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Given all the commotion and downright rampant speculation over what the polls are saying about the current presidential race, I thought it only appropriate to give History a few minutes on the soapbox.

Let’s take a look at the pertinent contenders:

I’ll start with (and the order is purely disordered, a product of my mind. Read something Freudian into it if you like) the former first lady:

Hillary Clinton— Former U.S. Senator and First Lady (commensurate with VP?)

Fred Thompson—Former Senator

Rudy Guiliani—Former Mayor

Barack Obama—Former Senator

John Edwards—Former Senator

John McCain—Former Senator

Mike Huckabee—Former Governor (AK)

Mitt Romney—Former Governor (MA)

Ron Paul—Congressman

Now let’s look at the presidential field from the past 100 years or so.

George W. Bush—Former Governor (TX)

Bill Clinton—Former Governor (AK)

George H. Bush—Former Congressman, Vice President

Ronald Reagan—Former Governor (CA)

Jimmy Carter—Former Governor (GO)

Gerald Ford—Not elected. Assumed office “under extraordinary circumstances.” Former VP.

Richard Nixon—Former Congressman, Senator, VP

Lyndon B. Johnson—Former Senator, VP

John F. Kennedy—Former Congressman

Dwight D. Eisenhower—Commanding general of European forces during WWII. (University pres. of Columbia)

Harry S. Truman—Former Senator, VP

Franklin D. Roosevelt—Former Senator, Governor (NY)

Herbert Hoover—head of Food Administration, Secretary of Commerce under two former presidents.

Calvin Coolidge—Former Governor (MA)

Warren G. Harding—Former Senator and Lieutenant Governor (OH)

Woodrow Wilson—Former Governor (NJ) (University pres. of Princeton) (1913-1921)

What’s the common thread? The vast majority of these men served as either VP or Governor. 75 percent to be precise. Of the four that did not, one was a commanding general and the other a Lieutenant Governor. The remaining two, John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover, were elected due to (what seems to me) an unusual sentiment characteristic of the time, i.e., they can be thrown out as “bad” data.

If we constrain our current field of presidential candidates by the almost ubiquitous qualifications governor or VP, we are left with a very narrow selection:

For the Dems:

No one.

Having served as First Lady and senator, Hillary’s the only one that even comes close.

For the Republicans:

Mitt Romney

Mike Huckabee

+- 3% error.

That is, if we as a nation are not currently experiencing “an unusual sentiment,” no one else has got a chance. But don’t ask me. Ask History.

Most of this information was gleaned from the site, http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/.