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 don't think you need to run down someone's reputation in order to run for the office of president.
The rest of the world cares about how we conduct our affairs because they then take that lead. Were the only leader in the world today. Some are wishing us well, others think that were down and are not going to get back up again, but they are all watching with great interest to see how we conduct our business over the next couple of years.
We're fighting an enemy that is far different than any we have got before. It's a nontraditional kind of war, and I think we need to step back, recalibrate how we go about protecting our borders and protecting our people, and resetting our position in the world.
It's a tribal state, and it always will be. Whether we like it or not, whenever we withdraw from Afghanistan, whether it's now or years from now, we'll have an incendiary situation. Should we stay and play traffic cop? I don't think that serves our strategic interests.
I think we have to be very sensitive to our need to compete, moving forward, and a lot of that is tied to tax policy.
A crisis allows us the opportunity to dig deep into the reservoirs of our very being, to rise to levels of confidence, strength, and resolve that otherwise we didn't think we possessed. Through adversity, we come face to face with who we really are and what really counts.
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.
I'm surprised that we've gotten to a point where we don't put our country first and put our party first.
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'.
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.
You can be stern and forthright, and that's my management style, but when you lose it totally, that's a sign of weakness.
Normal people don't just wake up in the morning and say I think it'd be a good idea to run for president of the United States.