Who better to be president, senator or governor? Take your pick

WASHINGTON — With a Democratic presidential primary field packed with senators, including some of the front runners, it might make one think that the world’s most deliberative body is a stepping stone to the Oval Office.

But being a U.S. senator doesn’t necessarily give a candidate a better chance to capture the White House. After former President Barack Obama, you would have to go all the way back to John F. Kennedy to find another sitting president who came directly from the Senate.

It’s just as likely that a governor will capture the party nomination, the path followed by presidents of both parties to the Oval Office, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Since 1779, there have been 17 governors elected president, according to the Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University. There have been 16 senators elected to serve in the White House, according to the U.S. Senate.

President Donald Trump, however, is unique: He never held any political office or served in the U.S. military before he beat a field of senators and governors to win the 2016 election.

“No voter says I only vote for governors or I look for a good senator to be president. People vote for the candidate they find appealing whatever office he or she holds — or no office,” said Larry Sabato, who heads the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Paths to the White House

Nine vice presidents have been elected or ascended to the presidency, including Lyndon B. Johnson, who was elevated after Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas. Other vice presidents lost, such as Al Gore, who served under Bill Clinton and was defeated in a 2000 squeaker against George W. Bush, who campaigned on his executive branch experience as Texas governor.

His dad, George H.W. Bush was vice president and followed Ronald Reagan into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He was defeated after a single term by then-Arkansas Gov. Clinton in 1992.

Richard Nixon was elected after being vice president to Dwight D. Eisenhower, although not immediately after serving in the executive branch.

Now, a Democratic front runner, Joe Biden, is using his service under Obama in an attempt to reclaim the White House. But Biden served longer in the Senate, where he served for 36 years.

Historian and biographer Jon Meacham noted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Biden’s tenure in public office could also play against him, and Democrats could be better served by a younger candidate with fresh ideas.

“There is a risk that Joe Biden becomes the Bob Dole of this period. A great and noble man, but you can’t build bridges to the past,” Meacham said. (Dole, who served 27 years in the Senate, ran for president unsuccessfully in 1996 to Clinton.)

Front runners all have Senate experience

Recent national polls show Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts with a commanding lead over lesser-known Democratic candidates.

The field includes former Congressman Beto O’Rourke of Texas and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland.

Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have dropped out.

In the GOP primary race, former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois, conservative talk show host, has thrown his hat into the ring to challenge Trump.

Still, James Garfield of Ohio, in 1880, is the only sitting congressman to win the presidency in American history, according to the White House.

No mayor has jumped to the Oval Office, although that doesn’t seem to dampen the aspirations of Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio or former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who went on to serve as Obama’s housing secretary. In 2008, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani ran unsuccessfully.

Perhaps hoping to emulate Trump, other Democrats with no prior political or military experience include Marianne Williamson, a spiritualist and author, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Nominees usually governors, senators

But generally, the ranks of presidential aspirants come from governor’s mansions or the the U.S. Senate. And this year, senators clearly outnumber current and former governors who want to sit behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has announced as a primary challenger to Trump. An early Granite State Poll this year by the University of New Hampshire shows Weld barely registering with Republican voters in that state who overwhelmingly favor Trump.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich polls slightly higher, although he has not declared whether he will challenge Trump.

Governors are not faring well in the crowded Democratic field this year, however.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee dropped out after raising the alarm on climate change, as did former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, leaving Montana Gov. Steve Bullock as the only chief executive left on the Democratic side of the race. Bullock touts his candidacy as the chief executive who hails from a state Trump won in 2016.

But even Bullock admitted on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he’s had trouble breaking through in the polls, which he said resulted from his inability to campaign because he was working with the Montana Legislature during the beginning of the presidential campaign cycle.

A surfeit of senators

The early campaign trail was blanketed by the senators seeking the office: Warren, Biden, Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bennet, all with experience on domestic and international issues due to their respective committees.

Sen. Sherrod Brown also made a presidential campaign tour to highlight the plight of working families before he dove back into the Senate before the first debates began.

After failing to gain traction in the polls and early primary and caucus states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Kirsten Gillibrand also dropped out.

So, who has the best experience to be president?

Obama was barely in the Senate two years before he ran and won.

Clinton came from a small state to lead the world’s largest economy.

Reagan was an actor, and former California governor.

Trump was a real estate developer with a TV reality show before shocking the electorate and pundits who had listed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as the most likely Democratic and Republican presidential nominees in 2016.

Does being a senator or a governor give anyone a step up?

“This is an old debate,” said Sabato, an expert on presidential campaigns.

“Governors have a big edge on executive experience while senators often have the international exposure most governors lack,” Sabato said. “I think it depends more on happenstance as to which is more appealing to voters at any given time,” Sabato said, adding, “Take your pick.”

Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.