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The Education of a President…or Not
What do we tell our children about how to become POTUS?
Mario Cuomo famously described the fate of candidates in a democracy who win. Having run in poetry, we must govern in prose. Mr. Cuomo was describing the communication between a politician and the voters, so Donald J. Trump is not reduced to governing in the cartoons that are required to render his briefing materials palatable.
In fact, Mr. Trump could communicate adequately the same way he could govern adequately if he chose. There are plenty of talented writers in poetry or prose who would take great pride in ghosting for the POTUS. Modern presidents have been forced to make critical decisions in matters outside their education and experience because the world has just gotten too complicated for one person to bring all the necessary expertise.
Generally, the education voters expect of presidents has increased as education has become more available. Seven presidents did not go to college and another five did not graduate. These include some of the best presidents (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln) and one of the worst (Andrew Johnson).
Now and then, we have elected schoolteachers — John Adams, Millard Filmore, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Lyndon Baines Johnson — -as well as people with professional ties to higher education.
