# Rob Reiner called Hillary Clinton the most qualified presidential candidate ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122 "2013-11-05T03:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/61 "2013-11-07T15:23:27Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t intend for this to sound like a swipe at Hillary, but think back over the last fifty years: Kennedy’s VP assumes the office, because that’s the whole _point_ of serving as VP; he easily defeats two-term Senator Goldwater, and then Johnson’s VP is of course the logical choice to run against Eisenhower’s VP, who wins and years later gets re-elected against two-term Senator McCarthy. > > And then, after the weirdness of Nixon’s VP assuming the office, Governor Carter gets the big job, followed by Governor Reagan – who of course runs for re-election against Carter’s VP, before Reagan’s VP beats Governor Dukakis before losing to Governor Clinton, who then beats Senator Dole, after which Clinton’s VP naturally squares off against a Governor who beats a Senator before another Senator beats another other Senator before winning re-election against a Governor. > > All thrilling stuff, of course, but – _not a single one of them_ was a Cabinet Secretary. It’s as if America does not give a crap _at all_ about that credential. > > Go back even further: before Senator Kennedy got the big job, it was Eisenhower beating Governor Stevenson; before that, Roosevelt’s VP Truman defeats Governor Dewey; before that, FDR got the job by dint of his own Governoring. > > And none of 'em were Secretary of Anything, right? The electorate didn’t care about that, didn’t want to hear it, probably didn’t notice. I had to pause and think about this for a moment. You’re right. Was Herbert Hoover the last former cabinet secretary to be nominated? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/62 "2013-11-07T15:49:09Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > I had to pause and think about this for a moment. You’re right. Was Herbert Hoover the last former cabinet secretary to be nominated? As far as I can tell, yes: FDR beat Governor Landon and Governor Dewey, as well as Willikie (seriously?) – and before Hoover beat Governor Smith, the electorate stuck with Governor Coolidge after that VP took over for Senator-turned-President Harding, who beat Congressman-turned-Governor Cox after Governor-turned-President Wilson beat Governor-turned-Supreme-Court-Justice Hughes – so, once in the last century? ---
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/63 "2013-11-07T15:54:27Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As far as I can tell, yes: FDR beat Governor Landon and Governor Dewey, as well as Willikie (seriously?) – and before Hoover beat Governor Smith, the electorate stuck with Governor Coolidge after that VP took over for Senator-turned-President Harding, who beat Congressman-turned-Governor Cox after Governor-turned-President Wilson beat Governor-turned-Supreme-Court-Justice Hughes – so, once in the last century? I guess it’s right that Hughes was secretary of state after losing the election. So, I suppose that can be Hillary’s slogan: “Clinton: A Modern Day Herbert Hoover” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/64 "2013-11-07T22:00:17Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > So, I suppose that can be Hillary’s slogan: “Clinton: A Modern Day Herbert Hoover” Ha. Of course, the gag is that Commerce Secretary – not even Attorney General or the War Department, you understand, but _Commerce Secretary_ – was the capstone for Hoover’s credentials, while Clinton’s time in the Cabinet came after she earned full marks by getting re-elected to the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/65 "2013-11-07T22:32:13Z")
FWIW, the last Secretary of State to become President was James Buchanan. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/66 "2013-11-07T22:56:55Z")
Yeah, it’s not like SoS is her only relevant experience. Regardless of how much you value a cabinet position in itself, senator plus secretary has to be worth more than senator alone. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/67 "2013-11-07T23:00:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Ha. Of course, the gag is that Commerce Secretary – not even Attorney General or the War Department, you understand, but _Commerce Secretary_ – was the capstone for Hoover’s credentials, while Clinton’s time in the Cabinet came after she earned full marks by getting re-elected to the Senate. Hoover was famous, and mentioned as a potential president, before he was a Cabinet member. His relief work during and after WWI was widely recognized around the world and in the US. He was recruited by both political parties, but chose to become a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/68 "2013-11-08T01:38:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As far as I can tell, yes: FDR beat Governor Landon and Governor Dewey, as well as Willikie (seriously?) – and before Hoover beat Governor Smith, the electorate stuck with Governor Coolidge after that VP took over for Senator-turned-President Harding, who beat Congressman-turned-Governor Cox after Governor-turned-President Wilson beat Governor-turned-Supreme-Court-Justice Hughes – so, once in the last century? Well, by the time he’d be Governor of New York, FDR had already been Assistant Secretary of the Navy and the Democratic VP candidate. He was talked about as a presidential candidate long before he got to be governor. