A History Of Businessmen In Politics

Business and politics are considered as two different worlds. But, they often join hands with each other. The business executives are generally perceived to have high levels of accountability as they come from running business houses. On the other hand, businessmen try to generate profit, while running a government is to provide services.

Most recently, Somalia’s new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, recently nominated an oil industry executive Hassan Ali Khaire as prime minister of the country, which is rebuilding itself against a quarter-century of conflict, terrorism and devastating drought.

A New York Times report says the nomination is subject to a confirmation vote by lawmakers.

Trump Is Far From The First Businessman In Politics

There have many instances where businessmen forayed in to politics and even found reasonable success. In fact, the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, was also a businessman.

In the United States, former President Harry Truman was a co-owner of a Kansas City clothing store before becoming the 33rd president. Former President George W. Bush was an oil executive, former President Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, former President Herbert Hoover was a mining executive and former President Warren Harding was a newspaper publisher.

Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems, ran for president in 1992 and 1996 as a third-party candidate. Jon Corzine, who earlier served as the CEO of Goldman Sachs, was the former governor of New Jersey.

Steve Forbes, the editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and in 2000. Despite his deep financial knowledge, Forbes failed to connect with voters.

Mitt Romney, the co-founder of Bain Capital, also ran for presidential elections.

Business Success Doesn't Spell Political Success

However, scholars specializing in American history and politics at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London say historically, business success correlates more with presidential failure than success.

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