Can You Name the Last Two Presidents who Were Elected with A Business Background?

[louis c]

Herbert Hoover, (1929-1933): The President who ushered in the "Great Depression".

George W. Bush (2001-2009): The President who ushered in the "Great Recession".

I'll pass on electing businessmen as President.

[jsmirman]

1. I got one of the two

I forgot about Georgie because I guess I really don't consider him a businessman - more of a political favors processor than a businessman.

Hoover, I've been studying tangentially (I'm covering his period of influence from Sec'y of Commerce to dismal Pres) these last few months.

[Initech]

2. Yup - the only reason businessmen are elected is to screw us over.

[trotsky]

3. I hate it when people think someone should be elected to "run government like a business."

It can't - and SHOULDN'T - be done. Government does things that will never, and SHOULD NEVER, turn a profit. That's not what government is for. Running it like a business will ruin it. But then of course, that's what the modern conservative appears to want.

[TrollBuster9090]

13. More importantly, government is supposed to do the things the free market can't and WON'T do

because there is no profit in it. Libertarians, of course, foolishly believe that the free market can do EVERYTHING, and if it fails to do so it's because the market wasn't de-regulated enough. A very convenient 'no true Scotsman' fallacy. But we all know that if Libertarians were left to run things they'd STILL be waiting for the free market to end SLAVERY.

[PA Democrat]

16. Bingo. The Constitution clearly states that one of the main functions of our government

is to "promote the general Welfare" of the people of this country.

Corporations exist solely to make money for the privileged few and have NO obligation or interest in promoting the general welfare of the people of this country. In fact, without regulation, corporations will destroy this country from an economic and ecological standpoint.

[aristocles]

4. Other presidents as businessmen

http://www.activategroupinc.com/2012/02/20/presidents-who-were-also-businessmen/|

•George Washington built a whiskey distillery on Mount Vernon the year he left office, which eventually became one of the largest distilleries in the country.
•Herbert Hoover started a mining consulting firm with offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Paris and Petrograd.
•Warren Harding bought a newspaper that was nearly bankrupt and made it so successful that it provided his income for decades, including while he was running for office.
•Franklin Roosevelt founded the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation as a hydrotherapy and healing spa for polio victims.
•Harry Truman opened a clothing store in Kansas City, which was initially successful but eventually went bankrupt.
•Jimmy Carter took over his family’s peanut farm and eventually grew it into a multi-million dollar business that included warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant, and farm equipment supplies.
•George H.W. Bush founded the Bush-Overby Oil Development company and co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation; business ventures that made him a millionaire.
•George W. Bush invested $800,000 in the Texas Rangers baseball team and later sold that share for $15 million.

[jsmirman]

6. See... Harding was my second choice

I was going with Hoover and Harding. Two spectacularly crap Presidents.

[louis c]

8. They never even discussed their tangential associations with business, except Hoover and Bush

Last edited Wed May 23, 2012, 06:51 PM - Edit history (2)

First off, the question was the last two.
FDR, Truman, Carter, and H.W. Bush never touted there business accomplishments. Hoover and W. did.

Running the government like a business is wrong headed.

A business exists to make a profit. Buy at cheaper prices (including labor) and sell at higher prices to maximize those profits.

An example I use is, let's say the U.S Government has to contract a call center for citizens to have questions answered about Social Security, Veterans' Benefits, IRS, etc. And let's say the lowest bid in the United States calls for employees to make $14 and hour. In India, the bid is lower by half, because the workers there are making $2 an hour. By using just a strict business formula, the US Government should be outsourcing our own jobs. That's running government like a business. And I don't like it.

[FarCenter]

10. There was a lot of discussion of G H W Bush's role in Zapata

Including whether it was a CIA front.

[louis c]

32. That's a far cry from tauting one's business credentials (NT)

[thucythucy]

14. The Warm Springs Polio Rehabilitation Center

was not a business, it was a foundation, presumably not-for-profit.

[NYC Liberal]

28. Which of them ran on their business background though?

Bush specifically used his business background during the campaign to illustrate how he was going to be "The MBA President"

[AnnieK401]

5. Great point

[Gman]

7. The next time someone says run government like a business

Just say government does not have Owner's Equity on the balance sheet and watch the puzzled look. It's priceless.

[Ikonoklast]

12. I usually say that a real businessman would eliminate most of the DoD.

The ROI is massively negative.

[A Simple Game]

24. Whose ROI? Yours and mine, or Exxon and GE? Makes a huge difference. n/t

[Recursion]

25. Imagine if the government had to account capital stock depreciation as a "loss"...

...and capital investment as a "savings", though. Suddenly everybody would want a ton of transportation infrastructure spending.

