Celebrity Presidents: why fame shouldn't earn you the oval office

Most people can name a celebrity presidential campaign they liked, whether it be completely serious or a practical joke: Kanye 2020, Tom Hanks 2020, or most recently, Oprah 2020. In response to her recent Golden Globes speech while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award for her contribution to entertainment, the internet is questioning whether Oprah Winfrey will seriously run for president in 2020. After all, President Donald Trump’s campaign started off as a joke as well, and look where we are now. The bigger question this possible campaign poses is: could a celebrity actually be a good president? The idea of a celebrity-turned-politician is nothing new in America, and certainly did not begin with Donald Trump. A more notable example is Ronald Reagan, who after starring on the big screen became the Governor of California, and then U.S. President. The key to this is the middle step, Governor. That is what separates him from the most extreme version of a celebrity politician; our current president. One cannot simply wake up one day with the qualifications and experience it takes to run a global-superpower, to be the leader of the free world. That know-how has to be gained over years of experience in an elected position, something your average movie star obviously doesn’t have. And sadly no, playing a politician doesn’t count. Without any experience as an elected representative, it is very difficult to possess the qualities necessary to govern the country. The obvious question is “Why do we elect these celebrities in the first place?”  In many cases it’s a combination of name recognition, talent for public speaking and desiring a change from the status quo.  A celebrity by definition has the first, usually has the second and is the perfect opportunity for the third. We are drawn to these actors and performers we’ve always been aware of, and equate that with being able to handle the position of office. Reading a script or a pre-written speech and devising political policy are not the same.   Another important question that can be posed is,”What makes a good president?”  Obviously, the answers differ widely between people and political parties, but I hope there are some things we can agree on. They should protect our country as well as possible and protect our economic, military and social interests. There shouldn’t always be a scandal, or a daily misstep. They should know when to be prominent and when to be quiet. Their flaws should never be their most prominent feature to the majority of the population. Few possess even the potential to hone these qualities, let alone grow them to the level necessary to serve as a sufficient president.  One of the more complicated and most mentioned examples of the power name-recognition and charisma have over politics is Michelle Obama.  In our current political climate, many are looking nostalgically back at the Obama era and pairing Michelle with a revival of that time.  Although she does have experience in law and was a very active and effective first lady, she is still lacking qualifications.  She has never been directly elected into office, and has reiterated her disinterest in a campaign for 2020.  She is yet another example of the public caring more for a recognizable face than for capability.  The biggest problem with this trend is the justification. As a country, we have become so content with settling for the “lesser of two evils” that we are willing to choose between two completely unqualified or inadequate candidates. When we attempt to argue for our candidate by saying “We’ve had worse,” or “I’d vote for so-and-so over what we have”, we lose faith in our leaders because of our lack of belief in them. The ruling positions of our country become laughing stocks and our daily conversations are interspersed with the latest idiotic quote of our commander in chief. As most can agree, that is the lowest common denominator of existing celebrity president scenarios. But it’s the one we’re in. I don’t want to grow up with our president constantly walking the line between being better or worse than the worst example.