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/69 "2013-11-08T02:00:53Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Well, by the time he’d be Governor of New York, FDR had already been Assistant Secretary of the Navy and the Democratic VP candidate. He was talked about as a presidential candidate long before he got to be governor. And (like I’d hinted with considerable surprise) Willkie was talked about, and then actually _became,_ his party’s candidate of choice to run against FDR for President, after his years of service as – Lieutenant Colonel? Deputy Mayor? City Councilman? No, the correct answer was “businessman with a law degree.” ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/70 "2013-11-08T15:24:49Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > I had to pause and think about this for a moment. You’re right. Was Herbert Hoover the last former cabinet secretary to be nominated? George H.W. Bush was CIA director. Does that count as a cabinet level position? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/71 "2013-11-08T15:35:25Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > George H.W. Bush was CIA director. Does that count as a cabinet level position? Wiki sez both [that post](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_Central_Intelligence) and the guy’s stint as [UN Ambassador](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_United_Nations) would’ve counted as “cabinet-level” during the Clinton Administration – but apparently neither post had that accolade when Bush actually held them. It’s an interesting point, though. [QUOTE=Wikipedia] **Executive officials no longer of Cabinet rank** Director of the Federal Security Agency (1939–1952): Abolished, most duties transferred to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (1996–2001): created as an independent agency in 1979, raised to Cabinet rank in 1996,[2] lost Cabinet rank in 2001.[3] Director of Central Intelligence (1995–2001)[4][5][6] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Wikipedia] The Ambassador to the United Nations is not a member of the United States Cabinet, but the position is frequently accorded cabinet-level rank. It held this status through the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations but was removed from cabinet rank by George H.W. Bush, who had previously held the position himself. It was restored under the Clinton administration. It was not a cabinet-level position under the George W. Bush administration (from 2001 to 2009).[1][2] but was once again elevated under the Obama administration. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/72 "2013-11-08T15:49:29Z")
The most important skill that a prospective president can have is the ability to campaign well. Given that cabinet positions are unelected it is not surprising that they are less likely to lead to a presidential nomination. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/73 "2013-11-08T15:56:46Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Experience can be overrated. … > [@TriPolar](#): > > She’s a natural born US citizen over the age of 35, and she’s resided in the country for 14 years. Those are the qualifications. … > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > When it comes to the presidency, beyond the constitutional requirements, it seems to me that being qualified is just having enough political and leadership on your resume that people don’t ask if they’re qualified enough… Question one is what does “qualified” mean? So sure, you have to meet the constitutional requirements, and you have to have enough in your hat that questioning your qualifications does not come up … but what in someone’s background should we be looking for that shows they are capabe? A president needs to be able to articulate a positive view of our country’s future and chart a realistic course for us to get there. (S)he needs to be able to delegate tasks yet ultimately take the responsibility and keep strong team members functioning within his/her vision of how the team should go. (S)he needs to be able to manage getting things done and able to take the constant heat for what is done and not done (including not done by intent) from all sides. Be able to stay rational in irrational circumstances. Be expert at sales. What sort of experiences show that someone posseses those traits? Sure she has seen the inside workings of how things get done within administrations that have functioned in challenging political times. Proven her ability to articulate a positive view for our future? She’s shown herself to be adequate. Yes SoS provides experience at delegating and managing a team of strong members keeping them all with the same vision. She’s taken lots of heat and held up fine. And she has shown herself to be able to stay rational admist irrational circumstances. But what sort of objective scale could be used to say “most”? Being governor also can demonstrate that one has those qualifications, or that one does not. Having the job, the experience, in your resume is _not_ the qualification; how one did in the job under which set of circumstanes, is what determines how quaified one is. