BackInTex wrote: ↑Tue Feb 17, 2026 8:43 am
elwoodblues wrote: ↑Mon Feb 16, 2026 4:18 pm
AOC is only 36, and she is not ready to run for President
yet.
Yet?
Look at pretty much every president we've had in the last, oh, say 250 years and see what they've accomplished by 36. Then compare to AOC. She will never be ready, other than in her own mind.
This was an interesting question to me, so I took the time to do a little reading. Given BiT's opening of the discussion to all of the US presidents, I decided to look at the ones who are considered the best and worst, according to historical consensus.
AOC: college graduate with honors, currently serving her 4th term as US Representative, youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Best:
George Washington: lesser educated than other members of his family but a respected surveyor and land planner; was serving as a colonel in the Virginia regiment and farming several thousand acres of land; no political office for obvious reasons.
Abraham Lincoln: self-described as self-educated. By age 36 he had opened a law office and already lost several elections. He had served four terms in the Illinois state legislature, and he won his first election to the US House at age 37.
FDR: graduate of Harvard College, one term as New York State Senator, then was assistant secretary of the Navy at age 36.
Theodore Roosevelt: Magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University (note the difference with FDR); had served as a New York Assemblyman for four terms before becoming disenchanted and retiring from politics (for a while). By age 36, he was still ranching in the Dakotas; six years later, though, he found himself vice-president of the US.
Worst:
Andrew Johnson: never attended school. Worked as a tailor until he entered politics. Served in both houses of the Tennessee legislature, being first elected at age 27, and won his first election to the US House at age 37.
James Buchanan: Honors graduate of Dickinson College, studied the law and worked as a lawyer, elected to the US House at age 29, still serving there at age 36.
Franklin Pierce: Graduated 5th out of 14 from Bowdoin College; worked as a lawyer; elected to the US House at age 29, by age 36 he was contemplating resigning from Congress, which he then did the following year.
Warren Harding: No college; worked as a newspaper owner and editor; won election to the state senate at age 35.
I'm not sure I see the clear correlation that BiT is implying here. Of the 8 presidents mentioned, Washington and Johnson could reasonably be seen as successful "self-made" men; the rest inherited enough wealth that they could do just about anything they chose. Politically, none of them were demonstrably MORE successful than AOC by age 36.