03 September 2008

Okay, let's talk experience

There's a lot of hoohah on the internet about Sarah Palin and her experience, or lack thereof, in politics and, therefore, her suitability to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Let's look at who else has actually been president, and how experienced they were:
George Washington......soldier
Washington was never elected to anything before becoming president, though he did preside over the Constitution-writing convention in Philadelphia
John Adams......served in the Continental Congress, elected vice president twice before being elected president.
Thomas Jefferson......Governor of Virginia, secretary of state under Washington, vice president under John Adams.
When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962, he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
James Madison......Served in the Continental Congress as a representative, secretary of state under Jefferson, president.
James Monroe......elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and then to the Continental Congress as a senator, minister to France, governor of Virginia, minister to Britain, governor of Virginia again, secretary of state, secretary of war, president.
John Quincy Adams......son of a president, appointed minister to the Netherlands and Portugal and Prussia, Massachusetts state senator, US senator, minister to Russia and Britain, secretary of state under Monroe, president.
Andrew Jackson......US representative from Tennessee, US senator from Tennessee, judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, US senator from Tennessee, president.
Martin Van Buren......New York state senator, US senator, governor of New York, secretary of state, minister to Britain, vice president, president.
William Henry Harrison......governor of the Northwest Territory, congressional representative from the Northwest Territory, governor of Indiana Territory, US representative from Ohio, Ohio state senator, US senator from Ohio, minister to Colombia, president.
John Tyler......US representative from Virginia, Virginia state delegate, governor of Virginia, US senator, vice president, president.
James Polk......US representative from Tennessee, governor of Tennessee, US representative from Tennessee, president.
Zachary Taylor......soldier, president.
Millard Fillmore......New York state assemblyman, US representative, vice president under Taylor, president.
Franklin Pierce......US senator from New Hampshire, president.
James Buchanan......Pennsylvania state representative, US congressman from Pennsylvania, US senator from Pennsylvania, secretary of state under Polk, minister to Britain, president.
Abraham Lincoln......Illinois state representative, US representative from Illinois, president.
Andrew Johnson......local alderman in Tennessee, Tennessee state representative, Tennessee state senator, US representative from Tennessee, governor of Tennessee, US senator from Tennessee, military governor of occupied Tennessee, vice president under Lincoln, president.
Ulysses Grant......soldier, president.
Rutherford Hayes......soldier, US congressman from Ohio, governor of Ohio, president.
James Garfield......soldier, US representative from Ohio, president.
Chester Arthur......vice president, president.
Grover Cleveland......local sheriff, mayor of Buffalo, governor of New York, president.
Benjamin Harrison......soldier, governor of Indiana, US senator from Indiana, president.
Grover Cleveland......local sheriff, mayor of Buffalo, governor of New York, president, president.
William McKinley......US representative from Ohio, governor of Ohio, president.
Theodore Roosevelt......soldier, assistant secretary of the Navy, governor of New York, vice president, president.
William Taft......US solictor general, federal judge, civil governor of the Phillipines, secretary of war, provisional governor of Cuba, acting secretary of state under Roosevelt, president.
Woodrow Wilson......president of Princeton, governor of New Jersey, president.
Warren Harding......Ohio state senator, lieutenant governor of Ohio, US senator from Ohio, president.
Calvin Coolidge......city councilman from Northampton, Massachusetts state senator, mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts state senator, Massachusetts lieutenant governor, governor of Massachusetts, vice president, president.
Herbert Hoover......US secretary of commerce under Harding, president.
Franklin Roosevelt......New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy, governor of New York, president.
Harry Truman......local judge, US senator from Missouri, vice president, president.
Dwight Eisenhower......soldier, president.
John Kennedy......US representative from Massachusetts, US senator from Massachusetts, president.
Lyndon Johnson......US representative from Texas, US senator from Texas, vice president, president.
Richard Nixon......sailor, US representative from California, US senator from California, vice president, president.
Gerald Ford......sailor, US representative from Michigan, vice president, president.
James Carter......sailor, Georgia state senator, governor of Georgia, president.
Ronald Reagan......governor of California, president.
George H.W. Bush......sailor, US representative from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of Central Intelligence, vice president, president.
William Clinton......Arkansas attorney general, governor of Arkansas, president.
George W. Bush......governor of Texas, president.
So, who had little experience before becoming President? Oh, just George Washington, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester Arthur, and Dwight Eisenhower.
Who had a lot of experience? James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and George H.W. Bush.
Kind of a tossup, isn't it?
It also helps to have been a soldier or sailor, and named John or James. (And not a single one whose last name started with 'O', not even an O'Reilly. Only three, the Adams' and Arthur, with any vowel at all; no Italians, you see.)

Gee, isn't there a candidate this time who was a sailor and is named John? If Rico was a betting man...
Rico says he's still looking forward to what will, undoubtedly, be an interesting campaign and election this fall.

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