Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Do I want a smart president? You betcha!

On CNN, Paul Begala recently called George Bush a 'high-functioning moron.' Far be it from me to argue with his judgment on our sitting president. Can we all agree that G.W. will probably not go down as the most intelligent president in our history? If so, and seeing where his leadership has taken us, can we also agree that our next president should be a little more intellectual? That would be a good thing, right? With that being said, here are the four candidates and their educational accomplishments:

John McCain - BS. Ranked 894th of 899 in his class. No post-graduate degree.
  • United States Navel Acadamey. Class of 1958.
Sarah Palin - Degree in Journalism. GPA not released by the campaign. No post graduate degree.
  • Hawaii Pacific University - Fall 1982.
  • North Idaho College (2 year college) - Spring 1983 & Fall 1983.
  • University of Idaho - Fall 1984 - Spring 1985.
  • Matanuska - Susitna College - Fall 1985.
  • University of Idaho - Spring 1986 - Spring 1987.
Barack Obama - BA Political Science. Concentration in International Relations. Law Degree (Magna Cum Laude & President of Harvard Law Review).
  • Occidental College - Fall 1979 - Spring 1981
  • Columbia University - Fall 1981 - Spring 1983.
  • Harvard Law School - Fall 1988 - Spring 1991.
Joe Biden - BA - (Majors: History and Political Science) Ranked 506th of 688 in his class (not quite as bad as McCain). Law Degree. (where by his own description he underperformed - but still... he completed and graduated on time)
  • University of Delaware - Class of 1965.
  • Syracuse University Law School - Class of 1968.
Now I know education is not the only factor in measuring intelligence nor is intelligence the only factor in the making of a good president. It is interesting to compare, though.....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

John McCain also graduated from the National War College, 1973-1974.

David A. Davison said...

You forgot Biden's night course work at the Knoxville, TN College of Faith Healing.

Seems an odd topic. I feel we have too many lawyers running this country. Remember what they call 1,000,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean, a good start.

Maybe we should require a college degree to vote as well? Hmmm.