The president with the most experience in national politics was James Buchanan, who until George W. Bush came along won most "worst President ever" contests. If you look at these, experience alone does not make a good public official.


Lincoln was considerd to have great judgment despite little traditional government experience -- two years in Congress and a few terms in the Illinois State house (sound familiar?). Obama is around the middle range for all over our presidents, having only 20 presidents with MORE experience than he does.

And you say "none"? Obama had eight years spent in the Illinois senate before his serving in the U.S. Senate. He serves on three of the four Senate Committees dealing with foreign policy issues including the Foreign Relations and Homeland Security. He is the Chair of the Subcommittee on European Relations and serves on the Subcommittees on African Affairs, East Asia and Pacific Affairs, and International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection. He has traveled extensively visiting Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in Asia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, and the Palestinian Territories in the Middle East; and Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa in Africa (unlike Palin who only got a passport last year).

I could go on but that should be enough to cover "none" for now.