<p>I was wondering what JFK's GPA at Harvard is. For some reason this is hard to find. I have discovered in a few hours with google that he had "gentleman Cs" his first couple of years but managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude mostly because he wrote an essay/book about England's initial response to Hitler's aggression. (WHY ENGLAND SLEPT) And some say he really didn't do all the writing on this book. But his GPA at Harvard has escaped detection. Something being hidden here? Does anyone know his GPA at Harvard and a good supportive URL?</p>
Maybe because schools don’t publicize their students’ GPAs?</p>
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It was his thesis that was later published as a book. Okay, “some” may say that, but there’s no evidence and I couldn’t turn up any source (let alone a credible one) that said that.</p>
<p>If you want to see Kennedy’s application to Harvard, I think someone posted a link to it in the Harvard forum a couple months ago.</p>
<p>“After a grade slump for his first two years, John Kennedy began earning excellent grades, giving him a graduating GPA of 5.29 from Harvard University.”</p>
<p>Only fitting for a hyper-charismatic telepathical knight that was really a mind-reading robot, eh? (Professor Brothers)</p>
<p>Don’t universities publish somewhere lists of the highest graduates.</p>
<p>Certainly, a review of each graduating year would show who were the valedictorians of the class. The Phi Beta Kappa chapter would have a list of members.</p>
<p>At my alma mater, the highest GPAs were immortalized on bronze tablets permanently placed in the library.</p>
<p>Harvard still has JFK’s original first draft, written in his own hand complete with cross-outs and corrections, of the his senior thesis that was later edited and published as the book “Why England Slept.” So there is no legitimate dispute that he wrote it himself. He also showed considerable literary growth and talent at Harvard when he served as a Crimson staff writer and later as head editor.</p>
<p>What is less clear is whether he later wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Profiles in Courage” all by himself or whether he had help from one of his political speech writers. His fans and supporters assert he wrote it himself. His political opponents all sneer that it was ghost-written. There is no way to prove either opinion. Whatever the case, it’s clear from what evidence we DO have that JFK had considerable literary talent. The man could write.</p>
<p>I don’t really see the point in looking at a world leader’s grades or scores or applications. They were already world leaders… judge them on that.</p>
<p>That said, some of the Kennedy stuff is fun to read, “A chap by the name of John Fitzgerald Kennedy…”</p>
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Maybe it can’t be proven (just as one cannot “prove” who wrote any number of books), but the style matches up with his other writings of similar time.</p>
<p>I guess it makes sense that JFK had literary talent…and I suppose he passed it down to his son, the late JFK Jr., who was the publisher and chief editor of George magazine. (btw, if JFK Jr. were still alive, he probably would have been a New York senator by now.)</p>
<p>When politicians want their GPA’s or class rank known, they put it out there. We all know for instance that Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar and went to Oxford. </p>
<p>So I think it’s fair to assume that if politicians, candidates, presidents, senators don’t disclose ‘brag’ about their grades or class rank, there’s really nothing to brag about.</p>
<p>It doesn’t necessarily equate with literary talent, but you can tell from watching old films and tapes of JFK’s interviews and press conferences that he was very smart. Well-read and very witty.</p>
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