When the United States of America was still in its infancy, our Founding Fathers decided that the leadership of this new nation would come from the people and by the people. Accordingly, education was made widely available; after all, anyone could become the president of the United States. Today that belief lives on among average citizens.

If one were to judge by our media, this would not be so clear. It might even seem that a person must have attended an Ivy League school, have enough self-mastery to keep their faith in a coat closet, be well-traveled and be politically well-connected in order to qualify to run on a presidential ticket. What does this have to do with competence? I am not quite sure.

I wonder how many Americans have experienced this lifestyle, or believe that only these elites are competent to run our country? Poor Abraham Lincoln would be very hard pressed to measure up, to satisfy today’s media that he might be sophisticated enough for the job of president of the United States — especially considering that his childhood formal education consisted of a total of 12 months in school.