# Why no Jewish US President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986 "2013-04-18T00:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/81 "2013-04-20T19:19:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > How on earth were Unitarians “non-protestants”? They had split off the Congregationalists and came out of the Calvinist/Reformed tradition. > > And for all that they might personally have been deists, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe were all institutionally Episcopalian. (Jefferson was a vestryman). Pierce was originally a Congregationalist and then later an Episcopalian, and Grant was a Methodist. Unitarians do not think Jesus is the Son of God. Yeah, of course.:dubious: Once someone sets foot in a Church, he’s that religion for life, no matter his personal beliefs.:rolleyes: I have been to a few Catholic Ceremonies, one Sikh, many Methodist, and two Temple. I guess that makes me a Catholic/Sikh/Protestant/Jew, even tho I don’t believe in any personal deity at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/82 "2013-04-20T21:05:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The number of Jewish senators is what’s surprising, not the number of Jewish presidents. Jews are about 2% of the country’s population, and if we extrapolate that number through all of American history, then out of 43 Presidents, we’d expect to have somewhere between 0 and 2 Jews, and zero is hardly a surprise. But 13 senators when you’d expect only two is remarkable. > > The low number of Catholic presidents (only one thus far) is even more remarkable, given that Catholics are the single largest religious sect in the country, and make up approximately a quarter of the population. A lot of voters were unashamedly anti-Catholic when Al Smith ran for president in 1928 and it hurt him at the poles. Our country is much more tolerant than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/83 "2013-04-20T21:59:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Unitarians do not think Jesus is the Son of God. So? Taft considered himself a Christian, and considered his church a Christian church. He called Unitarianism "a broad Christian religious faith that can be reconciled with scientific freedom of thought and inquiry into the truth " And, I don’t understand your second paragraph. Regardless of what Madison, Jefferson, and Monroe may have believed, they were Episcopalians. Until the 1777 “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom”, only Episcopalians could hold public office in Virginia, and all three of them held public office before 1777. Hence… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/84 "2013-04-20T22:00:18Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > A lot of voters were unashamedly anti-Catholic when Al Smith ran for president in 1928 and it hurt him at the poles. I’ve got to think his Catholicism probably helped him with the Poles. ---
**Author:** ![Personoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@Personoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/85 "2013-04-21T01:00:33Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Looks like American ignorance of everything outside the USA strikes again. > > Australia: [Governor General](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_Australia), one of the highest offices in the land, at least partially analogous to the US President. > > In the 112 years since Federation, there have been two Jewish-Australian Governors General: > [Isaac Isaacs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs) > [Zelman Cowen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelman_Cowen) > > [John Monash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash) was the chief of Australia’s armed forces during World War One. > > [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oceanian_Jews#Political_figures)’s a list of prominent Jewish-Australian political office holders. Note that many of them held office well before the “last few decades”. Indeed. Very US-centric. The US did not invent representative democracy, and one should not automatically assume it is the best practiser of it. The UK has had one Prime Minister of Jewish descent , Disraeli , in the 19th Century - name is a bit of a give away. And New Zealand has had 3, Julius Vogel in the 19th Century, Francis Bell in the early 20th century, and the current PM John Key (in the 21st century, completing the set). NZ has also had 2 female PMs (consequtively!) , one of whom is an agnostic. Key also appears to be agnostic. NZers consider it bad form to bring their religion (if any) into politics. I will assume you are familiar with the UK’s (so far only) female PM. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/86 "2013-04-21T01:20:28Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Cite? Sorry, it’s just something you know from experience. The only denomination that makes it easy are the Reform synagogues. Everyone else puts serious barriers in place or makes it completely impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/87 "2013-04-21T01:42:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But 13 senators when you’d expect only two is remarkable. Because Mayors run cities, Governors run states and Presidents run the country. No one else matters. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/88 "2013-04-21T02:23:50Z")
Oh, and **pravnik** , are you serious about believing that the US will have a Jewish president within 20 years? That’s only five election cycles (and effectively probably only about three, given that incumbents tend to get re-elected). If we assume that all prejudice against Jews is gone and that they’ll now be elected in proportion to their numbers, and count it as five elections, then we’d expect only a 11% chance of a Jewish president. Even if we assume that whatever is favoring Jews in the Senate will also favor them in the Presidential race, such that each election has a 13% chance of electing a Jew, then we’re still looking at a toss-up. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/89 "2013-04-21T13:54:16Z")
