By Maurice Silvera
“I don't think I'd want to run the whole campaign and all that shit.”
Not a fan of the direction this country has been headed in over the last few election cycles? Think you could do a better job as president? Well, believe it or not, most Brown students don’t want the job.
68% of students who responded to the Brown Opinion Project’s October 2024 poll indicated that they would not want to be president of the United States, compared to just 31% who responded that they would want to hold the nation’s highest office.
In light of the highly polarized nature of the country, one junior explained, with nervous laughter, “I wouldn’t want to [be president] because it feels like too much stress. Also, the country is very divided and pleasing everyone is really hard.”
Fear of judgment also played a role in students’ decision to indicate they would rather avoid the White House.
“I wouldn't because of just the constant public scrutiny. I'd rather have freedom and autonomy, which is kind of removed in that position,” one student reasoned.
While the data suggest that most students would say no to the Oval Office, those who were interviewed wrongly assumed that most of their peers would welcome the chance to be president.
“I think you’ll see a lot more people who are interested in political office,” one first-year said, “particularly because of Donald Trump and the… sort of perceived authoritarianism that’s inherent in the Republican Party at the moment.”
Many interviewees saw ambition as a presidential quality in their peers.
“I think people at Brown have a lot of ambitions and beliefs, and I think they would want to implement them given the chance,” one junior said. “I think everybody is unique in their own ways here, but there are a couple things that are homogenous throughout the whole campus,” another first-year asserted, “and I feel like that’s ambition.”
Out of the third of students who said that they would want to be president, some felt morally obligated to do so.
“If I knew I was qualified for a job and I could make a big difference by doing it, I feel that some part of a person feels an obligation to do it,” one first-year elaborated, “If you can be the change, why wouldn't you?”
Others, however, had arguably less noble motives for wanting to be president.
One student confessed,“I would love to be president because I love to know secrets. That is my genuine answer. I don’t actually think I would be good for the country as president, and I don't think I could do a lot, but I think I’d enjoy it,” although they later conceded, “No, it's not not the job for me, really.”
Students noted distinct qualities they believe a president should have. Specific characteristics included “charismatic” and “eloquent” as well as having “communication” and “oratory skills.”
It seems that many believe that one of the president’s top responsibilities is to be able to communicate clearly and confidently with the masses — something some students may feel the current president is lacking.
Another characteristic one student mentioned (and felt that most Brown students possessed) was being “down to earth.” Interestingly, students who use marijuana daily or almost daily are the most likely to want to be president: 49% of students who smoke daily or almost daily indicated a desire for the office compared to only 32% of those who have never used marijuana saying the same.
Maybe what we’ve been lacking all this time is a president who takes “when they go low, we go high” to a whole new level.
The Brown Opinion Project (BOP) conducted its October 2024 poll from October 8 - October 10. BOP solicited responses from Brown undergraduate students near Faunce Hall and Sciences Park. BOP representatives asked every person who passed their location if they were interested in taking a quick anonymous poll. Responses were anonymously collected using Google Forms. Over the course of the polling process, BOP collected 936 total responses from Brown undergraduate students.
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