--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The presidency is not an entry-level…" description: "\"The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job.\" — John Podhoretz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg" --- # The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job. ![“The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job.” quote by John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg) > “The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job.” [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. High political offices require experience, not just entry-level ambition. **In simple terms:** Presidency needs seasoned leaders. Key Takeaway Seek experience before running. Themes politics leadership career experience eligibility Mood serious analytical Type political commentary When to use this quote - running for office - policy making - public speaking Key Concepts public service institutional knowledge career progression Questions to Reflect On - How does experience shape decision‑making? - What qualifications matter most? A Different Perspective Experience alone may not guarantee competence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Electoral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electoral/) [Electoral Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electoral-job-1019765/) [Level Electoral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/level-electoral-1019766/) [Presidency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presidency/) [Presidency Entry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presidency-entry-1019764/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) ## Related quotes > [ That's very clear today. No, you wouldn't, respectfully. How exactly did \[Republicans\] win? How exactly did we win? I'd like to know. Because I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-palmieri/that-s-very-clear-today-no-you-wouldn-t-respectfully-how-exactly-did/) [Jennifer Palmieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-palmieri/) > [I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-could-think-of-no-worse-example-for-nations-abroad-who-for-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [That distinctive presidential conduct is now gone forever, banished to the snows of yesteryear by Barack Obama. From the beginning of his presidency to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/that-distinctive-presidential-conduct-is-now-gone-forever-banished-to/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Because many people remembered a time when the Republican Party was not so extreme, and hadn't full grasped how much it had changed, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/because-many-people-remembered-a-time-when-the-republican-party-was/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [ \[A\]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-tyrrell/a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing-approximation-of-the-carter/) [Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-tyrrell/) > [People should make distinctions between the office of the presidency and the person who occupies it. You can respect the office even as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-greenberg/people-should-make-distinctions-between-the-office-of-the-presidency/) [David Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-greenberg/) > [The presidency is a huge echo chamber magnifying every little thing he does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hess/the-presidency-is-a-huge-echo-chamber-magnifying-every-little-thing/) [Stephen Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hess/) > [We spend less time with each other now than we did during the presidency. When you're president, you're usually out and back in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-spend-less-time-with-each-other-now-than-we-did-during-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [It has been my honor to support and work with President Barack Obama, a man who has brought courage and character to the presidency.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-reid/it-has-been-my-honor-to-support-and-work-with-president-barack-obama/) [Harry Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-reid/) > [Donald Trump said he will not decide about a possible run for the presidency until after the current season of Celebrity Apprentice wraps up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/donald-trump-said-he-will-not-decide-about-a-possible-run-for-the/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/i-have-never-been-a-quitter-to-leave-office-before-my-term-is/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [I was surprised that when you get into electoral politics how scientific the analysis was in the electorate. You can identify on a state-by-state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/i-was-surprised-that-when-you-get-into-electoral-politics-how/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [I have just come out of an electoral experience with the people of my country in which I invited them to join me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perry-christie/i-have-just-come-out-of-an-electoral-experience-with-the-people-of-my/) [Perry Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perry-christie/) > [Despite its flaws, the American electoral system has produced Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Harry Truman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/despite-its-flaws-the-american-electoral-system-has-produced-lincoln/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [If I had lost the popular vote but won the electoral college and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/if-i-had-lost-the-popular-vote-but-won-the-electoral-college-and-in/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) ## More by John Podhoretz > [The great mystery is why robots come off so well in science-fiction films when the human characters are often so astoundingly wooden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-great-mystery-is-why-robots-come-off-so-well-in-science-fiction/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [The exit polls suggest that after a relatively disappointing first term, Obama managed to reassemble almost all of his 2008 electorate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-exit-polls-suggest-that-after-a-relatively-disappointing-first/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [For Obama to save himself, he should be thinking about the example of an unlikely Republican predecessor: Richard Nixon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/for-obama-to-save-himself-he-should-be-thinking-about-the-example-of/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Your race and gender don't change, but you can choose to change your political affiliation at will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/your-race-and-gender-don-t-change-but-you-can-choose-to-change-your/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Imagine his delight after it 'leaked' that he will propose raising taxes on the wealthy by $320 billion over the next 10 years, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/imagine-his-delight-after-it-leaked-that-he-will-propose-raising/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Robots have a rich and storied history in movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/robots-have-a-rich-and-storied-history-in-movies/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Aside from being bad sportsmanship - Romney basically said Obama won by cheating - he was displaying the same obtuseness about the wants and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/aside-from-being-bad-sportsmanship-romney-basically-said-obama-won-by/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [There