All President and Accounted For

For a while now, I’ve pondered what it is that I want in a U.S. President.  I’ve jotted down notes and made lists, but they're all unwieldy and don’t really respond to the question properly.  Some things get left out, some things are too “detailed” for such a sweeping, grandiose subject.  And ultimately, everything I put down sort of kept looking like a political science lecture.  And a somewhat boring, pontificating one, at that.
 
But then I realized the answer was so much easier.  In fact, the answer, for me, is so easy that I can answer it in just one sentence.
 
What I want in a president is someone who I don’t have to think about every single day.

That's it. 

​No need to make it convoluted.
 
To be clear, that doesn’t mean I don’t necessarily think about the president every day.  I can or not – my choice.  But the operative words are “have to.”  Where you have to be on your guard all the time to watch your back, and the backs of others who might be in need or under distress.  Or where you “have to” think about the president, even one you like, because it’s all being relentlessly smashed in your face, and screamed in your ear, and pounded into your head, all the time.  Almost non-stop.  Every single day.

And to be clear, too, this is just what I want in a president.  Not how much I might like or dislike the person in office.  That's another matter.  This is only, at its most basic, what I want in a President of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, the Commander-in-Chief.  Protecting democracy and the lives of Americans, whatever their party.
 
I don't have to agree with every policy (even if I voted for the person, or not). I just have to know, at the bare minimum, the president has the good of the country as the job's core foundation, an awareness of dealing with the intricacies of the world, and is surrounded by a cabinet of mature, thoughtful experts who will speak truth to power.
 
Just someone who I don’t have to think about every -- single -- day.
 
So I can live my life on its own terms.  And appreciate the lives of those around me.