Attorney Alleges Kerry Committed Plagiarism in Two Books
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
An Indiana attorney charged yesterday that portions of two books written by the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, were lifted from other sources without proper attribution.
“It’s striking when you look at it,” said the lawyer, David Swider of Indianapolis. He said his client, a graduate student, had found “ten instances in which Kerry has lifted the material plainly from another source and states it as his own without stating the source.”
Mr. Swider said the unattributed passages appear in Mr. Kerry’s 1997 book “The New War,” and the senator’s 2003 campaign manifesto, “A Call to Service.” The attorney declined to identify his client or to discuss the specific examples of alleged plagiarism.
However, Mr. Swider did draw attention to a speech that appears in Mr. Kerry’s latest campaign book, “Our Plan for America.” The senator delivered the speech in Topeka, Kan., on May 17 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
The New York Sun found a passage in the speech that is similar to an article published 11 days earlier in an on line magazine, Slate.
According to his book, Mr. Kerry said, “Topeka has always been a place for making history. Two hundred years ago, Lewis and Clark mapped the site of this city in their journey across the continent. A hundred and fifty years ago, Topeka became the free-state capital battling against pro-slavery LeCompton. And fifty years ago this very day, the next great battle for freedom was centered here in Topeka’s segregated schools.”
In a Slate article dated May 6, author Matthew Polly wrote, “This is the year of anniversaries for Kansas and Topeka. Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka began the end of legal segregation. One hundred and fifty years ago, the Kansas Territory was established, and Topeka became the free-state capital battling against pro-slavery LeCompton. Two hundred years ago, Lewis and Clark made their way through the area.”
A spokesman for Senator Kerry, Michael Meehan, declined to discuss the similarity. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
Mr. Polly, a Manhattan-based writer who is a Topeka native, said in an interview that the Kerry campaign had not asked to borrow his language but that he would have gladly given such permission.
“If Bush stole it, I might be upset,” Mr. Polly said. “I’m a Kerry supporter. He can have any of my words…. I would consider it an honor.”
Mr. Swider said he considers Mr. Kerry responsible for the alleged plagiarism, even though so-called ghostwriters may have written many or all of the passages in question.
“It’s his name and his copyright,” Mr. Swider said.
The Indiana attorney described his client as a doctoral candidate with degrees in English and history who “is very good at research.” He said the student had not discovered the alleged similarities through use of computer programs that compare a document to previously published works.
Mr. Swider said his client is seeking a news organization or political group that is willing to pay for the research on Mr. Kerry’s writings. The attorney also acknowledged that the student has some political motivation. “There’s no question he didn’t do the same research on Bush’s writing,” the lawyer said.
In 1988, Senator Biden of Delaware quit the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after it was revealed that his speeches included numerous sections copied from other politicians, most notably a leader of Britain’s Labor Party, Neil Kinnock.