The 56 signers of the Declaration were a mixed lot of men. They were farmers, lawyers, bankers, merchants, land speculators, ministers, printers, soldiers and physicians. This covered most of the common occupations found in the “colonies.”
Of course these, and most men of every profession, had other skills as they worked as carpenters, blacksmith and artisans. Most people did their own carpentry work and knew how to sling a hammer.
Of course these, and most men of every profession, had other skills as they worked as carpenters, blacksmith and artisans. Most people did their own carpentry work and knew how to sling a hammer.
Over the decades, politicians have changed. Today, there are people who think our leaders should be mostly lawyers or long-time politicians. There is a code, or a way of talking, that is learned from spending many years in the political arena. Some people think that these “talkers” are the only ones who can be a political leaders because they “speak the language.”
So, if you don’t talk the talk, you shouldn’t walk the walk. You are not “seasoned” enough if you come from outside the “club” and don’t use the proper lingo.
To date a, variety of professions were held by our presidents. Many were lawyers, our own Harry Truman was a haberdasher, others were farmers, at least one was a minister, one of the more famous was a rail splitter before he got his law license, one was a mining engineer and there were several military men, nine of whom were generals.
There is yet to be a woman president, but one day we will see a great strong, smart woman take the oath of office and I wish her well. She will have the usual problems that plague all presidents. She will also face those people who oppose having a woman holding the most powerful office on earth. She must be strong enough to endure the heat of the kitchen. I believe it was our own Harry Truman who said, “If you don’t like the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”
All presidents have something that people don’t like, and they have to live with all the criticism. She will be no different.
I think the founding fathers had the right idea when they considered the role of President. They kept the requirements simple. The constitution says,
“No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.”
There are only two requirements, citizenship and age, not profession or social status.
Just between you and me, I wish everything was that simple.
(Kay Hively is a historian, author, and former editor, reporter and columnist for the Neosho Daily News and Neosho Post.)
2 comments:
A person interested in politics and wanting to be educated now turns to the video portion of our present day news outlets. I suggest a interesting video to see that is on Netflix and entitled World at War in Color. Colorized version of WWII in 10 episodes. Best one of interest since I am 74 is episode #9. If one were to watch it and see what transpired in Germany from the 20's through the late 30's one sees a interesting method to madness. I just ask individuals to watch with neutral emotions and try and relate what happened then and what is possibly happening now. You might find it very interesting or not and if not, then you have not approached it with neutral bias.
Why reduce your campaign to name-calling as Trump has done repeatedly? He even took the behavior into the White House/Capitol and today, really made an embarrassment of himself. But I don't think that he has one whit of guilt or shame for doing this. When he is criticized, he goes after the criticizer instead of analyzing why he is being called a name. He should answer it in a professional way if needed. I am tired of this behavior in a sitting president and I would like to watch the political news instead of opting out because of the insanity.
As I prepared this post I found this: Jefferson was called "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father." He was also called a weakling, an atheist and a libertine.
The insults happened in the newspapers — because the political parties founded the newspapers.
"The Founders discovered using partisan media," Brookhiser said. "Jefferson and (James) Madison had one that was called the National Gazette. Jefferson put the editor on the payroll at the state department." I don't believe that these games are necessary to win a seat in the White House, Senate, or Congress, but they are being played every day and the public eats it up or it would stop.
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