Pick a president, any president!

[voltaire]

If you theoretically had complete autonomy to personally hand pick the next POTUS, who would it be? No need to worry about electability or anything else, it's completely up to you who will be the next president.

If your pick is Obama, then please state that and then specify who you would choose to succeed him.

(ETA: Your selection need not have shown any actual interest in being POTUS, or even being involved in politics. You can make your choice as if they would not turn down the position.)

[BobLibDem]

I'd take Howard Dean. Unlike Obama, he realizes that the Democrats have an opponent that will stop at nothing in their thirst for power and doesn't have vertebrae made of Silly Putty.

To succeed him, I'd take Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, for much the same reasoning.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

FDR.

[Oakminster]

Me. And I might nominate Bricker for VP.

[penultima thule]

Elizabeth Windsor

[Sully]

Jon Stewart

[Superdude]

Let's bring Bill Clinton back.

[Farmer Jane]

Howard Dean. Hands down. I'd move across country and join his campaign if he'd run again. And Joe Trippi needs to be his Chief of Staff.

I'd like to say Jon Stewart as VP, but that doesn't sound very serious. So I'm going to go with Tom Harkin or resurrect Paul Wellstone from the dead.

[Farmer Jane]

Wait - does Josiah Bartlet count? I met Martin Sheen once and I kept thinking, I am standing in front of the greatest President of my generation. Too bad he was fictional.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Superdude

Let's bring Bill Clinton back.

That's not a half bad idea. I've always been 100% against term limits, even for the president. But it's only half good, he's too much like retired now.

Jared Polis.

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by Frank

That's not a half bad idea. I've always been 100% against term limits, even for the president. But it's only half good, he's too much like retired now.

Jared Polis.

Bill Maher once proclaimed that, if the Constitution were changed to allow non-US born people to run (this was before the whole "birther" controversy), then we should relax the term limit rule. I agree.

[pkbites]

David Rice Atchison


But only until Monday.

[SpoilerVirgin]

I always thought that former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke would be the first black president. He has a very similar background to Obama (Harvard Law School) and I liked him for some of the same reasons I liked Obama, so I'm not sure how well he would work out, but I'd like to see what he would do with the job.

He would probably appeal to many Dopers (not to mention dopers) for his strong stand in favor of drug decriminalization.

[pkbites]

George Hayduke (POTUS) Nelson Chunder (VP).

[Farmer Jane]

Originally Posted by Frank

That's not a half bad idea. I've always been 100% against term limits, even for the president. But it's only half good, he's too much like retired now.

Jared Polis.

I love Jared Polis and I voted for him in the primary and general...but he can be a jerk. It's not just some of his positions on public education.

Anyway, I'm not sure I trust him with the Presidency yet.

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

George Will probably.

[Ranchoth]

Vladimir Putin. (Uh, hopefully as a defector)

[blondebear]

My choice is a proven winner with the ability to get the most out of difficult people with huge egos: Phil Jackson.

[CheeseDonkey]

George W. Bush.

[What Exit?]

Theodore Roosevelt of course. He could handle these wars and drive through universal healthcare that would stick while taking care of the Climate change issues.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Theodore Roosevelt of course. He could handle these wars and drive through universal healthcare that would stick while taking care of the Climate change issues.

He's dead, Jim. You grab his tricorder; I'll get his wallet.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by Frank

He's dead, Jim. You grab his tricorder; I'll get his wallet.

Hey the Op said "No need to worry about electability or anything else, it's completely up to you who will be the next president."

So I figured go for the best.

[pkbites]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Hey the Op said "No need to worry about electability or anything else, it's completely up to you who will be the next president."

Kal-el? Solomon? Paulus Beitz? Betty Crocker?

[Frank]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Hey the Op said "No need to worry about electability or anything else, it's completely up to you who will be the next president."

While that's true enough, I venture that there is a bi-partisan groundswell of favor in this country for a president whose bones are held together by tendons, ligaments, and the like rather than wires. (Disregarding Nixon, because the stake probably hasn't worked its way out of his heart yet.)

Maybe that's just me.

[Ranchoth]

Originally Posted by Frank

Maybe that's just me.

Bah, bosh! Zombie Roosevelt for President! It takes more than DEATH to kill a Bull Moose!

[foolsguinea]

Originally Posted by voltaire

If you theoretically had complete autonomy to personally hand pick the next POTUS, who would it be? No need to worry about electability or anything else, it's completely up to you who will be the next president.

If your pick is Obama, then please state that and then specify who you would choose to succeed him.

(ETA: Your selection need not have shown any actual interest in being POTUS, or even being involved in politics. You can make your choice as if they would not turn down the position.)

