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Does Experience Matter for a U.S. President?
A few weeks ago, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. That same evening, I found myself in a good natured argument with a friend about whether or not he’s qualified for the job.
Her position, in a nutshell, was that being mayor of a large city makes you plenty qualified to be a U.S. president. Mine was no. It does not.
I wish I could say I’ve had similarly constructive conversations about Pete Buttigieg, but I’m pretty sure that sighing loudly and rolling my eyes at the mere mention of his name doesn’t count as a coherent argument on my part. I should probably work on that.
What I should have said about Buttigieg is that he seems to have plenty of political talent, diplomatic ability, and a genuine desire to serve but I still think it’s a terrible idea for America to exchange one under qualified president for another.
I also question why the mayor of the third largest town in the 17th most populous state thinks it’s a good idea for him to run for the job of commander in chief instead of just supporting one of the more experienced people running, especially the women.
A friend shared her theory about why black voters have largely shunned Buttigieg as a candidate: “It’s not because he’s gay, it’s because we’ve all dealt with an inexperienced white guy who thinks he should be our boss, no matter how much longer we’ve been at the company before.”
Does history support a belief that experience matters?
Here’s what I believe: I believe U.S. presidents should already know how Washington DC works from their first day on the job. They should already have a robust network of relationships in place there.
They should have experience governing a wide variety of people, including those who live in cities and rural environments. They should already have years’ worth of being in the public eye at the state level at least, and have plenty of experience dealing with other elected officials in that limelight.
That means ideally, a U.S. president should have already served as a U.S. Congressperson and/or vice president and/or governor.
