So this is what I found out, McCain ranked 894 out of 899 in college. Fifth from the bottom.
I know the Mcain backers will try to down play and justify this on his behalf but, what is, is.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_john_mccain's_class_ranking_in_college
| What was john mccain's class ranking in college? |
According to Wikipedia, his class rank at the U.S. Naval Academy was 894 out of 899. In other words, fifth from the bottom.
On the other hand here is something about where Barack Obama finished in college.
Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the law review based on his grades and a writing competition. In his second year he was elected president of the law review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors. Obama's election in February 1990 as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review was widely reported and followed by several long, detailed profiles.[ He graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991 and returned to Chicago where he had worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley & Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.]
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Comments: 31
Ronald Reagan was an actor, did we know where he ranked in his class? He was considered a great president and he was an actor..
That said, Obama's performance in comparison with the others in the Harvard Law School says a lot more than just that he is academically gifted.
I must say that I am impressed by Obama's record. He had a lot more success in college / graduate school than I did.
Now, what about character? Wouldn't it be nice to find a similar rating of how they compare with others on that scale.
By the way, lots of people don't make good grades in college for all sorts of reasons. We don't know why McCain scored as he did.
Being accepted into the Naval Academy is an accomplishment in itself. It is very hard to get into. I had a friend in high-school who was a straight A student, scored near perfect on his SAT's/ was in student government, was a star football player not to mention other sports. Anyways you get the picture. Not only do you have to be basically perfect but on top of that you have to have a congressional nomination .He applied to the Naval academy and as turned down( later they changed their mind and he did end up going)
The guy who finishes last in the class still ahs to be a pretty darn smart well rounded person to haven even gone there.
Also the former CEO of Radio Shack had a jacked up resume, folks near him stated that he didn't seem to have the thinking skills needed and this guy took Radio Shack down the tubes quick.
Class ranking isn't the indicator of intelligence many think it is. There were plenty of idiot valedictorians who amounted to nothing.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of College.
McCain had other successes. His story doesn't read like George Bush's.
If there was a doctor in chief, leading all the doctors, damn right we would ask him. Hell, the surgeon general's class ranking gets looked at. Fifth from the bottom is not a good thing.
If John McCain finished fifth from the bottom and went on to become an excellent pilot, then who cares. He was not. He was a lousy pilot.
"During his relative short stunt on flight status, McCain III lost five U.S. Navy aircraft, four in accidents and one in combat. "
Yes, like Col. Custer. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed, and neither is John McCain.
I would prefer to take my chances with a smart guy then 4 more years of another dull blade.
Yes, like destroying 5 jets, and being responsible for the Forrestal fiasco:
Surviving crewmen and those who investigated the Forrestal fire case reported that McCain deliberately 'wet-started' his A-4E Skyhawk to shake up the guy in the F-4 Phantom behind his A-4. 'Wet-starts', done either deliberately (the starter motor switch allowed kerosene to pool in the engine and give a wet start) or accidentally, shoot a large flame from the tail of the aircraft. In McCain's case, the 'wet-start' 'cooked off' and launched the M34 Zuni rocket from the rear F-4 that punctured the Skyhawk's fueltank, knocked the M-65 1000 lb bomb off it's 500 lb rated mount, and touched off the explosions and massive fire. The F-4 pilot was reportedly killed in the conflagration, along with 167 of his fellow Forrestal shipmates (including those who died later from wounds suffered). 'Wet starting' was a common practice among young 'hot-dog' pilots. McCain was quickly (they were still counting the Forrestal dead) transferred to the USS Oriskany (the only Forrestal crewman to be immediately transferred).
I actually agree!
Using that logic, why would his subsequent military experience be significant???
The uneducated can call him names if they like, the fact remains that Obama is a very smart dude.
After 8 years of a dull blade, it is painfully obvious that it is time to put someone with a read education back in the White House.
What is of more concern is if the candidate shows a desire for continual improvement. So while his rank all those decades ago doesn't bother me, his inability to have even a passing comfort with new technologies does. The fact that McCain graduated at the bottom of his class does not concern me. What concerns me is that he seems not to have a desire to learn. By his own admission, who doesn't really understand economics, and he doesn't know how to use a computer comfortably. That indicates a lack of drive or interest in learning new things. THAT is a reason to be concerned.
Yes, like destroying 5 jets, and being responsible for the Forrestal fiasco"
Well-noted.
He also sold his Senate votes for campaign cash, and has flip-flopped on every courageous stand he has ever taken, such as opposing torture by the AWOL in Chief.
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You obviously don't know much about McCain's family tree. McCain was admitted to the Naval Academy because both his father and grandfather were not just members of the Academy but Four-Star Generals. So he was admitted into an academy based on his legacy and was a bad student - sound familiar?
Also, please don't project current facts about the Naval Academy when we are discussing the Naval Academy or 1958. Times have changed and the standards of admittance have drastically changed since then.
Also - someone previously made a statement about being careful about discussing Obama's level of education or he might be labeled an "Elitist"....why are we afraid of having an elite person run our country?
I understand the newfound connotation of that term but still I have been wondering over the last few years what the fascination is for having a "regular guy" run the most powerful country in the world. We have seen what that strategy gets us...
Now, with that said. I'm not saying that the eledged class rank of McCain is false, but what i would like to say that you have other thing s to look at when you are picking out a president. I also would like to say that when it comes to class rank, that doesn't mean shit. Please excuse me for that. There are people that go to my school that are within the top 10 according to this so called 'Class Rank," that do more drugs and under age alcohol abuse than anyone else. Yes they are smart, but when it comes to commen sense, they lack. That's all there is too it.
Obama might be smarter when it comes to the statistics of college class rank, but let's just see how his commen sense stands up when he is, or if he is faced with a difficult descision with hardly any time to think. that will be the true stature of his knolledge.
that is all.