Ben Carson: A tangled West Point tale

WASHINGTON -- An inflammatory article Friday morning by Politico accused GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson of fabricating his account of getting a West Point scholarship, which prompted denunciations over its accuracy by the Carson camp.

By day's end, each side essentially declared victory.

In his book "Gifted Hands" about his hardscrabble life before his success as a neurosurgeon, Carson described meeting Gen. William Westmoreland at an event in Detroit. Carson wrote he was a 17-year old Reseve Officers' Training Corp student in 1969 when he met Westmoreland, who had been the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, at a dinner with Congressional Medal of Honor winners.

As a result of this meeting and support from his commanders, Carson said in his book: "Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point."

Politico reported the U.S. Military Academy had no record of Carson being admitted and said the candidate's campaign confirmed he had not even applied to West Point. Politico described the Carson campaign in its first story as admitting to having "fabricated" getting the prestigious appointment to West Point.

The Carson campaign said Politico's coverage was a "purposeful twisting of the facts."

Carson is now the front-runner for the GOP nomination in several polls, and his comments are coming in for hard scrutiny.

After a thunderous challenge from the Carson campaign, Politico issued a statement in the afternoon: "We stand by our story, which is a powerful debunking of a key aspect of Ben Carson's personal narrative. The story online includes additional details now, as well, that bolster this account."

However, the updated story no longer included the word "fabricated," saying instead Carson "conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point."

In an interview Friday with The New York Times, Carson said: "I don't remember all the specific details. Because I had done so extraordinarily well, you know, I was told that someone like me -- they could get a scholarship to West Point. But I made it clear I was going to pursue a career in medicine."

"It was, you know, an informal 'with a record like yours we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.'"

At issue is an episode covering two paragraphs in his book, which he sometimes repeats on the campaign trail but is not easily confirmed more than 40 years later.

"He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC supervisors," campaign manager Barry Bennett told Politico. "They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission."

Politico's description of the campaign having "admitted a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated" enraged the Carson camp, which hotly denied it had "admitted to anything."

"The Politico story is a purposeful twisting of the facts," Bennett told McClatchy. "He was the city executive officer of ROTC and his commanders were lobbying for him to be admitted. He never applied to West Point."

Applicants to the nation's military academies are usually nominated by members of Congress or the administration. Bennett said "Ben was offered the nomination and turned it down."

According to West Point media relations chief Theresa Brinkerhoff, before 1970, as part of a multistep application process, "the Adjutant General of the Army sent West Point candidates seeking admission an official letter of nomination." She said that records of candidates who did not pursue an application "are only retained for three years."

Bennett told McClatchy that Carson was offered a letter of nomination, one step in the process, and he did not proceed because he wanted to go to medical school. Attending West Point would have meant four years of military service after graduation.

In his book, Carson said he was "overjoyed" to get what he incorrectly calls a scholarship offer -- all students at the four U.S. service academies attend free of charge -- but said he was focused on a career in medicine. Carson attended Yale University and received his medical degree from the University of Michigan.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Ben Carson: A tangled West Point tale ."