As we approach the the 2008 elections, I thought it might be a good time to study the history of American presidential elections to see if there is a pattern to what kind of candidates have been elected.One distinct pattern did emerge. American tends to only elect leaders to the presidency.
What qualifies as a leader in the eyes of the people? Governors, Vice Presidents, Military Generals and Presidential cabinet members make up almost the entire list of American Presidents.
What doesn't qualify as a leader? U.S. Senators and Congressmen. In the entire history of the Republic only two U.S Senators and one Congressman who moved directly to the Presidency.
Two of those three had previously been a military General and the third, John Kennedy had earned the reputation as war hero as the Commander of a PT boat in WW2. We elected the congressman in 1880, one of the senators in 1888 and the last one in 1960. When we vote in 2008 it will have been 48 years since we elected a senator or congressman.
It is my theory that America tends to see leaders as those who at some point were in a position where as President Truman said, “The Buck Stops Here.”. Senators and Congressmen rarely are in that position as they occupy roles mostly defined by political compromise rather than actually leading. This doesn't seem to bode well for Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards, McCain or Thompson.
Just taking a look at the leaders that are still in the race. We have Governor Huckabee, Governor Romney and Governor Richardson. Rudy Giuilani's position of authority was as mayor of New York, but a mayor has never stepped up to President.
Senator McCain was an officer in the military, but his greatest military fame came from getting captured by the enemy. Former Ambassador Keyes also served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.
When you examine the field the pool of leaders gets quite small. Once we have established who the leaders are, then we can take the next step of evaluating which of these would be effective and wise leaders. The pool gets really small from there.
