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Governor vs. Senator

Nixon, Ford, LBJ, and Bush all used their Vice Presidential experience, not their Congressional experience to get elected.
Ford was never elected. He was appointed VP midterm by Nixon and confirmed by the Congress. He ascended under the 25th when Nixon resigned and was then beaten by Jimmy Carter in '76.

Yeah, poor choice of words. Should have said "became President", not elected.

For people who went directly from Senator to President, you have:

Harding, (Truman), JFK, Obama
Harding at least served as Lt. Governor of Ohio before becoming a Senator, so he brought some, albeit limited, executive experience to the White House.

Then Ford gets his own category too. Besides, when it came time for Truman's reelection, he had almost four years of executive experience.

Yeah, I think I was trying to give Senators a bit of credit. My point was it's pretty rare for a Senator to immediately become President, however (I think this is true in the 19th Century as well).
 
I think it's a mistake to equate the relative ability to attain the presidency from a particular position to that position's value or benefits.

Absolutely, if your life-long ambition is to reach the presidency, run for Governor first, but, if you want great job security, close to zero accountability, and the ability to shape domestic and foreign policy over the course of a lifetime, run for the Senate.
 
I think being a Senator is better. You get to hang out in the center of power and make policy for the entire Nation. Plus, you get to go on international fact-finding missions. And I agree that they probably get a higher class of intern. :cool:
 
Also, Senate Majority Leader is a pretty cool gig. It certainly worked well for Lyndon Johnson (helped him get the VP job and learn how to push through a bunch of legislation as President). He even got some famous biographies out of the deal ("Master of the Senate").
 
But as noted Truman had served as a senator for several years. Also, I believe Ford was a US representative. (he had 25 years experience)
 
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