John Bolton: 2012 Presidential Profile

As I have stated before, I am fairly new to the “political scene”. The fact that I am actually writing about politics and researching political candidates absolutely blows my mind!

I’m one of those that I gripe about now. I had my head in the sand for years. I honestly did not care to know, because my thought process was, “Hey, I can’t change things anyway, what’s the point?” Unfortunately, too many people have had that attitude in the last 4 decades or so, and I firmly believe that is why we are in the position we are in.

What changed things for me was the 2008 election. I was appalled at the comments from women who said they were voting for Obama because he was “cute”. Well, looks are subjective, so I will not even comment on that side of things. However, I knew that this man was not good for our country!

My husband is a Political Science major, so when we married almost 9 years ago I got quite the induction into politics. Let me just say I did not go willingly! Then, as I said, the 2008 election came along. Things really did not change for me until Sarah Palin came on the scene. I was so disgusted with having to once again choose the lesser of two evils. I had even told my husband and my dad that I was not even going to vote. Oh, I’m sure you can imagine the outrage from both of them!

So, with all this being said, I knew John Bolton as a Fox News commentator. My husband has tried to give me a “crash course”, so to speak, to catch me up on “who’s who” in politics, what positions they’ve held through the years, the good that they’ve done, the bad that they’ve done, and all other information in between. My husband is a very “black and white” kind of guy- no grey areas! He’s very objective in his views. It’s quite a unique for me- a woman- who is obviously more “emotional” in my opinions. Hey, it’s just a fact ladies, our emotions play a major role in our decisions.

I’ve always like John Bolton’s commentaries on the various Fox News shows, but I would not have thought of him as “Presidential” material. However, I have determined that what many consider “Presidential material” are found lacking in many areas. So…. maybe it’s time we look outside what we see as normal “Presidential material”. Maybe John Bolton fits that bill!

Let’s explore the facts about Mr. Bolton and then decide!

PERSONAL INFORMATION

John Robert Bolton was born November 20, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the son of a fireman, and the family grew up in a working class neighborhood in Maryland.

Family
Mr. Bolton is married to Gretchen, and they have one daughter.  They currently live in Bethesda, Maryland.

Religious Affiliation
Lutheran


Education
1966- Graduated from the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland
1970- Graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude from Yale University
1974- Graduated with a J.D  degree from Yale University

Early Political Activist
1964- In high school, Mr. Bolton ran the school’s Students for Goldwater campaign
Member of the Yale Political Union

College Classmates and Contemporaries
Clarence Thomas
Bill Clinton- at Yale Law School
Hillary Rodham- at Yale Law School
A “protege” of Conservative North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms

Military Career
Mr. Bolton supported the Vietnam War and enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard, but avoided serving in Vietnam. He later said that by the time he was graduating it was clear to him that the opponents of the war had made sure we could not prevail.

When I read this fact about Mr. Bolton- that he purposely avoided the war, though he supported it, it made me pause. My dad tried to enlist, but had a couple of health issues going against him. Number one, he was underweight. He drank milkshakes twice a day trying to gain weight to enlist. Now we tease him that he would probably love to go back to those days where he was trying to gain weight!
Also- my father-in-law did go to Vietnam. He had a grenade blow up right next to him and he now has permanent hearing loss in one of his ears from it. Oh, he was lucky, I know! Well, let me rephrase that- luck had absolutely nothing to do with it! I know without a doubt the hand of God Almighty was on his life.
Too many men lost their lives in Vietnam. It is a war that we should have never been in! Or, as the politicians of the day put it, a “police action” we should have never been in! (can you see me rolling my eyes from here?!)
I absolutely agree with Mr. Bolton- it was very clear that the opponents of the war had made sure we could not prevail. However, to purposely avoid going when he supported the effort, war, police action, or whatever else you want to call it- it just makes me a bit uncomfortable. By no means am I saying that his life is not worth something- that he should have gone and gotten killed. All I am saying is that a lot of young men went and did not come back- or for those who did come back their lives were never the same. There’s just something about this that makes me very uncomfortable.

