Why Be President If You Can't Really Do Anything?

 When I think about the failed candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, as well as the attempts of the likes of JD Vance or Ron DeSantis to reach the White House, I'm left with a reoccurring question: why?

Sure, the President of the United States can command the military and federal agencies. But other than using them to protect yourself, what good is that? How did Bill Clinton, GW Bush, Barack Obama Donald Trump or Joe Biden use their powers as president to help their citizens in a way that uplifted the country? Not individual people who already had the means or companies/corporations who already had access to power, but people in the 99%? 

Who did the Crime Bill ultimately help? What about the Patriot Act? The Affordable Care Act? The Build Back Better Act? The Big Beautiful Bill?

And that's just domestically. Not one of these presidents could resist the temptation to attack another nation under the guise of "protecting American interests" which is code for various other things, like, "they aren't using the petrodollar," "they want to be economically independent," "they want their own sovereignty" or "they are vaguely socialist/communist." In the past few decades a newer code was added: "it benefits Israel," which applies whether you believe that America is beholden/compromised by Israel or Israel is the nation-state "aircraft carrier/attack proxy" for the United States. 

Either way, it's clear that Israel has benefited greatly since 9/11 happened under GW Bush. Most of their opponents/obstacles to domination in the Persian Gulf has been overthrown, fallen to civil war, or brought to heal, with the notable exceptions of resistance factions (Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza) or the nation of Iran.

This is all to say: what does a Harris or a Vance think about when they decide to run for president? Do they think that their dreams will be fulfilled? Do they imagine some kind of validation for whatever perceived slights they experienced in life? Don't they realize the minute they sit in that chair, they are beholden to groups, foreign and domestic, who will remind them every waking moment that are not really independent or free?  

The United States has a crumbling infrastructure, a fractured health care system and an economic system that crashes almost every four-to-seven years. Racial and cultural tensions continue, and infect the legal and justice system. Dissenters are quieted or removed. Technology is being used to replace human workers, instead of helping human do the worker easier and safer. Authoritarian options are being promoted and embraced. The gap between what owners earn and minimal wage continues to widen. Leaders are using get-rich-quick schemes for their own benefit while circumventing any attempt the people take at making their live more financially comfortable. Oh, and we fight wars in other nations that lead to some much destruction the survivors decide to come to America not because "it's the best country" but because America has bombed itself...yet.

There are plenty of issues for an American president to solve, but they seem to either only make things worse or ignore them and devolve into the same type of leader as their predecessor. At this point, it should be obvious that anyone who wants to be president does not have our best interests in mind.