If you ask many people what the problem with the American Government is today, there is a good chance that that person will say, "Career Politician." Are career politician really bad for the US? The argument is that Career Politicians have to spend an inordinate amount of time raising money for their next campaign and that it makes them more susceptible to influence from those who fund their campaign. The answer to all of this is term limits. I hope that I have been consistent in this blog...that term limits is not a panecea to fix problems in Washington. But here is another argument against term limits, and that is to dispel the myths of the Career Politician.
Ask the person to name the best and worst US President in their lifetime. For the worst president, a democratic leaning person will probably name George W. Bush as the worst. If they are old enough, they may name Richard Nixon. If they are a Republican, they will likely name Barrack Obama or Jimmy Carter as the worst. For the best president, a Democrat will probably name Bill Clinton as the best president, while a Republican will likely name Ronald Reagan.
Do you know that some of these presidents were "Career Politicians" before they became president? Every President since the Civil War, expect for Grant, Hayes and Eisenhower served at least 4 years in some elected office before becoming president. Some worked their way to the top. Let's take a look at all of the offices which the Presidents since the first World War held before becoming president. I think that one will find that there is no correlation between "Career Politician" and what kind of President they were. I would define a Career Politician as someone who served more than 2 terms in one office, or more than 20 years in politics before becoming President.
Woodrow Wilson--Before becoming President, he served a term as the Governor of New Jersey. Before that, he was President of Princeton. Before that, he practiced law. Can't be classified as a career politician and generally considered to be a good president.
Warren Harding---Before being elected in 1921 served as a US Senator from Ohio, as the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and in the Ohio State Senate. He was a newspaper publisher before being elected to the Ohio Senate in 1899. I would not define Harding as a career politician because he only served one term in each office and was out of elected office between his stint in the Ohio State Senate and his election to the US Senate. From 1906 to 1915, Harding was running Marion Daily Star and not in political office at all. He is considered to be a poor president.
So far--2 non-carreer politicians, 1 good president and 1 poor president.
Calvin Coolidge assumed the presidency in 1923 upon the death of Harding. Coolidge first ran for office in 1898 in the city council of Northampton, Massachusetts and worked his way up the ladder to become the Governor of Massachusetts in 1919. Prior to that, he was the Lieutenant Governor of his state. Although he never served more than 1 term in office, he was in politics for more than 20 years before becoming the Vice President and was therefore a career politician. He is considered to be a good president.
Herbert Hoover was definitely not a career politician. The presidency was his first elected office. He was the Secretary of Commerce for 8 years prior to running for the White House. He was successful in the field of mining around the turn of the century to world-wide acclaim. He gained fame in World War I for his humanitarian efforts to bring aid and relief to many victims of the war, beginning with the repatriation of Americans who were in Europe when hostilities began. He is considered to be a poor president because the Great Depression began when he was in office and for all his brilliance, he could do nothing to stop it.
Franklin Roosevelt began is political career in 1911 and was elected to the Presidency in 1932. He was a career politician. He is considered by many historians to be a good president.
Harry Truman was first elected to office, as a Jackson County Missouri judge in 1922, but only served one term. But he returned to public office in 1926 transforming Kansas City into the city it would become. He ran for the US Senate in 1934. He was an upwardly mobile career politician and considered to be a good president.
Eisenhower was not a career politician before becoming the President. He was the senior commander in the European theater in World War II and the Vets loved him, even if his presidency was not as effective as it could have been.
Kennedy served for 3 terms in the House of Representatives and was in his second term in the US Senate when he ran for the White House. That fits the definition of a career politician. Reviews on his presidency were mixed.
Lyndon Johnson was in Congress before World War 2 began. He volunteered for the Navy during the war, and when he nearly became a POW, President Roosevelt ordered all members of Congress who were also in the Armed forces to choose one or the other. Johnson chose to remain in the House and resigned his Navy commission. As such, he fit the description of a Career politician. He was an effective president, but decided not to seek another term in 1968 due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War.
Richard Nixon was also a career politician, serving in one office or another from his days at Whittier College. He was elected to Congress in 1947 and service in office until 1961. He is considered to be a weak president.
Gerald Ford was elected to Congress in 1949 and served there until he became the appointed Vice President in 1973. He was considered to be an ineffective president.
Jimmy Carter was only in elected office for 8 years before becoming the President of the US. He served 1 term in the Georgia State Senate and 1 term as the Governor from Georgia. Not a career politician and not considered to be an effective president.
Ronald Regan served 2 terms as Governor of California before becoming the President. Not a career politician and considered to be an effective president.
George HW Bush Served in Congress for only four years, but was in a slew of appointed offices throughout the 1970s before becoming Reagan's running mate. I will consider him a career politician and a mostly ineffective president.
Bill Clinton was first elected to office in 1977 and was only out of office for two years...1981 to 1983...before becoming the President in 1992. He served 5 2-year terms as Governor of Arkansas. We will call Bill Clinton a Career Politician and an effective president
George W. Bush only served as Texas Governor for 6 years before becoming president. He was not a Career Politician and not an effective president.
I will not evaluate Barrack Obama for this exercise.
Here is the grid...
Career Politician, ineffective president...
George H.W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Johnson
Non-career Politician, ineffective president
Jimmy Carter
Lyndon Johnson
Herbert Hoover
Warren Harding
Career Politician, effective President
John F. Kennedy
Harry Truman
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Non-career Politician, effective President
Ronald Reagan
Dwight Eisenhower
Woodrow Wilson
The conclusion is that for those who served as the President of the United States, spending a career in politics is no predictor of their quality. Chances are you will find similar results in Congress. This is really an argument against those who say that career politicians are bad just for being career politicians and use it as a justification for term limits.
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