Road to the white house – Abdul Halim Saad

Dear friends, for your happy reading, feel free to block my article and best wishes.

The US has a 4-year presidential term, a fixed election date and the next presidential election, its 60th, will be held on 5 November 2024.

The US 2024 presidential election will be roughly a year and a half to go but sixteen people have already announced that they want to be the next US president.

A presidential candidate, according to its constitution, must be a US natural born citizen, a resident for 14 years and 35 years of age or older.

How to become a US president?

Make a public announcement. Candidates make a public announcement indicating their plan to run for president in a talk show or in a media presentation.

Appoint political consultants. Candidates must have a professional campaign team, appoint a campaign manager and have a team of experienced political consultants.

Develop a strategic plan. Candidates must also have a competitive and strategic campaign plan to be presented at caucus and party meetings.

Be ready with town hall sessions. Candidates are expected to present their views in the town hall sessions under the spotlight of national and international media.

Have a political slogan. Candidates are always creative at devising election logos: such as Barack Obama’s Yes We Can or Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again.

Go virtual. Develop a website explaining the campaign plan and get started with a campaign account on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Create a campaign goal: Lower taxes? Reducing poverty? Creating jobs? Higher standards of education? Or any change a presidential candidate could make.

Raise donations. Political campaigning requires vast amounts of money and device easy ways to accept donations and to stay in touch with your initial backers.

Enhance debating skills. Campaign needs a lot of public speaking engagements and be ready with current issues like jobs, trade, cost of living or war in Europe and make no slip-ups.

Be forceful and smart. A candidate needs to be clear on issues, need to be forceful but not a stick-in-the-mud, caring but not a pushover and be charismatic at all times.

Always in line with party platforms. If the candidates need to change issues, for example: humanitarian aid to foreign countries, have it all planned out within the party’s agenda.

Concentrate on the mixed states. The US has 240 million voters in 50 states with some states are known to be majority Republican, Democrat or mixed states.

Have a running mate. A presidential candidate needs a running mate to back up and assist just like Kamala Harris to Joe Biden or Mike Pence when Donald Trump was president.

Be ready for the national convention. Preparing yourself for anything and running for president is an incredibly stressful endeavor, should not be taken lightly and take care of your health.

Who is running for the next US president?

Joe Biden, 80, a Democratic candidate and the current 46th US president, is running for the second term. He is a former senator from Delaware, a vice president under the Obama administration and has a BA from the University of Delaware and a law degree JD from Syracuse University.

Donald Trump, 77, a Republican candidate and the 45th US president from 2018 to 2020, is running to be president for a second term. A successful businessman, head of the Trump Organization and has a BSC from the Wharton School of Pennsylvania of University.

Ron DeSantis, 45, a Republican candidate, an attorney, currently the 46th Governor of Florida and a former member of the House of Representatives, a naval officer and an Iraq war veteran. He received his BA from Yale and a law degree JD from Harvard University.

Mike Pence, 63, a Republican candidate, a vice president under President Donald Trump, a former governor of Indiana and a former member of the House of Representative. He obtained his BA in Asian history from Hanover College and a law degree JD at Indiana University.

Nikki Haley, 51, a Republican candidate, a former governor of South Carolina and former US ambassador to the UN under Donald Trump’s administration. She had an accounting degree from Clemson University and became the first female governor of South Carolina.

Robert Kennedy Jr, 68, a Democratic candidate, lawyer and author of ten books, is a son of senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He was educated at Harvard, London School of Economics and had a law degree JD from University of Virginia.

Corey Stapleton, 55, a Republican candidate, a former Montana state secretary, a former naval officer in the aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy. He has a BA in engineering from the US Naval Academy and a MA in political science from Temple University.

Marianne Williamson, 70, a Democratic candidate, a writer and a pacifist who advocated non-military intervention. She is educated at the University of New Mexico and Texas University and has written 13 books, 7 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, a Republican candidate, multimillionaire, entrepreneur, author and a conservative political activist. He is a graduate of Harvard in biology, obtained a law degree JD from Yale and the author of several books including Woke Inc.and Nation of Victims.

