Svartalf wrote:Coito ergo sum wrote:
So because Romney is a millionaire, then the US is a place best described as "a place any millionaire can become President."
It would be more egalitarian, I suspect, if we had an aristocracy of landed gentry and titles to boot, that way the poor would be guaranteed to occupy the highest positions in the land.
OK, so, what were the personal fortunes of the 40+ presidents you've had? How many were not part of the 5% (or even the 1%) before they were elected?
I went through some of them in my previous post. Most US Presidents were born middle class or even poor. Clinton, for example, was born poor, and wasn't hugely wealthy as Governor of Arkansas. He left the Presidency millions of dollars in debt, and made most of his money after he left office.
Reagan was born middle class, and he earned some good money as an actor in the 1940s and 1950s, although that was long before actors were really hugely wealthy like they are now. Then he was head of the Screen Actors Guild until he went into politics and became governor or California.
Obama did not grow up wealthy.
The Bushes did, of course, as did Kennedy and the Roosevelts.
Ford was middle class.
What more do you want?
Svartalf wrote:
Everybody knows lincoln's rag to riches story, point is, he was damn wealthy by the time he was anybody in politics.
Not true. In his day, lawyers made good money, but not huge money.
Svartalf wrote:
Romney is a millionaire, so were the bushes,
Yes.
Svartalf wrote:
I guess Clinton was a hotshot lawyer before getting into politics,
You guess wrong. He hardly practiced, if at all. He taught law at the University of Arkansas and went into private practice in 1982, but immediately won the race for Governor of Arkansas.
You think law professors in Arkansas made tons of money and were hot shots?
Svartalf wrote:
Reagan was an actor and union head... not the brink of poverty,
Of course not. He was born middle class and did o.k. afterwards.
It's not surprising that people with the acumen to become President can also manage to earn a living.
What are you expecting? Unemployed shop clerks playing Playstation as President of the US?
Svartalf wrote:
Carter was an old style planter,
I listed Carter as among the wealthy, above. Although he was largely self-made - much to be admired. An entrepreneur from a very young age.
Svartalf wrote:
Kennedy's dad had his prohibition era and mob money...
Already listed him as among the wealthy too. Did you read my post?
Svartalf wrote:
I suspect the poorest president since last war might have been Eisenhower... and that's assumming he did not have a personal fortune (from family or marriage) beside the fact that he was a decorated general.
He made a General's salary, and is another one that makes my point, along with Truman the hat maker and tailor. Lyndon Johnson, however, was of the lowest birth of all Presidents in the 20th century, I believe. He was not a rich man.
We've had some wealthy, and many that were not extremely wealthy even when elected Prez. And, we had many that were of low birth and worked their way up. That is a good thing.
I wouldn't expect any country - and we don't find any country - in which it is common that those who are failures in life can somehow grab the reigns of power. What happens in your country? Poor people running the show, are they?
