Hiring a President

[doG]

Suppose you were selected to be part of a committee chosen to hire a President for the U.S.A. via traditional hiring methods. What requirements and qualifying restrictions would you include in your solicitations? What job experience and education would you expect to see in resumes submitted for the position? What qualities would an optimum candidate possess?

[CaptainPanic]

Get an engineer.

[DJBruce]

For education I would say that they at least need a bachelors degree from a fairly prestigious university. The degree would preferable be in either political science, economics, or law.

 

For previous job experience I would want someone who had been head of a large corporation (preferable a state Governor), or at least multiple terms in the US Senate.

 

As for qualities I would want someone to be honest, strong, hard working, passionate, and patriotic.

 

I would also administer a few tests including tests on: US history, world history, economics, and political science.

[Sisyphus]

For personal qualities, I would want the candidate primarily to be extremely intelligent, extremely hard-working, and extremely cool-headed. I would want them to be able to demonstrate understanding not just of the issues, but of all viewpoints, as well, to the point where they could could convincingly argue in favor of positions they strongly disagree with. The ability to think quickly on their feet would be a positive, of course, but to me it is less important than the ability to ponder questions deeply and arrive at thoughtful answers of appropriate subtly and depth. Of secondary but still substantial importance would be personal charisma and general openness. It would obviously be too much to ask that the candidate be personally unambitious (they're asking to be President, so they pretty much have to be a megalomaniac of one kind or another), but they can still demonstrate the wisdom, restraint, and patriotism not to let that ambition dominate their decisions.

 

No specific educational requirements are necessary, but of all academic fields, law is probably the most relevant, and having demonstrated great legal aptitude and having earned the respect of legal academia would go a long way towards demonstrating the qualities I look for in a leader. (Note that that is not the same as a "successful" lawyer.) I would also put a lot of value in someone who had been trained to think like a scientist, to apply strict rationality and empiricism to problems. They should at least understand how and why science works, and be able to apply that mode of thinking outside of their own field (although they also need to be able to think not like a scientist).

 

As for experience, I would say anything which demonstrates leadership and familiarity with the issues and workings of the job they are going to assume. I can't think of any resume that would actually be sufficient qualification for the Presidency. As much as I value academia, in itself the academic life is entirely insufficient training. Holding a high command in the military and being governor of a state (although this varies greatly from state to state, both in the states themselves and the role the governors play in them) are generally cited as leadership experience, which I guess they are, but are not nearly enough in themselves, and a candidate who claims they are probably doesn't know what he's getting in to. I would like to see someone who has good experience in all levels of politics, from local to international.

[ParanoiA]

Such a great premise to this thread, and Sisyphus has just pretty much nailed it.

 

I would want them to be able to demonstrate understanding not just of the issues, but of all viewpoints, as well, to the point where they could could convincingly argue in favor of positions they strongly disagree with. The ability to think quickly on their feet would be a positive, of course, but to me it is less important than the ability to ponder questions deeply and arrive at thoughtful answers of appropriate subtly and depth.

 

I really like this part. Nicely said.