Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address

[bobselectric]

No one is denying that President-Elect Obama is a really bright guy, probably the most educated president in the history of the nation. My point is that once you get the education, lifes experience should shape what your views are- not your college professors.
President-Elect Obama has had a wealth of experience maturing as only an African-American (in relation to most other politicians from senator and up) could experience. He has not had much experience as the leader of any group- this could be good and it could be bad. To say he is a great president because he has two degrees from one of the top learning institutions is premature, and a swipe at "lesser" presidents such as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Lincoln

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by bobselectric

No one is denying that President-Elect Obama is a really bright guy, probably the most educated president in the history of the nation.

Woodrow Wilson gained a PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1883, back in a time when PhDs were not given away, there was no grade inflation and Presbyterian boys from Rebel States (Wilson came from South Carolina and had survived Reconstruction) were not cut much slack in Baltimore.

Wilson taught at Bryn Mawr College, Wesleyan University, and Princeton. He eventually became President of Princeton before going into New Jersey State Politics.

No way in hell can you claim that a PhD in Poly Sci from Johns Hopkins awarded in 1886 is less than a JD from Harvard awarded in 1991. To this day Wilson is the only President who has achieved a PhD.

FWIW, George Bush Jr may be the only US President who has ever achieved a Masters Degree. Yes, Bush has a Harvard Business School MBA. They're not given away like tickets to the homecoming game. Gotta earn 'em.

I'm gonna ask it - why does a JD from Harvard and a BA from Columbia give Obama the prerogatives to be President but a BA from Yale and an MBA from Harvard does not qualify Bush for anything in particular? Both men achieved post graduate degrees from the very same school - why is Obama better? His progressive credentials? His cult of personality? Maybe some covert racism from some people who consider a man of color achieving so much to be a marvel of sorts?

Where I come from lawyers are not necessarily better Presidents. Richard Nixon and Abraham Lincoln come to mind.


I realize that it is very difficult for a young person to achieve much before they decide to run for President.

Bill Clinton managed to serve two terms as Arkansas Governor and one term as Arkansas Attorney General. He also taught Constitutional Law at the University of Arkansas. I don't consider him a good President but that's due to my own convictions - I'm not sure that his opponents would have done any better.

John Kennedy, who was a young man when he decided to run for President, actually accomplished a few things in the Senate before he opted to run for President. Ironically this included supplementing the Kefauver hearings with his own hearings on organized crime and helping to lead US support for a free Algeria.

Obama owed it to himself to achieve a few things besides three terms in the Illinois legislature, part of a US Senate term, teaching Constitutional Law classes, running a "Community Activist" organization, trying a handful of cases and doing clerical work on several more at one Chicago law firm.

If he had any damned sense he would have done a bit more case law in Civil Rights, maybe work a bit more with running poverty programs in Chicago and Detroit. Definitely do something practical before jumping into politics.

I think if Obama's Presidency achieves much it's going to be in spite of his lack of practical experience in executive management.

I think one thing we can rule out right away - nobody is gonna get their gas tanks filled up and their mortgages paid by Obama.

Gene