Why don't mayors get elected president?

[Suburbia]

New York City mayors Giuliani, Bloomberg, de Blasio, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, why not?

[Grassroots]

Mayors just so happen to usually be unlikable douchebags.

[brucejoel99]

Mitch Landrieu hasn't been elected President because he hasn't run for President. You kinda have to do the latter before the former can occur.

As for why mayors can't/don't get elected President, consider that Mayors aren't normally responsible for large areas. There are only a few cities that one could be Mayor of & be considered a possible Presidential contender. The 3 most populated cities are NYC, LA, & Chicago; those are probably the only Mayors who have consistent positions on the national stage.

There's also the unofficial experience most Presidents have to have before they run for President, with the most common previous positions being Governors, Senators, Cabinet members, Vice Presidents, &/or a combination thereof.

That's pretty much it. Garfield also made it to the White House through the House of Representatives in the 19th century, & there were 2 Presidents who were primarily military men immediately before they were elected to the White House - Grant & Eisenhower - but they were each special cases, & had large political presences on the national stage, whereas the average person today couldn't name the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs. Washington might be another case of a military leader who became President, but he was also the major political leader at the Constitutional Convention, & it was at the country's founding anyway. Some other military men went on to the White House, but not directly; instead, they chose to become (you guessed it!) a Senator or Governor first.

So the crux of the matter is that, after the modern Presidency emerged, the unofficial required experience emanates from the major categories that I listed above.

Also, only 44 people have ever become President, so it's not like there's really a large sample size to judge things on anyway.

I'd guess that, in most cases, people think that a Mayor should seek election as a Governor or Senator before they seek the White House, but the limited sample size, as well as the small number of major cities that one could reasonably expect a President to come from (Mayor Pete notwithstanding), might just be skewing the data we're looking at. Hell, it might just be a coincidence.

[brucejoel99]

Mayors just so happen to usually be unlikable douchebags.

Well, that's a constitutional requirement to be elected Mayor of New York.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The only mayor that has consistently been involved with politics have been the Daleys. RICHARD DALEY Sr was involved with Kennedys. David Axelrod was Daley Jr campaign manager and spearheaded Obama's election 2008. Biden knows Daley clan. Bill Daley was Commerce Secretary during Clinton yrs and served as Chief of Staff under Obama

[pbrower2a]

Giant cities are not microcosms of America. Mayors do not relate well to people who do not live in non-urban areas, although that might come to an end for a specific politician who is subsequently elected to  a governorship or a Senate seat. If you want to ask me who would have been most qualified to be President of the United States since WWII... I would have to say the late former Mayor of Cleveland, Governor of Ohio, and US Senator George Voinovich.

Mayors have huge responsibilities, but their responsibilities end at the city limits. They obviously learn nothing about agriculture even if much agribusiness operates in their cities.   

[Del Tachi]

Even though mayors are executives, their daily duties mainly revolve around issues that aren't dominating the national political conversation (i.e., police, potholes, public transit, etc.).  Governors and Senators have more leeway to lean into the national political conversations of the moment. 

[HeavenOrLasVegas]

Garcetti would have been a formidable candidate had the homelessness crisis in LA not derail any future ambitions he might have had.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

No mayor has ever been the hero in a Ghostbusters movie, for starters.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Due to Great Recession, there arent the big city mayors like Mayor Daley, Bloomberg or Guiliani that both parties and coalesce around, due to shortfalls in city budgets and Mayors going toe to toe with Teachers Union

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I'd like to ask this question but regarding Congressmembers.

[brucejoel99]

I'd like to ask this question but regarding Congressmembers.

There's also the unofficial experience most Presidents have to have before they run for President, with the most common previous positions being Governors, Senators, Cabinet members, Vice Presidents, &/or a combination thereof.

That's pretty much it. Garfield also made it to the White House through the House of Representatives in the 19th century...

So the crux of the matter is that, after the modern Presidency emerged, the unofficial required experience emanates from the major categories that I listed above.

Also, only 44 people have ever become President, so it's not like there's really a large sample size to judge things on anyway.

I'd guess that, in most cases, people think that a [Congressman] should seek election as a Governor or Senator before they seek the White House, but the limited sample size... might just be skewing the data we're looking at. Hell, it might just be a coincidence.