Taiwan is an island, with less population than Texas and with less area than Vermont. Taiwan is located about 100 miles southeast of China and the official language in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese. Jon Huntsman worked in Taiwan and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Jon Huntsman, candidate for President, meets my fluency requirement for the ideal presidential resume. He is fluent in a foreign language. And not just any language. Mandarin Chinese according to many sources is spoken by more than 1 billion people, and it is the world's most widely spoken language. English is third by most sources. As Americans we may feel better knowing that English is spoken in more countries than Mandarin Chinese, but Mandarin is spoken by 300% more people than speak English.
Why do I insist that fluency in a foreign language is a component of the ideal American presidential resume? Why do engineers have to take a semester of a foreign language in college? Why is a foreign language required in many high school curriculum's? I do not want to bog you down in philosophical answers to these rhetorical questions, but language fluency is the basis for culture fluency. When you can converse with the other person in their language, you can begin to understand the culture. I lived in France for 3 years. I learned conversational french. It helped me to understand the culture, the humor and the basis for the wonderful French view of life. My life in another country coupled with the global economy confirms my insistence that fluency in a foreign language, a language other than English, is critical for the ideal presidential resume.
When the next American president is negotiating a trade agreement with China or negotiating a debt modification to the billions of dollars we have borrowed from China, I would feel comfortable knowing that he can perform these negotiations in their language. Something is always lost by interpreters.
Join me in my "Hire Jon Huntsman" for President campaign.
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