Asa Hutchinson, 74, a Republican candidate who is an attorney, a prominent businessman and politician who served as the governor of Arkansas. He is a graduate of Bob Jones University and obtained a law degree JD from Arkansas University.

Tim Scott, 50, a Republican candidate, an American businessman, a member of the House of Representative and a US senator from South Carolina since 2013. He is a graduate of Charleston Southern University with a BSc in political science.

Chris Christie,60, a Republican candidate, a lawyer specializing in securities law, former US attorney and former governor of New Jersey who first ran for president in 2016. He has a BA in political science from Delaware University and a law degree JD from Seton Hall University.

Cornel West, 69, a third party candidate of the People Party, a university professor and progressive activist. He obtained his BA from Harvard University, MA and PhD from Princeton University and previously taught at Harvard and Princeton.

Doug Burgum, 66, a Republican candidate who is an entrepreneur and the current 33rd governor of North Dakota since 2016. He has a BA from North Dakota State University, MBA from Stanford University and an honorary PhD Stanford University.

Lary Elder, 71, a Republican candidate, a right wing political commentator, a talk radiohost, a newspaper columnist and a practicing attorney. He has a BA in political science from Brown Universityand a law degree JD from the University of Michigan.

Francis Suarez, 47, a Republican candidate, an American attorney in property and real-estate and a politician currently the 43rd mayor of Miami, Florida since 2009. He has a Bachelor in Science and a law degree JD both from the University of Florida.

How do Americans choose their president?

The presidential election is a block voting where the US is divided into 538 electoral colleges and the presidential candidate who wins 270 electoral colleges wins the White House job.

In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden won the presidency by winning 306 electoral colleges compared to 232 electoral colleges by Donald Trump.

What are the main election issues?

A Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online in March 2023, found that the economy, unemployment, jobs, public health, crime, immigration, climate change, terrorism, abortion rights and foreign conflicts remain the main domestic issues in the 2034 US presidential election.

Why the US has a two-party system?

In general the US has a two-party system with the Democrats and Republicans who are contesting the presidential election. Both are big and powerful as they are “big tent” parties or political parties that welcome many groups with different ideologies or political platforms.

According to Britannica.com, Democrats are liberalist, multilateralist, support larger governmental role in economic issues, backing social welfare programs, favors progressive tax and prefers militarism while the Republicans are conservative, unilateralist, prefer smaller government, support large budget for military and often aggressively pursue US national security interests.

Is running for president costly?

According to the BBC, the cost of running the US 2016 presidential election was USD2.4 billion and the political spending in the 2020 presidential election totaled USD14.4 billion, a record figure since the 2020 election.

When can the result be known?

The candidate who wins 270 colleges is the winner and the winning president will then establish the new cabinet that comprises some 15 cabinet members (ministers), who are to be confirmed by the Senate and the members of the cabinet are often the president’s closest confidants.

What is the racial mix in the White House?

The Biden cabinet has 55% nonwhite including Asian, black, Latino and native American and 45% female while former presidents Donald Trump’s cabinet had 82% white and 82% male and Barack Obama’s cabinet had 55% white and 64% male.

Are all cabinet members Harvard graduates?

According to Forbes, out of 15 current White House cabinet members, all have two university degrees, seven with law degrees from Harvard, two law degrees from California and two are Oxford graduates.

What specific powers does the president have?

The president is the US head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces with power to launch and supervise military operations, authorize the deployment of troops, unilaterally launch nuclear weapons and form the national military policy.

Can Kamala Harris be president?

The US is the only world’s biggest democracy without a woman president but Hillary Clinton did try and lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Kamala Harris, 58, the current US vice president, is the first woman, first Asian-African-American to hold the second most powerful job in US history. She can only be president if she contests and wins in the 2024 presidential election and academically she has a BA from Howard University and a law degree JD from University of California.

Are all US presidents law graduates?

There are 25 of the 44 or 57% of US presidents who are holding law degrees including Richard Nixon, Barack Obama and Joe Biden mostly from Yale, Harvard and California law schools.

