anthropology, history and philosophy. He received one D in his four years, a 69 in astronomy, and improved his grades after his freshman year, the transcript showed.

Kerry, a Democrat, previously declined to release the transcript, which was included in his Navy records. He gave the Navy permission to release the documents last month, the Globe reported.

Kerry graduated from Yale in 1966, Bush in 1968.

I'd rather see a comparision of their arrest records.

Neither stand out academically. EOM.

Neither stand out academically. EOM.

Maybe that's not standing out at Yale. But lets see you go there and get anywhere near a D.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Kerry only graduated from Yale. Bush graduated from Yale and also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Harvard.

...and...GWB Kicks Ass.

:D

so they are both morons. What a surprise. And if you work hard you can do well at yale or any ivy.

Nothing to add. Just thought that comment bore repeating.

I'd rather see a comparision of their arrest records.

so they are both morons. What a surprise. And if you work hard you can do well at yale or any ivy.

ditto :)

Maybe that's not standing out at Yale. But lets see you go there and get anywhere near a D.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Kerry only graduated from Yale. Bush graduated from Yale and also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Harvard.
Kerry has a law degree. I don't recall where he received it, but he was an ADA for Middlesex County before becoming Lt. Gov and then Senator. Obviously you must have a law degree before becoming an ADA.

I'd rather see a comparision of their arrest records.
I'd rather see a comparison of the conviction records. Actually, I have. Both blank.

Maybe that's not standing out at Yale. But lets see you go there and get anywhere near a D.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Kerry only graduated from Yale. Bush graduated from Yale and also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Harvard.

If you're well connected you don't even have to work very hard at recieving a gentlemen's C.

I bet Feras got better grades than both of them, hope I will too.

I'd rather see a comparison of the conviction records. Actually, I have. Both blank.

which i think is a moot point since they arer both wealthy new englanders (a shocker for those who think bush is all texan...hes from freakin connecticut) who can get out of any arrest without conviction, get into any school without application, receive any degree they want without academic probation and acheive political office without personal dedication.

which i think is a moot point since they arer both wealthy new englanders (a shocker for those who think bush is all texan...hes from freakin connecticut) who can get out of any arrest without conviction, get into any school without application, receive any degree they want without academic probation and acheive political office without personal dedication.


Actually...was kerry all that rich before he married heinz?

as someone else from freakin Connecticut ... ;) (well, not actually from, just in at the moment) I really have nothing to add. Klegg, from what little I know, Kerry was from old money, but his family didn't have much left. Re: Bush's arrest record, I'm thinking it was pretty full, but everything's been redacted with a big Sharpie. I don't know though - prove me wrong. At any rate, this whole thing about "he may have been arrested but not convicted" is kinda baloney. These are the same people who say "it doesn't matter what he does, as long as he doesn't get caught". Just the kind of people we don't want, and yet just the kind of people in charge - in the Nixon, Reagan, Bush... well OK all Republican administrations over the last 35 years.

um, how about that whole Clinton thing before Bush? he got caught, LIED to everyone, and still got off (in more ways than one) Sooooo tired of people whining and bitching about who's president regardless of which side they're on, let it go, get outside more, enjoy life and stuff, in the big picture it doesn't matter anyway as we're all just temporary :)

Clinton got caught but he didn't do anything. After all that Whitewater brouhaha, Zero convictions.

um, how about that whole Clinton thing before Bush? he got caught, LIED to everyone, and still got off (in more ways than one) Sooooo tired of people whining and bitching about who's president regardless of which side they're on, let it go, get outside more, enjoy life and stuff, in the big picture it doesn't matter anyway as we're all just temporary :)

differance between breaking the law and getting a blow job, one's not illegal.

differance between breaking the law and getting a blow job, one's not illegal.
Don't know if I agree with that. It's kinda bad when you lie in a court of law in front of the whole world about something such as adultery. If he lied about that, what else did he lie about?

And Einstein failed math.
But I don't see either one of them dealing with relativity, unless it comes to the marrying kind.

*rimshot*

Kerry has a law degree. I don't recall where he received it, but he was an ADA for Middlesex County before becoming Lt. Gov and then Senator. Obviously you must have a law degree before becoming an ADA.
Your right I think its from Boston College in 1976.

Don't know if I agree with that. It's kinda bad when you lie in a court of law in front of the whole world about something such as adultery. If he lied about that, what else did he lie about?


Probably not mush else.

Adultry is the one thing I am ok with a lie about.

Especially looking at the circumstances as to WHY he was put in that position.

You know, by the 'publicans who had to keep stepping down cuse they had all had affairs?

The same guys who gave the special prosecutor more then50 million of our hard earned tax dollers to go after clinton when they KNEW they could not get him out.

Dig differance between lying about a BJ and WMD....people were not killed over the BJ..

EVERY politician is a crook with an agenda. You will never find one that does not use either his power or his constituents' money for his own benefit. I tend to prefer Democrats over Republicans, but they are all the same in the end.

