For those who attack Obama based on his experience, a little historical perspective...

[LTR]

One of the biggest attacks against Barack Obama is his supposed lack of experience. Some say he's not qualified to be president. Here's a little historical perspective.

One of our former presidents served for seven years in the Illinois General Assembly, then one two year term in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to being elected.

His name was Abraham Lincoln, and he did a fairly decent job.

Another former president was Governor of New Jersey for only two years. Prior to that, the closest to public legislative experience he got was as president of Princeton University.

That man was Woodrow Wilson, our president during World War I.

Then there was the former president who served two years in the New York State Senate, was Assistant Secretary of the Navy for eight years and served one four year term as Governor of New York before being elected President.

Many can attest to the fact that Franklin Delano Roosevelt did a pretty good job.

Another president held no elective office at all prior to being elected as Vice President, less than a year afterward ascending to the presidency. He was a product of patronage, and was appointed to lucrative positions thanks to his ties to a powerful political machine.

Chester Arthur, while not a great president, was instrumental in reforming the very civil service system that he was the beneficiary of, eliminating a great deal of government corruption. He also won praise for vetoing blatant pork barrel legislation from Congress.

Other presidents were previously cabinet members or appointed officials who had never held an elective office, such as Herbert Hoover and William Taft.

Then there was the guy who served only a two year term as a local sheriff, followed by a year as mayor of Buffalo, NY, followed by two years as Governor.

That was Grover Cleveland, the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Others that rose to the presidency from state governership backgrounds, with no national experience, include Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

In between the two Cleveland terms was Benjamin Harrison. His only elected government experience was one term in the U.S. Senate.

Theodore Roosevelt served two years as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, followed by two years as Governor of New York, prior to becoming Vice President and later ascending to the presidency.

Many military leaders with little or no political experience have run for and won the presidency, including George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes and Dwight Eisenhower.

Granted, there were some not-so-good presidents in there with thin experience. Men such as Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover and Millard Fillmore. But there were also underwhelming presidents with long and vast backgrounds and loads of experience, such as Richard Nixon, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

All in all, it's about the person, not the resume. And Obama's experience is adequate.

[Diamonique]

1. Very well said!

k&r

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. LBJ had decades of "experience", and thought he had to prove his anit-commie creds.

By killing millions of people.

[LTR]

3. LBJ would have been a great president...

...if not for the Vietnam War.

His Great Society programs did a lot for this country, and he was forceful and aggressive enough to get them approved.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. He should have stood trial as a war criminal.

I don't buy the "if only" argument. Or, the "he did some good things" argument.

He was responsible for the deaths of millions. Whatever "good" he did is completely negated by the slaughter of innocents he perpetrated for purely political reasons.

[OwnedByFerrets]

4. ...

When the "experience" thing is brought up.....My response is "yes, McSame has tons more experience at voting for 96% of Monkeyboys programs, including a war that spent over 4000 American soldiers lives and over 1 million Iraqi lives. If you like what Monkeyboy has done to this country, by all means vote for the "experience" of McSame."

[LTR]

6. .

[LTR]

7. A Monday kick

For those that missed it over the weekend

:kick:

[TexasObserver]

8. Presidents or posters, people are lousy or good with or without experience.

Experience does not make a person better, it makes them more predictable. A great mind is great whether it has experience or not. Obama is such a mind. Many have more experience than him, and none of them are more capable.

[hedgehog]

9. Obama has lots of experience dealing with people's problems on

the ground. He knows the reality behind the statistics. He didn't go into politics and then find his issues, his issues forced him into politics to find a solution.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. George W. Bush had a grand total of six years experience in elected office.

If you add the Illinois Senate with the US Senate, Senator Obama will have had 12 years as an elected official.

[mamalone]

11. I saw a video once...

That had a voice over talking about a man who had little experience and then went on to be pres... the inference at first is that they are talking about Obama, but then you see it is Lincoln. Actually I think it was someone's idea of an ad for Obama.... wish I could find it again!