[Gman]

27. When you start talking about the balance sheet

The average freeper hasn't a clue. Ask 'em what they would value under Good Will and why. That's my favorite (IMHO) bogus asset category. I stayed away from Clear Channel stock several years ago because over half the value of their assets was under Good Will.

[Recursion]

33. Ah, "Good Will"

AKA, "we lost (or embezzled) the money, but in the magic world that is double-entry, it had to go somewhere, so..."

And then you can really get heads exploding if you point out to them that "assets" includes "things you owe to other people"...

[Gman]

41. Capitalized lease?

[Recursion]

42. Or just the accounting equation

Assets = Liabilities + Equity

[Gman]

43. Credit to the liability for the lease,

Debit to the asset for the lease, then amortize the lease which gets passed on to the income statement.

[CanonRay]

9. Great post!

[TrollBuster9090]

11. Great point! But I think Woody Allen did it better in What's Up Tiger Lilly.

"Name three presidents" at the 11:40 mark

[Romulox]

15. And why don't Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter count? nt

[yellowcanine]

17. Actually Harry Truman had part ownership in a men's wear store.

Harry Truman the haberdasher

[yellowcanine]

18. And Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer. That is a business.

Jimmy Carter on his peanut farm.

[badtoworse]

19. How is a lack of business experience helpful?

If we are going to deal with the high unemployment we currently have, then we will need to substantially expand the private sector. It seems counterintuitive to me that having no experience in business would be an asset.

[Doctor_J]

29. Oh, god

did you cross-post this to freeperville? Enjoy your brief stay, dear Limbecile

[badtoworse]

31. What an erudite response.

Last edited Wed May 23, 2012, 08:08 PM - Edit history (1)

I note though that you didn't answer my question.

[baldguy]

36. It's not the experience so much as the objective.

A vulture capitalist like Rmoney has one objective and one objective only: to extravagantly increase the wealth of a small, minuscule group of already-wealthy investors. And history has shown that he - and anyone else with "business experience" - will screw over anyone and everyone in his path to succeed in that objective: men, women, children, students, workers, unions, bread-winners, homeowners, the old, the sick, the disadvantaged. ANYONE, as long as they're not RICH.

Obama said it the best: A CEO has to worry only about helping his shareholders succeed. The President has to worry about helping everyone succeed.

This is what "business experience" gets you:

[badtoworse]

40. I fully agree.

My point is that a president with no business experience may not be as effective in growing the economy as one who has experience in the business world and understands its needs. The need for the right motivation is so obvious I didn't think it needed to be pointed out.

[Gman]

44. At the very least, a president had advisors

And does not make decisions in a vacuum.

[yellowcanine]

20. LBJ owned radio and TV stations.

Technically they were owned by his wife Ladybird Johnson but that was mostly a smokescreen. LBJ called the shots on that as with everything else.

[FailureToCommunicate]

21. President Obama made a statement recently about just that

I can't find it...but it was a good one... 'The leader of the country can't only be looking at the bottom line' (or similar)

[badtoworse]

22. He was absolutely correct

He should be worried about the bottom lines of the private sector. We are not going to reduce unemployment here if the private sector is hurting.

[xtraxritical]

26. Corporations are sitting on trillions in retained earnings, the "private sector"

as in American corporations are not in the slightest pain. Small business and the American people are. These big name corporations sitting on trillions hire for minimum wage and no benefits all the part time workers they want, if they don't offshore. Sure we can reduce unemployment with "right to work" no pay, no benefit jobs and unlimited right to fire workers. Bottom lines are not hurting, real people are. If you can join a union and vote a straight Democratic ballot.

[Doctor_J]

30. don't feed the troll, xx

he's a freeperville loser who has brought a few talking points from FoxNation.

[badtoworse]

34. Do you ever post anything worth reading?

How would you increase jobs in the US? We compete in a world market for jobs and that is not gpoing to change - how would you deal with it? Those are fair questions.

[barbtries]

23. Jimmy Carter

unless being a peanut farmer doesn't count.

[RZM]

38. That was my first thought too

Carter did pretty well in the peanut business.

[eallen]

35. You give Bush too much credit

His "business background" was largely manufactured.

[baldguy]

37. His"business background" was largely a failure.

He's a classic post turtle.

[RogerShuler]

39. Important post

Thanks for showing us that history can repeat itself in disturbing ways.

How many GOP candidates get elected by promising to run government like a business. Be careful what you wish for, voters.