Election 2004: The Candidates at 30

Do your activities at age 30 indicate what kind of President you'll be? A quick glance at our five previous commanders-in-chief at the age in question:

42. Clinton: Attorney General, Arkansas
41. Bush Sr.: Oil Baron
40. Reagan: Movie Star
39. Carter: Peanut Farmer
38. Ford: Athletic Director and Gunnery Division Officer, Navy Aircraft Carrier USS Montery

Is a movie star more suitable for the presidency than a peanut farmer? America thought so. But would they have voted the same way if they had recognized the inherent similarities between farming peanuts and farming congress? Our frustrating inability to travel through time means the world will never know.

Blog of Ages believes (cue patriotic music, stock footage of flag waving in background) that in order to make an Informed Decision about The Future of This Country, it is imperative that Every American know exactly what Each Candidate for the Presidency of the United States was doing at The Pivotal Age of Thirty. Therefore, the Blog of Ages Public Service Initiative (BOAPSI), in association with the Department of Thirtymeter, is in the process of compiling portraits of those who have announced an intention to grab the top office in 2004.

And since this is a democracy, we'll also be attempting to get an account of their activities in their own words.

Our first stop: the incumbent, George W. Bush, adapted from the book. (p. 109)