It’s Nice to Have a Teacher on the Ticket
Education is good preparation for politics
Doug Walz, Kamala Harris’ Vice-Presidential pick, has a lot of things going for him. He’s a governor with a strong record of accomplishments. He ticks certain demographic boxes (white, male, Midwestern) that may help broaden Harris’ appeal to swing voters. He’s got a knack for messaging — this is the guy who started calling the Republican ticket “weird.” He’s good at social media (especially when it comes to telling stories about his dog).
But what I like most about him is that he’s a former teacher. There have been a few prominent former teachers in American politics (most notably Lyndon Johnson), but most teacher-politicians taught for only a couple of years, treating the job as a sort of waystation while they plotted their way toward bigger and better things. Walz, on the other hand, had a serious teaching career: he worked in a high school for 20 years, teaching classes in history and geography while coaching the football team and mentoring the Gay-Straight Alliance.
Politicians tend to come from a small set of professional backgrounds. Almost all of them have a college degree. Many have some military experience (although the number of veterans in politics has dropped significantly in recent decades). Before they run for office, most politicians…
