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Do you think you are smart enough to be a good president?

Do you have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?

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ALiberalModerate

ALiberalModerate

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Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
 
Smart enough is hard to say. I definitely don't have the knowledge to be a good president.
 
Smart enough, probably. Wise enough, no. On foreign policy I am thanks to my professional background. But on other things like economics I would totally be out of my depth. I also have zero experience in negotiations.
 
is the presidency really a "who is smarter" type of job?

i liken it more to a who do i know, that i trust, that i can surround myself with the best minds in the areas where i need them

get the best scientists, best accountants, and best legislators....and go to work

it is more of a "i steer the boat" as i give directions and orders, and my team goes about their jobs to get that job done

do you need some intellect? of course

do you need to be a brain surgeon? not in my opinion

i think the best thing a president can have is great management skills....
 
I normally would have answered "hell to the no." But lately, I don't know...maybe.

Actually, I take that back. I'd do ****ing terrible in negotiations and public debates.
 
Depends on what you mean by "smart".

But, being "smart" or not has little effect upon how well a president will do. Politics is not about what works and what doesn't. It's about what you can make others believe will work. A president could come up with perfect workable solutions to problems and still not get them through a vote.

Charisma, not "smarts" will always win in a Democracy.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
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Well, you've asked two different questions here.

Smart enough, as in sheer mental G? Statistically speaking, I'm well within the range a lot of those people have been in, so yes.

Do I have the knowledge? Probably not. I'm a fairly educated layperson, but I scatter my education over lots of things, and thus I would probably be undereducated for some of the specific things a president needs. I would imagine this is especially true regarding the military and some economic issues.

All that said, it becomes apparent to me that our standard is lowering all the time given how 2016 is going.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
Click to expand...

Probably, most folks here could be president, with little issue.
There are an army of helper monkeys there just to keep you abreast of the issues of the day.
Then there are the advisers, that have been career government personal and can guide your decision process.

The biggest thing to being a good president is charisma and speaking ability, imo.
 
Yes, I'm naturally smart enough. Yes, I have a lot of the skills required. But am I prepared to be POTUS? Not even close. I have next to zero understanding of military and warfare.
 
When I think of the situation we'd have to be in for me to suddenly be sworn in, I think I'd immediately run to the nuclear football and nuke the U.S.

So yes?

It's a inherent weakness in our system that the most qualified people no longer want to be anywhere close to the job.
 
WillyPete said:
When I think of the situation we'd have to be in for me to suddenly be sworn in, I think I'd immediately run to the nuclear football and nuke the U.S.

So yes?

It's a inherent weakness in our system that the most qualified people no longer want to be anywhere close to the job.
Click to expand...

i can name quite a few people i know who i think would make excellent presidents

but as you said, politics has a major flaw right now.....the best people flee as far away from that world as possible

who wants their life, and their family subjected to the media frenzy

who wants to go through the dog and pony show?

not many, and usually only those out to garner more power for them and their friends

kinda sad....
 
gdgyva said:
is the presidency really a "who is smarter" type of job?

i liken it more to a who do i know, that i trust, that i can surround myself with the best minds in the areas where i need them

get the best scientists, best accountants, and best legislators....and go to work

it is more of a "i steer the boat" as i give directions and orders, and my team goes about their jobs to get that job done

do you need some intellect? of course

do you need to be a brain surgeon? not in my opinion

i think the best thing a president can have is great management skills....
Click to expand...

....and relevant experience.
 
Nope, I am not smart enough. And even if I was I wouldn't want to job anyway. The way it is now the haters and media will rip your life, and your family's lifes apart and post it all over the world.

The 24/7 news networks and the media have, IMO, done more harm in politics than good. I never thought I would say that. I've been on the Internet since Prodigy(remember that ISP).. Had cable since the 80's. I thought they were both God Sends when they started. But not anymore.
 
I don't think some people here get how leadership works. Anyone who thinks that "anyone on DP" could do an adequate job as president seriously misunderstands what the president does, and what leaders do in general.

