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Mon 23 Apr, 2012 07:12 pm
I like Obama’s idea. I think in today’s times with complex global multiplex issues, both democrat and republican politicians at the levels of Congressman and Senators must have training in their roles and responsibilities. Most are attorneys, and don’t have knowledge in executively managing a state or geographical area and must rely on political advisors to make important decisions, and hence, we the people, all suffer the consequences. For example, how much can A. Schwarzenegger contribute to running California?
Answer to our national dilemma! I think all politicians should have graduate (PHD) degrees in finance, economics, civil engineering, etc. that make them now a value added politician. So when an idea is put on the table, such as let’s deregulate mortgages, 30 to 50 men will have a flag go up in their heads, with follow up discussion on the impact this may have on our future, rather than just sitting there in silence at a caucus or meeting.
We are voting people in public office who are immediately incompetent in their new executive office and must stop this voting scam now!
@edmund36,
The only problem is wisdom doesn't come from college--one of the wisest POTUS in the 20th Century was Harry Truman. He had to end WWII, deal with the start of the Cold War, and the rebuilding of Europe and Japan and Give em Hell Harry wasn't a College Graduate. On the other hand Bush the lesser had an ivy league MBA and he couldn't think his way out of a paper bag without the help of his dad and the entire GOP.
Rap
Lincoln was also a self-educated man and one of our greatest presidents.
@edmund36,
No, I don't need a college to tell me who I can vote for.
@edmund36,
It doesn't make any difference when the electorate is so stupid. The way it stands today, the conservatives have picked the biggest liar they could find in the US to be their presidential candidate.
Besides, many of the other posters already proved your thesis lacks any common sense.
Nobody has yet mentioned the little matter of the US Constitution, which makes no mention of any level of education requirements in listing the qualifications for the Prsidency. The idea that a candidate for president should be required to have a graduate degree (in whatever discipline) is worse than elitist. It is preposterous.
@maxdancona,
He dealt with Stalin after Roosevelt's health led to a botched job at Malta and MacArthur's insubordination. He made the right decision to end the War in Japan.
Absolutely Truman was one of the best.
BTW most Historians rate Truman in the top 10.
Quote:…Nine men, we have seen, have led the list from the first Schlesinger poll of historians nearly half a century ago. What do Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Truman have in common? What do they, and Eisenhower too, who arrived too late for the 1948 poll, tell us about the qualities necessary for success in the White House?
Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton
Rap
@raprap,
I don't know if I'd use the adjective "wise" in reference to Truman but I totally agree that he was an outstanding president, one of the best of the 20th century. Among other things, he almost single-handedly desegregated the US armed forces following WW II. He took a strong stand against Communist expansionism in Europe (unlike FDR, his prdecessor) without resorting to any saber-rattling or embarrasing posturing. And the Marshall Plan, which helped revitalize the European economy following the war, wasn't drafted single-handedly by George Marshall. A number of the ideas and suggestions were Truman's.
@Lustig Andrei,
Lustig--I've always felt that to be a good leader you have to have wisdom--other attributes may be necessary, but wisdom is necessary, and Truman was a great leader.
Rap
Since we vote our politicians into office, the main criteria that people base their vote on, I believe, is the "values" of said politician to be elected.
Having a Phd. is what other people might have, so they can give the elected politician the needed paradigm to effect a specific change.
As long as this thread is broaching the thought of whether a Phd. should be needed for politicans, I believe a more practical requirement for many an office would be to have had the politician serve in the nation's military. For example, since the President is also the Commander In Chief, it really might be of value to understand the military from having once been on its inside, so to speak.
If all Governors had prior military service I can see a benefit. Any potential enemy of the country might realize we can function more like a Sparta if we had to.
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