Why do many Americans have double degrees?

It is noted that a majority of US government officials, government attorneys and politicians have dual degrees. Many universities in the US offer a dual degree like the one offered by Harvard where you study for a BA degree and a law degree JD or an MA at the same time in a five-year program.

How many US presidents with military experience?

Most US presidents or 31 out 46 or 68% had military background with combat experiences before becoming president such as Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and George Bush.

Is the US election free from foreign interference?

The RAND Corporation reported that some foreign powers were interfering in the 2020 US presidential elections between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Who is the most popular US president?

Abraham Lincoln has been considered as the most popular US president based on his momentous achievements such as his successfully waged a political struggle and civil war that preserved the Union and ended slavery.

Who is JFK?

John F Kennedy (JFK) was another popular president, the youngest person to assume the presidency at 43 and the youngest president at the end of his tenure. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba.

What if the president cannot proceed with the job?

If the precedent cannot proceed with the job the vice president will take over as president and if the vice president could not proceed with the job then the Speaker of the House of Representative will take over as president and there will be no presidential re-election.

Why are many US presidents farmers?

It is interesting to note that 16 US presidents were farmers or ranchers including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Thomas Jefferson, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter (the peanut president) and Ronald Reagan (whose ranch was a White House getaway).

Who rules America?

According to Prof G William Domhoff of the University of California, the owners and top executives of the largest corporations, banks, investment firms and agricultural businesses with their enormous economic resources are dominating the federal government through lobbying, campaign finance, appointments to key government positions and a policy-planning network that made up of foundations, think tanks and policy-discussion groups.

Who are the power elites?

The CEOs and owners of the corporations, the Wall Street and Silicon Valley executives along with the top executives of the foundations, think tanks, and policy-discussion groups, work together as a leadership group as the power elite in America.

Does the US have handsome presidents?

According to fly.news.com, the most handsome US presidents were Franklin Pierce, James Monroe, John F Kennedy, Ulysses Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Who were the beautiful first ladies?

According to quora.com, most people regard Jacqueline Kennedy as the most charming first lady to ever live at the White House and other White House beautiful first ladies include Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.

Has the world handsome presidents?

Most handsome and current world leaders are: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk (Bhutan), Justin Trudeau (Canada), Emmanuel Macron (France), Mark Rutte (Netherlands), Pedro Sánchez (Spain) and Louis Lacalle Pou (Uruguay), according to wonderlist.com.

Do the Europeans trust the Americans?

Studies in 2022 showed that the two-third of Europeans think that the Americans are a reliable ally while a majority of Americans think the Europeans must take care of their national security.

How strong is the European connection?

According to Cato.com out of 46 US presidents, 42 have been of British (English, Welsh and Scottish) descent, 23 of Irish descent (Ulysses Grant, Ronald Reagan, John F Kennedy, George Bush, Richard Nixon and Joe Biden); 3 Dutch descent (Van Buren and the two Roosevelts), 2 Swiss descent (Hoover and Eisenhower) and Barack Obama is the only African-American president.

What are the domestic challenges of the new president?

According to the Chatham House, the 6 main domestic challenges of the new president are: 1. good education system 2. good health care 3. more jobs 4. strict gun control 5. immigration controls and 6. social security.

Is the new president’s global concern a major issue?

The US and China trade dispute, the conflict in Europe and the political tensions in North East Asia would be a major preoccupation in post 2024 years, according to an analysis by brookings.edu.

Who is likely the next US president?

According to Reuters/Ipsos latest poll produced in May 2023, Joe Biden is leading by 44% and Donald Trump is at second position with 38%, Ron DeSantis with 21% while the rest: Robert F Kennedy, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramasamy are with less than 10 percentage point

“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.” – George Washington: US president.

Abdul Halim Saad is head of Asia Pacific Risk Consultancy, studied politics at LSE and Bradford and taught international politics at Sultan Idris Education University, Proton City, Malaysia. (Article No 131).+++

Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto