<p>Off the top of my head, I can think of Harvard College grads JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, Henry Cabot Lodge, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.</p>
<p>A quick search of the colleges attended by the Senators of the 109th Congress (this one) reveals that Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico), David Vitter (Louisiana), Chuck Schumer (New York), John D. Rockefeller IV (West Virginia) also went to Harvard undergrad. (<a href=“U.S. Senate: 404 Error Page”>U.S. Senate: 404 Error Page)</p>
<p>So that’s at least 10 (already over the Wiki number). And that’s also just the famous ones that I can remember (I should’ve known Chuck Schumer, darn it!) and those that are there now. Forget the more famous 19th century ones, as well as the unmemorable 19th and 20th ones. While I certainly wouldn’t say the number is “scores” larger than that reported, as Ske would, I’d say that it is probably a couple times larger than what the Wiki article says. Especially if you remember that the Senate used to be known as “The Millionaire’s Club” and was basically even more of an old boy’s club than it is now - and old boys come from HYP.</p>
<p>Now I’d still argue that Yale is the place to go for politics - it’s certainly one of the reasons I’m going. I mean, it’s almost a “who’s who” list in today’s government. Bush and Kerry, sure, but Cheney, Lieberman, Dean - all Yale College (well - Cheney went for a while. Dum-dum.). Yale basically founded the CIA. The University has graduated 523 members of Congress, 55 Cabinet Secretaries, and 18 Supreme Court Justices (and 5 Presidents). But I do think the wiki stats unfairly underestimate Harvard’s importance in the government.</p>
<p>Best,
DMW</p>
<p>P.S. Oh, and while I would kill to get into either HLS or YLS, I would like to say that if we are to use cross-admit rates as the ultimate sign of selectivity, Yale wins on a level comparable to or greater than Harvard College over Yale college. On an anecdotal level, my boss just told me that another man who had worked in my office was going to YLS over HLS. Shortly after he told his Harvard admissions officer this, the Dean of HLS called him and for 35 minutes tried to convince him that he was making a terrible mistake and to cajole him into going to Harvard. He still picked Yale. That being said, a cousin of mine went to HLS and said it was a great mental exercise that he’d recommend to anyone.</p>