What do the presidents have in common? No background in space engineering.

Take a look at this handy list of presidents' former occupations, and hold on to it for later reference.

And here is a list of the colleges and universities the presidents attended, including those presidents without advanced education.

It is arguable that these lists have been overly simplified. For instance, we know that part of Jimmy Carter's knowledge of nuclear engineering came from his time at Georgia Tech and as an officer in the Navy.

Herbert Hoover is listed as an engineer, and while history has pondered the reasoning behind renaming the Boulder Dam project after him, he was instrumental in its development prior to becoming president.

George H. W. Bush comes closest to being an aerospace engineer, by way of his pilot-in-command experience in the Grumman TBM Avenger (for one) in World War II. Flying any kind of airplane requires a basic understanding of several discplines (aerodynamics, mechanical design, meteorology, and aerospace physiology, just to name a few). And to the elder Bush's credit, he did introduce a NASA exploration plan during his own administration, the Space Exploration Initiative, in 1989. We will discuss this more in future posts.

Just becoming a pilot does not mean you have a true understanding, or love, of aerospace. In my own Air Force career, I met many pilot candidates and flew with many pilots. Pilots, like all people, come in shades of gray. I have known history and business majors who made wonderful pilots. I have known space afficianados who didn't make it through Undergraduate Pilot Training. I have known pilots who should never have been given their wings. Pilots are as varied as humanity itself, which should be expected.

Given that, I don't see the same understanding of aerospace in George W. Bush that I thought I saw in his father. I won't discuss the particulars of his own piloting experience, leaving it to others to argue. But from my own perspective, I detected a difference in how the father and son approached space. You will see, as this blog continues, that this difference plays a major part in how we got to our present state of affairs in the Space Program.