He ran for the State Assembly at 24 and served just two years. After the death of his wife, he left politics for a few years to explore the lands of the US. Two years later, at the young age of 28, he returned home and ran for the Mayor of his home city. He came in third.
Soon after, though, he was appointed to the federal post of the Civil Service Commission where he served seven years under both a Republican & Democratic President.
At age 37, he took the role of Police Commissioner of his home city for just two short years, before returning to a Federal post, that of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where his stay was also for just two years.
At age 39, he decided to run for Governor of his home state. His opponents labeled him as inexperienced in State politics, having only been in the legislature for two years and those years having been over thirteen years before. Still, he triumphed on a platform to root out the corruption in the Capital.
One could argue that his time in the Governors seat was short-lived – less than two full years – and his accomplishments would be few, as the Presidential Nominee of his party chose him to be his running mate. The candidate’s manger strenuously objected. An uproar broke out at the convention. Many felt he was too young and inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Was this man’s presidency considered a success or a failure? Would failures be carved into mountain sides? Not that I would expect Gov. Sarah Palin’s likeness to be added to Mount Rushmore alongside Theodore Roosevelt, but leadership skills require decisive action and in her years as an executive, whether it was as a mayor of a small town or a governor of a small state, Ms. Palin has shown she will take action on issues.
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written by Jay Golub , September 02, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
Danny, Roosevelt had MUCH more "experience" than ANYONE running for office today. Sure, his experience did not center around running government, but during his day, "government" wasn't the oppressive, massive enterprise it is today.
Which brings up an interesting point: does having life experience count today when running for office?
I would say that it does when running to be a legislator, but not when running for an executive position. To be an executive today, one needs the type of experiences only a governor or mayor or corporate executive would have. Positions on issues are of less value in judging a Presidential candidate than if they can actually do the job of running the federal government.
Bush's critics said "he never ran anything and the things he did run - like the Texas Rangers - were run poorly." Today, few would argue that he was an effective executive. Sure many liked his positions on issues, but there were few enterprises the Feds got involved in over the last 8 years that were run well.
Neither McCain nor Obama have executive experience - one of the reasons that Senators rarely run, and/ or win, the Presidency....this time we will have no choice....
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