A recent essay in Time Magazine (Sept. 9) really got my blood boiling. It wasn’t as if I was surprised by what the author, journalist Caitlin Moscatello, had to say. After all, she was simply verbalizing what many Americans seem to believe these days. And yet, as I read her short piece, I could not help but feel a combination of anger, sadness and frustration. Here we are well into the 21st century. This is United States of America for goodness sakes. Is this the best we can do?
The essay, entitled “Vote for the woman because she’s a woman,” made a very basic point which, as the title suggests, is now the argument-de-jure throughout much of this country: a) we need to have a woman President and b) while men may not get this because we are by definition all Neanderthals whose knuckles still drag along the ground as we walk women, who are far more enlightened, should surely understand that we need two X-chromosomes in the Oval Office. She writes, “Female lawmakers better represent women’s interests, pushing laws in areas frequently prioritized by female voters, including health care, civil rights and issues affecting families.”
Personally I find such arguments downright insulting. Not only are such views historically inaccurate (see the records of India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Israel’s PM Golda Meir, and Britain’s PM Margaret Thatcher as only a handful of modern-era examples) but further, I cannot help but ask: are we not better than this?
It’s 2019 folks. And yes, there are several highly qualified women now running in the primaries for President. Good for them! But must we vote (or not vote) for them based upon gender alone? For that matter there are also people of color running, as well as one openly gay candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of Indiana, and two Jewish candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Marianne Williamson, (who is also Jewish but doesn’t talk about it all that much). But wait! Let’s not forget Hawaii’s Senator Tulsi Gabbard, who is a Samoan American AND a Hindu.
Now if we follow the logic which suggests that women should vote for women, does that mean that men ought to vote for men? And should people of color only choose candidates that “look like” them under the misguided belief that only those folks can understand their specific needs? And should America’s Hindus fall in lock-step and vote for Sen. Gabbard?
From my perspective the answer is a resounding “no” and here’s why. Were we to look at history we would see that Donald Trump is the 45th President, but only the 44th man to occupy the Oval Office (Grover Cleveland was elected twice but not consecutively). Forty-three of the 44 were Protestants (though all were Christian). Forty-three of the 44 were white. And yes, by law, all were at least 35 years of age.
But the truth is, all had certain other things in common in addition to these traits that made them stand out from the general population. First, our Presidents have been far more educated than the general population. Nearly three-quarters, seventy-three percent, of America’s leaders have held at least a bachelor’s degree; 25% have held even higher levels of education such as law degrees. But the level of disproportionality doesn’t end there. Two-thirds of those holding degrees attended private universities, 27% of which were in the Ivy League.
Such differences were reflected in net worth as well. Wall Street valuations (2016), corrected for inflation, estimate that 80% of our presidents were millionaires (most, multimillionaires) during their presidencies or if not, soon after leaving office; of the remaining 20%, only two held office since 1900, Woodrow Wilson and Harry S Truman. The rest hale back to a time when being president was not a position to be held only by the elite alone.
Were one to look at the situation today, the same rules hold true. As most know President Trump, an Ivy League grad, has more wealth than any President in history (estimated at around $2.8 billion). As for the three leading Democratic candidates, former VP Joe Biden is a state school grad with a law degree from a private school (Syracuse). He has, it is believed, a net worth of perhaps $2 million. Sen. Sanders, who holds a bachelor’s from a private school (Chicago), is worth about the same. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who holds a law degree from my own alma mater, Rutgers? Estimates place her worth at somewhere between $4 and $11 million. In other words, it is a safe bet that the winner in 2020 – whoever that person might be – will, once again, be a well-educated multimillionaire.
So yes, I do believe that someday soon, we will have a woman in the Oval Office. And when we do, she will look far more like Presidents #1 through #45 than she does like any woman you or I have ever met. While she may have two X-chromosomes, in the end, she will be the President and Commander and Chief, dealing each day with the likes of China and Russia, the Taliban, immigration and who knows what else. And we will support her – not because she bakes a mean three-bean casserole, but because she’s our leader, come hell or high water.
So no, Caitlin, I will not, as you write, “go ahead and vote for her because she’s a woman… [because] it’s as good a reason as any.” I’ll vote for her (or for him) because I believe that that person is the right person to lead this country forward. And because we’ve had enough drama in Washington these last few years to last us a thousand lifetimes.
Steven C Dinero, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Carbon County Museum.
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