Professional Career
1974 to 1981- Associate at Covington & Burling law firm
1983 to 1985- Returned to his position as Associate at Covington & Burling law firm
1993 to 1999- Partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton & McManus
Former Executive Director of the Committee on Resolutions in the Republican National Committee
Senior Vice President for Public Policy Research at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Current Positions:

  • Fox News Channel commentator
  • Counsel to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, in their Washington D.C. office.
  • Involved with a variety of conservative think tanks and policy institutes, including the following:
    Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)
    Project for the New American Century (PNAC)
    Institute of East-Wet Dynamics
    National Rifle Association (NRA)
    U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
    Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf (CPSG)
    Council for National Policy (CNP)

Political/Government Career
1981 to 1982- General Counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
1982 to 1983- Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, USAID
1985 to 1989- Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice
1989 to 1993- Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State
1999 to 2001- Served on the board of the Committee for International Religious Freedom
2001 to 2005-  Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
2005 to 2006- U.S. Ambassador to the UN
The rumor is Mr. Bolton is considering a run for the office of President in 2012

Public Policy
1997 to 2000- Mr. Bolton worked pro bono as an assistant to James Baker in Baker’s capacity as Kofi Annan’s personal envoy to the Western Sahara.

2003- He was part of the State Department’s delegation to six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program, but was removed from the delegation after describing Kim Jong-il as a “tyrannical dictator” and adding that life for the North Korean’s under  Kim’s rule, “life is a hellish nightmare.”

Served as Senior Vice President for Public Policy Research at the American Enterprise Institute
Formerly involved with these conservative groups:
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Federalist Society
National Policy Forum
National Advisory Board
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
New Atlantic Initiative
Project on Transitional Democracies

Major Accomplishments
Mr. Bolton led the successful effort to rescind the 1970’s UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism.
Mr. Bolton played a major role in obtaining UN resolutions endorsing the use of force to fight Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
In his position at the Justice department, he was involved in the Iran-Contra affair.
He also helped lead in the judicial nomination process for Antonin Scalia.
Mr. Bolton was a key-figure in derailing a 2001 biological weapons conference in Geneva convened to endorse a UN proposal to enforce the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.

His Reputation
Mr. Bolton has the reputation of being hawkish on his foreign policy views. He is also described as neo-conservative, but he personally rejects the term, reminding people that he has been a conservative since high school.

He is known to be highly successful in pushing his agenda, but his bluntness has earned him many enemies.
He has been accused of trying to spin intelligence to support his views and political objectives on more than one occasion.
The Economist wrote that Mr. Bolton was “the most controversial Ambassador ever sent by America to the United Nations.”
David Kopel praised Bolton as “Horatio at the Bridge, saving the Second Amendment from a full-scale assault at the United Nations.”

I love the fact that Mr. Bolton is “blunt”. I cannot stand someone who does not “say what they mean and mean what they say”. We’ve got more than enough mealy-mouth politicians in Washington, we most certainly do not need any more!
On several occasions I’ve seen Mr. Bolton’s “bluntness”, and I appreciate that! I would LOVE to have a President that did not mince his words! I have no doubt that Mr. Bolton would have no problem accomplishing that task!
I am also very encouraged by the experience Mr. Bolton brings to the table. This is a definite positive, especially with how vigilant he is with addressing the issues that need to be addressed.

His Happiest Moment
Mr. Bolton has said that his ‘happiest moment at State was personally ‘unsigning’ the Rome Statute,’ which had set up the International Criminal Court.

On The UN
Mr. Bolton has been a strong critic of the United Nations for much of his career. He has said,

“There is no such thing as the United Nations. there is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United states.”

On A Possible Run For President in 2012
In an interview with Politico, he said:

“As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open. I don’t think the party’s anywhere close to a decision. And stranger things have happened. For example, inexperienced senators from Illinois have gotten presidential nominations.”

And in an interview with National Review he said:

“Individual liberty is the whole purpose of political life, and I thought it was threatened back then”-in 1964 during the Goldwater campaign which he describes as “my formative political experience”-“and I think it’s threatened now…..I write, I give speeches, I appear on television-but the only way in contemporary American circumstances to make those issues as salient as they should be is to run for president.”

One thing is for certain- the Republican field is DEFINITELY wide open! There is one candidate that is actually running right now that I can see myself voting for with confidence. There are a couple of others that intrigue me, but only one stands out as definitely someone I would campaign for. Only time will tell who all the candidates will be, and if Mr. Bolton will be in the line-up.

