The Perfect President

[injest]

"a lot of people believe in Peace.
but there IS the other kind,
if we want to keep our freedom
we may have to fight again (God forbid)
but if we do fight
we must always fight to win
the fate of a loser is poor
no hope just misery and despair."

[delalluvia]

"a lot of people believe in Peace.
but there IS the other kind,
if we want to keep our freedom
we may have to fight again (God forbid)
but if we do fight
we must always fight to win
the fate of a loser is poor
no hope just misery and despair."

True, but does that mean they have to serve in the military in order to be a good leader?  There have been wonderful leaders who have never served in the military before.

[injest]

True, but does that mean they have to serve in the military in order to be a good leader?  There have been wonderful leaders who have never served in the military before.

I dont' think so, myself....leadership is a requirement I feel...so they could have another background as long as they had that experience

[brokeplex]

All other factors being equal, I would rather have someone who served honorably in the military than someone who did not. The fact that the President of the US is the commander in chief is inescapable - all of the fantasies about the "dawning of the age of aquarius" not withstanding.

And of course if that President not only served honorably but also emerged from his or her service as a widely recognized hero, that is icing on the cake. 

[Artiste]

At least in the USA, the President have to be born in the country !

In Canada, it could be born in another country; what do you think of that ?

[brokeplex]

that is very puzzling Artiste. I would like to change my own state constitution so that only native bornTexans can serve as governor, or in the court system or the legislature.  When I vote I look carefully at the amount of time that person has spent in the district he or she is wishing to represent.
I am puzzled that Canadians would wish to elect a non Canadian to their Parliament.

The state of Michigan made a colossal mistake electing a native Canadian as governor, they are now paying for the folly of electing her with probably the worst economic crisis in any state in the Union. As an example of her folly, when the Michigan economy began to turn downward long before the rest of the union, her response was to raise state taxes! This insured that many businesses would simply relocate to another state, causing the Michigan economy to fall further.

[Artiste]

Merci brokeplex !

I find it a surprise that that Governor of Michigan was a foreigner:  canadian-born, and  I do not know how old she was when she went to live in the USA !

You saying:
    I am puzzled that Canadians would wish to elect a non Canadian to their Parliament        ...
and you, broekplex, can guess how it is a puzzle for canadian-borns to see that !

Even some members of the Government of Canada are known foreign-born criminals, and nothing can be done about that - even if some citizens  tried to get them out ! Did you know ?

Your idea about Texan futur governor being born in Texas, I think is valid and should be a task worth to do, strive and realize, I say ! How to acheive that ?

[delalluvia]

So long as someone is a good leader, it wouldn't matter to me.  You don't have to have served in the military to be a good leader.

Per brokeplex a president emerging from military service a hero would be icing on the cake.  However of course that would mean that that person would have to be a man, seeing as right now, last I heard women are forbidden from serving in combat where they might have a chance to actually become a hero.  So effectively that means - until that is changed - 1/2 the population of the U.S. is excluded from being considered a perfect president by those standards.

Eh.

I believe a society that wastes the abilities of some members of their society by not using them is all the more poorer for it.

[Shasta542]

I think women are allowed in combat now, aren't they?

[delalluvia]

I think women are allowed in combat now, aren't they?

Dunno.  Last I heard, they were not.  They are able to serve in other areas behind the lines - medical or motorpools - but not to go into combat to fight.

EDITED TO ADD:

Women are moving into combat flying but apparently being part of ground troops is still an issue:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-militarywomen27-2008may27,0,5521290.story