James Hanley says that he will not be voting for Chris Christie, on the basis of his lacking foreign policy experience. While I am a bit wary of Christie’s likely foreign policy, it’s the policy end that matters more to me than the experience. His foreign policy experience doesn’t, to me, seem notably deficient compared to five of our last six president. My main concern is that Christie is going to stake out the hawkish ground to differentiate himself from Ron Paul and Ted Cruz, combined with some… concerns… about his ability to effect diplomacy.

An interesting tidbit about Christie. As an undergraduate, he attended the University of Delaware, which is Vice President Biden’s alma mater as well. Which means that in the (relatively unlikely) event that Christie is our next president, that means that we will have a vice president followed by a president who attended the University of Delaware. Not exactly the school you would expect that from. That said, the University of Delaware has a very solid ranking with USNWR so we’re not talking about the University of Toledo here. Presidents that come from public colleges are, in general, pretty rare. The last elected one we’ve had was Lyndon Johnson, who attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University, home of the Bobcats and not the Armadillos). Before that, I think you have to go all the way back to Benjamin before you find another state college graduate elected to the White House.

The specific phrasing excludes Ford who was not elected, Ike whose public school wasn’t a state one, and Wilson who didn’t graduate. Taft got his legal degree from a school that is now a state college, but wasn’t at the time. I’m not 100% positive that Harrison qualifies since I am not rock-solid sure that Miami University as a “state university” at the time. I count it because was founded in part by legislature action. James K. Polk is the last president prior to Harrison to qualify.

In all likelihood, though, our next president graduated from Wellesley and Yale.


Category: School, Statehouse

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13 Responses to Blue Hen Nation

  1. Peter says:

    Reagan went to a private college, but a fairly small, obscure one.

  2. Mike Hunt Rice says:

    An obnoxious, loud-mouthed, rich, North Jersey kid going to Delaware is a cliche. I can name several from my high school.

    In all likelihood, though, our next president graduated from Wellesley and Yale.

    I don’t see it. She is going to be 69. Just barely younger than Reagan when he was first elected. No one likes an old lady, no matter how “qualified” she is.

    • trumwill says:

      An obnoxious, loud-mouthed, rich, North Jersey kid going to Delaware is a cliche.

      So you went somewhere else because you weren’t rich? (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

      Why Delaware, though? If not Rutgers for whatever reason, why not Temple? Maryland? Penn State? Delaware is, from what I recall, not cheap.

      I don’t see it. She is going to be 69. Just barely younger than Reagan when he was first elected. No one likes an old lady, no matter how “qualified” she is.

      Possibly. I just don’t see 70 as a problem these days. I’ve hard rumors of ill-health, which would be a problem. However, I hear that only from people who don’t want her to be president anyway.

      If she doesn’t run or is vulnerable, Biden probably runs. I don’t know what kind of chance he has (a couple years ago I’d say nil, but now I’m not so sure). Not only would Biden vs Christie mean that our next president is a Blue Hen, but man the debates would be epic.

      • Mike Hunt Rice says:

        I think because Delaware is the perfect distance from North Jersey. Plus there is a racist angle; Rutgers has a ton of Asians (both south and eastern), Delaware is more homogenous.

        For those North Jersey people who want to save a few bucks, the directional college du jour is Rowan (aka Glassboro State).

        BTW Biden will be 73, and few talk of him being too old. He seems vigorous for his age.

        • Trumwill says:

          Actually, age is one of the top things I hear with doubters of Biden. His vigorousness is one of the reasons I consider him a more credible candidate than I did a couple years ago.

  3. Mike Hunt Rice says:

    I didn’t know this until I just looked it up, but CC is a graduate of Seton Hall Law School.

    Seton Hall ranks LAST among NJ law-schools. Very unimpressive for a president, but plays into his Jersey Guy persona.

    Hell, even Ford went to Yale.

    • Trumwill says:

      I kid you not, my wife’s cousin is a law professor at Seton Hall.

      • Mike Hunt Rice says:

        Did you pay him/her a visit?

        Also, CC had a fallout with his mentor, former Gov Tom Kean. Kean’s son is Senate Minority leader, and CC unsuccessfully tried to maneuver him out of the position. Therefore, there are now hurt feelings.

        • trumwill says:

          No. Said cousin is from an estranged wing of the family. No bad blood between the cousins themselves (Clancy and her sisters hate their uncle, and from what I understand their cousins hate him, too), but they fell out of touch. Turns out we lived only a couple hours away when she was a professor at the University of Deseret. Another cousin lived in the same town in Estacado that we did, when we were living there.

  4. SFG says:

    Hillary? I don’t see it. Middle-of-the-road men hate her. Shoot, I hate her, and I’m more or less liberal.

    Besides, Obama seems to be running himself into the ground with this healthcare thing.

    I think this is one of these things conservatives scare themselves about, like liberals used to tell each other George W. Bush was going to seek a third term and become a fascist dictator.

    • trumwill says:

      Possibly, but she has been positioning herself very favorably. With no heir apparent, she seems to be in a good place to get the Democratic Party’s nomination in an election that the Democrats are in a good position to win.

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