I will assert that a person who graduates with a degree in psychology from Yale and gets an MD from Michigan certainly is academically qualified for the USMA. I will further assert that, barring issues in the pre-admission physical, that someone who excelled in JROTC is physically qualified for West Point.
It is more difficult to get in to the USMA than it is to get a scholarship to Yale.
Actually, that's not true. Yale accepts 6.3% of applicants and West Point accepts 9.5%.
Regardless, do you deny that a promise from the Army Chief of Staff would be insufficient for admission to the USMA?
Maybe you should provide some evidence to support your claim that an offer of a scholarship to Yale automatically qualifies a person for an appointment to West Point.
If I ever made such a claim I would provide evidence.
Nevertheless, NOBODY has claimed that General Westmoreland's offer to secure Carson a spot at West Point is untrue. All that seems to be at issue is the phraseology used by Carson.
You wrote this: Keep in mind that Carson DID get a full scholarship to Yale, so he was certainly qualified for West Point in Post #35.
It appears Politico are not the only liars here today...
I do, unless that promise was made to the child of a Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
Dating back to the 1940s, I have family members on both sides that have attended the service academies and senior military colleges. Some have taught there too.
Although I received a nomination from my Congressman, poor eyesight precluded admission when I tried to get in.
Currently, I have a sibling who instructs at West Point, a cousin who is attending there, and a child who is attending the top senior military college and will be contracting to serve.
Based on what I've seen, the best spin Ben Carson would be able to put on what happened is that he was offered encouragement to apply and, if he had followed through, might have been able to get a letter of recommendation from Westmoreland to support his application.