What are the qualifications for a competent president?

[AreaCode7O7]

The debate rages about candidates and VP candidates - is x qualified enough? Does y have enough experience?

What are the qualifications and/or experience needed for president? It's a uniquely challenging job, without a career path that leads obviously into it, so there are several different ways to gain the basic requirements (I would imagine).

Make your list - what qualifies one for president?

[edited]

A few distinctions:
1. Competent does not necessarily mean good. A good president is a subjective based on your preferred policy. A competent president is one that is successful at fulfilling the objectives of the presidential office, whether or not you personally agree with the direction of those objectives.

2. Meeting the baseline requirements does not necessarily mean one is qualified. US born, 35 years old, 14 years in the US describes a lot of people who are still not qualified to be president.

3. The ability to be elected does not necessarily mean one is qualified either. Possibly the exact opposite.

 

[bamacre]

Electability.

 

[jpeyton]

Instead of resume-worship, I suggest people look at the candidate's positions and vote for the one you agree with the most.

 

[dainthomas]

Natural born citizen older than 35.

 

[Kadarin]

Well, McCain seems to think Palin is qualified, so I guess the bar has been set pretty low.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Born in the United States.
35 years old.
Lived in the United States for at least 14 years prior to assuming office.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Instead of resume-worship, I suggest people look at the candidate's positions and vote for the one you agree with the most.

Mm, I disagree a bit. Yes, vote for the candidate you agree with. But a candidate's platform could lack feasibility, even if it's idealistically fantastic. The platform could be feasible but the candidate's past history could reveal that s/he doesn't actually follow through on the platform items. So, part of my answer, I suppose, would be:

- demonstrated ability to design real-life solutions
- history of implementing solutions that match their published intention

 

[PELarson]

Originally posted by: AreaCode707
Make your list - what qualifies one for president?

You need to differentiate between qualifications to run for President/Vice President with the qualifications needed to obtain MY or YOUR vote to be President/Vice President. McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden have the qualifications to run for the offices. BUT only, IMNHO, Obama/Biden have the qualifications needed to recieve my vote to be President/Vice President.

 

[boomerang]

Well, it's not my list, but here's what it takes to get the job.

The ability to attract hundreds of millions of dollars to run a 2 to 2 1/2 year campaign. Our neighbors to the North know how to run elections - we don't.

One must be able to let the voting public think that although you raised all that money, you don't really owe anyone any favors.

One must be able to lie while standing, sitting, sleeping, shitting, well ... you get the idea. All these lies must be told in such a manner that although the voters know you're lying, they want to believe that what you're saying just might be true.

You must act like you're deeply concerned. About something.

You must have the ability to give answers to questions, that although they may contain no substance or actual facts, are acceptable to the media. (This is easy) They must also be acceptable to the public at large. (Not as easy, but most people just don't give a shit anyway)

You must have an insatiable urge for power. The job pays $400,000 a year. You have to put up with a lot of shit. You have to really lust for the power to go through the agony of raising those hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Instead of resume-worship, I suggest people look at the candidate's positions and vote for the one you agree with the most.

Ah!!!! I agree! Hell is freezing over as we speak. (which should help end global warming)

 

[retrospooty]

No one is "ready" to be president. There is no previous experience that readies you to be hte most powerful man in the world with his finger on the button that can end it all. What matters is judgement and plan. Tell us exactly what you plan to do about the issues and we will decide on what we think of your judgement... stop talking about experience, lipstick, how many houses, elitist, too old, too young, etc... all of that means nothing. Tell me what you plan to DO

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Electability.

This is the answer.

 

[nageov3t]

51% of the electoral college vote and being within the minimum requirements set by the constitution.

 

[dphantom]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Born in the United States.
35 years old.
Lived in the United States for at least 14 years prior to assuming office.

+1

That is all there needs to be.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: dainthomas
Natural born citizen older than 35 and rich.

Fixed

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: dainthomas
Natural born citizen older than 35 and rich.

Fixed

the Obama's are middle class according to McCain

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: AreaCode707
It's a uniquely challenging job, without a career path that leads obviously into it, so there are several different ways to gain the basic requirements (I would imagine).

Not sure what you mean by this...what career path other than 'politician' leads to the presidency, at least for the last century or so?

 

[yllus]

And the American most qualified to be president is ...

I just can't wrest myself away from this topic of the experience one supposedly needs to be president or v.p. I guess because so many people keep saying so many transparently and amusingly partisan things about it. Just to review, over the past few weeks we've learned that to be truly qualified to run for president or vice president:

1) You should have held office for years and years.

2) You should have executive experience.

3) You should represent a large population.