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/74 "2013-11-08T16:03:14Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Plus, and this may in fact be why Washington in fact had the best qualifications of any person entering the Presidency–it is widely accepted that as the office of President was being designed at the Constitutional Convention it was being _designed specifically with Washington in mind to fill it._ The position was almost crafted for the man. That makes it hard for me to cotton to any argument that Washington had poor qualifications to assume the Presidency. We seem to be arguing past each other. I agree that Washington was highly qualified to be President and his peers all saw that. My point however was that his qualifications were not reflected in his record of positions he had held. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/75 "2013-11-08T16:50:30Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A president needs to be able to articulate a positive view of our country’s future and chart a realistic course for us to get there. (S)he needs to be able to delegate tasks yet ultimately take the responsibility and keep strong team members functioning within his/her vision of how the team should go. (S)he needs to be able to manage getting things done and able to take the constant heat for what is done and not done (including not done by intent) from all sides. Be able to stay rational in irrational circumstances. Be expert at sales. > > What sort of experiences show that someone posseses those traits? If you put it like that, _running for office and winning_ seems pretty solid all by itself: you’re nothing without a properly-managed team, and the one task you can’t delegate is personally selling your proposals while taking the heat and remaining on-message. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/76 "2013-11-09T00:46:27Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Grove Cleveland in '92 would be hard to beat in terms of qualifications for the Presidency. If we’re going by “candidates running who aren’t incumbent Presidents” as the filter Well, there’s Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, since he’d been a Colonel and a Governor and everything else from Police Commissioner to Vice-President before serving as Commander-In-Chief from 1901 to 1909, at which point he stepped down to spend more time [del]with his family[/del] playing big-game hunter while polishing his Nobel Prize. Anyhow, he of course eventually returned to politics by running against his successor and winning six states – which is pretty good, considering said incumbent only managed to pick up, y’know, two. The point is, unlike Cleveland in '92, it’s now illegal to get elected President while as qualified as TR was in '12. _“You were a Senator who failed in her White House bid, and so spent four years as a Secretary? Bully! I was the President when I won an election to spend four years as a President; do tell me more of this Robert Reiner.”_ ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/77 "2013-11-09T01:11:37Z")
**Rob Reiner called Hillary Clinton the most qualified presidential candidate ever.** Okay then. I’m convinced. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/78 "2013-11-09T02:33:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Ha. Of course, the gag is that Commerce Secretary – not even Attorney General or the War Department, you understand, but _Commerce Secretary_ – was the capstone for Hoover’s credentials, while Clinton’s time in the Cabinet came after she earned full marks by getting re-elected to the Senate. Mr. Hoover is the man who standardized penny nails, radio station frequencies, and red tail lights on automobiles. Think of what would have happened had Hoover not existed–we’d all be dead from collapsed homes, overexposure to AM talk, and rear-end collisions. Bill and Hillary probably owe their very existence to the greatest president we ever had in the late 1920’s.\* \*Depression not included ---
**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:** [November 9, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/79 "2013-11-09T03:59:07Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > along with, say, Eisenhower’s. Since Eisenhower had’nt even decided what party he belonged to much before the 1952 election, it’s hard to consider him politically qualified. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122/80 "2013-11-09T19:25:35Z")
It isn’t as if all that high-level diplomacy and leadership of a large governmental organization as Allied Supreme Commander counted as _qualifications_, no. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rob-reiner-called-hillary-clinton-the-most-qualified-presidential-candidate-ever/673122.md?page=5)