On The Web
John Bolton on Twitter
John Bolton on Facebook
In His Words- War-Powers Crisis

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Sources:

Wikipedia

See the profiles of other potential 2012 GOP Candidates

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One Comment

  1. Nice dossierre on Mr. Bolton Allenah, but I sort of regret that you didn’t make your personal case for supporting him which you appear to.

    I do support him and on more than one online venue have stated so. He would literally be that “breath of fresh air” on the political scene. John is not shy about putting a few burrs under the saddles of the establishment with straight from the shoulder comments and opinions. It is what made him so unpopular at home with the establishment politicos here and so popular with many, many conservatives AND independents. The tone of his very comment on a posssible run that you published indicate to me a person who is looking for some groundswell sign of support to motivate him. If that is correct I think he’s got the cart out in front of the horse!

    We need a John Bolton or Michelle Bachmann to announce ASAP. Failing in that allows the RINO of populist choice Romney to start building up a head of political steam. For a guy who has a personal wealth ready to invest in his run for the nomination…waiting is NOT a good strategem to follow. Also not a good thing for a party and nation in dire need of re-establishing some solid conservative roots.

    1. Hey Doc! I apologize that I disappointed you! See what happens when you start second guessing yourself? I thought I would take a more “facts only” approach to this one. Ya know, as Sgt. Joe Friday said on Dragnet, “Just the facts, ma’am!” lol

      Just for you, I will go back in and give my personal commentary. Hey, what can I say? I hate to disappoint my readers! 🙂

      Just an fyi… I am not going to read any further on your comments (I got just a glimpse past the first part), so I do not “borrow” your thoughts. So… I will go state my case for Mr. Bolton and return to read the rest of your comments!

      And thanks for the vote of confidence and encouragement! 🙂

  2. Well, Doc, you may have gotten more than you bargained for, with me adding my commentaries! lol

    Ok, so now on your comments:

    After reading your comments, I WHOLE HEARTEDLY agree! As I stated in my commentary, I LOVE his bluntness! It would definitely be a breath of fresh air…right now I see only one in the running for that title right now, and that is Herman Cain. I have some reservations about him, but he is the ONLY one that is not the establishment.

    My concern with John Bolton- or someone like him, ie, Michele Bachmann- is that I wonder how many voters are out there that will be willing to step away from the “old guard” normal. Lord, I PRAY I do not have to vote for Mitt Romney! The fact that he is rating so high in the various polls disheartens me.

    1. With your comment here:
      “Lord, I PRAY I do not have to vote for Mitt Romney! The fact that he is rating so high in the various polls disheartens me.”
      We have in this a commonality of concern as I noted in my earlier post comment closing.

      For a while I was somewhat befuddled at why so many Repubs would jump on the bandwagon of a proven retread national loser (2008 campaign), meaning Romney of course. I then thought about it and have come to this realization. The age group of 30 to 50 or so is what I consider to be the current ‘adult’ generation that has no actual life experience as adults with a real Republican Party of conservative roots save for the Reagan era and as time marches on we forget that it’s been a full 22 years since he was President. He entered that office 30 years ago and departed it 22 years ago. Since then the current version of the Grand Olde Party has been a bunch of weak-sister compromisers in the main and drifted left to about where the old Democratic Party was before they morphed into the far-left demonRATs of today committed to socialism. When your only academic perspective is an intellect seduced to the history revisionism of the post Not-So-Great-Society years you lose the meaning of what a “strict constructionist” constitutional view is and what “original intent” really means and fail to realize that compromise is a way of negotiating, but that principles are never compromised. I guess what I’m saying Alle(if I may call you that for friendly personal reference) is that it’s like the old line that goes ‘ if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything at all’. It’s my only explanation of why today’s Republicans are such sheeple and easily led by their own naivete to accept a neat-looking book without venturing past the cover. To not look beyond the obvious I would suggest is to not due one’s due diligence and marks a person as a fool or as lazy or as both. That is true in all endeavors.

      You also expressed a concern in one of your posts as follows:
      “My concern with John Bolton- or someone like him, ie, Michele Bachmann- is that I wonder how many voters are out there that will be willing to step away from the “old guard” normal.”

