

Ask HN: Who will be the first president from a tech background? - chatmasta


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mast
What do you mean by tech background? Herbert Hoover was an engineer before he
became president.

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chatmasta
I guess I mean a tech background from the Internet age. Think Larry and
Sergei, Zuckerberg, etc. I mean someone who built a unicorn with skills and
smarts, someone who is _known for their achievements in tech._

I suppose Carly Fiorina would qualify, although I consider her background more
traditional business than tech.

Larry Lessig might also qualify as "from tech," but he's an academic just like
many other presidents.

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daxfohl
It's kind of a non-question at that point because none of these people are
particularly respected in their "tech abilities" Even Donald Trump certainly
employs a coder or two. When will Terrence Tao, Ed Witten, or even Reid Barton
become president? Maybe someday. Maybe when Stephen Hawking becomes King.

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loumf
Michael Bloomberg is probably the closest right now who has won an election
that is high-profile enough to launch a presidential bid.

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daxfohl
I assume you mean US, but if you look globally, at least one already exists.
Singapore's PM recently demonstrated a Sudoku solver that he wrote in his free
time. [http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/asia/singapore-pm-code-
sudoku/](http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/asia/singapore-pm-code-sudoku/)

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dawson
Lee Hsien Loong (Prime Minister of Singapore), Mathematics Cambridge and
compsci (c++) hobbyist.

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dhogan
Bill Gates does quite a few things these days that have more of a focus on
making a better world in general. That seems sort of like a president mindset
to me. I don't know that he would be someone interested in dealing with all
the politics though.

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bambang150
I think Republican Carly Fiorina threw her hat into the ring I took notice.

After all, Fiorina was the most powerful woman in business during her
1999-2000 stint as CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), shares of which
have had a peak gain of 64.3% since I first recommended them to you in July
2013.

Carly Fiorina is the presidential candidate from Silicon Valley.

Not only was Fiorina the first female to lead a Fortune 20 company, but she
served as the captain of a global tech enterprise that was struggling to
navigate through the troubled waters of the early 2000s.

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giaour
Would Tim Wu count?

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rubiquity
Kevin Rose

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Nicholas_C
Me.

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hanniabu
I like the confidence!

