Comfortable Incomes

Today, the Class of '44 is involved a variety of professions--though many are now retired--and is very financially secure.

Twenty-nine percent of households earn between $50,000 and $99,000, 29 percent between $100,000 and $199,000 and 14 percent more than $200,000.

And these weren't even the house holds' income brackets. To that question, the poll found that 43 percent earned between $100,000 and $199,000, and 18 percent made more than 200,000.

But even with those numbers, only six percent of the class termed itself "rich," with 59 percent of alums saying they are "comfortable."

Evidence seems to show that many are more than just well off, however. Forty percent of the respondents own second homes. A plurality of the alumni have their first homes in the suburbs (42 percent), with 25 percent in cities and 16 percent in the country.

And only five percent said the recent recession has had "great impact" on their lives.

The most popular profession was in health care, with 15 percent--the same proportion planning to enter medicine in 1944. The second most popular was the law, which includes 11 percent of the poll's respondents.

Other well-represented professions included education (13 percent), finance (eight percent) business (seven percent) and scientific research (six percent).

Most members of the class (61 percent) Did not change professions over their working lives, and 79 percent say they would choose the same career again.

Politically Moderate

The political leanings of the fiftieth anniversary Harvard class are fairly centrist, with an anti-isolationist tendency in their foreign policy views.

"I think on the whole they grouped pretty much around the median," Kleeman says. "We had the extremes represented but on the whole I think we were pretty much a centrist group."

The class is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans (39 percent each), with the remaining 11 percent claiming independent status. Twenty-one per cent did term themselves "liberal Democrats," matched by the same proportion calling themselves "middle of the road" Republicans.

Only three percent of respondents were "radicals": one percent radicals Democrats, one percent Republicans, and one percent Independents.