I thought this thread was about having sex

I thought this thread was about having sex


No, that is my blogg... :p

I thought this thread was about having sexTell me about it. It's just as disappointing as the "Deep Throat Revealed" thread. :D

You know it's kind of sad that some people consider "normal" students stupid. I bring this up because I've heard comments like that before...if you don't get a A or B you are a dummy, if you go to school X that means your degree is worthless or you could not cut it in a better school.

People are too quick to call others dumb (I guess it makes them feel smarter and better) and they should be SMART enough not to make generalized statements like that. Average is just that...average nothing more...nothing less.

I'm not saying this at anyone specific but I've heard that comment before and I think it's a little insensitive and immature for people with such HUGE BRAINS to make child like assumptions. It just goes to show you...what's the value of smarts without wisdom?

I admire good students (being a procrastinator whose grades where strictly up to my motivation) but I've seen many good students who lacked not only wisdom but also common sense in life. Good grades are a great thing but some people out there throwing around insults should use some of that GOD given brain and watch what they say.

AGAIN, not directed at anyone specific because I've seen it in more than one thread but the superiority complex of man today is just astonishing.

Just my .02…not picking at someone specific or wanting to start an argument.

as someone else from freakin Connecticut ... ;) (well, not actually from, just in at the moment) I really have nothing to add. Klegg, from what little I know, Kerry was from old money, but his family didn't have much left. Re: Bush's arrest record, I'm thinking it was pretty full, but everything's been redacted with a big Sharpie. I don't know though - prove me wrong. At any rate, this whole thing about "he may have been arrested but not convicted" is kinda baloney. These are the same people who say "it doesn't matter what he does, as long as he doesn't get caught". Just the kind of people we don't want, and yet just the kind of people in charge - in the Nixon, Reagan, Bush... well OK all Republican administrations over the last 35 years.
1) An arrest record only means you were arrested. If you consider everyone ever arrested to be guilty, you live in the wrong country.
2) It's not my job to prove you wrong, its your job to prove yourself right. He has one arrest. Zero convictions. If you have evidence of something else, announce it. If you don't, don't spout lies because you don't like the guy.
3) If you're going to talk about corrupt administrations, you could start with the most recent former administration. The top guy was disbarred as an attorney in his home state.

differance between breaking the law and getting a blow job, one's not illegal.Actually in this case both were. Clinton himself signed the law prohibiting relationships between superiors and subordinates for federal employees.

You know it's kind of sad that some people consider "normal" students stupid. I bring this up because I've heard comments like that before...if you don't get a A or B you are a dummy, if you go to school X that means your degree is worthless or you could not cut it in a better school.

People are too quick to call others dumb (I guess it makes them feel smarter and better) and they should be SMART enough not to make generalized statements like that. Average is just that...average nothing more...nothing less.

I'm not saying this at anyone specific but I've heard that comment before and I think it's a little insensitive and immature for people with such HUGE BRAINS to make child like assumptions. It just goes to show you...what's the value of smarts without wisdom?

I admire good students (being a procrastinator whose grades where strictly up to my motivation) but I've seen many good students who lacked not only wisdom but also common sense in life. Good grades are a great thing but some people out there throwing around insults should use some of that GOD given brain and watch what they say.

AGAIN, not directed at anyone specific because I've seen it in more than one thread but the superiority complex of man today is just astonishing.

Just my .02…not picking at someone specific or wanting to start an argument.

i dont think anyone was insinuating going to a lesser school makes you dumb, in fact in most mainstream colleges anyone who can get an A has to be pretty damn smart. The point I was trying to convey was that in the Ivy league and in elite schools, you can practically sleep in your dorm room during classes and still manage a C average, simply coz dad is gonna endow the school. I know because i've seen plenty of these cases when I was at Penn. In my program the curve guidelines were 10% got As 25% got Bs and the rest could be anything...which is an easy loophole to allow anyone who can complain to a professor or a dean to get at least a D or C. Frustrates the hell out of me especially in group work to see someone not give a damn.

...bush and kerry both probably were connected enough not to have to give a damn in school. And just for posterity no one who only manages a C average at yale or anyother school is going to get into Harvard Business School or the Boston College Law School (i forget its name but its a good one) unless they had some help. Otherwise the reviewer would see a C average, laugh and chuck the application in the trash irrespective of school. A school's name is just a name, a grade means a lot more.

1) An arrest record only means you were arrested. If you consider everyone ever arrested to be guilty, you live in the wrong country.


unless we're discussing holding enemy combatants right. in which case we don't even have to charge them with anything to keep em in jail.

Good point.

Feras...I understand, I too have seen so many students cheat at the local university that it makes me VERY ANGRY that I do the right thing and get a C-B while other students cheating all over the place are getting B-A's while cheating.

I understand that feeling and again I was not aiming at you I've just heard similar things in other threads (about grades, schools, etc )and I thought I'd say something about it. Again...trust me while rich parents was not the issue at the local university I have seen a bunch...A BUNCH of cheating and it REALLY ticked me off.

