Truman spent a decade in the US Senate and almost a decade as county judge before that.
LBJ spent a dozen years each in the US House and Senate, including serving up through Senate Majority Leader, before being elected VP.
Allen West hasn’t got a flicker of the qualifications and experience that Truman or LBJ had. You only ever heard of West because he was elected as a black Republican—once— to the House.
LBJ spent a dozen years each in the US House and Senate, including serving up through Senate Majority Leader, before being elected VP.
I don't consider any amount of time in the House or Senate to be a good qualification for the Presidency. Governor of a State, yes, but Congress? Not at all.
Senate and House are better than nothing, but I consider the leadership of men in Battle to be a very good qualification for the office.
You only ever heard of West because he was elected as a black Republican-once- to the House.
I heard of West long before he was elected to anything. My first knowledge of Allen West was when he was brought up on charges for firing his gun next to a captured insurgent's ear, to scare him into telling our soldiers about insurgent activities.
Allen West was not even slightly ashamed of what he did. When asked to explain himself, Allen West said " I would go through hell with a gasoline can for my men."
I said at the time, "I like that man. That is the kind of man that needs to be leading our country." He said this while he was still in the military, and before any hint of politics had been mentioned regarding him.
Years later he got elected to the house, and immediately the GOPe cronies redistricted him into a dominant Democrat district.
They deliberately screwed him over because they didn't like how unwilling to compromise he was. He was another one of those conservatives upon whom they have declared war.