(emphasis added)

Doctor Zero. Not that he needs our pathetic little constitutional offices.

Russell Nash, or whatever he's calling himself now.

Of people who actually exist:

Ralph Nader.

[foolsguinea]

Originally Posted by penultima thule

Elizabeth Windsor

Crap, I should have thought of this. This is good.

[Regallag_The_Axe]

Originally Posted by Ranchoth

Bah, bosh! Zombie Roosevelt for President! It takes more than DEATH to kill a Bull Moose!

Bully!

[Boyo Jim]

Well, if there are no limits, I'll go with Jesus. Even assuming the God stuff is bullshit, he would get instant respect from the far right, and would still piss them off royally when he actually started implementing his core values into public policy.

[Ukulele Ike]

Big Bill Heywood, with Emma Goldman as Veep.

And put Jerry Garcia in charge of handing out reds.

[Tom Scud]

Originally Posted by Ranchoth

Bah, bosh! Zombie Roosevelt for President! It takes more than DEATH to kill a Bull Moose!

We already know that bullets can't stop him.

[What Exit?]

The momentum is building, this time Theodore should have enough time to overcome both candidates and not just the one.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Alan Grayson.

[RTFirefly]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

Well, if there are no limits, I'll go with Jesus. Even assuming the God stuff is bullshit, he would get instant respect from the far right, and would still piss them off royally when he actually started implementing his core values into public policy.

This. In addition, it would be fun to see the religious wingnuts go apeshit when they realized that Jesus wasn't the personification of all their prejudices.

If we limit the alternatives to persons currently living, Constitutionally eligible (i.e. no persons not born a U.S. citizen, nobody under 35) and capable of carrying out the functions of the office, I'd pick Al Gore.

Al Franken would also be high on my list.

[smithsb]

We interrupt this thread for a serious candidate. Shirley Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, RPI, aka 'Tute. Her bio at http://www.rpi.edu/president/profile.html
Please read her bio; education, accomplishments, and leadership.

Brilliant woman who dragged/drug (hell, us engineers could never master grammer and rarely english) RPI from 19th century thinking directly into science and engineering leadership in the 21st.

Some highlights:
Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T. and a S.B. in physics from M.I.T.

Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Raised more than $1.4 billion in the Rensselaer Plan for construction, endowments, and program growth and enhancements.

[Mosier]

Jean-Luc Picard

[gonzomax]

Bernie Sanders

[Ichbin Dubist]

Originally Posted by smithsb

We interrupt this thread for a serious candidate. Shirley Jackson....

Just don't put her in charge of the lottery.

My off-the-cuff answer is Rush Holt, I like the idea of a Quaker-scientist running things, he was smart enough to beat Watson on Jeopardy!, and it would annoy the boobs if he became the most famous US citizen named "Rush."

[CapnPitt]

Havelock Vetinari

Or, for a real person, John Edwards. Yep, he's not electable at all and he sure did mess up his personal life, but for some reason, I honestly believe he cares about poor people. (Even though he got filthy rich off of them).

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Mosier

Jean-Luc Picard

The prime directive will prevent him for exercising his authority in Alabama and Kansas and Texas. You know, because they haven't quite made it to the 21st century and are therefore not eligible for first contact.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally Posted by Mosier

Jean-Luc Picard

Or, for a Republican, Darth Vader.

What? You thought Kirk would be pro-Tea Party?

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Originally Posted by bosda di'chi of tricor

or, for a republican, darth vader.

What? You thought kirk would be pro-tea party?

palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine! Palpatine!

[etv78]

He may be too tainted by W but, I always liked Colin Powell.

[medicated]

Elizabeth Warren anyone?

I don't know that she'd do a good job, but I'd bet that she'd try.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

Greg Mankiw

If Congress won't listen to him on economic policy they won't listen to anybody.

[appleciders]

Russ Feingold. He's the best straight-shooter that the Democratic Party has, and I think he'd make some strong stands in favor of personal rights over corporate rights, and maybe actually balance the budget. For this reason, he is entirely unelectable. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

[Onomatopoeia]

Originally Posted by appleciders

Russ Feingold. He's the best straight-shooter that the Democratic Party has, and I think he'd make some strong stands in favor of personal rights over corporate rights, and maybe actually balance the budget. For this reason, he is entirely unelectable. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

Yep. Russ Feingold was my guy. Only in Tea Party America would someone as competent as Russ Feingold be voted out of Congress.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Hillary.

[Siam Sam]

Jack Bauer.

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by Frank

He's dead, Jim. You grab his tricorder; I'll get his wallet.

So is FDR but you had no difficulties with his (earlier) nomination.