Fawning ambition so plainly expressed in the classroom was quite another matter. It wasn't that I got A's; other boys got A's. It was that I wanted my A's so badly and sought them so blatantly-that's what everyone saw. Nixon: "I won my share of scholarships, and of speaking and debating prizes in school, not because I was smarter but because I worked longer and harder than some of my more gifted colleagues.”.