An unusual presidential election in several ways

It’s certainly remarkable that the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee will certainly be either the first woman or the first African American to be in serious contention for the presidency. In fact, the polls say that whichever the nominee is, he or she will win over the Republican Party’s choice, so it’s very likely that we’ll soon — though not soon enough, by far — have a the first female or black president in the White House. Though let’s not get too complacent; the polls have been wrong before.

But there’s something else remarkable here, something that’s easy to overlook with all the rest that’s going on. We haven’t elected a sitting U.S. senator in 48 years, and not for 40 years before that... and we’re nearly certain to do so this year: all three of the likely winners are current senators.

The voting public seems to prefer executive experience, and we generally elect former vice presidents or governors. Look at the record for the last 100 or so years:

Year first elected
2000	George W. Bush	Governor
1992	Bill Clinton	Governor
1988	George H. W. Bush	Vice President
1980	Ronald Reagan	Former Governor
1976	Jimmy Carter	Governor
1968	Richard Nixon[1]	Former VP Former Senator
1964	Lyndon Johnson	President[2] Former VP
1960	John F. Kennedy	Senator
1952	Dwight Eisenhower	General of the Army[3]
1948	Harry S Truman	President[2] Former VP
1932	Franklin Delano Roosevelt	Governor
1928	Herbert Hoover	Secretary of Commerce[3]
1924	Calvin Coolidge	Vice President Former Governor
1920	Warren G. Harding	Senator Former Lieutenant Governor
1912	Woodrow Wilson	Governor
1908	William Howard Taft	Secretary of War former colonial Governor
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	President[2] Former VP Former Governor
1896	William McKinley	Governor

Until now, John F. Kennedy was the only president we’ve elected with no prior executive experience since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

I think that all three candidates are qualified for the job. And yet it has to be daunting: whoever is elected will inherit a country with serious problems, domestic and foreign, and has a difficult job ahead. Experience at something other than legislation — and no, I don’t count Mrs Clinton’s years with her husband in the White House as executive experience — would help.
 

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[1] Since Gerald Ford wasn’t elected (not even as VP), I’m not counting him at all.

[2] Took over when his predecessor died in office.

[3] Eisenhower’s five-star General position certainly qualified as "executive", as did Hoover’s cabinet position.