Wouldn’t it be great to have a presidential candidate or President, even, who had practically nothing to hide? No investigation needed, no heavy supervision needed by the Congress, and so on.
I am reminded of a few Presidents in our nation’s history. Although there are only a few of them, fortunately, at least we had them! I can’t say every country has had the same ‘luck’.
For example, George Washington. What did George have to hide? I think very little. He married rich widow Martha and they seemed to live quite happily after that. I’ve seen their home, Mount Vernon, with my own eyes. Who couldn’t live happily there? I think Martha was widowed a second time, however. She did have nieces and nephews and money, so, I guess one could live distracted under those circumstances.
Then there is Abe Lincoln. They, he and Mary, experienced tragedy left and right but even so, they did have some quite pleasant years. But what did Lincoln need to hide? Precious little as far as corruption is concerned, I’ll say. ‘Old’ Abe knew he was a bumpkin and felt the usual embarrassment associated with those folks. (Am I, one of your favorite writers, an ex-bumpkin or still a bona fide bumpkin?) Jefferson, the genius, had very little to hide in terms of dishonesty and corruption. He was squeezing his slave Sally a bit much and giving her some children but it wasn’t any matter of national security or of Congressional scrutiny!
Wilson—now there’s a decent chap if ever there was one. He and his League of Nations. Ideals and ideas, not bad.
The Adamses, father and son. Decent, upright, and so on. So you see? One factor behind this great country of ours is the traditional good results we’ve had with many of our elected leaders. Not with all of them, mind you, but with many. Some people think money ($) is a factor as to whether or not a Prez will turn out well. Is it really? I think we’ve had both—good Presidents born with practically no money (Lincoln) and good Presidents born with plenty (FDR, Kennedy, etc.).
The main factor which determines whether or not a newly elected President is going to turn out well is, perhaps, her/his principles. Throw principles in with honesty and integrity and you get a mix that can’t be beat (pun)!!!!
