"When I first ran for office, I ran in Back Bay, Beacon Hill," Frank said. "Harvard was highly regarded there, and the fact that I had graduated from there helped a little bit."
But Frank said his academic credentials ceased being relevant to his political career after this first victory.
According to Frank, once a legislator has a record to run on, voters no longer pay attention to where he or she went to school.
Frank's colleague in the House, Connecticut's Maloney, suggested that Harvard degrees attract less notice in the East than they do in other parts of the country.
Still, alumni seeking office outside New England have nonetheless been known to make use of their Harvard ties.
Mel Levine, who graduated from HLS in 1969 and represented California in the U.S. House for five terms, recalled that having gone to Harvard helped him win his first race, a California State Assembly election.
"I ran from a fairly well-educated district, and I felt it was a plus to have had a Harvard education," Levine said.
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