| Another strange milestone has passed in my | | | | leader when he had been governor of |
| odd, but colorful life. The new president of | | | | California and I was simply a teacher in |
| Argentina, Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner, the | | | | graduate school. More than that, it helped |
| wife of the incumbent and outgoing president, | | | | shape a philosophy of life. |
| was elected as expected. And once again, by | | | | |
| happenstance rather than design, I was | | | | More than sixty years ago, I saw first light |
| physically in Argentina. | | | | on the Communist side of East Germany, |
| | | | followed by escapes and relocations over the |
| I have always been interested in politics. In | | | | years, both in Europe and the United States. |
| a much younger life, I was actually going to | | | | My father had already been killed by the |
| follow my dream and ego and become senior | | | | communists. Fortunately, the rest of my small |
| senator from California. That ambition was | | | | family escaped unhurt. |
| cut short on the realization that a | | | | |
| foreigner, lack of funds, and the anathema of | | | | That philosophy both gladdened and saddened |
| being played by someone else's strings did | | | | my experience of election day in Argentina. |
| not lead to a senate seat. | | | | |
| | | | It gladdened me because the election, though |
| Nonetheless, much of my life - such as being | | | | voting is mandated by law instead of purely |
| in Argentina on a crucial election in its | | | | voluntary as in the United States, was |
| history - was being "in the right place" for | | | | generally honest, with more than a dozen |
| potential historical events. | | | | candidates vying for the spot. It elated me |
| | | | especially since the country's history has |
| I was similarly in Warsaw, Poland, in June, | | | | been fraught with dictatorial regimes in the |
| 2003, only a few days before that country | | | | not-too-distant past. For many electors, that |
| voted to join the European Union. At the same | | | | memory was still etched sharply in their |
| time, NATO had chosen to move some of its | | | | minds. This election saw none of the |
| operations to Poland, and President Bush paid | | | | atrocities of the past. |
| an official visit. People constantly asked me | | | | |
| whether I was a member of George Bush's team, | | | | Yet, the election also saddened me, watching |
| since he had arrived just days after my | | | | the revelers enjoy themselves with not much |
| flight. Nothing could have been further from | | | | thought, setting off firecrackers, hugging, |
| the truth with the beginnings of the war in | | | | dancing and swaying to the rhythms of |
| Iraq just a few months earlier! I strictly | | | | cacophanous music. Most congregated in large |
| went to Poland that summer to relax, teach a | | | | and small towns simply for the enjoyment. |
| few classes, and see historic places like | | | | Some may have gyrated in hopes for the |
| Krakow. It ended up being a fascinating | | | | future. Few seemed in sober thought for the |
| election! | | | | troubles ahead for the future. Inflation, |
| | | | productivity, foreign exchange, crime and |
| In November, 1992, I was in Little Rock, | | | | corruption are as real today as they were |
| Arkansas at the Capital Hotel to watch Bill | | | | yesterday. And the seemingly unstoppable |
| Clinton and wife Hillary revel in his | | | | selfishness punctuating human civilization |
| victory. Nearly a year earlier, when I had | | | | seems to permeate society, whether in |
| barely moved to the southern town and knew | | | | Argentina or Germany, the United States or |
| little about Bill Clinton other than that he | | | | Iraq or elsewhere in 2007 as it did in eons |
| was a minor governor of a minor state, I was | | | | past. |
| outside Arkansas' historic state house when | | | | |
| the candidate first made his announcement. | | | | Fortunately, I am only a guest in this |
| Again, seeing, and later meeting the | | | | country. This simple fact precludes me from |
| candidate and President were fortunate, but | | | | much more than observing. Nonetheless, it |
| not by design. The invitation to the | | | | does lead me to reinforce my thoughts that, |
| Presidential Ball in Washington after | | | | while the majority of people may not give |
| Clinton's formal Inauguration came about | | | | more than a microsecond of thought to the |
| through friends both in Arkansas and New York | | | | larger issues of life facing each an every |
| and California. | | | | one of us in the future, constitutional |
| | | | freedom and elections may perhaps spawn |
| I was also in Munich, Germany in July,1990 on | | | | leadership with results like the United |
| business. As luck would have it, one of the | | | | States under Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and |
| greatest celebrations was held in Berlin | | | | Clinton. |
| during my sojourn, the concert and | | | | |
| celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. | | | | Wealth and prosperity for the population of |
| Although I was far in the south of Germany | | | | Argentina does not have to be an elusive |
| and could not take the time to travel to | | | | exercise. Increased education and |
| Berlin, the celebration was transmitted | | | | communication, along with a pause to assess |
| across the world, and people everywhere | | | | the willingness to absorb the tradeoffs |
| joined in the spirit of nearly half a million | | | | required, are not materials for a dime novel. |
| people physically present at Potsdamer Platz. | | | | |
| | | | Whether people in this age and time are |
| Watching the festivities in Berlin in 1990, | | | | willing to make that small adjustment to |
| and the echo of Ronald Reagan's words of his | | | | change in human nature remains anyone's |
| "Tear Down This Wall" speech of 1987, brought | | | | guess. |
| home once more that I had met a truly great | | | | |