JFK's algebra grades

As a prep student, young John Kennedy earned a grade of 65% the first year he took algebra and a 71% the second year.  It's unclear if 65% was a failing grade that required him to retake the course, but it does look that way.  Later on, he scored 82% on his "Elementary Algebra" college placement test. I suspect he benefited from private tutoring.

You can draw your own conclusions from this information.  It fits into several possible narratives.  And then there's this from the letter JFK's father wrote to Harvard before his son enrolled.

Jack has a very brilliant mind for the things in which he is interested, but is careless and lacks application in those in which he is not interested. This is, of course, a bad fault.

JFK's Unimpressive Harvard Application

I found this on Ann Althouse's blog