Thursday, March 06, 2008
Political history trivia question of the day
Who was the first sitting United States Senator to be elected President of the United States?
Answer, and after a brokered convention no less.
1 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Mar 06, 09:00:00 AM:
I guessed "George Kennedy", but apparently I was confused and mixed up Hollywood and Washington again. Happens a lot these days.
What's interesting about Harding's election relates to all of the talk about "experience" in the candidates. Outside of perhaps the vice president, you'd tend to think that a big, powerful senator would be next up in the 'experience' category. Ergo, a sitting senator would have a real advantage over anyone else.
Yet we had elected TWENTY-EIGHT presidents that weren't sitting senators before Harding, so I'd say that "experience" -- at least back then -- wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
And then, when we finally DO elect a sitting senator, what do we get?
"Harding is often ranked as one of the least successful U.S. presidents, despite his immense popularity while in office."
Then he had the nerve to die in office, showing a clear disregard for the American people.
Bottom line? Whatever you do, folks, don't vote for a sitting senator this November!
