"Cursus Honorum" in American government

Hi again!

I was reflecting a little on Roman customs and it occurred to me that if the United States took the idea of a Senate and so forth from Rome, how would the country have developed if politicians had to follow an American version of the "cursus honorum" in order to become President?

Here's one version of it, though I would expect you can tweak it a little as this probably has too many steps to be practical.

1. The candidate starts out by getting a position on the town council.
2. The candidate must then serve as mayor of his/her town or city.
3. The candidate then serves as representative of his/her county in the state government.
4. The candidate then serves as governor.
5. The candidate then serves as a state representative or senator.
6. The candidate then serves as a member of the national cabinet (as Secretary of State or something like that).
7. The candidate then serves as Vice President.

Only then is he/she eligible for the Presidency.

What do you think?

ACG
 
No President IOTL would have ever been eligible for presidency, including George Washington.

In actuality, there has been a sort of cursus honorum for becoming President historically. It tends to look something like:

1) House of Representatives or Senate or Governor
2) Vice President
3) President

Another route, of course is to become a famous commanding general, then President à la Washington, Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower, etc.
 
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Hi again!

I was reflecting a little on Roman customs and it occurred to me that if the United States took the idea of a Senate and so forth from Rome, how would the country have developed if politicians had to follow an American version of the "cursus honorum" in order to become President?

Here's one version of it, though I would expect you can tweak it a little as this probably has too many steps to be practical.

1. The candidate starts out by getting a position on the town council.
2. The candidate must then serve as mayor of his/her town or city.
3. The candidate then serves as representative of his/her county in the state government.
4. The candidate then serves as governor.
5. The candidate then serves as a state representative or senator.
6. The candidate then serves as a member of the national cabinet (as Secretary of State or something like that).
7. The candidate then serves as Vice President.

Only then is he/she eligible for the Presidency.

What do you think?

ACG

I think at a minimum step 7 wouldn't stick, as it leaves -very- limited options, especially if the electorate is in a party-switching mood.

(As an example, and of course ignoring butterfiles, the 2008 election under these rules would've have given Dems a choice between Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Walter Mondale, versus a Republican ticket topped by either Bush Sr., Dick Cheney, or Dan Quayle :p )

Alternately, the Vice-Presidency could assume a much more important "Second Consul" role in this TL, rather than the useless-sinecure position it was until fairly recently OTL.
 
1. The candidate starts out by getting a position on the town council.
2. The candidate must then serve as mayor of his/her town or city.
3. The candidate then serves as representative of his/her county in the state government.
4. The candidate then serves as governor.
5. The candidate then serves as a state representative or senator.
6. The candidate then serves as a member of the national cabinet (as Secretary of State or something like that).
7. The candidate then serves as Vice President.

Only then is he/she eligible for the Presidency.

I think you major bottleneck is #4. There are only a few governors and many more State Representatives even if governors serve only two years.
 
It could work if you flattened the bands a little.

1: The candidate must first serve in sub-state level government. (Town, Borough, County, or City leadership, either Council, Mayor, or something of the sort.)
2: The candidate then must serve in state government (either in a branch of the legislature or as governor)
3: The candidate then must serve in federal government (House, Senate, Cabinet, or as Vice President)
4: The candidate becomes eligible to serve as President.

This still requires the whistlestop tour of the forms of elective/appointive government, but doesn't require someone to hold every single position available.

There would likely also have been some form of exemption policy for given candidates, so they could step outside the process and get on the fast track.

Among the butterflies is that new political parties would be in deep, deep trouble at the highest levels, even more so than they are OTL. Barring a mass movement out of a pre-existing party of people with the necessary credentials, they would not be seen as legitimate candidates, and get nowhere.
 
The main question would be when do you want that system to be introduced?

Directly after the revolution would be a bad idea, or there would not be a president for decades ...
 
I think the first step should be to serve a term as a military officer.

Just some sort of National Service or charity work. ala Hoover and the Red Cross is fine. I don't think everyone needs to be a military officer although some sort of military service is preferable be it Non commissioned of commissioned
 
Just some sort of National Service or charity work. ala Hoover and the Red Cross is fine. I don't think everyone needs to be a military officer although some sort of military service is preferable be it Non commissioned of commissioned

No... a term as an actual commissioned officer!
That's if we want this Roman style militarist American state!
 
For the 28-year span of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, every President followed the pattern of Representative/Senator -> Secretary of State -> President, with Vice Presidents generally going by the wayside. Popular recognition of this pattern was the cause of the "Corrupt Bargain" controvercy when JQA made Henry Clay his Secretary of State after Clay swung the House vote to elect JQA as President -- Jackson supporters suspected Clay has swung the vote in exchange for being made JQA's designated successor.
 
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