Possible 2012 Presidential Run
Bolton considered running for president in the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. He has received much attention in conservative circles, including the cover of the December 31, 2010 issue of National Review magazine. He told Politico: "As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open. I don't think the party's anywhere close to a decision. And stranger things have happened. For example, inexperienced senators from Illinois have gotten presidential nominations."
In an interview with National Review, Bolton said:
"Individual liberty is the whole purpose of political life, and I thought it was threatened back then"-in 1964 during the Goldwater campaign which he describes as "my formative political experience"-"and I think it's threatened now.....I write, I give speeches, I appear on television-but the only way in contemporary American circumstances to make those issues as salient as they should be is to run for president."
In an interview with The Daily Caller, Bolton stated:
"I'm obviously not a politician. I've never run for any federal elective office at all and, you know, it is something that would obviously require a great deal of effort...What I do think, though, and what concerns me, is the lack of focus generally in the national debate about national security issues. Now, I understand the economy is in a ditch and people are concerned about it, but our adversaries overseas are not going to wait for us to get our economic house in order."
On Tuesday, September 6, 2011, Bolton announced on the Fox News show, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, that he will not run for President of the United States in 2012. He then wrote on Twitter "I have decided not to seek nomination, know that I will strive to keep national security front and center in 2012 election."
Fellow Republican presidential-hopeful Newt Gingrich announced that he would ask Bolton to serve as his Secretary of State.
On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, Bolton announced that he is endorsing Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican Nomination.
Read more about this topic: John R. Bolton
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