For what it’s worth, here is a biography on Barack Obama published on a web site called Political Base. For some reason, I was a little vague on his time in the Illinois legislature; thinking he had only been there a couple of years before running for the U.S. Senate. Turns out, he was in the Illinois Senate from 1996 – 2004, before his current term as U.S. Senator. So, it looks like a good dozen years in politics. It’s not quite the 26 years McCain has been in D.C., but at least a healthy background in public service.
Obama’s background:
1979: Graduates from high school in Hawaii.
1979 – 1981: Occidental College, in L.A.
1981 – 1983: Transfers to and graduates from Columbia University, B.A. Pol. Science with an emphasis in foreign relations.
1983 – 1984: Editor at the international financial division for Business International Corporation
1985 – 1988: Church-based community organizer in Chicago “seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.”
1988 – 1991: Harvard Law School; J.D. magna cum laude; President of the Harvard Law Review.
1992: Illinois Executive Director of Project Vote.
1993 – 1996: Practicing attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Begins teaching Constitutional Law at Univ. of Chicago Law School (1993 – 2004).
1996 – 2004: Illinois State Senator.
2004 – 2008: United States Senator for the State of Illinois.
And, just because I was curious –
McCain’s background:
1954: Graduates high school in Alexandria, VA.
1954 – 1958
: Follows his father and grandfather, both admirals, into the Navy; graduating from the Naval Academy in 1958 (894 out of 899).
1958 – 1966: Various naval assignments. He graduated flight school in 1960 and was then stationed on carriers in the Mediterranean and Caribbean “surviving two airplane crashes and a collision with some power lines.”
1966 – 1974: Assigned to combat in the Viet Nam War. In 1967, he was shot down over Hannoi in the course of his 23rd bombing mission. He was a prisoner of the North Vietnamese from October 1967 to March 1973.
1973 – 1977: Commanding officer of a training squadron in Florida.
1977 – 1981: Navy liaison to the United States Senate.
1981 – 1982: Vice President for Public Relations of Hensley & Co. (working for the father of his second wife, an Arizona beer baron and one of the state’s richest men.).
1982 – 1987: United States Representative for Arizona’s First Congressional District.
1987 – 2008: United States Senator for the State of Arizona.
Another bloogger put Obama down for his lack of experience, so I looked up Abraham Lincoln’s record.
Elected several times as a state (Illinois) representative and one term in Congress.
Lincoln’s record was not good, but to compare this day and age to Lincoln’s time is misleading. We live in a world economy faced with increased globalization every day.
The challenges today are much greater than in Lincoln’s time. And before someone brings up the Civil War as a testament to Lincoln, kindly remember Lincoln fought the war, not to free the slaves, but to keep the Union together.
Lincoln made a number of statements as to his motives, the worst being one to Horace Greeley in 1862 where he said he if he could save the Union without freeing one slave then he would do it. Or if he could free some and not others, he would do it.
He didn’t have a preference as to freeing the slaves or not. They just happened to be the issue that brought everything to a head.
Lincoln also was known for his disregard of the right of habeas corpus. A case from Indiana – Ex Parte Milligan – raised the issue of suspending habeas corpus during “war” time. Lincoln ordered it suspended, the court disagreed with him, and he went ahead and did it any way.
Perhaps some of his blunders were the result of lack of experience.
Obama’s resume seems stronger in terms of dealing with a global economy. First, he’s got a pretty global background. Second, he seems to have a broader range of experience than McCain.
McCain has served in the military; he grew up in the military; and his Senate experience is primarily military. I think he’s more or less acknowledged that he leaves economics up to others. If you could pick only one area of expertise, maybe that’s the one you’d pick; but when you drill down, McCain seems pretty one dimensional.
What’s on Hilliary’s Resume other than being married to Bill?
I don’t think that the challenges today are anything like the challenges Lincoln faced, since he was faced with the greatest crisis the US has ever known, involving a war that killed more americans than all of our other wars combined.
And while Lincoln didn’t fight the war to free the slaves, the South clearly began the war to keep their slaves. Here is the beginning of the GA secession statement:
Somehow my tag didn’t work – here is the quote:
The people of Georgia having dissolved their political connection with the Government of the United States of America, present to their confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery. They have endeavored to weaken our security, to disturb our domestic peace and tranquility, and persistently refused to comply with their express constitutional obligations to us in reference to that property, and by the use of their power in the Federal Government have striven to deprive us of an equal enjoyment of the common Territories of the Republic.
