Let's make a list of 144 (or more) facts you should know before running for US president.

[astorian]

All right, here’s a SERIOUS, fact-based question that every Presidential candidate SHOULD be able to answer:

“What’s the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim?”

A guy who wants to run U.S. foreign policy had BETTER know that.

[foolsguinea]

@Little_Nemo

For any country, a candidate should be able to answer all of the following without having to look up the answers:

Who’s the Head of State? Who’s the Head of Government? How much power do they have? How stable is the government? How likely is the government to change in the next dour years?

What’s the most important domestic issues in this country? What’s the most foreign policy issue in this country? What’s the most important American interest in this country?

Difficult to do for all 196 countries in the world? Hell, yes. But nobody said being President is an easy job.

:dubious: For any country? Benin? Suriname? East Timor? I’m sorry, I want someone in the State Dept. to know any one of these things, & I want to have that info at hand, but if I try to answer for all of them without looking it up, I will at some point screw it up & confuse a Tajik with a Kirghiz or a Moldovan office with a Georgian one. I don’t expect to be a walking phone book; I should have the notes somewhere.

[WarmNPrickly]

In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times a second.

[kenobi_65]

Canada is, in fact, a separate country from the United States. (Really, Governor Perry.)

[SpoilerVirgin]

You should be able to at least identify all 50 states and know some basic facts about each, as well as being able to identify all former presidents and know the basic facts about them as well. I’m not saying that you have to be able to recite the states and the presidents. But you’d better know that Benjamin Harrison and Gerald Ford were presidents, while Harrison Ford was not.

[JohnT]

I think we’ve lost count.

1. You should know that Uzbekistan and Libya are both countries and be preparred to acknowledge that time spent in foreign relations with them is greater than, not equal to, 0.
2. Difference between Sunni and Shiite Moslem
3. Different branches of government
4. How to Google
5. Heads of State for every country, plus other stuff.
6. “That the money he or she spends isn’t his or her personal money. That’s actually something everyone with control over other people’s money should know, and believe.”
7. Basic facts about all States and Presidents.
8. Not to have anything to do with a place with a name that was racially insensitive 50 years ago.

[Captain_Amazing]

@Skald_the_Rhymer

Hmm. I’m going to reply to this by saying that it’s really only important for a given candidate to know half of that. That is, if you’re a Democratic candidate, you need to know your own party’s rules for the primary elections, but it’s not all that important that you know the Republicans’ rules, and vice versa.

Care to convince me that I’m wrong there?

No, you’re right. You only really have to know your own party’s rules, but I was trying to make it bipartisan there.

[Shmendrik]

@Little_Nemo

For any country, a candidate should be able to answer all of the following without having to look up the answers:

Who’s the Head of State? Who’s the Head of Government? How much power do they have? How stable is the government? How likely is the government to change in the next dour years?

What’s the most important domestic issues in this country? What’s the most foreign policy issue in this country? What’s the most important American interest in this country?

Difficult to do for all 196 countries in the world? Hell, yes. But nobody said being President is an easy job.

I agree with foolsguinea, there’s no reason the president should know that. They probably should know most of those facts for 1 or 2 dozen countries though.

[Boyo_Jim]

How about the most very basic thing a politician, any politician in America, should know? Americans become eligible to vote at age 18. Rick Perry fails on this!

You should know exactly which government agencies you hate and want to dismantle, assuming you’ve announced that such agencies exist.

You should know that Paul Revere’s ride was not a warning that the British were about to seize American muskets.

[The_Second_Stone]

English. How to speak it, motherfucker.

The telephone number for Chuck Norris.

That covers it. POTUS has people for all the rest.

[psychobunny]

You should have some idea of the actual powers granted to the President by the Constitution.

(For example, these do not include the ability to arrest judges if you disagree with their rulings-I’m looking at you Mr Gringrich.)

[ZipperJJ]

@Skald_the_Rhymer

Are you being snarky or serious? I can’t see why that matters to someone who is running for president in a serious fashion.

I think in this day and age the Internet is very important and it is important to me to know that Our Leader is not only not “afraid” of using the Internet but also knows how to “use it” properly.

Look at how we here on the SDMB give all of the non-presidental candidates here grief when they fail to look something up themselves. I want my president to at least be able to cut the mustard here!

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@JohnT

I think we’ve lost count.

1. You should know that Uzbekistan and Libya are both countries and be preparred to acknowledge that time spent in foreign relations with them is greater than, not equal to, 0.
2. Difference between Sunni and Shiite Moslem
3. Different branches of government
4. How to Google
5. Heads of State for every country, plus other stuff.
6. “That the money he or she spends isn’t his or her personal money. That’s actually something everyone with control over other people’s money should know, and believe.”
7. Basic facts about all States and Presidents.
8. Not to have anything to do with a place with a name that was racially insensitive 50 years ago.

Number eight is a matter of judgment, not fact. I don’t think number four matters. I doubt Barry Obama has Googled anything in years; he has secretaries and assistants.

[ZipperJJ]

@Skald_the_Rhymer

Number eight is a matter of judgment, not fact. I don’t think number four matters. I doubt Barry Obama has Googled anything in years; he has secretaries and assistants.

I’m sure he hasn’t but wouldn’t you want your NEXT president to be a person who, before they became president, were Internet savvy enough to use Google properly?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am sick of old people who are too scared to use the Internet and I do not want them in office.

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@ZipperJJ

I’m sure he hasn’t but wouldn’t you want your NEXT president to be a person who, before they became president, were Internet savvy enough to use Google properly?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am sick of old people who are too scared to use the Internet and I do not want them in office.

One can be less than internet savvy without being afraid of it. You can just have other things to do. I wouldn’t mind Hillary Clinton as president, but I’d be surprised if she were at all remotely internet savvy. Likewise Huntsman.

[Wargamer]

9. You should be familiar with the national aims of all the major nuclear powers - especially Russia and China, and how your policies are likely to affect those aims.

10. You should have a reasonable level of knowledge of US history. Not saying you should know the full details of the Intolerable Acts, but you ought to know why they are important.

11. You should know the Bill of Rights, and where they are located in the Constitution.

12. You should know how free trade and tariffs affect international trade.

13. Likewise, you should know how the World Trade Organization works, and who is the current head of the organization.

[Simplicio]

@psychobunny

You should have some idea of the actual powers granted to the President by the Constitution.

(For example, these do not include the ability to arrest judges if you disagree with their rulings-I’m looking at you Mr Gringrich.)

He said he’d have them arrested if they didn’t comply with Congressional subpeonas. A bad idea, but probably within the powers of the Office.

[ZipperJJ]

@Skald_the_Rhymer

One can be less than internet savvy without being afraid of it. You can just have other things to do. I wouldn’t mind Hillary Clinton as president, but I’d be surprised if she were at all remotely internet savvy. Likewise Huntsman.

Well then I guess that “knowing how to use the Internet in 2012” is my version of “someone I’d like to have a beer with.” I don’t trust people who can’t use the Internet in 2012.

Scratch that…I don’t trust them to lead our country. My dad can’t/won’t use the Internet and I do find him suspect but he’s ok otherwise. I would not vote for him, tho.

[silenus]

14. S/he should know what it takes to get on the primary ballot in the various states of the Union.

[Boyo_Jim]

@Wargamer

9. You should be familiar with the national aims of all the major nuclear powers - especially Russia and China, and how your policies are likely to affect those aims…

They should be far more concerned about the aims of small nuclear powers, which are inherently less stable and have fewer cards to play to get their way.