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By our vote — or failure to vote — six months from today, we will have selected the next president of the United States. Will we have selected the person who could represent the best of America?

Whether we are ready or not, the presidential campaign is in full swing. We have time to evaluate the presumptive candidates of the two major political parties, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, as well as candidates of other parties.

No matter who you may be supporting, shouldn’t whomever becomes president be America’s number one role model?

It is not only a question worth asking, but one which each of us needs to answer.

One would like to believe that few rational people would deny that the president should be America’s role model. First as the number one citizen, but also as a decent, ethical, moral, caring and fair human being.

The person who occupies the office should be the best representation for all Americans.

Some of our past presidents have been better role models than others. A recent CSPAN survey of presidential historians provides a ranking of the past presidents

No doubt, we all can point to ones who have been good examples and others who not only let themselves down, but family, citizens, the nation, friends and allies around the world.

So where are we today, my fellow Americans?

Where do we stand when it comes to the notion that we have always expected our President to be America’s greatest example of a citizen, consistently demonstrating decency, respect, class, and decorum?

Whether we agree with the president’s position on every policy or not, we should never have to question or be ashamed of how he conducts himself or how he speaks to and about others.

Reason, rationality, decency, respect and being informed should guide his every utterance, every action. Should we expect facts and honesty to be important and a part of the reputation of our president, the leader of the free world?

America is at a critical crossroads when it comes to its identity — to its citizens and their children, but also to the world and the world’s children.

The president should be America’s number one role model — the consummate example of what America stands for. He or she, through their speech and actions, should always confirm America’s constitution, its creed and its character.

There have been studies about the qualities and actions that great presidents and leaders have in common.

As we approach the election of our nation’s president, we must ask the question:

Does America’s chief identity no longer reside in its Commander-in-Chief, in its most powerful and visible citizen?

If so, which of the leading candidates best demonstrate the characteristics that   America’s number one role model should have and display?

What do you think some of those characteristics should be?

I have a few prerequisites that I am looking for.

First and foremost, honesty and accountability.

In any viable organization, being its leader requires honesty and accountability. The gravity of the need of these two traits to be unimpugnable cannot be greater than in the person who occupies The White House as president of the United States.

Second on my list would be institutional knowledge and respect.

The president of the United States should always demonstrate a real command and understanding of the history of this country. He or she should show the ultimate respect for the sacred principles, policies and institutions on which this country was founded and on which its future depends.

Imagine what would happen to organizations, companies and agencies you interact with or depend on if the leader is allowed to consistently indulge in thoughtless, reckless, dishonest and irresponsible behavior?

America is still a strong, resilient, prosperous and a blessed nation when one considers and compares it to many other countries in the world. But even America cannot withstand the repeated undermining of the principles, laws, and values that made it great in the first place.

All thinking Americans cannot afford to forget the fall of great nations in the annals of history. Remember Rome?

That great unparalleled empire was not destroyed by external forces, but the weakness, discord and corrupt practices from within. During the time of the Roman Empire, there was not a nation or enemy or earth that could have defeated or destroyed it. Romans allowed their great nation to be destroyed.

Sound familiar?

There is no shortage of studies and resources about why great civilizations die — some even alarming.

America is still the strongest nation on earth. But how long will it remain if caring citizens allow its leaders to continue to disregard sacred institutions, lie at will, show utter disregard for the principles on which this country was built, and dismantle the laws and policies that sustain it? Such behavior by a leader would not be tolerated anywhere else.

Usually, a role model is held in high regard.

Given the choices, who demonstrates qualities that could be held in high regard?

There is still time to gather the facts, observe behavior and choose the best role model for America.

Will we?