What if Neil degrasse Tyson was president of the United States

[Karlmarx900]

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and a science communicator. He hosts the podcast startalk.
What if he was elected president of the US no later than 2010 bonus if he won 2 terms.

 

[kholieken]

Disaster ???
- Most of Politics is about human connection. With Congress, Party Leader, Donor, Interest Hroup, etc. Neil experience in academic politics would be inadequate in dealing with politics.
- False Confidence. Clever People who good at one thing often overestimate their ability on unrelated fields. Neil could deal badly with Covid, Economy, Education, etc
- Sex Scandal. There are some gossip about Neil, with increasing power and attention, he could fumble in press attention.
- PR disaster. Neil great communicator in Astrophysics, in White House press conferences ?? He could be excellent (he won election after all), or he could fumble badly
- Bad crisis management. Acadic practice of slowly looking at evidence could be disaster when there are crisis. Need to act decisive when there are not enough information.

 

[Hugh Third of Five]

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and a science communicator. He hosts the podcast startalk.
What if he was elected president of the US no later than 2010 bonus if he won 2 terms.

He can't get elected in 2010 since that isn't a presidential election year.

Disaster ???
- Most of Politics is about human connection. With Congress, Party Leader, Donor, Interest Hroup, etc. Neil experience in academic politics would be inadequate in dealing with politics.
- False Confidence. Clever People who good at one thing often overestimate their ability on unrelated fields. Neil could deal badly with Covid, Economy, Education, etc
- Sex Scandal. There are some gossip about Neil, with increasing power and attention, he could fumble in press attention.
- PR disaster. Neil great communicator in Astrophysics, in White House press conferences ?? He could be excellent (he won election after all), or he could fumble badly
- Bad crisis management. Acadic practice of slowly looking at evidence could be disaster when there are crisis. Need to act decisive when there are not enough information.

There have been scientists leading other countries. Angela Merkel was a physicist. Margaret Thatcher was a research chemist, although her scientific career was much shorter than Merkel's. I realize they're both controversial, but their performances were enough that their parties did well in subsequent elections during their tenure (in the case of Anegela Merkel let's just focus on the earlier subsequent elections both because with a POTUS we're talking 8 years and to avoid current politics). I'm not saying Neil deGrasse Tyson would make a good president, just that I don't buy the notion that a scientist can't be a good national leader.

Anyways if you want a scientist elected president, a field scientist would probably have an easier time avoiding the Michael Dukakis effect, although he/she might have a different problem when it comes to appearing stately and "respectable." For an astrophysicist maybe he could be involved with something at NASA that builds national pride, and the fact that NASA has big operations in Florida, a key swing state. He'd probably have to hold some other elected office first though, and you'd have to make him not be an atheist.

If you want someone with an astronomy background as POTUS, the best candidate is probably John Glenn. He's from Ohio, a key swing state, he had a successful career as a Senator, and he was famous for orbiting the Earth. Neil Armstrong was an engineer rather than a scientist, but if he entered politics he'd have his fame for landing on the moon and again the advantage of being from Ohio. If you want someone with a doctorate, there's Buzz Aldrin. He did suffer from a loss of sense of purpose after the Apollo Missions. I guess seeking a political career could butterfly that away along with the ensuing depression and alcoholism. The only thing I could find about how charismatic he would or wouldn't be is his failure as a used car salesman. Perhaps you could have Bart Sibrel hound him along the campaign trail in the 1980s. Astronauts are probably the way to go because in addition to having a celebrity status they're generally seen as smart and respectable without coming across as eggheads.

 

[Amadeus]

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and a science communicator. He hosts the podcast startalk.
What if he was elected president of the US no later than 2010 bonus if he won 2 terms.

He would call for more funding for scientific research and space exploration. He would probably be our wittiest President since Reagan. Though whether or not he gets his programs passed would depend on his relations with Congress.

 

[GeographyDude]

He'd probably have to hold some other elected office first though, and you'd have to make him not be an atheist.

I think Neil considers himself to be an agnostic, although politically, largely the same difficulty!

I think we can envision an earlier response to the frequently made claim and criticism — How can a person possibly have ethics without religion? ! ?

Maybe if there was an additional rock star who like Bono also liked doing good works and who dove in and got very good at it. I’m not sure of Bono’s religious views. But if this additional rock star was matter-of-fact about not being a fan of organized religion, and took the view, I want to help because I want to make a damn difference.

And maybe if there were several such people in different walks of life, earlier than OTL.