50 years later, disagreements over young Trump’s military academy record

Washington Post ^ | 10 Jan 2016 | Michael E. Miller

[mandaladon]

From the moment 17-year-old Donald Trump was named a captain for his senior year at New York Military Academy, he ordered the officers under his command to keep strict discipline. Shoes had to be shined. Beds had to be made. Underclassmen had to spring to attention.

Then, a month into Trump’s tenure in the fall of 1963, came an abrupt change.

The tall, confident senior with a shock of blond hair was removed from that coveted post atop A Company and transferred to a new job on the school staff — another prestigious assignment, but one with no command responsibilities. He moved out of the barracks and into the administration building, swapping jobs with a fellow high-ranking senior who took command of Trump’s old group.

Explanations vary as to what actually happened.

In Trump’s telling, he was elevated as a reward for stellar performance. “I had total control over the cadets,” he said in a recent interview. “That’s why I got a promotion — because I did so good.”

Former cadets recall the change differently. They say school administrators transferred Trump after a freshman named Lee Ains complained of being hazed by a sergeant under Trump’s command. School officials, those cadets say, were concerned that Trump’s style of delegating leadership responsibilities while spending a lot of time in his room, away from his team, allowed problems to fester.

“They felt he wasn’t paying attention to his other officers as closely as he should have,” said Ains, who lives in Connecticut and works in the aerospace industry.

Bill Specht, the cadet who switched places with Trump, recalled an administrator telling him about the hazing incident and saying that “the school has decided that they are going to make a switch.”

The incident, previously unreported, offered an early glimpse into a pattern that would follow Trump through much of his life and has been evident in his rise as a leading Republican presidential candidate. Often the center of controversy, he finds a way to emerge by declaring victory and claiming success, even if the facts are more complicated and some people around him are left with sour feelings.

[mandaladon]

Interviews with cadets who knew him well and a close mentor reveal a more complex picture of Trump’s experience at the school. As a maturing teenager, he began to exhibit some of the traits the world would come to know through his fame as a real estate mogul, reality TV star and White House contender. Even at an academy renowned for imposing strict standards on its cadets, Trump often managed to play by his own rules. He often left campus on weekends and drew the envy of fellow students for his habit of bringing attractive women to the school. He also stirred resentment from some in his orbit.--------------------Reading the whole article makes me like Trump even more!

[mkjessup]

And this same Washington Post couldn’t find their asses with a road map and a flashlight when it came to digging into Emperor Barky’s dubious past.

[mandaladon]

He was quieter and humbler than he is now, some classmates said, and did not brag about his family’s wealth. “I remember having a conversation with him where he said his dad was a builder, and I said, ‘My dad was a builder, too,’ ” said Jeffrey Pollack, who was in A Company. It wasn’t until several years later that Pollack picked up a news magazine, read about the Trump family fortune and realized what his classmate had meant.----------------Very positive trait

[Redleg Duke]

At least the records are not sealed!

[dp0622]

HE’s the new Teflon Don :)

let’s hope he fares better than the last one!

[2banana]

Amazingly - no newspaper can find anyone who remembers obama in college...

[dowcaet]

You mean to tell me he was a skirt chaser in his younger days. Why, that should disqualify him from running for president. Really WaPo is this the best you can do?

[4rcane]

So how well did Trump do academically? Back then IQ test wasn’t a tamboo so he must’ve taken it

[Georgia Girl 2]

“He often left campus on weekends”

Yeh because every weekend Trump’s father made him come home and work on his various properties painting etc.

[Maelstorm]

Oh my. Talk about desperate. Attacking Trump based on hearsay back when he was in military school? Just lame.

[4rcane]

media find Trump’s classmates to contradict his story and automatically assume that story is true while Trump’s version is false

[Caipirabob]

Lol...but where is the kitchen sink? They’ve thrown everything else at Trump...

[darkwing104]

its called desperation. we know more about Trump's school years than Obama.

How dare day associate Trump with the Military, The Libs are having a cow what Trump did years ago.

[SeeSharp]

But Bill Clinton’s trip to Moscow during the cold war was off limits for discussion during his campaign.

[Wilderness Conservative]

This is great, they have to go back to the 60’s to dig up dirt when he was in high school. NEWS FLASH: Hazing was the norm in military schools up through the 90’s. Then they all got all pussified and lawsuit scared.

[hoosiermama]

Friends and roommates have been interviewed. Most still have contact with him
One stated if there was a prank on campus DT was the first one called in. If he wasn’t directly involved he knew all the details. The word FUN seems to be used by each of them Lifelong friends is a term not used by O or HRC

[Gaffer]

Barack Hussein Obama has no military training whatsoever - even as being CinC. Barack Hussein Obama has no published official transcripts, papers, tests, quizzes or even a poem from his time, supposedly at THREE different US colleges and Universities.

I don’t wanna hear a damn thing about Trump’s prior education and/or military training.

[huldah1776]

Trump does learn from his mistakes, if this happened. Talk to his present employees and those who oversee his construction plus his contractors. Get a good overview.

[Ciexyz]

What about all the women that Bill Clinton assaulted? The mainstream media makes me sick.

[Right Brother]

Can’t wait to see the WaPo articles about Hillary’s involvement with Whitewater, cattle futures, ‘bimbo’ eruptions, etc.