404 education missing!?

This bit of idealism would be awesome if it could be ... brought to fruition in the real world. The same criticism can be said of many politicians here in the United States (and to a limited degree what I hear of some of Canadian's most publicized public figures).

Never going to happen. There should be a definite requirement for anyone working in the educational arm of government (secretary of education, department of education, etc...) whereas our current Secretary of education has ultimately failed in that requirement. Betsy Devos is one of the worst cases on undereducated and unqualified ever in the history of US politics.

I would rather a working artist be my instructor in a studio class. Education be damned. So a political leader raised in the rank of politics is a better experience educated prson than are many "degreed" politicians.

Abe Lincoln had very little "formal" education.

That's true. Many of the founders of the republic were not college educated, so to require them to be so-let alone a PhD-would be highly inconsistent with our ideals. People have the right to choose who they want to represent them.

I doubt getting a degree would have a direct influence on criminal behavior. Frankly, I'm a bit cynical here: in my opinion, both highly and poorly educated people are susceptible to certain criminal activities, particularly corruption, when they become politically powerful. In fact, the even more cynical side of me would dare say to some it's a good motivation to actually become politically active in the first place. Why would an education change that?

Still, ideally speaking, the leader of a country should have experience in the political field, and have enough of an educational background to avoid being made to look like a fool by others. I personally prefer experience over education in this regard. Someone who climbed the rungs of the political ladder is far more proficient in the skills needed to run a country than someone with a Phd.