Ladies and Gentlemen, the 51st President of the United States

When we first e-mailed pictures of our wee newborn to his grandparents, one of them responded, “Looks like a future president!” My reaction was a proud chuckle; my wife’s was mild horror. “I would NOT want him to be president,” she said.

Not even a little? I’ve been thinking about that question ever since. Extreme achievement can do extreme good, and it can also damage and warp people. It’s often said that the qualities that allow one to become president (an almost pathological urge to power, a willingness to shill for campaign funds, a potentially dangerous ability to persuade) should automatically disqualify you from the job. It would be difficult, as a parent, to hear the absolutely vicious things said about your kid should he achieve high office. The last few presidents have all been called treasonous, traitorous, murderous.

Then, of course, there is the other possibility. Every presidential family knows that there’s a shadow over that house. Forty-three men have been president, and nine of them have been shot at. Four have been killed. That’s nearly 10 percent.

This came to mind this morning at daycare, when one of the teachers remarked upon our little guy’s ability to throw his sippy cup a great distance. I made a little crack about our future Olympian, and she responded, “Little guy’s going to make you proud.” And not to get all squishy about it, but I did realize that almost anything productive he found himself doing would, in fact, make me proud. If it comes with a motorcade, well, that’s very nice, too.