Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman Jr.is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as the 16th Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009, and as United States Ambassador to Singapore from 1992 to 1993, and China from 2009 to 2011. He has served in the administrations of five U.S. Presidents and was a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. In January 2014, Huntsman was named chairman of the Washington-based foreign policy think-tank the Atlantic Council...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 March 1960
CountryUnited States of America
I'm surprised that we've gotten to a point where we don't put our country first and put our party first.
I can't stomach the thought that we are passing down to the next generation a country that is less viable, less good, less competitive, less compassionate than the one we got.
And the trajectory that our debt is taking now beyond $14 trillion is going to have an impact on our currency. It goes south, and our currency's going to have an impact on our standard of living and affect every family in this country, and over time, our international competitiveness.
Our political debates today are corrosive and not reflective of the belief that Abe Lincoln espoused back in his day: that we are a great country because we are a good country.
I love music, I love all kinds of music, particularly jazz. Jazz is an extension of America. There's no other country in the world that could have produced jazz.
The reality, sitting ten thousand miles away, is that we remain the country that inspires. We remain that shining city on a hill.
I respect the president. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president, not who is the better American.
I was criticized at some level within the Republican Party by those who say government should not be in the economic development business at all. My response is that the only country I know that doesn't have an economic development plan is Papa New Guinea.
In a day and age of global competition and instantaneous financial flows, you have to be highly sensitive to the way in which tax policy impacts your overall competitiveness as a country.
And the trajectory that our debt is taking now beyond $14 trillion is going to have an impact on our currency. It goes south, and our currency's going to have an impact on our standard of living and affect every family in this country, and over time, our international competitiveness.
What is important is that you're honest with the American people.
If you can't define a winning exit strategy for the American people, where we somehow come out ahead, then we're wasting our money, and we're wasting our strategic resources.
I had the trade minister in China sit down as we were preparing for trade negotiations. He said, 'Please don't let people in the United States lose their confidence because when you lose your confidence, the rest of the world suffers'.
You can be stern and forthright, and that's my management style, but when you lose it totally, that's a sign of weakness.