political graduates

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>yale.edu commented on a thread that seems to have been removed that yale produces the top political minds.</p>

<p>i just wanted to respond, by presenting the degrees of the current supreme court justices:</p>

<p>Rehnquist: BA from Stanford, MA from Stanford, LLB from Stanford, MA from Harvard</p>

<p>Stevens: AB from U. Chicago, JD Northwestern</p>

<p>O'Connor: BA from Stanford, LLB from Stanford</p>

<p>Scalia: AB from Georgetown and University of Fribourg, Switzerland, LLB Harvard</p>

<p>Kennedy: BA from Stanford and London School of Economics, LLB from Harvard</p>

<p>Souter: AB from Harvard, Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, AB and MA from Oxford, LLB from Harvard</p>

<p>Thomas: AB from Holy Cross College, JD from Yale</p>

<p>Ginsberg: BA from Cornell, attended Harvard Law, LLB from Columbia Law</p>

<p>Breyer: Undergraduate at Stanford, then two years at Oxford, and LLB from Harvard</p>

<p>Though this is clearly too small a sample size to make any definitive statement, it does appear that Harvard, Stanford and Oxford are the best schools for producing top political minds.</p>

2

<p>KERRY. DEAN. LIEBERMAN. CLINTON. BUSH. (SHUDDERS) BUSH (SHUDDERS).
Most of the presidents/presidential candidates of the past few elections have had Yale degrees. You have no point and are clearly a Harvard troll. Also, being a supreme court justice really isn't political in the same way that being a senator or president is in that the major aspect of meeting people/appealing to the public is not there. It is much more of a behind-the-scenes position.</p>

3

<p>"Also, being a supreme court justice really isn't political in the same way that being a senator or president is in that the major aspect of meeting people/appealing to the public is not there."</p>

<p>that's just wrong. first of all, judges have to appeal to their constituents - many judges are elected just like congressmen, second of all, the point i was trying to make, was that yale is not the only school to produce legal minds - nor is harvard, stanford or oxford. no one school is (though some happen to produce more politicians than others). and the names you listed before? do you honestly think those are the best legal minds of the country? by your "SHUDDERS" i'm assuming you don't - and i'd hope that you believe the supreme court justices, the people who interpret the constitution - the laws we live by, are the best legal/political minds, because unlike that group that you listed, these men and women will be in power for a much much longer time.</p>

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<p>This post was double-posted because of CC server problems... (and is slowwwww right now.........)</p>

5

<p>first of all, judges have to appeal to their constituents - many judges are elected just like congressmen</p>

<p>Oh come now, AnyCollege. Supreme Court justices are not elected! They are top legal minds as you have said, but they are not the highest roles of leadership in this country. They are hand-picked by the person in that role, the President of the United States.</p>

<p>The top leadership position in the country and the world is, obviously, the Presidency of the United States. Yale graduates have dominated this powerful role as of late. No non-Yalie has won the office since the 1984 election.</p>

<p>You've got Bush I, Clinton I, and Bush II consecutively, and in '08 you'll have Kerry, Lieberman, and Clinton II running for the position (all Yalies). Dean, also a Yale man, will be running in '12 after he is done as the head of the Democratic Party.</p>

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<p>i agree that yale has dominated the presidential position for the past twenty years, but it's also naiive to assume that the president is the ultimate political mind. first of all, he has an entire administration that oversees the majority of issues brought to the white house, and second of all, the political and legal leaders include the thousands of congressmen, senators, judges, and lobbyists. nevertheless - i'm the first to admit that i'm unqualified to give the definitive lecture on the US govt - the only thing i wanted to point out in this thread, is that there are several other colleges/universities that produce top politicians. i adore yale and am applying there, but i just wanted to remind ccers of other colleges equal, if not better, ability to produce the best american politicians.</p>

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<p>i agree that yale has dominated the presidential position for the past twenty years, but it's also naiive to assume that the president is the ultimate political mind.</p>

<p>No one has assumed that. The President of the United States is the top leadership position in this country, period, but I surely wouldn't argue the position is given to the "ultimate political mind". That's something entirely different and the person best fitting that description is probably Larry Sabato, the well-known political researcher at the University of Virginia. And he's never held an office! But the ultimate position of political power is without a doubt that of the President of the United States.</p>

8

<p>Supreme Court members are not politicians, as they certainly shouldn't be. I didn't notice supreme court justices campaigning lately, have you? You are mixing up politicians and law interpreters. Some judges are politicians, as they have to be elected, but the ones you cite as example against Yale's influence in politics, are not. </p>

<p>In terms of law, Yale does just fine with one of the best, if not the best, law school in the country.</p>