The latest national poll has crucial lessons for those running for President and a compelling reason for our citizens to know America’s history.The polling data reveals that most of us now view China as the nation considered the biggest national security threat to our nation. The survey suggested that a significant majority believe that China intends to rule the planet by the time this century is over, placing the United States in a decline that mirrors Great Britain’s after World War II.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has certainly not gone unnoticed. The poll places Russia as “runner up” in our country’s appreciation of who or what poses a national security threat. Given Putin’s apparent intent to recreate an empire that recalls the days of the Soviet Union – and even Imperial Russia – more than half of Americans questioned believe Putin is capable of launching a nuclear strike on the United States.

The same respondents have little doubt that Putin will not stop with his invasion of Ukraine. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed believe he will target Western Europe when or if he declares victory in Ukraine.

Americans are also anxious about the Middle East and an Iran run by clerics seeking to reinvent their own version of the Persian empire. Respondents to the poll are fearful that a nuclear armed Iran would target Israel with nuclear missiles, if given the opportunity. Finally, many in our nation believe the North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has the means and the motive, however misguided, to fire atomic weapons at the United States.

What all of this means is that Americans are looking for the kind of resolute, strong, and indomitable spirit in a president that led our nation during similar times of crisis. In an era of anger and anxiety, as evidenced by these findings, voters will go to the polls in November with these issues weighing heavily on their minds.

It is insightful to appreciate that during the Great Depression, voters found strength and solace in Franklin Delano Roosvelt who was then reelected during the cataclysmic days of World War II. Similarly, World War II’s General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s proven strength won him the Presidency during the height of the Cold War. How voters channel their current existential concerns will be revealed on Election Day.

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