MY KENNEDY CONNECTION

WROTE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE ON DEC. 19, 2008
MY KENNEDY CONNECTION
OK, it’s really tenuous, but it’s instructive

By Martin Zabell

Throughout this week, I have been reading columns about why Caroline Kennedy should or shouldn’t be the next U.S. senator from New York.

A common argument among the pro-Caroline crowd is that she is "smart" because she went to Harvard University. This argument is stunning to me for two reasons. First, it is being made after Americans have lived through eight years of perhaps the dumbest president in our history – a graduate of Yale and Harvard.

More importantly, the arguments reflect a lack of understanding of how our educational system unfairly gave advantages to students because of their connections. I know because I could have been a beneficiary of this unfair system.

I was a high school senior when my father came home from work happier than I had ever seen him. He excitedly told me that I could go to Harvard if I wanted to. A business associate of his, he explained, had promised him that he would use his influence to make sure that Harvard accepted me.

As my father explained it, the associate – whom I have never met to this day – had extraordinary influence at Harvard because of his very close friendship with Ted Kennedy. The associate told my father that he was Kennedy’s roommate at Harvard, had starred on the football team, was very involved in a variety of alumni activities, and had influence on who was admitted to the school.

After my father finished explaining all of this, I looked at him and said "I don’t belong at Harvard." The thought of me vaulting over much more qualified candidates for very spurious reasons violated my sense of fairness – an ethos that I had learned from my father.

And, frankly, I was too lazy and stupid to fill out yet another admissions application just after I thought I had finally finished what had been a cumbersome process to me.

The topic of my going to Harvard never came up again, but my mind flashed back to this conversation several times this week as I read about how wonderful and smart Caroline Kennedy is. As she sought to be appointed senator, I couldn’t but help think "if a friend of Uncle Teddy was willing to stick out his neck for me, I wonder how much he and her other relatives were willing to stick out their necks for her."

Of course, I could have flunked out of Harvard in a week. And, of course, I don’t know that Caroline didn’t deserve to be at Harvard without any help. (For what it’s worth, one of my best friends from college was a law school classmate of JFK Jr. and he was very unimpressed by junior’s intellect.)

But I do know that Caroline Kennedy’s – and George W. Bush’s – graduation from Harvard isn’t necessarily an accurate representation of their intelligence.

And yes I understand that some of you reading this might be thinking "don’t you realize that your father’s friend might have been blowing smoke?" Yes, I do. Frankly, I have thought the same thing myself – particularly because I have never seen this man’s name in any news story that I have ever read.

But guess what? Today – Dec. 20, 2008 – I sought information on my father’s friend for the first time ever (my father passed away long ago). I Googled his name. The very first item on my screen was a 1962 Time Magazine article. I didn’t even know that articles written that long ago were available on the Internet.

The article is about Ted Kennedy running for the U.S. Senate. My father’s friend is mentioned four times in the article. He was telling the truth.

Oh, my God, I really could have gone to Harvard. Did I make a mistake?