It seems that a large majority of current US politicians of varying scales (Presidents, Governors, Congressmen) are either career politicians or have backgrounds in business or law. I've always felt that our government could only benefit if it was comprised of people from more varied fields.
From my high school education, I recall our founding fathers coming from a large variety of backgrounds. What was the evolution/transition to today's relatively narrow span of politicians' backgrounds? What were common background professions for politicians at different times in American politics?
If you take the government as a whole, not just elected officials, I think you'd find much more variety. For instance, the EPA and the department of energy have a large number of scientists working for them, the department of health and human services has a lot of healthcare professionals, etc.