A brief aside
So if today is all of the presidents' birthdays, can only people born on this day become president, or does each president officially change his birthday?
Perplexing questions aside, I thought I'd take a minute to point out that 25 out of our 43 presidents have been lawyers (George Bush is not one of them). Why do you think this is? Apart from historical factors such as the traditionally higher level of education obtained by lawyers, and sociological factors like the prestige that the profession affords, there is something more at play. As much as we might discount the idea of law school teaching us to "think like a lawyer", the ability to analyze a problem from multiple angles and understand and balance the competing considerations at play is CRUCIAL for the presidency, or any leadership position at all. Politics has sunk (further) into one sided absolutism, blinders on, full speed ahead. The world is not black and white, and so long as we allow those who lead us it to paint it that way, instead of demanding nuanced debate over complicated issues, we are derelict in our duty both as lawyers and as citizens. We have the tools to question, analyze, and evaluate, let's use them, and make sure those that are making decisions that affect all of us do so too.
Perplexing questions aside, I thought I'd take a minute to point out that 25 out of our 43 presidents have been lawyers (George Bush is not one of them). Why do you think this is? Apart from historical factors such as the traditionally higher level of education obtained by lawyers, and sociological factors like the prestige that the profession affords, there is something more at play. As much as we might discount the idea of law school teaching us to "think like a lawyer", the ability to analyze a problem from multiple angles and understand and balance the competing considerations at play is CRUCIAL for the presidency, or any leadership position at all. Politics has sunk (further) into one sided absolutism, blinders on, full speed ahead. The world is not black and white, and so long as we allow those who lead us it to paint it that way, instead of demanding nuanced debate over complicated issues, we are derelict in our duty both as lawyers and as citizens. We have the tools to question, analyze, and evaluate, let's use them, and make sure those that are making decisions that affect all of us do so too.
posted by M at 1:21 PM
4 Comments:
Just seeking clarification here ... are you suggesting that only going to law school allows one to obtain the skills "to analyze a problem from multiple angles and understand and balance the competing considerations at play" sufficiently to become a president of the united states?
Because, though as a law school graduate I feel that law school teaches a lot of useful thinking skills - useful whether one becomes a lawyer afterwards or embarks upon another career aferwards - still, I've got to say, as a law school graduate, if the only people out there with the sufficient amount of education to become president are people who have gone to law school, then ... damn, we're in worse shape than I thought.
Like the blog. I've added a link on my own which is a fictional diary of a pupil barrister in England (see http://babybarista.blogspot.com). Cross links much appreciated though no worries if not. Best wishes, BabyBarista
Haha, no Sadie, what I'm saying that is as lawyers we have been trained to think critically, and we should demand the same from our leaders.
This is precisely why I'm encouraging one of my law buddies to pursue his dream of going into politics.
P.S. - I changed my blog URL to http://socalledlaw.blogspot.com :)
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