May A Mayor Be President?

As former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani attempts to make an unprecedented move from Mayor to President, I thought I'd look at where Mayors have ended up previously. In fact, many of our most well-known national politicians have been Mayors, but none have been President...at least not outright and at least not in the US.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), the first Socialist in the US Senate was Mayor of Burlington, Vermont from 1981-1989.

Ohio's Senior Senator George Voinovich, a Republican, was Governor of Ohio before serving in the Senate. Prior to that, he was Mayor of Cleveland after defeating none other than Dennis Kucinich in 1979

Kucinich, now an Ohio Congressman and Presidential Candidate had one tumultuous term as Mayor of Cleveland from 1977-1979

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, became a star in Pennsylvania politics after a long and rather successful term as Mayor of Philadelphia from 1992-2000

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine served four years as the state's Lieutenant Governor before becoming Governor. Before that, he had a four year term as Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, the state capital.

Alaska's new governor, Republican Sarah Palin's previous job had been Mayor of Wasilia, Alaska, a small town north of Anchorage

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley gave an impassioned and well-received speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he was still Mayor of Baltimore, a job he held from 1999-2007

Tennessee's Freshman Republican Senator Bob Corker may have only narrowly defeated Democrat Harold Ford Jr. statewide, but he did well enough in Southeastern Tennessee, where he was known as the Mayor of Chattanooga from 2001-2005.

California's Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein is widely known in Democratic circles. Before she was a Senator, she was the first female Mayor of San Francisco, a position she reached almsot by accident, when she took over for assassinated mayor George Moscone.

Minnesota's Senior Senator Norm Coleman was helped in his Democratic state by being the Republican Mayor of St. Paul from 1992-2002, a Democratic city.

Indiana's Senior Senator, Richard Lugar, is known of his Foreign Policy expertise, but before he came to the US Senate in 1977, he was Mayor of Indianapolis from 1968-1975.

Ok. but none of them are Presidents...well only two Mayors have ever risen to the level of President. Grover Cleveland was Mayor of Buffalo, New York and Calvin Coolidge was Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts...but they both held more important roles before becoming President. Cleveland was Governor of New York, Coolidge was Governor of Massachusetts.

Internationally, it's not uncommon for Mayors to rise to head of state. Jacques Chirac, the President of France was Mayor of Paris before his election, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran was previously Mayor of Tehran