I have always been fascinated by the nation of the United States. I think this is probably because my parents named my brother and I after two US presidents and my sister after an US celebrity.
Having lived in India for most of my life and in the Kingdom of Brunei for the past 23 years I have had an opportunity to see first hand two different systems of governance. Brunei is an absolute monarchy with the Sultan having complete authority to govern the country. India on the other hand has a parliamentary form of government. The leader of the party with a majority becomes Prime Minister and leads the country with his council of ministers.
The US however elects a President every four years who can be in office for a maximum of two terms. The presidential election is won or lost by a system called the Electoral College where each state has its own electoral voters based on demographics and representation in the US Congress and Senate. For example Arkansas has 6 votes, Florida has 30 votes and South Carolina 9 votes. To win the election in November 2024 a candidate must win a majority of 270 votes out of a total of 538. All the electoral voters in each state cast their votes for the candidate that gets the majority of votes in that state. The system is such that the American people choose the President who will take office and lead the nation for the next four years.
In 2015 there was intense competition between Sec. Hillary Clinton, a career politician and former First lady who was the Democratic Party nominee and businessman Donald Trump the Republican nominee. Having read Trump’s books the “Art of the deal” and “How to become rich” I had a fair idea about his passion for excellence in delivering mega construction projects on time and under budget making him millions in profits. I was intrigued to see if he could do for the United States what he had successfully accomplished for his business. I saw firsthand Donald Trump going from a darling of the press to being criticized by most of the mainstream media except FOX news. Trump brought into politics his forthright, no-nonsense manner that was highly offensive to many used to the polished, suave politician. I, for one, found it refreshing and felt that a national leader must indeed focus on efficient governance and the wellbeing of his people (an America-first agenda). Make America Great Again (MAGA) was his clear slogan borrowed from an earlier President Ronald Regan. As you know, Donald Trump did manage to win and led the nation for 4 years (2016 – 2020). His regime was punctuated by two impeachments by the United States Congress. Fast forward after losing to Joe Biden in 2020, he was back competing with Biden for a second term in office. This time round Donald Trump was facing a number of judicial charges against him with the aim seemingly to disqualify him from running again for office.
In a private interview, this year, journalist Megan Kelly asked him why he did not choose to enjoy his considerable wealth, children and grandchildren rather than running for a second term at considerable personal cost. His answer was, according to Megan, his genuine love for the United States and its people. Sometime after this interview on the 13th July 2024 in a campaign rally at Butler, Pennsylvania a lone gunman from a rooftop nearby tried to assassinate the 78-year-old former President. However, the gunman’s bullet only grazed his right ear resulting in considerable bleeding. In the face of real danger to his life and bleeding from the gun shot wound he still managed to get up to assure the crowd gathered that he was fine and shout “Fight, Fight…” indicating his resolve not to give up.
The iconic image above caused many including billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to endorse him for President immediately on his social media channel X. Former Fox News personality and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in the Republican convention that followed said of Donald Trump quote “This was no longer just a political party’s nominee, or a former president or a future president, this was the leader of a nation”.
Soon after this the current President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the 2024 Presidential race and his party (The Democrats) nominated his Vice President Kamala Harris to run for office instead. Not much is known about Kamala Harris who like Sec. Hillary Clinton is a career politician. However the mainstream media outlets seem to be backing her like they did Sec. Hillary Clinton in 2016. After her nomination the polls indicate that the race for the White House will be close. Interestingly there is also a third party (Independent) candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Junior (nephew of former President John F Kennedy) running for office in 2024.
The office of the President of the United States is a huge responsibility, as the US still remains very influential in global affairs. As I write this, my sincere prayer is that the people of the United States would elect a leader who would play a role in bringing peace and prosperity to their nation and to the troubled world at large.
