Presidential candidates past and present

There are advantages and disadvantages to being a senior citizen. Once you hit that threshold, you may not move as fast as when you were in your 50s, and you may have more of those so-called senior moments. But if you’ve spent the majority of your life in politics, you have one major advantage over the average voter, and that is memory.

I’ve been an avid watcher of the political scene since Dwight Eisenhower became president in 1953. I’ve seen all of the presidential hopefuls, and formed my own opinions on what they brought to the campaign and the presidency. I may be a lifelong Democrat, but I’ve always kept an open mind about who we elect and why we elect them.

As a fledging politician, I understood why America embraced Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. After an ugly war that had cost our country more than 100,000 lives, we were ready for a military man who would better understand how to keep us safe. He was the man of the hour, and I cast my first vote for him.

John F. Kennedy was an inspiration to young people who wanted to make a difference, and his ascension to the White House was a message that it was time for fresh faces on the political scene. Thanks to his inspiration, I was elected to the State Assembly at age 29, at a time when the average age of sitting politicians was 66. Kennedy became the role model for countless young people who went on to make this country a better place in which to live.

Richard Nixon was always an enigma to us political observers. Watching him campaign, I always had the suspicion that he was a schemer, and time proved that idea correct. He turned out to be brilliant at foreign policy, but none of my Republican friends ever said they loved Nixon like they loved Ronald Reagan.

George H.W. Bush was a far better candidate than Gov. Michael Dukakis. I remember sitting with Dukakis at a rally in Levittown and thinking that he just didn’t measure up to what I thought a president should be. Bush became a far better man for the country.