# Could someone as unqualified as Trump get elected in any other modern, wealthy developed nation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 12, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567 "2016-12-12T23:25:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/61 "2017-01-03T14:26:33Z")
Except that the lower down you go, the more likely a position will be seen as “entry-level”'for politics. It’s not so unusual for governors not to have as much political experience. What’s unusual about Trump is getting elected as president without any prior elected/government/military experience. That has never happened in over 2 centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/62 "2017-01-03T15:23:23Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Isn’t Arnie a self-made millionaire? Trump made billions. If you believe him. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Except that the lower down you go, the more likely a position will be seen as “entry-level”'for politics. It’s not so unusual for governors not to have as much political experience. The population of California - 39M - is more than the population of many countries, and over 10% of the US. The current governor, Jerry Brown, has previously been a mayor, Chairman of the local Democrats, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. Gray Davis had previously been Lt Governor and State Controller. Peter Wilson was previously a mayor and a US Senator. George Deukmejian was previously a state senator, Attorney General, and assemblyman. And so on Arnie was an actor. No, I think it’s entirely fair to compare Trump with Arnie. > [@](#): > > What’s unusual about Trump is getting elected as president without any prior elected/government/military experience. Is this really a problem? > [@](#): > > That has never happened in over 2 centuries. Is that itself symptomatic of a problem? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/63 "2017-01-03T16:10:06Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The population of California - 39M - is more than the population of many countries, and over 10% of the US. But as a state in a union the powers of the governor are less than those of the president or any head of government in a sovereign state. Not that thoughtless policies in a state administration can’t wreak havoc, but there is less room for destroying the world than what has been put in Trump’s hands. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/64 "2017-01-03T17:34:56Z")
But Arnie came from a very impoverished background and made several millions before becoming an actor. That shows more competence than being born into money and a good business network. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/65 "2017-01-03T20:21:25Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Going right back to the OP, might we consider Arnold Schwarzenegger, an actor whose first political job was governor of California, as similarly unqualified? Yeah, you could. Similar, if not the same, because of course California isn’t entirely an independent sovereign state. And you will note that, though he acted with good intentions, Schwarzenegger had a very hard time, being an outsider to both parties. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Except that the lower down you go, the more likely a position will be seen as “entry-level”'for politics. It’s not so unusual for governors not to have as much political experience. What’s unusual about Trump is getting elected as president without any prior elected/government/military experience. That has never happened in over 2 centuries. I believe Herbert Hoover came closest to “lacking elected/government/military experience.” But apparently even he had served as Director of the U.S. Food Administratin and Secretary of Commerce. And you will note that even he had a really hard time as President. His theories about “efficiency” were perhaps not actually what the country needed, and he ended up being the hated former President accusing his more successful successor of “doing it wrong.” And Donald Trump is no Herbert Hoover. Hoover was a serious humanitarian, and could reasonably be considered one of the good guys, even if he was wrong about the utility of the New Deal. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/66 "2017-01-03T23:17:59Z")
Following up on the Canadian leadership process, there’s been a development since I made that post about the need for a leadership candidate to be bilingual. Andrew Scheer, one of the other candidates, has challenged O’Leary to enter the race before the French language debate in two weeks time. Says that if O’Leary doesn’t do so, he’s showing disrespect to Quebec voters. O’Leary has responded that he doesn’t need to be able to speak French to be a viable candidate for Quebec Conservatives. No idea how this is going to shake out, but it does illustrate one of the hurdles leadership candidates have to face in our system which is absent in the US system. > **[Scheer accuses O'Leary of trying to dodge Conservative French debate | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/scheer-oleary-french-1.3919611)** > > Conservative leadership hopeful Andrew Scheer is accusing potential candidate Kevin O'Leary of trying to avoid an all-French debate in two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/67 "2017-01-08T01:26:59Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t think Berlusconi was as bad as Trump, but that is who people compare him to. Granted, I do not know a lot about Berlusconi, but wasn’t he an actual self made billionaire (implying he had some business sense)? He was controversial and prone to crime and corruption, but he wasn’t jaw dropping stupid I don’t think. > > Could any other wealthy, developed country have a candidate as transparently deranged, dishonest and unqualified as Trump, and still win major office? Or is that American exceptionalism? > > There are controversial candidates out there like Le Pen, but I don’t think I’d call them unqualified the way Trump is. Are you defining ‘qualified’ simply as ‘traits I don’t like’? Or do you mean real qualifications like experience and education? If the latter, I’ll point out that Canada recently elected a Prime Minister with no business experience, and no government experience until elected as an MP in 2008, a mediocre education (BA in literature and education) and whose job history includes ski instructor and two years as a middle school substitute teacher. He tried acting and failed at it, decided to become an engineer but dropped out of engineering school in his second year. His sole political credential was that he gave a good eulogy at his father’s funeral, and that, plus the liberal dream of another Trudeau in power is what rocketed him into the political limelight and the leadership of his party. Then he became Prime Minister of Canada. I’m guessing that probably half of the people on the SDMB have better qualifications than he does. On paper, a billionaire with a degree from Wharton and decades of experience negotiating with business leaders and politicians makes Trudeau look like a child. If you want to talk about bad behavior as the qualification, I’d give you the elder Trudeau, who was great friends with Fidel Castro, whose wife was banging the Stones and hanging out at Studio 54 while he was Prime Minister, and [who famously rode a train](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/a-b-c-museum-says-its-preserved-the-railcar-from-which-pierre-trudeau-gave-the-finger-to-protesters) through Western Canada and gave the people the finger through the window as he passed by. A real class act. