29 March 2024
In seven months, eligible voters in the USA will be making a decision about who will be our next president. From what we’ve learned so far, the contest will be a repeat of the 2020 election when Joe Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump. Having voted in every election since 1968, I am clearly in the undecided category at this time.
Who have been consistently considered America’s finest leaders since our nation was born in 1776? According to a study in which some 12,000 historians and others were consulted, some things are clear, based on the survey: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight E. Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama rank in the Top 10, each for various performance-based reasons.
Which ones of these former presidents do the current candidates most emulate?To be clear, Trump’s performance currently ranks him 42nd of the nation’s 46 presidents; a report on Biden will be completed when his presidency ends.
I have met a good number of U.S. president’s during my lifetime, including, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. I have been an active Republican, attending two national nominating conventions (1976 and 2008) and chairing what we then called in the 1970s-80s the Independent-Republicans of Minnesota.
Most of us, regardless of party affiliation, believe that overall, local, state and national governments must collectively provide the parameters for everyday behavior, protect the citizenry from undue interference and often underwrite the well-being of basic necessities for those in need, Of course, we fund this activity through taxes.
A pretty big order.
My top three priorities, I have determined, is effective presidential leadership in working with Congress to:
— Strengthen the nation’s economy and set plans to better manage elimination of our longstanding budget deficit.
— Shape a U.S. military with the clear capabilities for, over time, securing and maintaining world peace.
— Protect the nation and world’s air and water through a phased-in long-term approach to protect the overall environment of our planet.
Voting does make a difference, and Minnesotans often lead the nation. In the year 2020, two-thirds of Americans voted. The U.S. ranked 31st in turnout among 50 of the world’s democracies. We can do better.
Chuck Slocum is president of The Williston Group, a management consulting firm. He can be reached at [email protected]
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