Yale holds tie to presidency
NEW HAVEN -- With a portrait of George H. W. Bush peering over her shoulder, Megan Whittaker sized up the students eating in the Commons dining hall at Yale University, wondering aloud who among them might join the ranks of Yale graduates who have gone on to the White House.
"You look around," said Whittaker, a senior from Katonah, N.Y., glancing at an awkward-looking underclassman with braces and a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "That guy could be president. You have no idea. It could be anybody. Maybe it's somebody I know."
On a campus where many students are more apt to watch the State of the Union address than the Super Bowl, there is no shortage of political ambition. At Yale, speculation about future presidents is driven in part by the university's record. The path from classroom to the White House is so established that a campus store sells a baby-sized T-shirt emblazoned, "Another future president from Yale."
From Gerald Ford to George W. Bush, four of the last six presidents have held Yale degrees -- two undergraduate (the Bushes), two law school (Ford and Bill Clinton).
For the past three decades, a Yale graduate has run as a Democrat or Republican in every presidential election as either vice president or president, beginning with Sargent Shriver, who ran for vice president on George McGovern's ticket in 1972.
Three Democrats seeking the presidency -- John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Joseph Lieberman -- graduated from Yale within seven years of one another. Lieberman has dropped out of the race. Vice President Dick Cheney began his undergraduate years at Yale, though he transferred to the University of Wyoming.
With Kerry as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, students and professors are focused anew on the university's political pedigree.
"We start with the fact that Yalies are going to be leaders," said John Gaddis, a history professor who teaches a course on grand strategy.
While some on campus say the run of Yalies in the White House could simply be a fluke, many wonder what gave rise to Yale's political dynasty.
"Given brainy students, Yale sought to cultivate not just intellectuals, but men of affairs," said H. Bradford Westerfield, a professor emeritus of political science who has taught George W. Bush, Cheney, Kerry, and Lieberman.
"It is still the most distinctive characteristic of Yale, as opposed to Harvard," said Westerfield, who called Yale a "breeding ground" for politicians because of its emphasis on public service.
"There's a culture of political involvement here among the students, larger than in other places," said Jeremy Ershow, a sophomore who heads a group of students that supported Wesley Clark, who quit the race for the Democratic nomination. Not everyone, however, envisions working in the Oval Office. Some even look askance at peers who are bold enough to make their aspirations public.
"In my French class, there was this one guy who said he wanted to be president," said Jennifer Park, a junior from California. "I couldn't tell if he was being serious. We kind of laughed."
Still, most students speak about the Yale-educated presidents with a mix of admiration and envy. A little more than two years ago, a celebrity-like reception greeted Clinton as throngs of students went to hear a fellow Yalie speak.
"There are times we sit around and we just feel proud that we go to a place where people leaving this place make such a contribution," said Nirupam Sinha, president of the Yale College Democrats. "Indirectly, you're motivated -- and that's something I may pursue as well."
Some students occasionally rehearse -- only half in jest -- the anecdotes they will reveal about roommates years later when their classmates become president.
"It's a very humbling thought that everyone here at Yale will have memories of us as the undergraduates we are right now, and that could really come back to haunt us," said Betsy Williams, a member of the Yale Political Union, of which Kerry was president. Williams, whose online screen name is Betsy4pres2024, has contemplated a run for the office herself.
Sinha also has an eye on Pennsylvania Avenue, though he pointed out that living there would require a constitutional amendment because he was born in Germany. "We're amazed by the track record," he said. "We're proud and amazed, not surprised."
Late at night, after parties subside, conversations sometimes turn to identifying the roommate who will end up in Congress or the friend in the White House.
"It's actually, strangely, quite common to talk about that kind of thing among the overly ambitious students. Those are the kids we talk about being presidents and senators," said Eric White, a member of the Tory Party, one of several organizations in the Yale Political Union.
He added, "It's probably going to be somebody in a frat, a people person, someone who's really good at sports -- not a smart person, just because it would be hard to sell to the country."
While many revel in the accomplishments of the presidential alumni, some balk at what they see as brazen displays of school pride.
For them, the glut of presidents and presidential candidates from their alma mater is a reminder that the path to power is often lined with ivy and that a Yale education may be a prerequisite for those who hope to climb the highest rungs of political office.
"I think it says something about the opportunities available in this country, and that the uppermost political positions are not available to the average person," said Aravinda Ananda, a junior from Savoy, Mass.
Many on campus point out that the public relationship between the candidates and their Yale pedigree is almost always awkward.
President Bush downplays his privileged upbringing, though he and his father are Yale graduates, and his daughter Barbara is a senior at Yale.
Likewise, the Democratic presidential candidates have made selective mention of their Yale educations. "They don't make much of it," Gaddis said. "It's not likely to win you votes, especially in Lubbock, Texas."
