May 14, 2015 2 min read

Gail Collins wrote an interesting column that appeared in the Sunday Observer-Reporter, “Why would you want to elect someone who claims not to be a politician?”

To bolster her thesis, Collins uses former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina as an example of a “non-politician” who is therefore unworthy to lead the country. A more accurate column would have been headlined, “Why should voters prefer a candidate just because they managed to hold office previously?”

Let’s take a look at our worst presidents as rated by serious historians, such as James Buchanan, Warren Harding or Jimmy Carter. Who can say a bright, assertive CEO like Fiorina, who successfully led one of America’s great corporations for six years, could not perform as capably as the aforementioned presidents? Keep in mind Abraham Lincoln, our best chief executive and one of history’s five greatest leaders, brought our country through its worst crisis 150 years ago. It’s true the Great Emancipator did briefly serve in Congress in the 1840s, but Lincoln proved to be a great president by thinking outside the box.

And, please, let’s stop blaming Herbert Hoover, arguably the smartest president we’ve yet had, for the Great Depression. Actually, it was a worldwide event. Hoover lacked the smooth-talking skills and smile of Franklin Roosevelt, another career politician who just happened to sell out much of Europe to Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union after World War II.

Phil Schaltenbrand

Scenery Hill