Would Jean-Luc Picard ever become UFP President?

[Ethros]

Even if you agree with the concept or not, if I had to choose someone to be President of Earth, real or fictional, there's a very good chance I'd say everyone's favourite French(Yorkshire?)man Jean-Luc Picard

So that got me thinking, seen as from onscreen evidence in ENT: In A Mirror Darkly, we know Jonathan Archer eventually became Federation President 2184-2192...
do you think Picard would ever go for the role, presumably sometime in the 25th Century

He's a brilliant diplomat, if the Enterprise-E ever kicks the bucket, why not?


What do you think?

 

[cybersoldier]

I think as long as starfleet has him in command of the Enterprise he won't run for UFP president but like any type of military, Picard will be forced to retire or die in the line of duty hopefully on the enterprise. But looking at the office of the president I can see Picard, but I think if he ever did run he would be coached into the idea.

 

[od0_ital]

Considerin' Picard's glimpse into a possible future where he suffered a mental defect, I don't think he would seek high office, just in case he lost his damn mind.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I think his time as Locutus might hurt him as well.

 

[Crewman6]

Picard would be an awesome president and his status as a hero and his experience as a diplomat would help him sweep into office.

I think the Trek folks missed a BIG opportunity not to establish that either Spock or Sarek were presidents at some point during their careers. That would have been sweet.

 

[tafkats]

I have trouble imagining Picard being happy in that kind of job, and I wonder how well-known he really is outside of Starfleet.

Can the average American name any U.S. Army colonels? I doubt it, and that's about the level Picard is at. Ulysses S. Grant parlayed his military career into a successful run for high office, but he was commanding general of the entire U.S. Army. So did Dwight Eisenhower, but he was a five-star general who ran the entire European theater during World War II. Maybe the commander-in-chief of Starfleet would be able to get elected Federation president based on fame gained as a Starfleet officer, but I think a starship captain would have a lot more trouble.

Plus, Admiral Nechayev would probably write a tell-all book about the Hugh incident if he ran.

 

[Who_Trek]

I beleive Picard is happy where he is: on the bridge of a starship. Running a desk, even if it is a very big, very important desk, just wouldn't be him.

To bad. He'd be a great president. I'd vote for him!

 

[Starbreaker]

tafkats said:
Can the average American name any U.S. Army colonels? I doubt it, and that's about the level Picard is at.

It's the flagship, though... and he's saved the world on numerous occasions.

 

[JayTheTrekkie]

Would be nice to have Picard be the UFP President but he probably wont. He said befoe that he's not good with politics.

He likes to explore but someday soon, he gotta retire and move on.

 

[Thomas E. Johnson]

I do seem to recall that some where during the series Picard said that he hated Politics, and held little regard for Politicians.

 

[Bill Morris]

Picard certainly wouldn't want the job, but he would seek it if he strongly believed for some reason that all other candidates were pursuing some disastrous course.

 

[Michael]

Ethros said:
Even if you agree with the concept or not, if I had to choose someone to be President of Earth, real or fictional, there's a very good chance I'd say everyone's favourite French (Yorkshire?) man Jean-Luc Picard

You mean like this ...

 

[Charlie Kelly]

All I know is I'd vote for him.

But I think he listened to Kirk and wouldn't want to give up being Captain of the Enterprise.

Charlie

 

[FPAlpha]

Colonel Worf said:

tafkats said:
Can the average American name any U.S. Army colonels? I doubt it, and that's about the level Picard is at.

It's the flagship, though... and he's saved the world on numerous occasions.

And i think most of these occasions would be classified as Top Secret so most people wouldn't know.

I don't think he'd run for President because it's not his calling.
I believe he'll be on the bridge of the Enterprise until he retires.. maybe they'll make him Admiral the day he retires just for the sake of it (though i believe he'd decline that too because there's no point to it.. it's not like the Federation pays Starfleet personell including a pension).

When he retires he'll find himself a nice little corner and live there.. probably in France as the owner of a vineyard making wine (the real stuff).

 

[Ethros]

Colonel Worf said:

tafkats said:
Can the average American name any U.S. Army colonels? I doubt it, and that's about the level Picard is at.

It's the flagship, though... and he's saved the world on numerous occasions.

Well not just one world even, but over 150 worlds in the Federation

Belar said:
You mean like this ...

It could be worse though, imagine President Janeway!

 

[Charlie Kelly]

Ethros said:
It could be worse though, imagine President Janeway!

I'm going to get nightmares tonight. Are you happy??

Picard gets nightmares too...

Charlie

 

[Ethros]

^^^ hah, it was seeing that video yesterday that gave me the idea!

 

[Captaindemotion]

Crewman6 said:
Picard would be an awesome president and his status as a hero and his experience as a diplomat would help him sweep into office.

I think the Trek folks missed a BIG opportunity not to establish that either Spock or Sarek were presidents at some point during their careers. That would have been sweet.

Non-canon, but in The Return, Shatner & The Reeve-Stevens claim that Sulu became Federation President. A tribute to George Takei's interest in politics, presumably.

 

[Hofner]

In the same way she made Admiral before Picard Janeway will be elected UFP President first. And since they'll probably make her Prwsidient for life, Picard won't get a chance to be President. Of course there's a remote possibility he'll outlive her.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Just making a joke here.

Robert

 

[Sci]

This topic came up in this thread over in TNG a few days ago, actually. I'll just quote myself:

Crewman47 said:
I thought this was going to be about the possbility of Picard becoming President of the UFP and was going to add that I think that would be a cool idea as, iirc, the only Trek Captain mentioned as becoming President was Archer. Do you suppose Picard could ever settle down and take on something as demanding as a position like this?

Hard to say. I don't think Picard is the sort of man who's ambitious in and of himself and would seek the job out because it gave him pleasure to be President, and clearly he's very happy as a starship captain. However, if the time ever comes when he retires from Starfleet for whatever reason, and he honestly feels that he could better serve the Federation as President, I might be able to see him ending up in that position, though I suspect that it would take someone else prompting him to go there for that to happen.

But there again, I'm happy with President Bacco, so I'm biased.

Ethros said:
Even if you agree with the concept or not, if I had to choose someone to be President of Earth, real or fictional, there's a very good chance I'd say everyone's favourite French(Yorkshire?)man Jean-Luc Picard

I'm just gonna pause and get nitpicky here for a second:

The President of the United Federation of Planets is not the President of United Earth. United Earth is a Federation Member, and Earth serves as the Federation's capital planet, but the two offices are not the same. For a historical comparison, when New York City was the capital city of the United States, the Governor of the State of New York was not the same office as President of the United States. And today, the Mayor of the District of Columbia is not the same office as President of the United States.

Canonically, we don't even know if United Earth has a president. If we widen our sources to the novels, non-canonical though they are, we do know from the novel S.C.E.: The Future Begins that United Earth has a President, and in the novel Enterprise: The Good That Men Do, it has a Prime Minister. This suggests that United Earth has a president-prime minister type of government. It may be somewhat akin to that of Ireland or the Federal Republic of Germany or the State of Israel or the Italian Republic, to name a few -- a president as a mostly-ceremonial head of state, and a prime minister who serves as head of government.

The Federation, of course, is established to have a President who serves as head of state and government in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" (DS9).