Braun Falsely Claims Harvard Degrees

Carol Moseley Braun, whose career includes a term in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois and a stint as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, clearly has an impressive record of achievement behind her.

One accomplishment that she can't claim, however, is having graduated with a degree from Harvard. Be that as it may, Braun did just that in a radio interview on a Chicago radio station last Wednesday, but Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune quickly caught the glitch.

Braun, currently a candidate in Chicago's mayoral election, was speaking about the city's finances before changing the topic to education and saying:

"I'm a product of the Chicago Public Schools. I walked to school in the neighborhood in which I lived. I got a quality education that took me on to a law degree from the University of Chicago and advanced degrees from Harvard."

To make matters worse, later in the show a caller remarked that Braun's achievements impressed him, specifically citing her claim that she "went to Harvard." Braun let the comment pass without clarification.

Though she never received a Harvard degree, Braun does at least have some connection to Harvard. She was a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics in 2007.

Braun’s campaign later issued a statement saying Braun "misspoke."

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

CORRECTION: JANUARY 20, 2010

An earlier version of the Jan. 19 Flyby post "Braun Falsely Claims Harvard Degree" misquoted Braun as having claimed to have "an advanced degree from Harvard." In fact, Braun said that she had "advanced degrees from Harvard."