A long government career is a typical start for a presidential candidate to establish their reputation. Sometimes, even the military is a route some take to establish that reputation. In 2016, Donald Trump was elected president and a large piece of this victory was his being considered a political outsider. Obviously, the business and television success didn’t necessarily translate well into office, but it is also very clear that there are multiple issues concerning career politicians, and more times than not, people are still open to voting for someone else.

Multiple presidents have had other jobs such as historians, actors, farmers, etc., before their political careers. Remember also, in 2016, Ben Carson was a popular GOP candidate early on, especially with Christian and Black conservatives. He was a neurosurgeon.

Some people claim it is ridiculous to have an outsider hold the highest office in the country. The analogy commonly used is would you hire a CEO that has never worked in a business before? Also, would you hire a baseball coach that has never touched a baseball? How about a Supreme Court Justice who has never tried a case? More times than not, the answer to these would be “no.”

It’s also just generally difficult to justify the voting of someone who is a complete outsider. The president should have at least a functional understanding of the job. Barack Obama had less than 10 years in politics, but he also graduated from Harvard law school and taught constitutional for over a decade which is an absolutely solid background to come from.

Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated from West Point and was a career soldier. He even stayed active in foreign affairs post World War 2. At first, he resisted the pressures to run for office due to his own considerations of it being inappropriate given his military background. However, as history tells, he eventually made the decision when he viewed the other candidates as disastrous choices.

Neither Eisenhower nor Obama should be considered career politicians, but they weren’t necessarily outsiders to the entire game. They were two of the most effective and honest leaders in recent history. Trump on the other hand was a complete outsider who also didn’t seem to understand or care how the government functioned. History is in the process of judging him right now, so there is no need for further comments.

The irony is many qualities of a good candidate range from being inconsequential to downright toxic to a presidency. People hate the gridlock occurring now, and our government is full of people who know how to navigate it. Newbies, whose understanding comes from the outside, have to be replaced. If not, then the gridlock only gets worse as time goes on…