Intelligence Does Count!

Obama's Team of Brainiacs From "Open Left" One "change" we're seeing in the newly forming administration is the return of expertise and a respect for academic accomplishment. George Bush loved to brag about being a C student. Somehow I don't think that approach will continue in the Obama White House. And while good leadership doesn't require an advanced degree, it doesn't hurt to have some expertise. I put together this comparison of Bush's original team and Obama's so far (source: Wikipedia). I've bolded those with more education. Position Bush 2001 Team Obama 2009 Team POTUS George Bush: MBA Harvard Barack Obama: JD Harvard VP Dick Cheney: MA Poli Sci Wyoming Joe Biden: JD Syracuse Sec. State Colin Powell:MBA GWU Hillary Clinton: JD Yale Sec. Defense Donald Rumsfeld: AB Princeton Robert Gates: Ph.D. Georgetown Att.General John Ashcroft: JD Chicago Eric Holder: JD Columbia Sec.Treasury Paul O'Neill: Master of Public Adm. Indiana Tim Geithner: MA John Hopkins Homeland Security Tom Ridge: JD Dickinson Janet Napolitano: JD Virginia UN Ambassador John Negroponte: BA Yale Susan Rice: Ph.D. Oxford Sec.Commerce Donald Evans:MBA Texas Bill Richardson: MA Int.Affairs Tufts NSA Condoleezza Rice: Ph.D. Denver James Jones: BS Georgetown Chief of Staff Andrew Card: BS Engineering S.Carolina Rahm Emanuel: MA Speech and Comm. Northwestern Again, having a degree doesn't guarantee anything. Afterall, Michael "Brownie" Brown, former FEMA head, has a JD. But after 8 years of a crew with questionable competence in their designated roles and an administration often strongly anti-science, it will be nice to see some experts back in charge.