# Who would you REALLY like to be president **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054 "2012-02-16T19:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/41 "2012-02-17T19:59:38Z")
I don’t know how good he’d be for our country, and in fact he could be bad for it, but I bet a Richard Branson presidency wouldn’t be boring. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/42 "2012-02-17T20:31:27Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I don’t know how good he’d be for our country, and in fact he could be bad for it, but I bet a Richard Branson presidency wouldn’t be boring. One could say the same of a Buckminster Fuller presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/43 "2012-02-17T22:17:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > One could say the same of a Buckminster Fuller presidency. \\ So what would his presidency be like? I have no clue. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/44 "2012-02-17T23:27:15Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > \\ > > So what would his presidency be like? I have no clue. Sorry, I confused Branson with one of those private-space-travel engineers, dunno why, and that made me think of Fuller. Who, I suppose, as president, would have an idiosyncratically technocratic administration – that is, he would try to implement his own unique visions in technology and [everything else.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller#Philosophy_and_worldview) > [@](#): > > The grandson of a Unitarian minister (Arthur Buckminster Fuller),[15] R. Buckminster Fuller was also Unitarian.[16] Buckminster Fuller was an early environmental activist. He was very aware of the finite resources the planet has to offer, and promoted a principle that he termed “ephemeralization”, which, in essence—according to futurist and Fuller disciple Stewart Brand—Fuller coined to mean “doing more with less”.[17] Resources and waste material from cruder products could be recycled into making more valuable products, increasing the efficiency of the entire process. Fuller also introduced synergetics, an encompassing term which he used broadly as a metaphoric language for communicating experiences using geometric concepts and, more specifically, to reference the empirical study of systems in transformation, with an emphasis on total system behavior unpredicted by the behavior of any isolated components. Fuller coined this term long before the term synergy became popular. > > Fuller was a pioneer in thinking globally, and he explored principles of energy and material efficiency in the fields of architecture, engineering and design.[18][19] He cited François de Chardenedes’ opinion that petroleum, from the standpoint of its replacement cost out of our current energy “budget” (essentially, the net incoming solar flux), had cost nature “over a million dollars” per U.S. gallon (US$300,000 per litre) to produce. From this point of view, its use as a transportation fuel by people commuting to work represents a huge net loss compared to their earnings.[20] An encapsulation quotation of his views might be, “There is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance.”[21][22][23] > > Fuller was concerned about sustainability and about human survival under the existing socio-economic system, yet remained optimistic about humanity’s future. Defining wealth in terms of knowledge, as the “technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life,” his analysis of the condition of “Spaceship Earth” caused him to conclude that at a certain time during the 1970s, humanity had attained an unprecedented state. He was convinced that the accumulation of relevant knowledge, combined with the quantities of major recyclable resources that had already been extracted from the earth, had attained a critical level, such that competition for necessities was not necessary anymore. Cooperation had become the optimum survival strategy. “Selfishness,” he declared, “is unnecessary and hence-forth unrationalizable… War is obsolete.”[24] He criticized previous utopian schemes as too exclusive, and thought this was a major source of their failure. To work, he thought that a utopia needed to include everyone.[25] > > Fuller also claimed that the natural analytic geometry of the universe was based on arrays of tetrahedra. He developed this in several ways, from the close-packing of spheres and the number of compressive or tensile members required to stabilize an object in space. One confirming result was that the strongest possible homogeneous truss is cyclically tetrahedral.[26] > > In his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb, he wrote: “I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing—a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe.” > > He had become a guru of the design, architecture, and ‘alternative’ communities, such as Drop City, the community of experimental artists to whom he awarded the 1966 “Dymaxion Award” for “poetically economic” domed living structures. So that would be, like, his industrial policy. Not boring, anyway. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/45 "2012-02-18T01:20:09Z")
I do think we need scientifically aware people in charge. Not sure how we ended up with the law/business/sops-to-religion/homecoming-court theory of politics, but it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/46 "2012-02-18T02:21:39Z")
Richard Feynman, an absolute Genius, recently dead so already up to date with much of modern society, you would have to cure the hell out of his cancer though. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Colbert/Stewart (in either order) not that these guys want the job but I seriously think that for that very reason they should have it. Stewart is smart as hell and totally unafraid to call people on their bullshit even when hes NOT on the daily show. and Colbert has balls the size of Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Ubiquity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a5b964/32.png) [@Ubiquity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ubiquity)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/47 "2012-02-18T02:29:53Z")
Andrew Jackson and re institute dueling. The pay-per-view rights alone would wipe out the national debt in six months.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/48 "2012-02-18T02:52:14Z")
Me. Failing that, Robert Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/49 "2012-02-18T03:06:48Z")
Warren Buffett? ---
**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:** [February 18, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/50 "2012-02-18T03:10:10Z")
Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or Margaret Thatcher from the recent past. From the more distant past, I’d suggest Caesar Augustus. The best choice would be me, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/51 "2012-02-18T03:34:53Z")
Bill White, former mayor of Houston. The guy gets things done; he builds consensus, and if leadership is doing the right thing, then he seems to be built of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/52 "2012-02-18T03:46:30Z")
From the present, Obama, then **Howard Dean**. Guy makes a lot of sense every time he opens his mouth. (Well, except when he’s saying “YAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHH!”) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/53 "2012-02-18T21:06:46Z")
Jon Stewart ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/54 "2012-02-18T22:02:10Z")
Bill, Hillary Barack Any bum on the street rather than ANY republican. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/55 "2012-02-18T22:34:13Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Jon Stewart John Stewart. Beware his power. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/56 "2012-02-19T00:11:30Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > John Stewart. > > Beware his power. Who the heck is John Stewart? ---
**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:** [February 19, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/57 "2012-02-19T03:03:57Z")
> [@littlespeedysuperbike](#): > > Joe Clark - Duct-taped a functioning government together from the junk drawer. If I were more cynical I’d say he was exactly who we needed. The Canadian PM or the New Jersey high school principal? > [@AtomicDog](#): > > John Stewart. > > Beware his power. The architect or the Marine? 😉 (in-joke: John Stewart, for those who don’t know, is a fictional character from the Green Lantern comics, where he’s an architect/super-hero, and the Justice League tv series, where he’s a retired Marine/super-hero.) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/58 "2012-02-19T05:51:25Z")
I would have liked to see what Bill Richardson did as president, mainly because I voted for him. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/59 "2012-04-20T23:06:20Z")
> [@Qin Shi Huangdi](#): > > Edmund Burke You’d have a monarchist that opposed the American revolution be the president of the Union? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054/60 "2012-04-20T23:31:18Z")
LBJ or FDR. LBJ didn’t try to use ‘beer summits’ to make people like him or think he was charming. I have no idea beyond that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-really-like-to-be-president/613054.md?page=4)