There used to be a TV game show called “Who Do You Trust.” It was, in all respects a normal and unimportant show, except for the fact that the host was Johnny Carson, and his announcer was, for the first time, Ed McMahon.

In a very real sense, we play the home version of the game every four years when we choose a president.

Oh, they make a big deal about the candidates’ experience and knowledge on economics.

They point out that the other guy never served a day in uniform, as if being a grunt in the rice fields of Vietnam, honorable as that service was, qualifies you to be Commander in Chief.

When all is said and done, we go to the polls and elect the one we most trust.

If you look back on the great presidents of the last century; Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan, they were all over the political spectrum, but they all had one thing in common. They had the trust of the people.

We believed that we had nothing to fear but fear itself. We trusted that the use of the A-bomb was necessary to end the war. We believed that we could put a man on the moon, and we understood that we had to have a strong defense to realistically negotiate with the Soviets.

Why?

Because the man we chose to lead us said so. The presidency is the only office that is representative of all the people. When the occupant takes that part of the job seriously, good things happen.

We may not be experts in all the areas the government has on its plate. The candidates aren’t, either.

But, when we go to the polls and ask the question, “Who do I trust,” we win the game show, and it’s grand prize of four years of relative peace of mind.

Jim Vann is a regular blogger for the Cherokee Tribune and can be found on the Tribune’s website at cherokeetribune.com.