Do senators or governors make better US presidents?

Ezra Klein has an article on this question . Despite the fact that, during election campaigns, candidates like to run as "outsiders" and so governors have an advantage over senators, Klein argues that this is not the case when they come into office. When they come into office, senators have the knowledge, connections and legislative background to be able to get the bills passed to get the change they want.

Now, I'm not an expert on the US political system, but it is clear that senators do face a heavy disadvantage when they stand for the top job. Since Johnson won in 1964, none of the other senators to stand for president have won. This does seem a pretty notable trend. It is also clear that LBJ's administration was one of the most productive in US history - resulting in the New Deal and the Great Society measures. The Carter and Clinton governments achieved much less.

However, looking further back, it can be seen that those with governorship experience can be good presidents as well. FDR served as New York governor - and not as a US senator. His government, too, was one of the most energetic and the most progressive in US history. His successor, Truman, was a senator before he became Vice-President. Truman was not able to achieve as much.

Also, much though my sympathies lie with the left, it does strike me that we need to look at what the Right have done in office over the past few decades. Reagan, a former California governor, did manage to deregulate and cut taxes. Being a governor did not stop him being able to work with the conservative Southern Democrats to get his policies through. The same can be said of Bush Jnr. Bush got a lot of his legislation through and was able to continue his father's and Reagan's rightward drift.

So, it seems that right-wing governors who become president have been able to get things done - albeit things I would not agree with. It is left-of-centre governors such as Carter and Clinton who are the ones who have faced problems on assuming office and have been unable to get notable legislative achievements through Congress.