4) You should represent a large geographical area.

5) You should have foreign policy experience.

6) You should be from a state that's close to a foreign country, preferably a big, scary foreign country.

7) You should have gotten your first passport before 2006.

8) You should have run for president.

9) You should have done time as a mayor, preferably of a large and growing city, although the definition of large may vary.

10) You should have governed an area with lots of oil wells.

Am I missing anything?

Assuming I'm not, it seems obvious to me that by these criteria, the American Most Qualified to Be President? is California Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr., who has served two terms as governor of the most populous and third most expansive of the 50 states, along with stints as secretary of state and AG, has run for president three times, and was until recently mayor of the up-and-coming city of Oakland, which has a population of 420,183.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: AreaCode707
It's a uniquely challenging job, without a career path that leads obviously into it, so there are several different ways to gain the basic requirements (I would imagine).

Not sure what you mean by this...what career path other than 'politician' leads to the presidency, at least for the last century or so?

Well, there are lots of different paths even for politicians. You could have a variety of mix and match titles and responsibilities in your history - gov, senator, speaker, served on this committee or that, etc.

 

[smashp]

being a porn star and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion

 

[Jaskalas]

An elected official, Governor or Senator, with greater than 50% approval ratings?

 

[ModerateRepZero]

I'll try to answer this question seriously...assuming that the candidate fulfills the constitutional qualifications, here's what I think would constitute a competent presidential candidate (your thread title and your OP ask subtlely different questions I think)....

- Has had some experience managing people, whether it be in the military, congressional committee, or in the legal system. Working with a bunch of like-minded individuals leads to the problem of either sycophants and yes-men, or people fixated on petty things such as status, ego etc.

- Track record of success.

- They are good/great at time management. The President has alot of responsibility and there's only 24 hours in a day even for that officeholder. Delegate, delegate, delegate.

- Either they're smart/knowledgeable themselves, or they have the connections to tap into people who are smart/knowledgeable. Either way the officeholder has to have a good team behind him/her.

- The person genuinely wants to make a difference in American government (and has their ideas about doing so), but at the same time can put the government ahead of their own interests/desires.

- Intellectual curiousity and open-mindedness. If not, at least a flexibility to change one's mind. Crises come up, and situations change, so it's important to adapt.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: ModerateRepZero
I'll try to answer this question seriously...assuming that the candidate fulfills the constitutional qualifications, here's what I think would constitute a competent presidential candidate (your thread title and your OP ask subtlely different questions I think)....

- Has had some experience managing people, whether it be in the military, congressional committee, or in the legal system. Working with a bunch of like-minded individuals leads to the problem of either sycophants and yes-men, or people fixated on petty things such as status, ego etc.

- Track record of success.

- They are good/great at time management. The President has alot of responsibility and there's only 24 hours in a day even for that officeholder. Delegate, delegate, delegate.

- Either they're smart/knowledgeable themselves, or they have the connections to tap into people who are smart/knowledgeable. Either way the officeholder has to have a good team behind him/her.

- The person genuinely wants to make a difference in American government (and has their ideas about doing so), but at the same time can put the government ahead of their own interests/desires.

- Intellectual curiousity and open-mindedness. If not, at least a flexibility to change one's mind. Crises come up, and situations change, so it's important to adapt.

Thank you! I know the OP's expanding question can be taken in a different direction than the abbreviated subject line question, but multiple directions in a conversation like this are interesting.

 

[OrByte]

Whatever the Constitution says.

The rest is subjective and is the whole reason for holding elections.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: ModerateRepZero
I'll try to answer this question seriously...assuming that the candidate fulfills the constitutional qualifications, here's what I think would constitute a competent presidential candidate (your thread title and your OP ask subtlely different questions I think)....

- Has had some experience managing people, whether it be in the military, congressional committee, or in the legal system. Working with a bunch of like-minded individuals leads to the problem of either sycophants and yes-men, or people fixated on petty things such as status, ego etc.

- Track record of success.

- They are good/great at time management. The President has alot of responsibility and there's only 24 hours in a day even for that officeholder. Delegate, delegate, delegate.

- Either they're smart/knowledgeable themselves, or they have the connections to tap into people who are smart/knowledgeable. Either way the officeholder has to have a good team behind him/her.

- The person genuinely wants to make a difference in American government (and has their ideas about doing so), but at the same time can put the government ahead of their own interests/desires.

- Intellectual curiousity and open-mindedness. If not, at least a flexibility to change one's mind. Crises come up, and situations change, so it's important to adapt.

I don't mean to demean your effort here, I agree that these should be met, but ..... GWB says hi on all points.