Again, DrDeth, what counted for the voters in the first century (or maybe century and a half) of the United States was what denomination the Presidential candidate nominally belonged to and whether that denomination was usually considered Protestant. By that test, Catholics and Jews and Eastern Orthodox and Moslems (and any of the religious groups that were clearly not part of the Christian tradition and were pretty rare anyway) were not Protestants and thus, according to the standards of many J.S. voters back then, not the sort of person to be elected President. By that test, people who were privately deists but nominally belonged to a Protestant denomination were the sort of person to be considered for President. Unitarians were considered a Protestant denomination, regardless of whether many of its members even believed in God. We’re talking about what conditions the majority of U.S. voters put on voting for President, not about the real beliefs of the people running for President. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/90 "2013-04-21T14:25:11Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > This is the one I remembered. > > The first Jewish President calls his mom. > > –Mom, we’re having the Seder here. I’ll send over a limo, the Air Force will pick you up at the airport, just pack a bag. > > Big limo, police escort rolls up. Neighbor looks out, impressed, asks her what’s up. > > –You know my sons the doctor and the lawyer and the professor? I’m going to their brother’s house. The way I heard it is, - So the Mom goes to the hairdresser, who asks, “Are you going to visit family for Passover?” - Yes, I’ll be at my son’s house - Your son, the doctor? - \No, the other one. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/91 "2013-04-21T14:38:13Z")
I wrote: \> . . . the standards of many J.S. voters . . . No, I was not trying to invent a new country. I meant: \> . . . the standards of many U.S. voters . . . ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/92 "2013-04-21T16:06:28Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The way I heard it is, > > - So the Mom goes to the hairdresser, who asks, “Are you going to visit family for Passover?” > - Yes, I’ll be at my son’s house > - Your son, the doctor? > - \No, the other one. Yours is good too. I like the \ bit the best! ---
**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:** [April 21, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/93 "2013-04-21T18:46:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and **pravnik** , are you serious about believing that the US will have a Jewish president within 20 years? That’s only five election cycles (and effectively probably only about three, given that incumbents tend to get re-elected). If we assume that all prejudice against Jews is gone and that they’ll now be elected in proportion to their numbers, and count it as five elections, then we’d expect only a 11% chance of a Jewish president. Even if we assume that whatever is favoring Jews in the Senate will also favor them in the Presidential race, such that each election has a 13% chance of electing a Jew, then we’re still looking at a toss-up. Senate and governorships - 3 governors according to a quick google. Another way to look at it is that current senators and governors are the most likely people to be elected president in future cycles. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/94 "2013-04-23T14:28:37Z")
It’s worth noting that Jews have been elected as Senators and governors in quite a few states where Jews are a VERY small percentage of the population. I mean, nobody is surprised that Chuck Schumer was elected in New York, but there have been plenty of Jewish Senators from overwhelmingly goyish states- from Edward Zorinsky (Nebraska) to Howard Metzenbaum (Ohio) to Norm Coleman (Minnesota) to Herb Kohl (Wisconsin) to Bernie Sanders (Vermont) to Ron Wyden (Oregon) to Brian Schatz (Hawaii) to Warren Rudman (New Hampshire) to Michael Bennet (Colorado) to Chic Hecht (Nevada))… heck, deep Southern states like Florida and Louisiana had Jewish Senators in the 19th century! I won’t PREDICT that we’ll have a Jewish President soon, but the record shows that American Gentiles have no problem voting for Jewish candidates. If it doesn’t happen, antisemitism won’t be the reason. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/95 "2013-04-23T17:07:17Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > I just received an email this week, claiming that Lyndon Johnson was actually Jewish because his mother, maternal grandmother, and his great-grandmother were all Jewish. I’ve not had time to research this yet; Snopes has nothing about this. In the 1960s there were jokes about LBJ’s family resemblance to Golda Meir. Probably how that got started. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/96 "2013-04-23T18:23:10Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I won’t PREDICT that we’ll have a Jewish President soon, but the record shows that American Gentiles have no problem voting for Jewish candidates. If it doesn’t happen, antisemitism won’t be the reason. I don’t think that signifies. People pay much less attention to downticket races than they do the presidency. If Mitt Romney had been running for Senate, you’d never have heard a damn thing about his Mormonism. There are six Mormon senators right now, but I bet you can’t name any other than Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid without looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bob\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_X)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/97 "2013-04-23T21:52:40Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Poli Sci joke Kissinger wrote (no cite)… This story was told to me as being true, but probably apocryphal: Golda Meir and Abba Eban were visiting Nixon and Kissinger at Camp David, and lunch was a buffet. Eban puts together a ham and cheese sandwich, saying “I can’t eat this at home.” Nixon says to Meir, “Gee, my secretary of state is a better Jew than yours.” Without missing a beat, Golda replied, “Yes, but mine speaks better English.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986/98 "2013-04-23T22:05:10Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The way I heard it is, > > - So the Mom goes to the hairdresser, who asks, “Are you going to visit family for Passover?” > - Yes, I’ll be at my son’s house > - Your son, the doctor? > - \No, the other one. January 20th; a historic day as both the first Jewish & the first woman President is being sworn in. Her mother is sitting on the dias with the other high dignitaries. She turns to the man on her left and says “You that woman down there, with her hand on the Torah? That’s my daughter and she married _a doctor_.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-jewish-us-president/655986.md?page=4)