Here’s an excellent point fellow Goon danno brought up all the way back in October:
I have a new counter for the “Obama is too inexperienced” angle.
List of the 10 presidents generally regarded as greatest by historians, and the prior legislative/executive political experience of each:
1. George Washington - First Continental Congress
2. Abraham Lincoln - 4 terms, Ill. House; 1 term, U.S. House
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1 term, N.Y. State Senate; 1 term, N.Y. Governor
4. Thomas Jefferson - Va. House; Continental Congress; Va. Governor; Secretary of State
5. Theodore Roosevelt - 2 terms, N.Y. State Assembly; 1/2 term, N.Y. Governor; 6 mo. V.P.
6. Woodrow Wilson - 1/2 term, N.J. Governor
7. Andrew Jackson - 1 term, U.S. House; 1 yr., U.S. Senate
8. James Polk - 7 terms, U.S. House incl. 2 terms Speaker; 1 term Tenn. Governor
9. Harry Truman - 3 terms Mo. county administrator; 2 terms, U.S. Senate; 82 days V.P.
10. Dwight Eisenhower - noneBarack Obama - 2 terms, Ill. Senate; 1 term, U.S. Senate
Not to imply that I think Obama would automatically rank among the greatest Presidents, but there’s no strong bias for lengthy prior high-level political experience among them.