Lincoln was pragmatic. If he had said in 1861, “Let’s raise an army to free the slaves!”, the war would have probably been cancelled at that point due to lack of interest.
What are we facing today that is so much worse than our Union being dissolved and millions of our citizens taking up arms against each other? Some guys flew airplanes into buildings because we let them carry razor-sharp boxcutters onto the plane. Then we went into Iraq and have shot ourselves in the foot for a few years now.
If Lincoln were to show up today, he would probably have the current mess wrapped up in time to catch an evening performance at the theater. Of course, that’s assuming he could get elected, since today someone would go back through his statements to create a narrative trying to make him out to be less than he really was.
I really do like the imagery of a black American from the Land of Lincoln leading us back into a time of unity rather than division.
Some will say I have drunk the Kool-Aid– I just down another Bud Light and tell Barack to talk on!
Without knowing the details of all the aviation accidents McCain had, I probably shouldn’t judge. But his relationship with airplanes (excluding wartime, where McCain actually was able to locate the war, unlike Bush) does seem similar to Bush’s.
Lincoln’s political career prior to the Presidency — eight years in the Illinois legislature and four years in the U.S. Congress. (Sounds familiar):
1832 — Ran for the Illinois legislature; defeated.
1834 — Ran for the Illinois legislature and was elected Representative for Sangamon County.
1836 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1838 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1840 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1846 — Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1854 — Elected to the Illinois legislature; resigned to run for U.S. Senate; defeated.
1858 — Ran for U.S. Senate; defeated.
———
Prior to his political career, it looks like he did some flatboating from age 19 – 22. He became a store clerk at age 22 and runs for the state legislature at age 23 when he is defeated. That same year, he spent about 3 months in the Illinois militia.
At age 25 – 27, looks like he served as a postmaster, surveyor, and Illinois legislator.
At age 28, he started his career as a lawyer until about age 50 when he became the Republican nominee for the Presidency.
A chronology is here.
Lincoln won his first legal case just across the river in Lewisport, KY, in 1827. The Commonwealth of Kentucky charged him with operating a ferry without a license. He represented himself, was aquitted, and the presiding judge encouraged him to study law and loaned him books. So says the plaque by the side of the road.
Heavens, people, what I am trying to get at is that we have the tendency to idolize certain individuals in our country’s history. Lincoln was one of them. I am not saying he is “less than what he was.” I am saying look at his reasons and stop glorifying why he went to war with the notion that it was to free the slaves.
I am a big fan of FDR, but he made one of the most disappointing decisions in history to me and many others – that of interning Japanese-Americans in camps. He also tried to grab too much power, and he got shot down by Congress. Roosevelt had many faults, but that did not take away from what he did in his four terms. It makes him human like everyone else.
One blogger mentioned the correct term – he (Lincoln) was pragmatic. Lincoln had thoughts and positions just like other politicians and leaders. He made the decision to go to war to keep the Union together. It was the early days of our country, our Constitution was only 70+ years old, and the issue of slavery had been building as an issue since the beginning of our country.
The Founders knew it would be an issue, and that is why they wrote into the Constitution that it couldn’t be regulated until 1808.
And yes, I think it is important to look at Lincoln’s statements about how he felt about slavery when he is put on a pedestal as the “savior” of African-Americans by freeing them.
The idolatry of leaders is dangerous because it leads to ignoring faults and traits that may impact judgment. Obama has literally been placed on a pedestal. When women cry and scream like they did with the Beatles, that is ridiculous.
I agree with Carlotte ,that Obama has been put on a pedestal.But Im a 66 yr old cynical type guy,former idealist, and I’ll admit to putting him there do,but I hope he doesn’t sing and dance as most idols do.We so need someone with new (liberal or otherwise)) ideas in control and that’s the driving force for many of us.Planting a pedestal in a desert of liars isn’t so childish or naive if we think about it.
I regret that Hillary Clinton fell off her pedestal,but it’s her own doing,so we have one left. I would still vote for Clinton if the choice is Clinton/McCain.And if Obama isn’t what he seems, we’ll have one more failure bite the dust.