Judd Gregg: Nikki Haley is the leader America needs right now

All presidential elections are, inevitably, significant inflection points for our nation.

But, this election, and our New Hampshire primary, have one overriding issue: leadership.

Harry Truman, one of the most exceptional presidents in the post World War II period, said it well (although in today’s context he would expand the gender):

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still, progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”

Our nation is adrift on the most important issues that confront us and has been for the last seven years.

The deficit and our national debt has exploded. In seven years it has increased by over $10 trillion and now exceeds that of Greece as a percentage of our GDP. By running these staggering deficits Presidents Trump and Biden have and are sapping the future of our children and our nation’s economic and defensive strength.

Our southern border (and even to some extent our Canadian border ) has become a sieve. Ten thousand illegal immigrants are crossing every day. In the last few years more people have come to this country illegally than live in New Hampshire. This has also been going on for over seven years. The federal government led by two presidents has done little to stem this tsunami of humanity with the result that breaking the law to enter America has become the common course rather than the exception.

We now have a federal government where an autocratic and unelected bureaucracy sets the tone of governance. There is no accountability because there is no interest in asserting control from the presidency or even the Congress. The nation is drifting away from being governed by those who answer to the people through the ballot box to those who answer only to their prejudices and purposes without accountability.

Our market system, which has generated the most prosperous and creative society in history is under attack from an elite group of self-indulgent officials who genuinely believe that they know how to manage and drive prosperity. They believe they should pick the winners and losers in our nation’s economy. It is called “industrial policy” and it has been aggressively practiced by this and the last administration.

Across the world we confront autocrats, wars, terrorism and openly hostile commercial competitors. Yet there is not much American leadership. The prior administration believed we should withdraw behind our borders (porous as they may be) and this administration does not seem to understand the cardinal rule of international policy which is to be strong.

All these issues and many others that presently give us pause as a people can be addressed and effectively dealt with through leadership. There is little now and there has been little for at least seven years.

Finally, however, someone as come on the national stage who carries the character, strength, common sense and American values that define leadership: NIkki Haley.

Listen to what she says, take the time to do that.

On all these concerns that are so critical she has committed to specific, thoughtful, aggressive ideas and positions. In a time of leadership drought, she is delivering a high standard of courageous initiatives and believable purpose.

She epitomizes what our finest presidents have delivered to our nation: character, optimism and a vision anchored on a clear understanding of what makes America extraordinary.

She is a leader and that is what we need.

Republican Judd Gregg of Rye is a former New Hampshire governor and U.S. senator.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Judd Gregg: Nikki Haley is the leader America needs right now