Before coming to Harvard, Gore graduated from St. Albans in Washington, D.C. ranked 25th in a class of 51. There, he had three straight years of C's in French, although he did receive four years of straight A's in art.

According to the Post, Gore's SATs were a strong 1355 (625 verbal, 730 math) as compared to Texas Gov. George W. Bush's 1206 (566 verbal, 640 math). On IQ tests taken in 1961 and 1964, his freshman and senior years in high school, Gore scored 133 and 134--well above average.

"This just proves that many of the preconceived notions of Al Gore have been stiff and boring," said Gore Press Secretary Chris Lehane to the Post. "He in fact has a very rich and well-rounded background--artist, athlete, and academic."

Gore campaign spokesperson Doug Hataway said that Gore had not made the transcripts available in any way.

"The vice president did not release his grades for that story, we're not sure how they got them, as far we know the school did not release them either, so it's a bit of a mystery, but he did not release his grades," Hataway said.

The Post article refers also to Newsweek writer Bill Turque, who obtained Gore's transcripts independently from the Post and published some of Gore's grades in the recent unauthorized biography, Inventing Al Gore.

The book has been available for three weeks in major cities, but review copies had been floating around the Washington Post as early as January, Turque said. The book will become available nationally on Thursday.