Wanted: President of the United States: Educational Background, Not a Factor

Wanted: President of the United States: Educational Background, Not a Factor.

Everyone claims to be for better teachers and schools. Both Democrats and Republicans, to say nothing of independents, fervently believe that American children should receive a first-rate education. After all, democracy is great but not a democracy of dunces. It is, however, ironical that for all the nods to the paramount importance of sound schooling, many Americans don't give a hoot about the educational credentials of candidates for our highest office. While scholastic success would be an important consideration for someone seeking an executive position in a company or organization, it is, for many voters, a matter of indifference when it comes to selecting the person who will take the helm of the American ship of state.

The primary task of the President is to defend the Constitution. Anyone intent on performing this task would seem to benefit from an expert knowledge of that foundational document. Barack Obama was arguably the best student in his class at Harvard Law School. He has also taught constitutional law and was offered a tenured position at one of the nation's premier law schools, the University of Chicago. Joe Biden earned his JD at Syracuse University and while a senator, has been teaching constitutional law at Widener University. On the basis of the job description, one would think that the academic background of Senators Obama and Biden would stand on the plus side of the ledger. Not necessarily so.

You don't need a Harvard degree to know that global politics are becoming increasingly interrelated and complex. Given this complexity, an outside observer would assume that Americans would seek leaders who, among other things, had a proven capacity for assimilating and analyzing facts. If nothing else, demonstrated academic excellence attests to this power and training of mind. And yet, whether you were the president of the Law Review at Harvard (Obama) or struggled to attain a bachelor's degree (Palin) is something to yawn about for much of the electorate.

As though it were an argument for the irrelevancy of one's educational background, Senator McCain literally chuckles over the fact he was fifth from the bottom of the class at the Naval Academy. The Associated Press reports that Sarah Palin attended at least four different colleges before finally grasping her sheepskin from the University of Idaho. These are not the kinds of accomplishments that would make for a strong resume- unless perhaps you aspired to become president or vice president.

Gumption, grit, and common sense are all that many voters want to hear about. Many of these same folks have the strange sense that success in school undercuts these virtues of the gut as well as the ability to make judicious political decisions. Still, like everyone else, the gumption and grit brigade is willing to carry placards "Support Education." But if they really believe that education is so important, then why shouldn't the education of our candidates count for something?

Comments

[Mildmannered]

Also someone should check out why Palin had to leave four colleges before graduating, must be a juicy story there

[Mildmannered]

I think it would be interesting to check out the success of the careers of the bottom four middies from his academy class assuming that they have not yet passed on to that big Bancroft Hall in the sky.

[ToddInGA]

it's always such a breath of fresh air to read your posts, gordon. i'm still amazed at the number of people who say that they want a regular guy/gal, somebody just like them, for a president. this just doesn't make any sense to me. it'd be nice to think we could shoot higher, look for someone who's better than we are in important ways, somebody to inspire us to embrace great challenges and ideas. if not a "knight of faith," then at least then at least someone who'd be interested in understanding what that is.

thanks again...

[tel8034]

That's why when Republicans are in the White House, EVERY CHILD GETS LEFT BEHIND.

America should not have to DUMB DOWN, just because the current President is DUMB and just because the Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees are also DUMB.

[rob126]

Unfortunately, many in this country look down on anyone with who is smart and highly educated. It seems that being too educated is regarded as being elitist. In particular, there does not seem to be a lot of respect for those with graduate degrees, or at least respect for the what the degree represents.

[moonwatcher]

I think higher degrees are important. Apparently the national voters have thought so in the past. According to what I read on the internet, 25 of our Presidents have been lawyers, 16 have been governors and 15 have been Senators. If we just use the experience of governors as a criteria for the Presidency, we would have left out Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. We've had some pretty bad Presidents who have been governors.

[Aby]

That John McCain FINDS HUMOR in being fifth from the bottom of his Naval Academy class is even worse than the fact that he was.

[rob126]

I'm no fan of John McCain, but I do think his humor is appropriate regarding being fifth from the bottom. I teach at the college and university level and over the years have run across "drop outs" from the service academies. These students are very good. Anybody who can survive the rigors of the military lifestyle and the intense academic demands of the service academies has to be good. Whoever comes in last in their class has my respect. As I see it, it is not a case of barely passing, it is the case where he or she was good enough to succeed. They are entitled to joke about it because they were good enough to make it.

[JRsNana]

You couldn't be more right with this one.
I've also wondered why in the world we wouldn't want the "elite" (noun meaning best) to be running our country. I WANT my President and Vice-President to be capable of reading a piece of legislation and understanding it, of hearing a Supreme Court decision and being able to interpret that decision.
We've seen what an average, legacy student can do to a country. We've seen what someone who is not elite but elitist (limited, snobby, discriminatory) can do to a Constitution. We've seen that for the last 7+years.
Now, I WANT elite..

[smurphette]

At this point of the race it's not about education . In truth it's never been about the issues at all . It's always been a race about RACE!!.