By sharing our former presidents' shortcomings and weaknesses when they were most vulnerable and naive, in addition to their strengths and successes, we allow our youth to realize it is normal and part of growing up. Why should any person be stigmatized for the rest of his life because he committed indiscretions when he was a teenager?
The purpose of this book is to encourage adolescents to never give up. No one ever really knows his or her ultimate capability, and none of us has any idea what our limits truly are. Only by trying, and then trying harder, will we be able to see how much we can accomplish with our minds and bodies. The younger a person is when he recognizes that he has no mental limitations, the sooner he can rise to his full potential.
There is no special training to become president. One must simply be thirty-five-years-old, a U.S. citizen, and not a convicted felon. It is true that in our inglorious past our U.S. Constitution didn't allow blacks (until the 15th Amendment in 1870 and then the Voting Rights Act of 1965) or women (until the 19th Amendment in 1920) to participate in our political democracy. Although no one from either group has yet become chief executive, each has made significant inroads into our political system. I am quite certain that we will see an African-American or a female president in the not so distant future.