Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student

Boston Globe
WASHINGTON — During last year’s presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences.

But newly released records show that Bush and Kerry had a virtually identical grade average at Yale University four decades ago.

In 1999, The New Yorker published a transcript indicating that Bush had received a cumulative score of 77 for his first three years at Yale and a roughly similar average under a non-numerical rating system during his senior year.

Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D’s in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.

The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry’s naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe.

Kerry appeared to be responding to critics who suspected that there might be damaging information in the file about his activities in Vietnam. The military and medical records, however, appear identical to what Kerry has already released. This marks the first time Kerry’s grades have been publicly reported.

12 Comments.

  1. This company really put it succinctly. Kerry is using the Navy to release what he wants not the whole file.

    This company specializes in military research.

    http://www.lyonresearch.com/html/john_kerry_mil__records.html

    It doesnt get any clearer.

    John

  2. This is just a guess on my part, but I think that it is a REAL possibility that he received a “less than honorable” discharge due to collaborating with viet cong in Paris whilst he was still a Naval Reserve Officer.

  3. 2-That would explain a JAG citation if in fact there is one.

  4. that or he was reprimanded for impersonating Herman Monster…

  5. I was wondering if someone would notice the likeness to Fred Gwayne!
    I could care less what his grades were to be honest. I was just so sick of the fact that they made GWB’s grades such a big deal. And look what they put up against him.

  6. To be honest with you, I am more fascinated with his phoney catholicism and fake Name “Kerry” than I am with his dubious military record, gold-digging ways, or war reinactment filming…..

    so your family are Czech jews…be proud….

    what is he ashamed of????

  7. My family is French, for god’s sake, you don’t see me changing my name to O’Shanahan and playing some irish catholic man of the people.

  8. is it his all-encompassing fascination with the Kennedys?????? (initials John Forbes Kohn, JFK), love afair with Ted “oops, I drowned her again” Kennedy???????

    fascinating.

  9. French…. Ahhhh that explains everything :lol:

    Why does anyone give a hoot what Kerry’s grades were ? for that matter who cares about Bush’s grades, My grades are so irrelevent to who I am today and I am half the age of the President.

  10. 7: Why don’t you ask his grandfather why he didn’t want to keep his heritage and why he was ashamed of it. But he did what many immigrants did when they came to America, they changed their name to make it sound more American.

  11. 10. Well, mine didn’t….but then again, I didn’t have ambitions of being president since I was in the crib…

    I guess John “Kohn” might not sit so well with some constituencies……

    my point… be whe the F you are.

  12. 10-They changed their name yes, but not religions. And even if that were true, the man claimed not to know about it until 3 years ago. He ran as a Catholic when that suited his needs and then was a Jew when that was the need.