What do you want to see in a President?

on Uncategorized

Something I think about a lot is what it takes to be a good manager, what kinds of things you should provide a manager so they can excel, and what it would take to be a good U.S. president.  I’m pretty good at managing and organizing groups of people, as Mr. B would grudgingly tell you, so the art of management and leadership is interesting to me on a non-buzzword bingo level.

Which is why I did not watch the Republican debate last night.

Everyone who has run for President of the U.S.  over the past, I’d say, 30 years, has been ridiculously underqualified.  Not that I’m a presidential historian, but it seems to me you do not need to be a lawyer to be president.  Or even a governor.  Here are the qualifications I think a president should have (note: I say he/his, but I mean any candidate.  I just hate that bullshit his/her thing you have to do to be pc these days.)

  • Understand how an economy works. At least a B.A. in Economics, hopefully more. But what’s more important is practical experience in economics.  Being able to explain things. Not rely on aides.  Be well-read in economic history and papers.
  • Have worked at least 6  months in fast food. Or cleaning toilets. Or customer service at minimum wage.
  • Travelled extensively. Have visited at least one country in each continent.
  • Try to apply for Medicare or Medicaid benefits on his own.
  • Have to be on-hold with the IRS.
  • Have a job where his health insurance comes from.  Support his spouse on the benefits.
  • Experience the lack of maternity leave in the U.S., either from her own perspective, or via a spouse.
  • Run a small business for six months. Have it fail.  Have to declare bankruptcy.
  • Try to apply for a Driver’s license, spend time at any DMV.
  • Speak AT LEAST Spanish and French, with Mandarin as an optimistic plus
  • Enjoy reading and be well-read. Constantly be reading, not just official documents, but the fiction of today. Maybe even blog comments.
  • Be a student of history, especially Afghanistan/Central Asia, and  China
  • Understanding of technology is a MUST. If you don’t know how to use email, understand why the net should be neutral, or understand the difference between Netflix and pirating, and why everyone is using Twitter now, you’re not qualified.
  • Served in the military for at least a year.  But not more.  Enough to get an idea of what it feels like to send someone off to war and alter their entire miniverse.
Now that I look at these, it’s no wonder that no one good has ever been elected. There’s no way a person could accumulate enough life experience to understand most of his constituents.
What would you want in a president?