In search of the perfect president: What Americans say they want, from age to gender

What if you could pick a president to order?

Let’s stipulate at the start that you can’t, that the choice in the 2024 election will be among actual human beings, not some ideal drawn in the abstract.

That said, Americans in the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll did express preferences about the characteristics they found appealing in a president and the ones they said didn’t matter. In all that may be guideposts and red flags for the real people who will run or are thinking about it.

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center, said the job posting could go something like this: “Wanted – a 51-to-65-year-old governor with business experience and willing to compromise to get things done. Military experience a bonus.”

Younger voters were more likely to prefer younger presidents. Among those under 35 years old, 41% said their ideal president would be between 35 and 50, the youngest age group eligible for the office.

Is it time for a female president? 

Maybe not.

Most voters, a 55% majority, volunteered that gender doesn’t matter. That would be news to Hillary Clinton and other female candidates, who believe they encountered political headwinds because of their sex. 

For a significant number of Americans, the Oval Office remains a man’s world. Overall, those who expressed a preference chose a man over a woman as ideal by more than 2-1, 28%-12%. 

Among Republicans, 50% said the ideal president would be male while a negligible 2% said she would be female. In contrast, Democrats with a preference chose a woman over a man by 2-1, 24%-11%.

Political independents were the most likely to say gender doesn’t matter. Nearly two-thirds, 63%, volunteered that view. 

Is there a gender gap on gender? 

Among those voters with a preference, men by 8-1 preferred a male president over a female one, 32%-4%. Women were somewhat more likely to prefer a male president as well, 25%-19%. 

The hometown effect: Where are you from? 

Most of those surveyed, 57%, said it doesn’t matter where a president is from. 

Unhappy new year? Poll finds Americans wary of the nation’s course, its leaders and its future ahead of 2023

By 4-1, 74%-19%, Democrats want a president who will cut a deal. Republicans by 50%-38% prefer a president who stands on principle, even if it means things don’t get done.

That gap on leadership styles was one of the biggest partisan divides in the poll.

Political experience? Yes, but…

Experience in politics was seen as a plus by most voters. Democrats preferred senators over governors, 37%-32%. Republicans, in what may reflect a GOP antipathy for all things Washington, preferred governors over senators by 3-1, 36%-11%.

Among Republicans, there seemed to be some backlash to political experience. One-third, 32%, would prefer someone with no political experience.  

Business experience? Yes, but…

There was also a partisan divide on the value of business experience in the perfect president.

Overall, 56% said an ideal president would have a background in business. That included an overwhelming 85% of Republicans.

Among Democrats, however, there seemed to be some backlash to corporate experience. By 55%-29%, they preferred a president with no business background. That may reflect opposition to Trump, the real-estate magnate and reality-TV star who had never run for office until he won the presidency in 2016.

Military experience? Yes, but…

Service in the military was a clear asset among Republicans; 61% said their ideal president would have served in the military. Democratic views were more mixed: 31% favored a president who had served; 37% preferred one who had not. Another 31% volunteered that it didn’t matter one way or the other. 

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