With the selection of the Biden/Harris ticket, EVERY Democratic nominee for President/Vice President since 1984 has been a lawyer (attended law school), according to our review of public bios.
During that same time period, most Republican nominees -- like Donald Trump -- have NOT been lawyers (some exceptions: Pence this year; Romney, if you count his joint MBA/Juris degrees received before he went into finance; Quayle and Dole).
By the numbers, 100% of Democrats attended law school (of 20 nominee slots, eg President/Vice President in an election cycle & 14 people, because some "filled a slot" more than once -- Al Gore filled slots three times, for example, during two VP runs and one Presidential run.). For the Republicans, 20% of the slots were filled by those who attended law school & app. 31% of the people nominated (some more than once) had attended law school.
Given the different views of the two political groups on government regulation, it's not surprising that being a lawyer now appears a requirement for making the Dem national ticket (btw, last Dem non-lawyer we could find was Jimmy Carter, a Navy officer and farmer before entering politics.)
FYI, there are roughly 3X as many "top executives" as lawyers in the American workplace, according to government labor statistics, and lawyers are outnumbered by other professions such as farmers/ranchers and high school teachers.
We've got our opinions on teams of lawyers, especially those with limited experience in business or even private legal practice, running a country that depends on a vibrant business environment. What do you think? Please let us know in the comments.
"There is no shortage of lawyers in Washington, DC. In fact, there may be more lawyers than people:" attributed to Sandra Day O'Connor
Attended Law School Non-Law
School Grad/Profession B4 Politics
1984
Walter Mondale (Minn.) – Geraldine Ferraro (N.Y.)
Ronald Reagan (Calif.) actor/union
official/corporate spokesman– George H. W. Bush (Tex.) businessman, gov
official
1988
Michael
Dukakis (Mass.) – Lloyd
Bentsen (Tex.)
George H. W. Bush (Tex.) businessman – Dan Quayle (Ind.)
1992
Bill Clinton (Ark.)
– Al Gore (Tenn.)
George
H. W. Bush (Tex.)
– Dan
Quayle (Ind.)
1996
Bill
Clinton (Ark.)
– Al Gore (Tenn.)
Bob Dole (Kans.)
– Jack
Kemp pro athlete (N.Y.)
2000
Al Gore (Tenn.)
– Joe Lieberman (Conn.)
George
W. Bush (Tex.)
– Dick
Cheney (Wyo.) gov
official
2004
John Kerry (Mass.)
– John Edwards (N.C.)
George
W. Bush (Tex.)
– Dick
Cheney (Wyo.)
2008
Barack Obama (Ill.)
- Joseph Biden (Del.)
John
McCain Navy officer (Ariz.)
– Sarah
Palin (Alaska) broadcaster
2012
Barack Obama (Ill.)
– Joseph Biden (Del.)
Mitt Romney (Mass.)
– Paul
Ryan (Wis.) Cong.
staffer
2016
Hillary Clinton (N.Y.)
- Tim Kaine (V.A.)
Donald
Trump businessman (N.Y.)
– Mike Pence (Ind.)
2020
Joseph Biden (Del.)-Kamala Harris
(Cal.)
Donald
Trump businessman (N.Y.)
– Mike Pence (Ind.)