There have been 14 different Presidents since I was born. I was too young to vote for the first three, so this will be my 12th chance. (Not counting re-elections, etc.) I won't go into all that is different, today, as the media has covered that quite thoroughly.
In the early days, we stayed up quite late for results (on the radio) and often went to bed without knowing much. One of the biggest shocks came in 1948 when (1) the Chicago Tribune's headline said "Dewey Wins," (2) and it turned out that there was a slight error, as somebody named Truman had won the most votes. (Joke.) He had been president for three years, having taken over for FDR when he died in office and HST was VP.
There were times during the 60 years I've been voting that I wondered if we should all consider moving to Nicaragua or the Antarctic. It wasn't long, however, before I realized that there are so many "checks and balances" in place, that our country always manages to survive. Could the losers have done better, on occasion? Probably. Have we always made the most intelliegnt choices? Probably not. Have we always voted for the right reasons? Definitely not.
What I now look forward to is the choices our next President makes in the people who help him lead us. (Carter is known for poor choosing as was Nixon.) Quiz: which cabinet member is famous for not knowing who would be next in line when one President was shot? (Hint...but not killed.) (Prize for first correct e-mail response.) Tomorrow will be quite interesting...maybe even tonight?
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