Yes, the president does have a lot of advisers. That doesn't mean they don't have to know anything. An uneducated leader can't hide fundamental lack of knowledge by just nodding along to their advisers, unless one said adviser basically just completely takes over the leadership role for them (as we have seen a couple times), but even then, you can usually tell when that's happened, and it doesn't tend to beget good things.

The whole point of the leaders is that they're supposed to have a large-scale understanding of how the pieces move together and how each decision affects things on some entirely different branch -- something that, most likely, none of their specialist advisers will have, because that's not their job. Their job is to know a lot about one or two things.

Presidents do a lot more than give speeches. They do less than Congress in my opinion, but Congress is composed of 535 people. Presidents have to know a fair amount about a lot of rather touchy and complicated things.
 
Assuming I get my pick of top level advisors and consultants, yes.

Not sure if I'd want the job though, it seems beyond stressful and grinding.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
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I am pretty solid inside 90 yards to the green, so maybe if the course isn't too long. I wouldn't have to play from the blue tees would I?
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
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A better question might be what are the key traits needed to be a successful president in the 21st century. So perhaps I can start a list as follows:

- Very good communication skills.

- Understand you are not the smartest person in the world, so surround yourself with skilled people in the various disciplines.

- Personal and public honesty. To the trust from the people you govern.

- Ability to make hard decisions. You will get advise from the experts, but only you can make the call.

You do have to have a certain level of IQ to be able to deal with all the info received. That being said we don't elect the smartest guy in the country. He is on a farm somewhere because he can't relate to people.
 
I don't think that most people realize how exceptionally smart and knowledgeable our presidents typically are. Even a president like former president Bush is exceptionally smart and knowledgeable compared to the general population and presidents like Bush Sr, Nixon, and Clinton were / are absolutely brilliant as compared to the general population. I don't think its a job where just the average Joe can surround themselves with some good advisors and be effective at it.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
I don't think that most people realize how exceptionally smart and knowledgeable our presidents typically are. Even a president like former president Bush is exceptionally smart and knowledgeable compared to the general population and presidents like Bush Sr, Nixon, and Clinton were / are absolutely brilliant as compared to the general population. I don't think its a job where just the average Joe can surround themselves with some good advisors and be effective at it.
Click to expand...

I never realized we had so many exceptional people here. Sure, I know most of us are more politically aware but to actually think most of us would be qualified to run a country like the USA is laughable.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Do you think that you currently have the knowledge to be a good and effective president?
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smart enough yes. I couldn't tolerate all the bs though. Not in a million years. that is why we have such lousy people running for President. GHWB had a admirable Resume. So did Romney. The rest, not so much. Really bright and successful people don't want the hassles.

though not a run for president, I remember the Bork hearings and What Senator Phil Graham said after Bork was Borked. He said it was a disgrace that a man who was at the very top of his college and law school classes and who held the top legal professorship in the USA was being judged by men who had been thrown out of Harvard for Cheating (Ted Kennedy) and who had plagiarized material and flunked the bar (Biden)
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
I don't think that most people realize how exceptionally smart and knowledgeable our presidents typically are. Even a president like former president Bush is exceptionally smart and knowledgeable compared to the general population and presidents like Bush Sr, Nixon, and Clinton were / are absolutely brilliant as compared to the general population. I don't think its a job where just the average Joe can surround themselves with some good advisors and be effective at it.
Click to expand...

True to some extent. GHWB was a decorated pilot, a successful businessman, Captain of the Yale Baseball team and graduated at the very top of his class in three years. He also successfully got the CIA and the GOP back on track after both organizations were at their nadir. By most accounts, he had the best resume of anyone who has run for president in at least 140 years.

Nixon was an academic superstar who chose Duke Law school over Yale and Harvard and at Duke he was Order of the Coif, Law review and was a very strong VP in one of the best administrations in the last 150 years.

Clinton was Phi beta Kappa at Georgetown, held the Arkansas top score for the SATs (broken by the late Roosevelt Thompson, also a Rhodes Scholar, who tragically was killed his senior year at Yale) and was a decent student at Yale Law school.

all three are/were top one percent of population in terms of intelligence and academic achievement.

The current contenders are bright but their academic resumes aren't anywhere near the three you mentioned, Especially GHWB
 
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