Really shocked he gave her A’s. Leftist teachers I have experienced are never that honest.
I know. Me too, but using the sources I introduced her to, she made some very compelling and well reasoned arguments, and I know that he found her essays more interesting and well thought out than those of her classmates.
When they were studying Roosevelt's New Deal, she came into class with a copy of FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and his New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression, and so was able to make very cogent well-reasoned arguments disputing the standard lefty assertion about Roosevelt rescuing America from the great depression.
And she even emailed him the very clever video of Keynes and Hayek having a rap battle (Fear the Boom and Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle).
She didn't change his mind, I know. But it was obvious that she had studied hard and knew far more on the subject than her classmates did.
He couldn't discount all the work she put in and the thoughtfulness of her arguments. (Of course, I admit I helped her with those essays, but she did the work herself and learned how to write well and think critically.)
So she won his respect, and he told her that when the students handed in their essays, he always read hers first because they were the most interesting. So she kept him on his toes, and he would often write little rebuttles in the margins to the points she made. But it was obvious that he enjoyed the debate.
So even though he was a commie, he at least had integrity. I'll give him that much.