The election for the president is one of the most important times in this country. This vital vote by the people will decide the well-being and possibly “the look” and/or strength of the country for the next four years, and beyond.

This year’s election is very important due to the rising threats in the world, from ISIS to multi-national aggressions to economic downfall. To combat this, the potential leaders must be both physically and mentally capable, which has been the talk of the past few weeks regarding one of the two major candidates, Hillary Clinton. Clinton has recently been stumbling, coughing and requiring help when moving from event to event, from rally to rally. She has also recently released that she has come down with pneumonia in early September. After these events were uncovered, her political allies tried to subdue any suspicions that there is a larger health problem at hand. If so, there could be very large problems if she does win the election. For example, our president must look strong to make sure there is no doubt in the US’s ability to stand up to threatening countries and groups that may possibly mock us for having a leader who appears weak.

In contrast, we have had presidents in the past who have been physically ill, such as John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower, to name a few. Both of these men were greatly respected, but each of them had their own physical conditions, with Eisenhower having a heart attack and a stroke, and JFK having Addison’s disease. Neither of these problems stopped those two men from pulling off the office of the president, but Mrs. Clinton’s health problems might be slightly more problematic. Her problems may include blood clots and possibly seizures. According to CNN her husband, former President Bill Clinton said, “Rarely, but on more than one occasion over the last many, many years, the same sort of thing happened to her when she just got severely dehydrated.” According to The Political Insider, Dr. Drew Pinsky said, “At that age, clots can lead to pulmonary embolism (clot traveling to the lungs)… which damages the lungs or other organs. It could also cause a stroke and kill.” Having a president die in office will create volatility for our country as we do not know the policies their successor will impose, or an estimation of how well they will do in office. In the end, those who can vote must not only look at what the possible candidates will bring to the country politically, but also their health and probable longevity.