Will we have another POTUS who had no prior public sector experience?

[WalterWhite]

Before Trump, every single POTUS has had experience working in the public sector, whether as a politician (like most) or in the military (like Washington and Eisenhower). Trump did not work in the public sector before he became POTUS, which allowed him to prop up the image of an "outsider".

Will this happen again? If so, when? Will it be in the near future or the distant future?

[Sumner 1868]

W. Bush's public sector experience was so token I'm not sure if it really counts. He would never have been Governor with having his father in the White House.

Anyway, I think the answer is probably yes, but mostly likely it'll be a long time before that happens again post-Trump.

[Alben Barkley]

W. Bush's public sector experience was so token I'm not sure if it really counts. He would never have been Governor with having his father in the White House.

Anyway, I think the answer is probably yes, but mostly likely it'll be a long time before that happens again post-Trump.

At least Bush had some military experience too.

[TheHegemonist]

With all the "celebrity CEOs" in the tech sector, I would not be surprised if one became President. I think that if Musk were eligible he'd be a presidential contender.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Possibly, since that seems to be the recent preference of Republican primary voters.

[WalterWhite]

Possibly, since that seems to be the recent preference of Republican primary voters.

Their top two picks are a former President (Donald Trump) and a current governor and former Congressional representative (Ron DeSantis).

[Progressive Pessimist]

Possibly, since that seems to be the recent preference of Republican primary voters.

Their top two picks are a former President (Donald Trump) and a current governor and former Congressional representative (Ron DeSantis).

Well, we're talking about the future, right? Nobody is really sure who takes up the mantle of Trumpism if he finally decides to stop running for President, but just as he had an allure to them in 2016 as an outsider, I think the same can happen again in a cycle some time fairly soon.

[WalterWhite]

Well, we're talking about the future, right? Nobody is really sure who takes up the mantle of Trumpism if he finally decides to stop running for President, but just as he had an allure to them in 2016 as an outsider, I think the same can happen again in a cycle some time fairly soon.

You said "most recent preference", so I thought you were talking about the present. In that case, the majority of the GOP still wants Trump.

But in 2024, I could see Ramaswamy getting the GOP nomination and winning the Presidency, especially after a second Biden term.

[GregTheGreat657]

I know that this is very far out, but Mr. Beast apparently has some interest in running for President

[Alben Barkley]

God I hope not.

[MABA 2020]

Yes and I don't think it'll be that long

[Reactionary Libertarian]

W. Bush's public sector experience was so token I'm not sure if it really counts. He would never have been Governor with having his father in the White House.

He would never have been president either without his father in the White House...

I don't think it's that unlikely we have another "outsider" president. The GOP establishment is incredibly weak and has no idea so any billionaire who has designs on the presidency can make it pretty far in a primary (see: Trump, Vivek). Not inconceivable that another person, perhaps somewhat smarter than Trump, can make it through.

[Skill and Chance]

Republicans have nominated several other businessmen and generals who never held elected office.  I'm inclined to say yes. 

[Del Tachi]

Presidents have been elected from all sorts of backgrounds.  To imply there's something unifying about the experiences of Buchanan, Taft, Hoover and Eisenhower, for example, is kinda pushing it.

[Republican Party Stalwart]

W. Bush's public sector experience was so token I'm not sure if it really counts. He would never have been Governor with having his father in the White House.

Had he still been the nominee, W Bush undoubtedly would have won the Texas gubernatorial elections of 1994 and 1998 even if Bush 41 had never been president, even if only considering a) that Clinton was the incumbent president and the natural wave-election tendency of the American midterms, b) the demographic changes and resultant political direction that Texas was undergoing at the time, and c) the overall political mood of America in the 1990s. The real question is whether W would have won the Republican nomination for governor of Texas (or even ran for it at all) if his father had never been president.

Also, being twice elected and serving six years as the governor of the second-largest state in the country - with a population and gross domestic product larger than those of most fully independent sovereign states, and with the most crude oil production of all US states, and directly bordering the foreign country which provides the highest number of immigrants to the United States and the highest number of overall border crossings on a yearly basis - is hardly "token" when it comes to political experience.

[Mister Mets]

I think so.

Republicans want outsiders right now. Bush and Romney ran on business experience. Steve Forbes and Herman Cain got attention during primaries. It seemed to be Tucker Carlson's goal.

And let's not pretend that Democrats would reject the right outsider. If Oprah Winfrey were running, she'd be a major contender.

It's easier than ever for people to have platforms that can be used to launch presidential bids.