Presidential Contest Spurs Rivalry

This year, the present is prologue, and the parallels served as subtext at The Game.

The presidential election, contested between a Yalie and a Cantab, has extended well beyond November 7, with an end not currently in sight.

Fortunately, The Game is limited to an hour the weekend before Thanksgiving.

In 12 out of the 15 last presidential election years, when Harvard has won The Game, a Democrat has won the presidential election, and a Yale victory has meant a Republican in the White House. (There was no Harvard-Yale game in one election year, 1944.)

George W. Bush, of course, graduated from Yale in 1968, while Al Gore took his Harvard degree in 1969.

At Harvard Stadium Saturday, fans clad in blue and white and in red didn't need reminding that they were part of two unusual historical dramas.

"Bush went to Yale!" chanted Harvard fans amid the usual shouts of "Safety school!" and "Yale sucks!"

On the other side of the field, Yale fans asked, "Why not let the 117th playing of The Game, determine the next leader of the free world?" in press releases distributed before The Game, ABC News reported.

The correlation between Harvard-Yale football and the presidential election has a tenure since 1940.

That year, Harvard crushed Yale 28 to 0 and Democrat Franklin Roosevelt, with equal ease, triumphed over Republican Alfred Landon.

Sixteen years later, Yale captured the first official Ivy League championship with a 42-14 victory over Harvard and Republican Dwight Eisenhower was re-elected president.

In 1992, Harvard slaughtered Yale 14-0, and Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton was elected.

Indeed, since Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980, The Game and the presidency have matched every time.

"Even though the football game itself is a big deal, that wasn't the only form of competition this weekend," says Kathie Koo '04. "This weekend, there were competitions between a cappella groups and bands, for example. That's why politics would be an issue. Everyone is trying to think of ways to prove Harvard is better, so we can be redeemed even if we lost the game."

But even if Yale seems to be closing in on the presidency this year, with Bush ahead in the Florida recount and the Elis triumphing on the gridiron, Harvard has some claim to presidential pride as well.

While Bush attended Yale as an undergraduate, he received his M.B.A. from the Business School in 1975.