"What a President Should Be" (1996)

On the night of this historical election, I have decided to publish an unreleased piece of poetry from my childhood, entitled "What a President Should Be." Enjoy.

Can you tell that I was an extremely precocious child (obviously with an astute knowledge of poetic meter and form—mostly inspired by Shel Silverstein) and very concerned about the 1996 presidential race between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole? Sadly, I think I was more passionate about politics as a 9-year-old than I am now. Still, I hope for the best. And yes, I did vote.

By the way, my mom still thinks this is the best thing I ever wrote.

I think my penmanship has hardly improved.

Jacob thinks it got worse.