“He looks at me and goes, ‘Um, how old are you. And I said, ‘Well I am 26, I will be 27.’ And he goes, ‘Well, that is kind of old for us.’ And then he says to me, and this is what gets me, ‘Maybe the dogs will take you,’ meaning the Army.” –Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking at a breakfast, Manchester, N.H., Nov. 10, 2015
One Clinton story that has often been greeted with skepticism is her claim, first made in 1994, that she once tried to join the Marines in 1975. On the campaign trail, she brought up the story again [... above].
Can this story be confirmed?
For the reasons given Kessler gives the claim two Pinocchios out of four for truthfulness, "subject to change if more information becomes available."
More information?
When Hillary got married to Bill Clinton October 11, 1975 ("Let's see, what should I do, quit both my jobs at the University of Arkansas and my private law practice and join the Marines, or get married to Bill Clinton?"), she was two weeks from her 28th birthday, not her 27th.
She wasn't 26, going on 27, as she claimed this week.
Not only that, a recruiter from the era went on the
record years ago stating the military was desperate for bodies at the time, taking people up to age 35, and that the Marines never made quota until the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979.
Add two Pinocchios, and the whole damn woodshop.
h/t Chris Plante