Why do we select politicians to be presidents? They are not leaders. In the system of government that has evolved in the USA, politicians are compromisers who have risen in the ranks of their political parties by gathering donations, winning campaigns, and then voting in lockstep with the dictates of the “elders” of their political party.
The most popular presidents of recent history elected by Republicans have been Ronald Reagan, a B-list actor, and Donald Trump, a real estate mogul who apparently built his empire through a continuing series of fraudulent enterprises. Both of the Bushes claimed backgrounds in business. Gerald Ford was the long-term Republican leader in the House of Representatives before being named Vice-president by Richard Nixon. Nixon was a long-term politician. Dwight Eisenhower was a career military officer and war hero from WW2.
By contrast, Democratic presidents have been almost exclusively from the ranks of politicians. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1973, then served as VP for Barack Obama. Barack Obama was a public interest lawyer, first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1997, then to the US Senate in 2004, before his successful campaign for president in 2008. Bill Clinton was Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas before his presidential campaign in 1992. Jimmy Carter is the sole individual among Democrats who can claim some type of outside experience as a farmer and businessman. Carter was the epitome of what the Republican Party should have sought: a small businessman, a Southern Baptist, a military veteran, a farmer, Southern governor, but he was simply too decent. Lyndon Johnson was a long-term Senate leader before being selected as Vice-president by JFK. John F. Kennedy was in the House of Representatives from 1947 — 1953 and the US Senate from 1953 — 1960. Harry Truman came from a different political party than the Democratic Party of the 21st Century, but he had been a county judge who became a US Senator, then Vice-president before succeeding FDR. Franklin D. Roosevelt was New York Governor before his election as President in 1932. He had held a number of various electoral positions and appointed political positions before his term as NY Governor.
In the political system that we have in the 21st Century, politicians are not leaders, and they certainly do not represent their constituents. Almost all votes in the Congress and the Senate are straight party-line votes, where all of the members ignore their constituents’ interests and vote the straight party line dictated by the leaders of their party.
Perhaps we could consider a few leaders in American society outside the political realm. A president needs to be able to present speeches and preside over discussions among advisors. No president can have all of the necessary skills but should be able to assemble a qualified group of advisors and present goals for our nation and our leaders. What is remarkable about the following list of leaders below is that none of them is nearly as elderly as either Joe Biden or Donald Trump and each has been extremely successful in their chosen profession — much more so than either Biden or Trump!
In Alphabetical Order, with absolutely no preference from this writer:
Jeff Bezos — Age 59. CEO, Amazon. Net worth $134 Billion. Founder, CEO of Amazon, Owner, Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company, developing rockets. Bezos flew in one of the rockets into space in July 2021. Graduate Princeton.
Rosalind Brewer — Age 61. CEO Walgreens, COO Starbucks. Net Worth $50 Million. Businesswoman, chemist, serves on numerous boards of directors of retail merchants and industrial corporations, including Walmart, Amazon, Starbucks, Kimberly-Clark and Lockheed Martin Graduate Spelman College, executive education at University of Chicago, Stanford Law, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Sandra Bullock — Age 58. Actress, Producer. Net Worth $250 Million. Recognized with numerous awards, including Academy Award and Golden Globe. Bullock has donated $1 Million to the American Red Cross on at least 5 separate occasionsl. Graduate East Carolina University.
Tim Cook — Age 62. CEO Apple. Net Worth $1.9 Billion. MBA Fuqua School of Business.
Bill Gates — Age 67. Founder, ex-CEO Microsoft, and Philanthropist. Net Worth $116 Billion. Gates was rated as the wealthiest person in the world until he was recently supassed by Bezos. Gates is well-known for his many business and philanthropic endeavors, having pledged to give at least half of his wealth to philanthropy. Harvard University dropout
Tom Hanks — Age 66. Actor, Filmmaker. Net Worth $400 MIllion. One of the most popular and recognizable film stars world-wide. Hanks has received numerous awards and medals including Presidential Medal of Freedom and Cecil B. Demille Lifetime Achievement Award.
Reed Hastings — Age 62. CoFounder, CEO Netflix. Net Worth $3.2 Billion. Recently donated $120 Million to two historically Black Colleges and the United Negro College Fund. Graduate Bowdoin College, Masters Science, Stanford University.
Elon Musk — Age 51. CEO Tesla, SpaceX. Net worth $176 Billion. Recently purchased Twitter. Graduate University of Pennsylvania.
Jon Stewart — Age 60. Comedian, Political commentator, actor, director. Net Worth $160 Million. Stewart dominated the television airwaves with a mix of comedy and political commentary on the Daily Show from 1999 to 2015, and is now involved in other productions. He is known as a long-time advocate for veteran’s health benefits. Graduate College of William & Mary.
Denzel Washington — Age 68. Actor, producer, filmmaker. Net Worth $280 Million. Washington is one of America’s top actors, having received 3 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes, and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. NY Times named Washington the greatest actor of the 21st Century. Graduate Fordham University.
Mark Zuckerberg — Age 39. Founder, CEO Facebook. Net worth $85 Billion. Harvard University dropout.