Jace Brady
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Despite endless speculation on who will be the next president, the truth is analysts and strategist can do little more than make educated guesses. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may appear the front-runner now, but past elections show just how quickly things can change.
As these candidates spend millions of dollars, work countless hours, and subject themselves to an enormous intrusion of their privacy in an effort to reach the White House, the rest of us wonder if the reward is worth the tribulation. It seems winning simply leads to a reward of more misery because half the country is most likely going to despise the person regardless of her or his actions. Though the reasons that compel individuals to pursue the job of president transcends most people’s understanding, the next president’s job will likely be especially miserable.
In January 2017, a new president will walk into the Oval Office and barely have a moment to savor the sacred ground where our country’s greatest men made some of the world’s most difficult decisions before being assaulted with the hardships that face our country. The next president will have to find a way to destroy ISIS, a terrorist group that controls a swath of land in the Middle East. Its terror has flooded into Europe and created one of the largest humanitarian crises of the last century as millions of refugees flee Syria and Iraq.
Resolving to defeat and destroy ISIS, especially with the bitter taste still lingering from our country’s previous Middle East endeavors, will be no small feat. Yet, this is a challenge that must be taken on in order to keep America and the rest of the world safe.
The 45th president will also face an economy growing at an anemic rate and a national debt that has skyrocketed in recent years. Despite his best efforts, President Obama’s economic policies have been unproductive, and if the U.S. does not hit 3 percent GDP growth this year, Obama will have overseen a presidency with the fourth-worst GDP growth in history. Unfortunately, the year is not off to a good start as annualized first-quarter growth was only 0.5 percent. The next president will have to find a way to stimulate the economy without constricting future growth by piling onto the ever- mounting national debt.
Finally, the next president will walk into the White House under one of the most divisive moments in recent American history. Politically, Congress has often been gridlocked as lawmakers have failed to create bills with bipartisan support. It seems both parties have dug into more extreme positions and refuse to budge. America is also facing increased racial tensions with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. There is growing despair about income inequality, and states are making laws that seem discriminatory to many Americans. Our next president will have to find a way to help us overcome our differences and come back together as a nation.
Polls regularly find that more than 70 percent of Americans believe our country is headed in the wrong direction. The issues raised in this article are just a few of the pestilence that plague our country. While most will never understand why someone would subject herself or himself to the presidency, this time, it seems especially baffling.