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/68 "2017-01-08T01:59:07Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Then he became Prime Minister of Canada. I’m guessing that probably half of the people on the SDMB have better qualifications than he does. > > On paper, a billionaire with a degree from Wharton and decades of experience negotiating with business leaders and politicians makes Trudeau look like a child. So half the people here have 8 years experience as an elected member of the house of commons, have been the critic for youth and multiculturalism, as well as the critic for citizenship and immigration? Even given hyperbole, your “argument” is simply a bunch of crapolla. And no, we don’t want a billionaire as PM, with NO experience whatsoever in anything other than screwing people out of their money. We’ll see how that little experiment goes south of the border… Not here. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/69 "2017-01-08T02:38:19Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If you want to talk about bad behavior as the qualification, I’d give you the elder Trudeau, who was great friends with Fidel Castro, whose wife was banging the Stones and hanging out at Studio 54 while he was Prime Minister, and [who famously rode a train](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/a-b-c-museum-says-its-preserved-the-railcar-from-which-pierre-trudeau-gave-the-finger-to-protesters) through Western Canada and gave the people the finger through the window as he passed by. A real class act. I fail to see how that remotely compares in terms of bad behavior. Trump is great friends with Putin, who as a KGB officer under the Soviet Union has no moral superiority to Castro. It’s rather ridiculous to blame Trudeau for his wife’s behavior. And you’ve got to be kidding equating giving the finger to any number of things Trump has done, starting with being a self-confessed sexual predator. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/70 "2017-01-08T03:24:00Z")
IlikePlants writes: \> . . . by a large margin . . . Well, not really. Of the 58 American Presidential elections so far, the 2016 electoral college margin is the 46th largest. He won the electoral college vote but not by any larger margin than most. It was in fact one of the closer ones: > **[Trump’s Electoral College Victory Ranks 46th in 58 Elections (Published 2016)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/18/us/elections/donald-trump-electoral-college-popular-vote.html?_r=0)** > > President Trump claimed he won the electoral vote in a “landslide,” but he ranks below most presidents in the electoral vote and popular vote margins. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/71 "2017-01-08T03:52:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I fail to see how that remotely compares in terms of bad behavior. Trump is great friends with Putin, who as a KGB officer under the Soviet Union has no moral superiority to Castro. It’s rather ridiculous to blame Trudeau for his wife’s behavior. And you’ve got to be kidding equating giving the finger to any number of things Trump has done, starting with being a self-confessed sexual predator. Trump has never even met Putin. And of course, Castro was a puppet of the KGB, so we’ll call that one a wash. As for equating giving the finger to your own people with being a loudmouth boor and sexual harasser, I’d say that’s situationally dependent. Trudeau’s actions came after he tried to create a national energy program designed to strip the west of its mineral rights. It just about broke up the country. Everyone thought his train trip was an act of contrition, until he started flipping the bird at people through the window. In any event, I would gladly put up Justin Trudeau as one of the least qualified people to ever head a major democracy. Certainly more so than Trump, although Trump certainly beats him in terms of being a general jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/72 "2017-01-08T03:58:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So half the people here have 8 years experience as an elected member of the house of commons, have been the critic for youth and multiculturalism, as well as the critic for citizenship and immigration? Ooh… ‘critic for youth and multiculturalism’! If you think that’s better experience fo leading a country than decades of experience as CEO of a major corporation, I don’t know what to say. That, combined with your notion that being a billionaire CEO qualifies you for nothing but screwing people over says a lot about your worldview, but little about the world. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/73 "2017-01-08T06:13:59Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You seem to be anything but sage. Knock it off. Avoid personal attacks such as mocking usernames outside The BBQ Pit. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/74 "2017-01-08T06:56:43Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Trump has never even met Putin. So what? They support one another. > [@](#): > > And of course, Castro was a puppet of the KGB, so we’ll call that one a wash. Bullshit. > [@](#): > > As for equating giving the finger to your own people with being a loudmouth boor and sexual harasser, I’d say that’s situationally dependent. Sorry, that’s utter nonsense. And if I wanted to list all the other things that Trump has done that were morally worse than giving the finger we’d be here all day. > [@](#): > > although Trump certainly beats him in terms of being a general jackass. Isn’t that enough? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/75 "2017-01-08T17:39:59Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > But Arnie came from a very impoverished background and made several millions before becoming an actor. That shows more competence than being born into money and a good business network. Agreed. Trump may be a billionaire but he’s hardly “self-made”. I still think the best line about Trump was from Marco Rubio, “Ladies and gentleman, he’s a con man. If he hadn’t inherited 200 million dollars from his father, he’d be selling watches on a street corner in Manhatten.”(quoting from memory) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/76 "2017-01-08T20:49:30Z")
Arnie was a millionaire before he started acting? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/77 "2017-01-08T22:32:33Z")
You know who Trump reminds me of? Napoleon. Like Napoleon, Trump has been very successful in his field - he’s fought on the field of commerce rather than the martial battlefield - and now he’s jumped to politics. ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/78 "2017-01-08T23:43:27Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Arnie was a millionaire before he started acting? I believe he was, didn’t he own some sort of home gym equipment company that made him very wealthy before all the acting came in? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/79 "2017-01-08T23:57:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Isn’t that enough? We were talking about qualifications, not personality. If being a jackass was disqualifying for being President, then LBJ, Nixon, Grant and a half dozen other people would never have gotten near the oval office. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567/80 "2017-01-08T23:57:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t think Berlusconi was as bad as Trump, but that is who people compare him to. You want unqualified, you should be asking how Obama ever got elected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-someone-as-unqualified-as-trump-get-elected-in-any-other-modern-wealthy-developed-nation/774567.md?page=5)