SUNDAY NEWS

In "Smart Remarks" of March 16, Columnist Gil Smart opines: "As if a President Obama, or any president, isn't going to be surrounded by a cadre of advisers who have spent entire careers in the halls of government, formulating policy and the like."

WATCH DOG: Without taking a position favoring either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, we do believe that experience is essential when it comes to national security. Here is a recent list and calamities of inexperienced presidents of recent memory:

John F. Kennedy - The Bay of Pigs and the Vietnam War; Jimmy Carter - Woeful mishandling of the Iran hostage situation; and George W. Bush - The Iraq War. An exception was Bill Clinton who came along at a time when national security was not a big issue.

Recent presidents who were masterful when it came to issues of national security are Franklin D. Roosevelt - former Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the First World War (and spy master) and Vice Presidential candidate in 1920; Dwight D. Eisenhower - Supreme Commander in Europe during World War II, head of NATO, and the President of Columbia University; Richard M. Nixon - Congressman, Senator, two term Vice President, world traveler; and George H. W. Bush - Congressman, envoy to Communist China, Ambassador to the United Nations and two term Vice President.

One possible exception: Ronald Reagan combined an armament build up with overtures for world peace although he did unnecessarily wreak havoc on Central American countries. But that's like playing Russian Roulette!

Advisers are useful but only experience provides a president with the knowledge to evaluate information and advice and choose wisely. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon and the senior Bush did just that.