The motto of Harvard university is Veritas–Latin for “truth.” But one of Harvard’s most famous graduates may have violated that motto before he ever set foot on campus.
Business Insider raises some interesting questions about the truthfulness of John F. Kennedy’s college applications to Harvard and Princeton:
John F. Kennedy may be most associated with a particular brand of Massachusetts elitism that only his alma mater Harvard University can offer — they even named a school after him — but our 35th president actually started off his collegiate career as a Princeton undergraduate.
JFK only spent about six weeks at Princeton before leaving due to an illness, but according to his application to the school, he “had the ambition to enter Princeton” ever since he’s been in school. Wait, but he told Harvard a few months later that “I have always wanted to go there.”… Conflict?
As people have pointed out, JFK’s application essay to Princeton is basically identical to the five sentences he wrote to get into Harvard…
On his Princeton application, JFK wrote that “I feel that it can give me a better background and training than any other university.” But Kennedy also wrote the following to Harvard: “I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university.”
So which statement was true?
JFK’s grades in high school were poor. Nevertheless, his family’s wealth and connections seem to have cleared the way for him to attend any school he chose–each of which, according to the young Kennedy, were better than “any other university” and were the chief object of his aspiration.
Looks like the young Kennedy was already good at telling others exactly what they wanted to hear–like a natural born politician.
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.