      My response is that concern/doubt I believe is not yours alone and why it annoys me that Bachmann in particular is playing coy at being formal about announcing. Bolton is doing the same thing, but is in a weaker position as to organization preparedness and funding so I don’t fault him as much. I’ve stated in this CDN forum and elsewhere that, Bolton aside for a moment, I could see and support a Bachmann-Cain or Cain-Bachmann ticket, which is to say I’d hope those two would be the leading contenders for the Republican nomination for President. As a matter of fact how about this for a real “grabber” of an attention-getter on the political scene? Bachmann and Cain have a private meeting and discuss the positives of PUBLICLY announcing as the One-Two Punch Team seeking your vote as ther Republican Ticket and who will be which candidate will depend on the popular vote of Republicans to the convention and they agree on it.

      You want to turn the tide against Romney as the RINO of choice! That…, would get the ball rolling I’d submit. These candidates have got to start using some creative thinking processes.

      This immediately leads me to a discussion of “target groups” a strategy of the demonRATs that they have perfected to appeal to groups of voters to get the power they want at the ballot box. It has and continues to work for them because like the fellow said you’ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. That wisdom was proved again true when a virtual unknown was elected as President on nothing more that a promise of Hope and Change. It applies here as a consideration, because…
      1) Herman Cain presents a diametrical opposing view of a black man to Obama. If you are a black voter and have come to doubt The One and seriously listen to what Mr. Cain says you’ve got to do some re-evaluating I would think. If you are that black man you may then come to realize that Obama has capitalized upon your lack of self-worth and failure as a responsible individual to succeed on your own merits without a “leg-up” assist, which is to say…He Has Used YOU! Herman Cain’s message is one of personal confidence and redemption based upon the rewards of a full-faith, personal effort given an equal opportunity. He seeks to INSPIRE YOU.
      And 2) If you’re a woman and you were taken by Sarah Palin you’d like Michelle Bachmann as she has almost identical values. I would also submit that women, in general, represent many of the uncommitted independent and even democratic voters we need to eject the Obamanation named Barack Hussein.

      Those are two important considerations that go to making a case for such a ticket.

  3. The “old guard normal” that you refer to Alle (if I may call you that) are the current generation of Repubs who have no proper conservative perspective in my opinion and are really not the true old guard of the party. Many, if not most of this generation composing the bulk of middle-aged voters were kids during the Reagan era of 22 to 30 years ago. That, for me, was the last time a real conservative influence was in effect within the Republican ranks. Newt made a good start, but got himself derailed. So today’s younger Repubs are observers of the RINO scene wherein the mainstream Repubs have moved left to fill the old Democratic Party slot and that party has morphed into the far-left demonRATic party of socialist-bent usurpers. I could care less about them, because I believe that it’s the disenchanted independents, Democrats and women of all stripe who’ll make the difference in 2012. That’s why for me a ticket of Bachmann-Cain or the reverse order of Cain-Bachmann is a winner. Although Bolton is my firt choice from a pragamtic view he lacks a ready to hit the ground running organization and financial support and is hoping something starts to spring up about him.
    Wishful thinking! The race will go to he/she who is the swiftest and most intuitive to the public’s sensibilities.

    Cain may well be our best shot at getting younger blacks to look around and reappraise themselves. If they make that effort they’ll see that The One has used them to continue the LBJ Not-So-Great-Society agenda of maintaining their low self-esteem and parasitic dependency upon the government as their provider. Here we are a half century of political manipulation and social welfare largess and blacks are just as bad off and Cain can make them see that and get their anger going in a constructive way. HE can tell them that there is now a black master in the big white house. They’ll compare that to what Cain represents. Using the guarantee of an equal opportunity to compete in the marketplace of ideas and become the master of your own destiny. That dichotomy of personal responsibility opposites is so painfully obvious it cannt be missed. That means the very real possibility of NEW Republican converts…read…’voters’ from a demonRAT “target group” formerly and politically conceded as lost forever to Republicans.

    Bachmann has the same appeal to men and women as Palin, traditional American values and a return to such, but is much more worldly and knowledgeable. I think that she gets the so-called Tea Party vote no question plus may also draw women from all other political sectors who have had all they can stand of The One.

    If I were a lead functionary for either I’d suggest a private meeting between the two. The motive being to get them to agree to announce that they are running for the party’s nomination as The One-Two Punch and both will agree to accept whomever of them gets the most convention votes as the nominee to run as President and the other to run as Veep. That single event of such an announcement not done before would be a real media shocker and ALL media would be looking to interview both of them. They’d immediately rise to the top and deflate the rising Romney initiative. Creative thinking is needed by conservative politicians looking to run and it’s needed now, not later. Later is for losers.

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