The 2008 Presidential candidates may soon be decided. Senators Obama and Clinton are ready for the stretch run – with the March 4th Texas and Ohio primaries considered must-wins for Clinton. Hillary desperately needs to derail Obama’s run of 11 straight primary wins to stay in the race if she hopes to face off against McCain.

However, as I’ve watched both the Democrat and Republican primaries, I’ve wondered where all the great American political leaders have gone. With all due respect to Clinton, Obama, and McCain, I don’t feel the presence of greatness. McCain has certainly gained the respect of Americans as a war hero, and maybe it’s too early to judge the young Obama, but I’m not overly impressed with any of the candidates. I guess I’m tired from listening to politicians’ rhetoric, as they say whatever necessary to get elected. It has probably been that way since George Washington, but I just don’t remember it being so blatant.

The first President of my life was Harry Truman, but I was too young to remember him. I do recall President Eisenhower, however, the first presidential election and President of which I have great memory was John F. Kennedy. The first election in which I was able to vote was in 1972, Nixon versus McGovern. Another first for me would be if Obama is elected. He would be the first President younger than I. Hillary is a few years my elder, and I hope to live to be as old as McCain.

History certainly helps us define greatness. Therefore, Hillary, Obama, or McCain could one day be defined as great. However, I also believe that there have been presidential candidates in whom Americans saw greatness prior to their legacy being formed. I felt that about John F. Kennedy, but I was young and impressionable. Unfortunately, I have not had the feeling of greatness with any president since JFK. I remember my mother and father telling me of the same feeling regarding Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Not surprisingly, a Rasmussen Poll in 2007 indicated only six American Presidents received a favorable rating of at least 80 percent: George Washington (94%), Abraham Lincoln (92%), Thomas Jefferson (89%), Theodore Roosevelt (84%), Franklin D. Roosevelt (81%) and John F. Kennedy (80%). Richard Nixon had a 40 % favorable rating and George W. Bush 39 %, the lowest two rankings in the recent poll. The poll seems to make my point. JFK was our 35th President and assassinated in 1963. We have since had eight Presidents – none of whom are on the 80 percent favorable list.

Four Presidents comprise Mount Rushmore: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln. If you could add one President to the monument, would you? I might add FDR, but the choices are few.

I wonder if I’ll ever see another great American President in my lifetime.

Conspiracy theories always intrigued me. It began in 1963 with the assassination of President Kennedy. Like most Americans old enough to recall that dark, life-changing day, I remember where I was when I heard the President had been shot – and the painful days that followed.

The Kennedy assassination actually hit home for our family more so than the average American, as my father personally knew him during JFK’s years as a Massachusetts’ Congressman and U.S. Senator. So as I proceeded through high school and college, the Warren Commission Report and subsequent conspiracy theories captivated me. One of my best pieces of work in college was a thesis on the assassination. My conclusion back then, as it remains today, is that a conspiracy indeed occurred.

While the debate over the Kennedy assassination has been prominent, lest we forget the once-called “mother of all conspiracies,” as December 7th approaches.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, we painstakingly remember President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous quote about December 7, 1941 … “A date which will live in infamy.” However, conspiracy theorists believe President Roosevelt not only knew of the imminent attack by the Empire of Japan, but also actually provoked it with a succession of so-called “moral embargos” on Japan commencing in 1940 and culminating with an oil and fuel embargo in July 1941. Hence, a supposed reason for Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was to protect its advance into the Dutch East Indies for much-needed oil by destroying America’s Pacific fleet.

The conspiracy theory relates to Roosevelt’s attempt to change America’s isolation stance to acceptance of war – and engage in Europe. Since neither the American people nor Congress wanted to enter the war, Roosevelt needed to sucker Hitler into declaring war on the United States. An attack by Japan on the U.S. would provoke him to do so.

As we know all-to-well, Japan attached Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan on 8 December. On the 11th of December, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt then immediately declared war on Germany and Italy…with the support of Congress and the American people.

If nothing else, conspiracy theories are an interesting read.