is a new conservative establishment in America, made up of those who claim to be the anti-establishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/there-is-a-new-conservative-establishment-in-america-made-up-of-those/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [As the Republican nominee, it was Romney's job to find a way to speak to some of those groups of voters and offer practical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/as-the-republican-nominee-it-was-romney-s-job-to-find-a-way-to-speak/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Memories of the last nine years have turned Ground Zero from a site of horror, to a reminder of grief, to an occasion for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/memories-of-the-last-nine-years-have-turned-ground-zero-from-a-site/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Some candidates need to say provocative things that make noise to break through the media muffle and get themselves noticed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/some-candidates-need-to-say-provocative-things-that-make-noise-to/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [Let us now praise Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/let-us-now-praise-barack-obama/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [All non-incumbent campaigns promise hope and change, but Obama took the promise to a new level of absurdity. He suggested that a vote for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/all-non-incumbent-campaigns-promise-hope-and-change-but-obama-took/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [By the time Obama came into office, Washington had already agreed over a period of a few weeks to a $700 billion government infusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/by-the-time-obama-came-into-office-washington-had-already-agreed-over/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [The defense of ObamaCare's constitutionality relies mainly on the truism that everyone is sure to get sick at some point in their lives, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-defense-of-obamacare-s-constitutionality-relies-mainly-on-the/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) [Explore all 104 John Podhoretz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) ## More Electoral quotes > [If I had lost the popular vote but won the electoral college and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/if-i-had-lost-the-popular-vote-but-won-the-electoral-college-and-in/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I was surprised that when you get into electoral politics how scientific the analysis was in the electorate. You can identify on a state-by-state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/i-was-surprised-that-when-you-get-into-electoral-politics-how/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [I have just come out of an electoral experience with the people of my country in which I invited them to join me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perry-christie/i-have-just-come-out-of-an-electoral-experience-with-the-people-of-my/) [Perry Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perry-christie/) > [Despite its flaws, the American electoral system has produced Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Harry Truman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/despite-its-flaws-the-american-electoral-system-has-produced-lincoln/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [I ran for the electoral college. I didn't run for the popular vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-ran-for-the-electoral-college-i-didn-t-run-for-the-popular-vote/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America voted Romney. Electoral college voted Obama. Stop being ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/america-voted-romney-electoral-college-voted-obama-stop-being-ignorant/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [While imperfect, the electoral college has generally served the republic well. It forces candidates to campaign in a variety of closely contested races, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-m-daley/while-imperfect-the-electoral-college-has-generally-served-the/) [William M. Daley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-m-daley/) > [We're building an independent political program that can run electoral politics and then turn on a dime to hold our leaders to task, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-trumka/we-re-building-an-independent-political-program-that-can-run/) [Richard Trumka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-trumka/) > [If you work through the existing structures you are going to be corrupted. By working through political system that poisons the atmosphere, even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-you-work-through-the-existing-structures-you-are-going-to-be/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Electoral victory is not an end in itself. It is intended to set in motion a pluralist process to resolve our disputes and move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/electoral-victory-is-not-an-end-in-itself-it-is-intended-to-set-in/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [No one likes the Electoral College, expect perhaps those who were elected because of it. No one likes gerrymandering, except those doing the gerrymandering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bleyer/no-one-likes-the-electoral-college-expect-perhaps-those-who-were/) [Kevin Bleyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bleyer/) > [It's true that Americans are less than thrilled with President Obama and congressional Democrats. Their approval ratings are nothing to celebrate. But electoral politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-powers/it-s-true-that-americans-are-less-than-thrilled-with-president-obama/) [Kirsten Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-powers/) > [In Tunisia, where women have long enjoyed greater rights than many of their Arab neighbors, women pushed for and won a new electoral code…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/in-tunisia-where-women-have-long-enjoyed-greater-rights-than-many-of/) [Gayle Tzemach Lemmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/) > [The electoral system is not where change starts - it usually starts in communities and from the bottom up - but it is where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-electoral-system-is-not-where-change-starts-it-usually-starts-in/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Require... electoral votes to be allocated in proportion to the popular votes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-dahl/require-electoral-votes-to-be-allocated-in-proportion-to-the-popular/) [Robert A. Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-dahl/) [Browse all 158 Electoral quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electoral/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Podhoretz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-electoral-job/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Electoral" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-electoral-job/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/john-podhoretz-4983_presidency_the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-ele_1687608.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The presidency is not an entry-level electoral job.” — John Podhoretz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Podhoretz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The presidency is not an entry-level...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-electoral-job/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/the-presidency-is-not-an-entry-level-electoral-job/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```