Editorial
Special People Needed To Meet Presidency's Demands

How the Good Guys Finally Won, a book about Watergate by Jimmy Breslin, had in it a sample page of the log that tracked every minute of then President Richard Nixon's day. While Breslin used the log to make a different point, we find it impossible to read without marveling at the dedication and commitment that would compel a person willingly to lead such a rigidly scheduled and structured life. Just looking at the minutiae of a day that adds up to 12 and 14 hours of unrelenting work scheduled down to the last minute is tiring.

Surely more tiring than the demands of a tight and unrelentingly rigid schedule is the constant realization that the fate of one's fellow beings- and one's country- rests with whoever occupies the Oval Office. "The buck stops here" read the sign on Harry Truman's desk when Truman occupied the White House. And Truman, for one, never forgot that it did.

Some presidents have been more mindful of Truman's aphorism than others; some made a series of decisions that had results opposite of what was intended, but all were aware that their actions affected millions of people, in this country and abroad, present at the time they made their decisions or yet to come. For the most part, they remembered their obligations to the rest of humanity, but refused to let themselves be paralyzed by them. If for no other reason, that sort of equanimity makes them special.

It's customary in some quarters to dismiss all politicians as venal scoundrels. For ourselves, we think that anyone who cares enough about his or her country and fellow Americans to run for any office, whatever it may be, despite having to face the kind of scrutiny and sometimes outright harassment that we subject politicians to has already displayed courage- and no little amount of stamina. Any elected office is no picnic, and the presidency especially so. The office of president of the United States has its privileges, yes, but in our opinion, the responsibilities far outweigh the perks. It takes a special kind of person to be willing to assume that burden and we're lucky to have had 42 people willing to step up to the plate so far, with more entering the 2008 race as we speak.

We hope that on this past Monday, Presidents' Day 2007, you took a moment to think about the 42 men who have led this country and gave thanks that they took on the challenge. We hope you gave thanks, too, for the people who are willing to follow them in assuming the responsibilities of the nation's highest office. Whether or not you agree with any or all of them, this country couldn't exist without someone willing to take on the job. We salute the presidents past and present and the aspirants for the office today.