Everyday Americans understand that the President of the United States signs or vetos bills from Congress, acts as Commander-in-Chief, and makes an awful lot of speeches and appearances.
Unfortunately, amid the modern world, they know little else about his roles and responsibilities.
A United States President is supposed to wear many hats, and all of them should fit well.
Still, apart from the actual functional jobs and activities the American President performs, he should also portray an even more important and special role.
What, you might ask? The position of psychological and spiritual leader and father of the nation.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was truly efficient in this position.
Rightly or wrongly, while FDR was in the White House, citizens honestly felt comfortable and slept well at night, even amid a bloody world war and tough economic times.
Men and women, boys and girls, and everyone else actually assumed he was carrying their burdens and contemplating everyone's problems 7 days a week.
These days the Office of the President of the United States seems to have lost much of its dignity, luster, and respect.
I do not say this solely due to the behavior of the current occupant, but just as much because of the way that we the people have somehow started thinking much less of all politicians, even Presidents.
We honestly believe that with our basic news cycles and readily available info that we know just as much as our President and his Administration.
If the truth were truly understood, that notion is worse than funny, but rather pitiful.
If we knew what they know, we would probably not sleep at night.
I am unashamedly a Conservative and a Republican.
My ideology and philosophy in almost every area from Economics to Religion and Foreign Affairs run contrary to President Barack Obama's beliefs.
However, the office he holds now is a perpetual one.
As such, I find that I have done a poor job of criticizing his policies apart from the man that is my President.
By speaking negatively of President Barack Obama himself, am I not also devaluing the Oval Office that he only temporarily holds? Yes, as I speak negatively about the President, and millions of others join in, we are all slowly but surely taking bricks out of the wall that is the American Presidency.
If we continue in this fashion, upcoming occupants may be little more than puppets that work to appease their populace.
In fact, we may almost be there already...