No, that is my blogg... :p

You're married though so it's not so entertaining. Maybe a threesome...


Tell me about it. It's just as disappointing as the "Deep Throat Revealed" thread.

Too true.

I'd just like to see someone teach the leader of the free world how to pronounce "nuclear."

I'd just like to see someone show the junior Senator from Massachusetts who the starting left fielder and designated hitter for the World Champion Red Sox are.

i dont think anyone was insinuating going to a lesser school makes you dumb, in fact in most mainstream colleges anyone who can get an A has to be pretty damn smart. The point I was trying to convey was that in the Ivy league and in elite schools, you can practically sleep in your dorm room during classes and still manage a C average, simply coz dad is gonna endow the school. I know because i've seen plenty of these cases when I was at Penn. In my program the curve guidelines were 10% got As 25% got Bs and the rest could be anything...which is an easy loophole to allow anyone who can complain to a professor or a dean to get at least a D or C. Frustrates the hell out of me especially in group work to see someone not give a damn.

...bush and kerry both probably were connected enough not to have to give a damn in school. And just for posterity no one who only manages a C average at yale or anyother school is going to get into Harvard Business School or the Boston College Law School (i forget its name but its a good one) unless they had some help. Otherwise the reviewer would see a C average, laugh and chuck the application in the trash irrespective of school. A school's name is just a name, a grade means a lot more.

I'd have to agree with you Feras. Remember that maybe Kerry, but definately Bush went during the Vietnam Era where grade inflation was the highest up there it has ever been, even higher than now. To get those grades means you probably did about zero work. I would agree, most normal Universities have much harder classes than the Ivy Leagues. I've only taken classes at a normal University so far, but from what I've read recently about Harvard and the like my classes were a lot harder.

I didn't mean to seem like I was saying you're dumb if you get Cs or Ds wannahave. In the real world, you don't recieve grades. Wherever you are, you can determine success through your internal sense of decency instead of through your grades and I applaud your for that. I can't see people like Kerry or Bush having much internal sense of decency though. They are stupid not because of their letter grades, but because they were endowed with a wonderful opportunity most people would sacrifice almost anything and take out hundreds of thousands in loans to have, and what did they do? They didn't try at all, and that's why I call them stupid.

i miss grades

I didn't mean to seem like I was saying you're dumb if you get Cs or Ds wannahave

Oouch...C's & D's....a few A's....B's & C's please, my parents don't need another reason to get on me...LOL :p

Trust me guys, I was not specifically pointing at anyone but I've seen similar statements that I just did not care for. This is a forum and I've learned it's easy to take things the wrong way so just be careful how you word things...as I've learned I need to do too.

I just wish there was a cure for procrastination...lol :D

Don't know if I agree with that. It's kinda bad when you lie in a court of law in front of the whole world about something such as adultery. If he lied about that, what else did he lie about?Earth to cas: ALL POLITICIANS LIE :p

You know it's kind of sad that some people consider "normal" students stupid.
It's just that when we elect a president, we should be looking for the best and brightest among us. At least that's what I thought. The last election proved we don't.

Best I agree, but the "brightest" does not always = a good president (or person for that matter) I don't think he should be slow but really the best quality a president can have is to be WISE .

1) An arrest record only means you were arrested. If you consider everyone ever arrested to be guilty, you live in the wrong country.
2) It's not my job to prove you wrong, its your job to prove yourself right. He has one arrest. Zero convictions. If you have evidence of something else, announce it. If you don't, don't spout lies because you don't like the guy.
3) If you're going to talk about corrupt administrations, you could start with the most recent former administration. The top guy was disbarred as an attorney in his home state.
That's kinda my point. Who cares if he was actually convicted. If he was in a situation where he got arrested, is that what we want in a president?

I guess in this case, politicians are like enemy combatants - in the court of public opinion, public perceptions. Arrest records just sound bad when you're touting you high moral standing.

I could start with the last administration, or I could go all the way back to George Washington. I decided to start with the first president I remember, and all the Republicans along the way just kinda popped up.

Best I agree, but the "brightest" does not always = a good president (or person for that matter) I don't think he should be slow but really the best quality a president can have is to be WISE .
Definitely true. I'll agree that the best grades don't always make a good president. In fact, I don't know what kind of grades Condi Rice got, but she stuck with school long enough to get a PhD, so I'll use her as an example. I think she'd make a lousy president - too much of an egghead, too abrasive a personality, whatever.

What does matter is the effort they put into it, and by the accounts I've heard, W wasn't a very diligent student.

carter was a smart president and we saw how much his intelligence helped him...charisma is what makes you a president

Condi Rice

You know I use to like her a bit but after hearing her talk for more than a sec....I too don't like her too much anymore. This is just an assumption (I don't know the lady) but I don't think she would be a good pres either...

carter was a smart president and we saw how much his intelligence helped him...charisma is what makes you a president


His problem was the lack of "street smarts"

One of the greatest men who ever lived, but a lousy presidant.